Aaron Connor

by Nathan Davey

  I stood up, walked over and sat down at their table. Lizzie didn’t move at first. She looked a bit annoyed that I went ahead with my idea without passing it by her. Eventually she realised that she couldn’t get out of it now, the dye was already cast, so reluctantly she got up and sat down next to me. Stan started to introduce the band members to me.

  “My name is Stan” he began, “I play lead guitar, the guy with the drumsticks is Zo and he’s the drummer, this is Stewie and it’s his bass that you’ll be carrying, that guy on the end with the black shirt is Ritchie and he’s the tour manager and finally this is Rick, rhythm guitar and lead singer”

  Rick was the one who was still sipping at his cardboard cup of Coke. Rick looked up through eyes lined with black make up. He said nothing but simply nodded his head to acknowledge our existence. These guys all looked so cool! Rick was all dolled up in leather, scarves, necklaces, rings, bracelets and had a large white tunnel pierced in his ear. Zo wore an orange and black Hawaii shirt, was smoking a cigarette through a short holder, wore large orange aviator sunglasses and overall looked like Johnny Depp in Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas. It turned out that Zo was a massive fan of Hunter S. Thomson, and the inspired fashion style was intended. Stan was dressed in a stripy red and black shirt with a pair of acid grey skinny jeans. Stewie wore a black leather jacket, the kind with all of the zips like a sixties rocker, along with a pair of leather trousers, Cuban heel beatle boots and a t-shirt which featured a photograph of Bill Hicks and his famous quote: “This is just a ride!”

  Those drippy wannabes back at St Ians were nothing compared to these guys. The difference between the two was not only their dress sense, but also their presence. You could tell that these guys really knew the score. They came across as real musicians who could go far, not a bunch of talentless dreamers. The way I see it, go for a dream based on your natural talents. If you can’t sing but you’re really good at plumbing, don’t be a pleb and go on some TV talent show! Go for the skill that your best at. You’ll find work so much easier because you’ll have the natural ability to do plumbing, no sweat. Remember, behind the glitz and glamour of the entertainment industry, it’s still just a job and a hard job at that.

  These guys looked the part, that’s for sure. At that point I hadn’t heard them play yet, so I was still to be fully convinced about them. Their look and charisma alone made me take them a bit more seriously. They could talk the talk but could they walk the walk. We’ll find that out later. Anyway, back to the point we were at.

  After introducing everyone, everyone had finished eating and was ready to get moving again. We waited for a few blokes who wanted to go to the toilet first. I and Lizzie, thinking that we had no idea where the next rest stop may be, went to the toilet just for the heck of it. After having a slash and laughing at some picture on a machine that dispensed novelty condoms with funny faces, we were ready to hit the road.

  That black guitar case that was leaning against the table turned out to be the guitar in question. Blimey, it was HUGE! I could see why the others weren’t happy with the fact that Stewie had bought the blasted thing. When I saw how big the guitar was, I then began to wonder how I was to get this thing on the bike.

  We went outside, they made Stewie carry the heavy black case as punishment for being a complete twit. The cold air hit us instantly. I looked at the Moped and knew right then that it wouldn’t work. I darted my eyes around the car park looking for inspiration.

  “Is that it?!” said Stewie when he saw the bike, “how the hell are you going to get the bass on that?”

  I wasn’t listening though. I had spotted something, an opportunity you could say. At the far end of the car park was a large open back lorry. In the back were piles of rubbish, probably going to some skip. The driver, who was in reflective yellow overalls and a black bobble hat, was leaning against the lorry smoking on a cigarette. What I had spotted was something poking out of the piles of rubbish. I couldn’t believe it. It was so convenient that it felt unreal. Poking out of the garbage was a rusty old sidecar.

  The sidecar had two wheels, a dirty old leather seat and all of the attachment straps intact. The metal body itself was a dark crumbly black. The patches of lime green showed what colour it used to be before it went into disuse. It was perfect. If I could attach that to the Moped, it’d have something to put the bass in and could store any other stuff we needed.

