Honour of the Line (6 page)

After school we all sat in total silence repeating ‘I must pay more attention in class’. Angela and Georgina got off lightly but most of my mates showed their displeasure by a torrent of verbal abuse hurled at me but all was soon forgotten as I took it on the chin with no retaliation. This was the kids mini version of the Honour of the Line. If you did wrong, you took your punishment on the chin and never split on, or blamed, your friends. What a great upbringing it was and would prove even more valuable later in life.

Later that evening at the rec Georgina told me the arrangements for Saturday. Angela would meet me on the footbridge by St Jude’s at 8.45 am. and we would sneak in the side entrance of the station. Neither Angela or myself would say a word to anybody as Angela’s Dad was a real control freak and was unable, it seemed, to walk away from his military background. Peter, Angela’s brother, was apparently a real Mummy’s boy and couldn’t be trusted to know anything, but Angela had told her older sister Jill that we were meeting up. Jill had left school and got a job in town and had moved in with a work friend’s parents as she had been very unhappy in the family home in Lancashire and although moving South with them, moved out at the first opportunity in order to get some freedom. They sounded a troubled family.

Angela’s bluff would be she wanted to meet Jill in town before Jill started work and then go to Saturday morning pictures, which was in the next town, about a 20 minute bus ride away. Blimey I thought, am I worth the risk? I had no idea what to expect but kept fantasising about getting a kiss. I was over the moon.

Mum, Dad and Grandad asked me on Friday night if I was nervous. ‘Too right’ I replied, but little did they know it had nothing to do with football. I barely slept a wink that night.

By the time Saturday morning arrived my anxiety had reached boiling point. What should I do? Failure was not an option but I had nobody to talk to about it besides Georgina but she was also Angela’s friend. ‘Good old Georgina came to my rescue as always. On my way back from running errands for Mum I bumped into her. She had been sent to buy a newspaper for her Mum to read. Typical of many families, they only got a newspaper at weekends, which the Mum’s got to read first as the great majority of the men had to work on Saturday mornings before going to watch the town football team in the afternoons.

Georgina said to me “if you think you’re nervous spare a thought for poor Angela. She never stops talking about you, but only to me, others don’t have a clue”. With that Georgina gave me a big hug and a kiss on the cheek and wished me good luck. I could tell by her eyes that she was envious and it saddened me a little.

Arriving in plenty of time I stood on the footbridge that overlooked St Jude’s and it was really depressing. The main building was now empty with many broken windows as was the chapel. This was particularly sad as the chapel windows were stained glass, but I knew this damage would not have been caused by any of the lads of the Arches. Our lot were rogues but we had a code of conduct and decent morals. Weeds were growing everywhere, from the main steps to the tired ornate paving. The once magnificent gardens were now just a faded memory and it all made me very sad. Homeless families still lived there but their time at St Jude’s was now in its swan song. Most of the elderly patients must have either passed on or been transferred to homes elsewhere. I really didn’t like what I was seeing.

Turning away my day became so much brighter. In the distance I could see Angela approaching. Her hair was still in a ponytail but she had a really short skirt on which made her legs look even longer. As she came up to me I was so nervous but I found enough courage to give her a rather brief hug, which she seemed to like. This hug was all too short. My word did she smell lovely. Her perfume was like gold dust to me. We quickly decided that, so as not to arouse suspicion, we should not walk together, people had big mouths. So I went to the ticket office and got our tickets, two half returns, which I felt awkward in asking for. Yes we were both still children but we were on our first venture into the big wide adult world. Our train pulled in and it was pulled by one of my favourite class of steam locos, but I paid no attention. Sod the train numbers, I was on a date and I realised there and then that my train spotting days were quickly coming to an end. Far more important things were taking over. We spoke about our families and Angela said that Jill her sister was really close to her and that Peter her brother was a bit of a loner. This came as no surprise to me, he didn’t seem to mix particularly well at school. It was easy to understand about Peter. He was no good at football, didn’t like trains, as most of the other lads did and was a really quiet sort of boy. He just seemed a shy, decent sort of chap but he was certainly out of place in the Arches. Angela told me how she worried about her sister Jill, because Jill had confided that although she had a boyfriend called Ian, she had been gradually falling in love with someone who was out of bounds. Jill had told Angela this person wasn’t married so Angela did not have the faintest clue as to what ‘out of bounds’ meant. I could throw no light on the subject at all, I was still far too young and innocent.

