Peter Guttridge - The Last King of Brighton

The gig was in the Hippodrome. The group’s first taste of real dressing rooms. Duane Eddy didn’t hang out with them. Just said hello and shook their hands and went to his dressing room. Charlie was in awe. His backing band were British session musicians. They helped The Avalons set up their gear.

The ballroom was packed but with a potentially combustible mix of mods and rockers. The mods were on one side and the rockers on the other. The group came out and got stuck into some Buddy Holly then switched to rhythm and blues. Hathaway was glad they were on a raised stage as within ten minutes the first mod and first rocker had met in the middle for a fight. More a tussle really – punches and kicks but nobody went down. When they withdrew another three or four from each side started up.

The girls were all clustered right in front of the stage, a lot of them leaning on the stage. Hathaway saw Dan eyeing a couple up as he sang. He dance-stepped over and leaned into him.

‘Watch it – we don’t know who they belong to.’

When Duane Eddy came on the rockers made more fuss than the girls. Hathaway and the group clustered at one end of the bar. Reilly gave a little wave from the other end. Hathaway excused himself and went over.

‘Wouldn’t have thought this was your sort of show, Mr Reilly.’

‘Gentlemen, you’ve probably seen this young pop star around on the pier. He’s Dennis’s lad.’

The men around him all nodded and smiled.

‘Doing a bit of business with the proprietors. And a bit of behind the scenes wheeler-dealing.’

Reilly looked over as the latest groups of mods and rockers drifted into the centre of the hall and clashed.

‘It’s almost choreographed,’ Reilly said. ‘Which is the nearest anyone is going to get to dancing tonight, I think.’

‘Lot of blood,’ Hathaway said.

‘Head wounds bleed excessively, however minor the injury. No, this is quite restrained, I think. It could have been a brawl but it isn’t. Very neat.’ He looked round. ‘I see the bouncers have made themselves scarce. Sensible.’

He moved across to Hathaway and spoke directly into his ear. Hathaway got a whiff of whisky on the breath.

‘Recognize anyone on the left-hand side of the ballroom?’

‘To be honest we’ve been trying not to look at anybody on either side of the ballroom.’

‘Good policy when you’re in the middle. But take a look now, why don’t you?’

Hathaway did and almost immediately saw three of the Teds who had given them the beating in Seven Dials.

‘Those three guys over there – and these two heading back to them.’

Reilly nodded.

‘That little squirt and those two big fellas, and these two with bloodied knuckles?’

Hathaway nodded.

‘All right, then. You enjoy the rest of your evening.’

‘I want to go over,’ Hathaway said.

‘That would be foolhardy in the circumstances. Leave it for the moment.’

Hathaway looked from Reilly to Reilly’s men ranged at the bar.

‘What are you going to do?’

‘Negotiate.’ Reilly patted Hathaway’s arm. ‘Get back to your friends now.’

When Hathaway went back over to Dan and the others, he looked across at the five Teds-turned-rockers. They were in a huddle, laughing. He wondered what they had thought when they saw the group up on stage before Eddy came on.

Eddy’s twanging guitar was going over big. Charlie was in raptures. Hathaway leaned over to Dan.

‘Those Teds are here. The ones that did us over.’

Dan spotted them immediately.

‘Bloody hell. Small town – should’ve thought.’ He looked back at Hathaway. ‘Do you think we should do something?’

‘Not here – we’d get mobbed. Maybe after.’

Dan looked uneasy.

‘They gave us a good hiding last time. What makes you think this time is going to be any different?’

Hathaway glanced down the bar at Reilly. He noticed that three or four of his men had disappeared.

‘We need to hold on anyway. My dad’s bloke down the other end of the bar has something in mind.’

Dan looked down the bar.

‘That hard-looking bloke and his oppos?’

Hathaway nodded.

Eddy finished the instrumental and Charlie temporarily reconnected with the rest of the world. He looked across at Dan and Hathaway.

‘A god walks the streets of Brighton,’ he yelled.

‘He came by minicab, I think,’ Dan said, laughing.

Charlie glanced around the room. He looked straight at the Teds and his eyes widened.

He stepped closer to the others, his hand rummaging in the pocket where he kept the bike chain.

‘Have you seen who’s over there?’

‘We have,’ Hathaway said.

‘Well?’

‘Well, nothing. There’s nothing to be done at the moment.’

‘Bugger that,’ Charlie said. ‘I’ll have that big bastard.’

Hathaway still had his own rage at the one who had intended to piss on him. He was imagining broken bones. Even so. He reached up and ruffled Charlie’s hair.

Charlie jerked back and patted his mop-top, into place.

‘Even though you’re masquerading as a mop-top we know you’re really a Teddy boy through and through. I’m not sure if Teds have etiquette, but I’m sure it’s not on for one Ted to attack another in the middle of a conflict with a bunch of mods.’

Charlie was staring so hard at the group of Teds that Hathaway was sure they’d sense it and look over.

‘After, then,’ Charlie said.

‘Johnny’s dad’s friend said to hang on.’

‘Johnny’s dad’s friend?’ Charlie said disdainfully. ‘Is your dad going to walk us home after school too?’

‘It’s not like that,’ Hathaway said.

‘I fight my own battles,’ Charlie said. ‘Time you did too.’

‘What’s your problem with my dad?’ Hathaway said, squaring up to Charlie. ‘I notice you didn’t turn down this gig he got us.’

Charlie looked at Hathaway but ignored the question.

‘I say we ambush them afterwards. The element of surprise will work in our favour. What do you say, Dan?’

Dan and Billy both looked from Hathaway to Charlie. Dan shrugged.

‘You going to fight your own battles?’ Charlie said to Hathaway.

Hathaway was stoked up.

‘OK. Just let me tell my dad’s bloke.’ He looked down the bar but Reilly and his friends had gone.

The Avalons were backstage by the time Eddy finished his encores. He came off in a rush, gave them all a wave and a ‘Thanks, guys’ and went back out to sign photographs and autographs for the long queue already in place.

‘Let’s go,’ Charlie said.

‘What about our gear?’ Dan said. ‘We’ve only just got it – don’t want to lose this lot too.’

‘It’ll be safe enough. Come on.’

This from Charlie, who’d freaked out when the original gear had been wrecked.

Dan picked up a beer bottle, and Billy found a block of wood and he hefted it in his hand. Billy looked queasy. He looked down at his elastic-sided Chelsea boots.

‘Wish I was wearing winkle-pickers.’

Hathaway looked at a long pole with a hook on the end. He’d switched to aikido and had been doing kendo. He only knew a four-strike sequence so far – two defensive, two offensive – but reckoned that would be all he needed. He dismissed the idea, though, worried that if the police got involved, he would be treatedmore harshly for using what was obviously an offensive weapon.

He was concerned about Reilly and his instructions, but he had been provoked by Charlie’s comments.

It was drizzling when they stepped out into the alley at the back of the dance hall.

Hathaway looked to see if the Teds might be among the autograph hunters, waiting to jump them.

A thin stream of people went past the end of the alley. Charlie led the way down. He kept his right hand in his jacket pocket.