  I ran over to the bloke having a fag. The band members and Lizzie looked confused. Then Lizzie spotted the sidecar, pointed it out to the others and then ran over the car park to join me. They felt that I might need more people to convince the bloke that we needed that sidecar. People who work with rubbish can be a bit funny that way. Some of them won’t let people have anything, even if the person really needs it, just so it can lie on a heap of other useless pish. This was a complete stranger, so we were not sure how easily persuaded he would be.

  I arrived and almost instantly the guy looked up at me. He was a largish guy with a healthy looking pot belly. He had stubble across his face which was covered in dirt from loading the rubbish onto the lorry. According to the name badge on his overalls, his name was Gary.

  He gave me a nice smile as I came up to him. I wasn’t expecting that. Odd isn’t it? Whenever we go to talk to a stranger, we always assume that they’re going to be difficult. That’s the case with me anyway, so I found it a bit unusual when the bloke turned out to be quite nice.

  “Ello’!” said Gary in a loud voice, “what you lot up to?”

  “Sorry to bother you” I said as politely as I could, “but is there any chance we could have that sidecar?”

  “Yah mate” he replied, “go on, I an’t gonna bloody well use it am I?”

  “Oh” I said, quite surprised by the easiness of his guy, “thank you”

  “Ere’” said Gary with a grunt, throwing his fag on the floor and putting it out with his foot, “I’ll give yah a hand. What you want it for?”

  “To attach it to that Moped” said Lizzie, pointing to the bright yellow bike, “we have something extra to carry that we weren’t expecting before we started”

  “Fair enough man” said the lorry driver, “right, let’s get this down then”

  What he did next was astonishing, especially for a bloke of his size. He climbed up onto the back of the lorry from the side. He put one large hand on the side and just lifted himself up like King Kong. He climbed up the mountain of rubbish. He was causing doll’s heads and tin cans to go rolling down the hill, as he kicked them aside with his large feet. He came to the sidecar, grabbed it with both hands, lifted it up and chucked it aside. Thankfully we all bolted out of the way just in time for the sidecar to land next to us. It landed perfectly, on its wheels and without any kind of damage whatsoever. This guy was obviously a pro!

  Gary jumped off, walked alongside the lorry, leaned up against it, got out another cigarette and carried on as he did before as if nothing happened. At first we were so stunned by what we just saw, that we lost the ability to do anything. Then of course, we remembered our manners and together rolled the sidecar across the car park. We shouted back our thank yous. Gary replied with a grunt, a smile with the fag in his mouth and a thumbs up.

  “Well, that happened” said Nick with a laugh,

  “Nice chap” chuckled Zo, “didn’t even charge us for this!”

  “Who are you by the way?” asked Nick, looking at Lizzie,

  “I’m Lizzie” she said shyly, “I’m Aaron’s friend”

  “Aaron’s girlfriend?” asked Zo, brandishing a rather dirty grin,

  “No” replied Lizzie blushing, “we’re just mates”

  “That’s aright then” said Zo,

  We finally arrived at the yellow bike. Nick disappeared around the corner to the band’s van. He returned with an on road tool box to attach the sidecar onto. Out of the left hand side of the sidecar, were lots of iron bars with nuts and bolts sticking outwards. When we brought the sidecar together with the Moped,
we could see that there were places on the bike’s framework that the sidecar’s bars could be attached onto.

  Nick took out some spanners and, with each one he had, placed them onto the bolts to see which spanner was the best fit. Once he found the one that wrapped around the bolt the best, he asked the rest of us to push the sidecar towards the bike so he could screw it on. I can’t remember how long we were holding that sidecar in place, but it felt like hours. My arms started ache real quickly.

  Finally Nick had gone through all of the bolts and made sure they were fastened onto the bike’s framework perfectly. We wobbled it and it seemed sturdy. Just to make sure I rode around the car park with the sidecar on, it seemed fine. It didn’t fall off, the bolts didn’t come loose and it hardly shook at all. I drove the bike back in, ready to get the bass guitar inside it.