Stunning countryside passed by. Many trees were just beginning to turn colour in the late summer come early Autumn of that year. Life seemed perfect at that moment. We rolled into our destination, which was around 10 minutes walk from the football ground, which I had been to with Grandad to watch our town play. I had no idea that I too would be playing at this ground whilst still at school. As we left the station Angela held my hand and we walked hand in hand towards the ground. We both seemed to have a massive spring in our steps. A couple of minutes later we heard a toot from a car horn and as we looked over we could see our Form Teacher, Miss Page, in the car. She offered us a lift to the ground. “Well Billy McFirley you are certainly full of surprises” she said. As I went off to get changed for the match Angela wandered off with Miss Page who, by this time, had told Angela she could call her Sue out of school hours. Miss Page (Sue) lived in a village close to the town where the game was being played and she had wanted to give a member of her class a big surprise by supporting him. Surprise! She had nearly given the two of us a heart attack but it was nice that she cared enough to come along.

“Can you please keep this a secret” Angela asked Sue, “as my parents don’t approve”. Sue gave her word but told Angela to be careful. She also said we looked very sweet together. In the changing room the players all did their best to get to know each other. We were usually in opposition not on the same team. It did seem quite odd. I hung my clothes on the peg, putting my towel under my shoes. I had decided to have a shower and make myself nice and clean after the match. I really wanted to impress Angela.

As I ran onto the pitch it was easy to spot Angela, although it did seem really daunting that she was sitting there with our Form Teacher beside her. The crowd was rather sparse, probably only about 60 to 70 people. Nothing like the District Matches which were really well attended. Rather to my annoyance I noticed a man standing behind my goal in both halves. He was making notes and I wondered if Angela’s Dad had smelt a rat and was having her followed. Time after time I had to make saves as we were comprehensively outplayed until I eventually let a soft one drop from my grasp for their centre-forward to tap in. One saving grace was that none of the other players in the team did very well. A further late flurry resulted in us being beaten 3 – 0 but late in the game worse was to happen to me. Going up to take a high cross I was challenged and fell awkwardly, hurting my shoulder and back but luckily it was nearly time for the final whistle to blow. Getting changed and showered was not very easy but somehow I managed. The organiser of the County Team (Manager’s were a thing of the future) gave every player an envelope to hand to the Heads of their schools on Monday morning. I took mine but didn’t give it much consideration.

Embarrassing or what! I had to ask Angela to do my shoes up for me as I couldn’t bend down but she was so sweet and kind she didn’t mind one bit. We walked to the station holding hands and it all now seemed so natural. Engineering works on the line were causing minor delays so we had around 20 minutes to wait for our train. To pass the time we walked to the far end of the platform. The idea being we could get in the last carriage and lessen our chances of being spotted when we arrived at Colwood. We both thought it easier that way. I would be able to leave the station first and Angela shortly after by the other exit. That way, hopefully, no suspicion would arise. Whilst waiting at the platform end we started cuddling and shared our first kiss. Numbers two, three, four, ninety nine, hundred, nine hundred and ninety nine and one thousand quickly followed and I held myself slightly away from Angela as I felt my willy stiffening. Throughout our journey home we snogged continuously, barely stopping for breath, and saving the last marathon one for the journey between the last two stations. On arrival, as planned, we left the train and without turning back I made my way swiftly to Grandad’s. I guess I must have had the biggest smile ever on my face. My kit was in one of Mum’s shopping bags, designer kit bags were a generation away yet. This bag was particularly useful as I could hold it in front of me until my erection finally subsided. For the first time in my entire school life I couldn’t wait for Monday to arrive.

Grandad was waiting for me and wanted to know how things had gone. I told him we had lost 3 – 0 and he then asked how I had performed. With a little bit of the devil in me my answer was “very well”. Little did he know I was talking about something quite different to football. That weekend seemed to drag like no other

Late on Sunday afternoon I popped up to see Grandad. I was feeling like I had recently conquered Everest. I was nice and clean after bathing off all the coal dust from working with Dad that morning and still full of excitement from that magical day before. As I walked up the short path to Grandad's house Georgina came rushing out of her front door to ask how Saturday had gone. She wanted to know every single detail and I asked if she had spoken to Angela but she said she hadn't and had not dared to call for her as her father was such a strict disciplinarian and she did not want to upset the apple cart. Finally she mentioned that she really envied Angela. What an awful position for me to be in. I had just found a girlfriend and then I find out my best friend, who is also a girl, had the ‘hots' for me. Girls such as Georgina had great morals. They would always be truthful but would never double cross their friends and Angela and I were her real friends. She asked if Angela and I were going to go out again. “A stone certainty” was my reply, although nothing was arranged as yet.

At school on Monday Georgina was once again the go-between, passing messages back and forth between Angela and myself whilst Miss Page winked as I passed her in the hall. I handed in the mystery envelope to the Head and he came into our class during first lesson. Contained in the letter was a badge which was presented to those who had represented our County. I was called to the front of the class, where Miss Page mentioned to the class that she had seen me play. She also told them that I had suffered quite an injury and asked how it was doing but I had forgotten about the pain which could possibly have given me a reprieve from the coal yard on Sunday morning. Other things were not surprisingly clouding my mind. As Miss Page presented my badge to me I almost slipped up and called her Sue as I thanked her for her support. Red as a beetroot is the best way to describe Angela, but she need not have worried. Miss Sue Page, who lived a long way from the Arches, was now an Honorary Member. I knew she could be totally trusted.

As the class clapped I proudly held my badge aloft, for what seemed a lifetime. This was largely because Georgina, Angela and Sue kept the applause going way beyond what the achievement merited. At break time kids from the other classes asked what all of the commotion was about and it suddenly dawned on me I was getting celebrity status but other things were certainly stirring my thoughts far more than my football success.

‘Eventually, after lots of exchanges, Angela and I agreed to meet after school, not outside of school but near the far bridge on the main railway line. She would rush there straight from school and would be okay for an hour or so as she could tell Peter not to wait as she was staying behind for extra tuition. That would suit her Dad who so liked to brag of his kids ability to anyone in the pub who cared to listen. He was supposedly quite popular with the drinkers but presumably most were pissed most of the time. Getting away from school a bit early was easy for me as my last lesson was gardening and I was trusted with making sure that all of the gardening tools were returned present and correct. Starting to get them collected a bit early was as easy as pie. Mr Clark, the gardening teacher, was a real easy touch.

Rushing as fast as possible I quickly made for home. I said a quick hello to Mum and Daisy, got changed and said I was going out. We had arranged that Angela would walk to meet me but she also had to be certain not to let Peter or any of his mates notice her. It probably wasn't that difficult as Peter's mates didn't number very many, thank the Lord he was so quiet. Arriving first I had a brainwave as I remembered that Grandad and I used to get through a hole in the wire fence and sit inside a railway workers hut if it rained when we were collecting numbers. I recalled that the keys for these huts were always nailed onto the panel above the door. As Angela came up to me I suggested we go there, which we did as quickly as possible, after double checking that nobody had seen us. The key was there and we let ourselves in and locked the door from the inside. The fire was still aglow, although the coke fumes were a nuisance, so we opened the only window. Although Angela was dressed in her school clothes she looked wonderful. Her eyes were full of warmth until the first express train thundered by at around 60 mph and probably only two yards from where we were. She seemed worried but I comforted her with the knowledge that no express train had yet run into this hut. This made her laugh. We kissed and cuddled our time away but left in plenty of time so as not to cause any suspicion. This hut was to be our safe haven so we decided to make excuses for after school three days a week.