  Once again the boys forced Stewie to get the bass in, so if it fell off and smashed on the road it would be his own fault. The boys were still mad at him. I and Lizzie knew that they’d calm down eventually, right now though they just wanted to get out some frustration. While we watched him, Lizzie saddled up to me for a chat.

  “Can I ask you something?” she asked,

  “Yah sure” I replied,

  “Next time you wanna do something like this, run it by me first!”

  “I really wanted to help and go on the road with these guys. I was afraid you’d say no”

  “Why would I say no? It’s not as if we have a time limit to go by. It’s not as if we knew where we were going. I think it’s a good idea. It’ll be fun. I like these guys. Next time though, just ask me first, that’s all”

  “Ok, I will”

  Stewie had strapped up the bass nice and tight. It was one of these belts like you get in RAF planes, where it doubles up in both directions like an “X”. He made it tight as he possible could. Zo tried to pull it out as a test. It wouldn’t budge. We were ready. It was an odd looking vehicle now, a bright yellow Moped with an almost black and brown rusty sidecar. It would do though. Anyway, a lick of paint would sort that out no problem.

  “That looks…” Nick began, trying to find the right words as he looked at the horrid looking thing, “….durable”

  “You guys look ready” said Stan, “We’ll fetch the van and we’ll be on our way”

  The boys all started to walk away so they could get into the van. I and Lizzie got back onto the Moped. I don’t know why the thought arrived when it did, but I suddenly realised that we had no helmets. Lizzie stayed on the bike as I rushed inside the building. I remembered that out of the corner of my eye I saw a sports shop, so I headed straight there.

  The bloke at the counter, who looked as tired as hell, looked alarmed as he saw me running towards him. He must have thought I was rushing in to nick something. He hid behind the counter in fear as I ran over to the biking section. I grabbed two basic adult helmets, one blue and one pink. Perfect. I went over to the till, bought the helmets with the last of my money and ran back outside.

  By the time I arrived at the bike, my helmet was already securely on my head. I threw the pink helmet to Lizzie who popped it right on and fastened the straps. As I climbed back on I saw the boy’s van come around the corner. It was a small, black, dirty Volkswagen campervan. It was small, so I could see what the issue was with the new guitar not fitting inside. The boys looked squashed up as it was with all the amps and stuff taking up most of the room.

  The Van sped on to take the lead. Large clouds of smoke came out of the exhaust like a dodgy car in an old film. I turned the key, kick started the engine, revved up the engine, let go of the brake and sped off after them onto the main road.

  “Aaron?” Lizzie asked over my shoulder,

  “What?” I answered,

  “Is this trip always going to be this unpredictable?” she asked,

  “I guess so” I replied,

  “Good” she said with a giggle, “then I know it’s gonna be fun!”

  CHAPTER SEVEN

  We weren’t on the road too long. It was only a couple of miles up the road to the next gig. At that point it was nearing midnight and Lizzie had already fallen asleep against my back. She was brave. How anyone could fall sleep on a motorbike? Even if you’re just riding on the back, how could you fall asleep? If that was me, I’d keep worrying about what might happen while I was nodding off. The last thing you want to wake up to is a nasty crash! At least when you’re awake and you can see the accident coming, you can prepare yourself for it. If you’re asleep when it happens you’ll wake up half way through. She was a brave girl.

  Then again she was brave to come out with me on this adventure in the first place. She’s probably the best friend I’d ever have. There will always be that one friend who will be your mate for life. You might meet them early in life, in the middle or even towards the end. Nonetheless they will come. I was lucky to have Lizzie with me. She makes me feel good. I don’t think I would have had the energy, strength or bravery to leave St.Ians if it was just me on that bike. I knew just how lucky I was. So I then knew that it would be best to do all I can to not lose her. I needed her. Like a lovebird needs another lovebird. Like the flowers need sunlight. I needed her. She was so much apart of me that I didn’t know what I’d do without her. I leaned over and kissed her on her forehead. I smiled before looking back at the road.

  In front I could see the black van ahead. The brilliant thing about that van is that with the long trail of smoke coming out from the exhaust pipe, he was easy to follow. I could still see the funny little thing shake around as it drove along. It wasn’t the best van in the world. In fact it was pretty dire. Then again it served its purpose. When these guys are finally famous they’ll have all the sweet rides they’ll need. For now though, they had to put up with this old rattler.

  I had forgotten, in the excitement of the moment, to ask the guys where we were actually going. I was just following these guys, trying to make sure that no other cars would move lanes in front of me and make me lose them. Occasionally I’d give a quick glance to the sidecar. I had full confidence in it as it remained attached, didn’t wobble too much and the black case itself kept perfectly still. It was a lovely little journey.

  It was then that the subject of money came into my head. I’d spent the last of my money on those helmets. We needed some money for food. I racked my brain for a good few miles for a solution. I decided that when we came to our destination, wherever that may be, that I’d ask the guys if I and Lizzie could do anything for them for money. A tad bit rude and desperate I know, but hell it was worth a shot!

  We drove on for a little while more. Then the black van in front pulled into a road which went off of the main motorway. We followed them. We went around a roundabout and drove down the turning with the sign which said: Epping. It wasn’t too long before we found ourselves driving through the market town of Epping. In look and design it was actually similar to St.Ians, with the square houses and masses of woodland.

  Soon the van finally stopped in front of the hotel. It was called the Bell Hotel. Like the motel we saw before, it was just a long red brick building with many little windows. We both found parking spaces and parked our vehicles there. While the lads were getting out of the van, I was beginning to get the guitar case out. I felt Nick’s hand fall on my shoulder.

  “Don’t bother mate” he said, “Keep it in, you can drive it to the Speakeasy tomorrow.”

  “The what?” I asked,

  “The Speakeasy bar” he repeated, “that’s where the gig’s at. Come on, let’s get to our rooms. Just throw a blanket over it, so no one can see it and try to nick it. That thing is wedged in so tight, I doubt any pleb would dare try to take it anyway”

  “Hold on!” said Stewie, with a look of concern on his face, “where are they going to sleep?”

  “You and Stan have a room” said Nick, calculating it over in his head, “Zo and Ritchie are in another and I’m alone. All of the rooms we’ve booked have two single beds in them, as lon
g as these two don’t mind being in the same bed, they can sleep in my room.”

  Stewie looked annoyed. He really wanted to find an excuse to get rid of us. Didn’t work though did it? As Lizzie was going into the back of the van to look for a blanket, Stewie looked like he was having a good old sulk. I remember sulking. I remember sulking over silly things, like my Mum just told me that my hair looked silly or something. I’d have a long mope over that! Good that I’ve finally grown out of it.

  I walked over to Lizzie to see if she needed a hand. She was bent over quite far into the van’s boot, only her legs showing like an ostrich when it sticks its head in the ground. It was right then while staring at Lizzie’s lower half that I noticed something, something that I hadn’t noticed about Lizzie before. She had an incredible bum. Not just nice but perfect. It had the right roundness, the right amount, was a beautiful shape and the temptation to squeeze it became unbelievable.

  I heard a cough behind me. I turned around to see the entire band also staring at Lizzie’s arse. Most of them were nodding in agreement upon the bottom’s beauty, while Stewie had his hand out flat and moving from side to side to say he thought it was “ok”. Zo then pointed towards me, gave me a thumbs up, then created a fist with his hand and mimed: “Cor!”

  “Ah-ha!” shouted Lizzie from inside the boot, “I’ve got it”

  She began to remerge from the boot. At that first sign, all us lads dispersed accordingly. In a panic we just ran away and scattered ourselves within the vicinity of the van and Moped. We tried to do something that would make us look unsuspicious. Unfortunately, when Lizzie finally came around with the blanket, we’d all thought of the same idea.

  Lizzie came out of the boot holding the large dark green blanket. She walked towards the Moped, to see a rather odd sight. To her, it would have seemed that while she was looking around in that boot, us lads had suddenly gained a huge interest in the stars. All of us were looking up and pointing and commenting on the shining dots above. Lizzie did nothing more then raise her eyebrows.