David Peace - GB84

‘There will be no ballot. That much is clear,’ the Jew is saying aloud in the back. ‘The strategy of the committee must be based upon this reality. The Employment Acts have to be kept in reserve. No resort to ballot, no resort to court. In the very unlikely event of a national ballot and an even unlikelier vote for a strike then, and only then, should the Employment Acts be used to protect those areas that will inevitably defy the ballot and continue to work —’

The Jew is practising his speech again. The Jew is out to turn the screw –

He talks to himself in the back of the Mercedes. He talks about Social Security. Talks about the non-payment of benefits. About late payments. He talks about the Electricity and Gas boards. Talks about demanding weekly payments. About cutting the strikers off. He talks about the banks and the building societies. Talks about mortgages –

About repossession –

The Jew wants to turn the screw. To turn it again and again –

Week by week, little by little, day by day, piece by piece –

‘To roll back the frontiers of Socialism for ever, Neil!’

Neil Fontaine stops at the checkpoint at the end of Downing Street.

The Jew puts on a pair of aviator sunglasses and his large-brimmed panama hat. He takes a deep breath. He says, ‘Wish me luck, Neil.’

‘Good luck, sir.’

Neil Fontaine watches the Jew disappear into Number 10, Downing Street.

Neil Fontaine looks at his watch again. He starts the Mercedes –

He has his own screws to turn. Different screws.

Midnight Wednesday into Thursday. Dark side of the moon. They pull up outside Vince’s bungalow. No lights on –

‘Wait here,’ the Mechanic tells Jen.

He gets out. He goes up the drive. Rings his bell. Bangs on his door.

‘Who is it?’ shouts Vince from inside. ‘What do you want?’

‘It’s me,’ the Mechanic says. ‘I want a word.’

Keys turn. Chains fall. Vince Taylor opens the door —

The Mechanic shines the torch full in his face. Vince’s hand goes up –

Vince knows.

‘Dave,’ he says. ‘Put that away.’

‘Vince,’ shouts his wife down the hall. ‘What the bloody hell’s going on?’

‘Nothing, love,’ he says. ‘Go back to sleep.’

The Mechanic lowers the torch.

Vince tightens the belt on his dressing-gown. He looks down the drive. He says, ‘Who you got in the car with you?’

‘Jen.’

‘Fucking hell,’ says Vince.

The Mechanic nods. He says, ‘Schaub? Leslie?’

‘Just Leslie,’ says Vince.

‘Schaub?’

‘Fuck knows.’

‘So where’s Leslie?’

‘He’s afraid, Dave.’

‘We’re all afraid, Vince,’ the Mechanic tells him. ‘Now where is he?’

‘Dave —’

The Mechanic shakes his head. He asks him again, ‘Where is he?’

‘They call it Little America,’ says Vince. ‘But, Dave —’

‘Where is it, Vince?’

‘Atcham on the way to Telford. It’s a disused airfield.’

‘What’s he doing there?’

‘He’s hiding. What you think he’s doing there?’

The Mechanic looks at his watch. He says, ‘Put some clothes on, Vince.’

Vince shakes his head. Vince says, ‘Dave —’

The Mechanic grabs Vince Taylor by his dressing-gown. He says again, ‘Put some fucking clothes on.’

Vince goes to get dressed. Vince comes back out. Vince sits in the front seat –

And off they set.

Thirty minutes later, Vince points to the left –

The Mechanic switches off the headlights. He turns off the main road –

Drives through an industrial estate.

Vince points straight ahead.

There is a fence with a gate and an old USAF sign. A red Escort parked up.

The Mechanic pulls in beside the Escort. He switches off the engine.

The Mechanic turns to Vince in the passenger seat. He says, ‘So where’s Leslie?’

‘Fuck knows,’ says Vince.

The Mechanic grabs Vince Taylor’s fat face in his right hand. He squeezes those pasty cheeks tight together. Turns him towards the backseat –

‘You know who that is?’ the Mechanic asks Vince.

Vince nods.

‘That’s the woman I love,’ the Mechanic tells him. ‘So don’t speak like that in front of her.’

Vince nods again.

The Mechanic pushes Vince’sheadback into the side-window. Lets him go.

Vince holds his face. He says, ‘I’m sorry, Dave.’

‘Right,’ the Mechanic says. ‘Then let’s go and find Leslie.’

They all get out into the dark. The cold and the rain.

‘Shall we split up?’ asks Vince.

The Mechanic switches the torch on. He shines it in Vince’s face —

Vince puts his hand up again.

‘Vince,’ the Mechanic says. ‘Splitting up is always a mistake.’

Vince shrugs and opens the gates.

They start walking towards the airstrip and an old control tower.

Vince cups his mouth in his hands. He shouts, ‘Leslie! It’s me, Vince!’

Nothing.

‘Leslie! It’s me, Vince,’ he shouts again. ‘Dave and Jen are here with me.’

‘There,’ says Jen. She points at a light flashing on and off up ahead.

They wave their torches at the signal. They walk towards it.

Leslie is standing in front of a small shed. He is shaking. He drops to his knees. Helooks up at them —

‘It was fucking Julius,’ he sobs. ‘He only went to put back them fucking knickers. I told him not to. But he thought you were going to hurt him again. Thenhe was inside and she come home. I went to help him. But —’

They stand in a semicircle. They look down on Leslie.

He looks up again —

‘He lost it.’

‘Where are they now, Leslie?’ the Mechanic asks him.

‘I don’t know. I swear. Really. I don’t. I went upstairs. I didn’t want any part of it. I went back to the car. I didn’t know what to do. Then Julius come backoutwith her. Tookher off in her car.Thatwas last I sawof him. Them.’

The Mechanic squats down next to Leslie. He takes Leslie’s face in his hands –

The Mechanic holds it up to his –

Little Leslie is crying.

The Mechanic wipes away Leslie’s tears. He looks into his eyes.

‘I swear that’s all I know,’ says Leslie.

The Mechanic lets go of Leslie’s face. He stands up.

Vince is staring at the Mechanic.

The Mechanic nods.

Vince spits into the ground.

‘What?’ says Leslie. ‘Vince? What is it?’

‘You two wait here,’ the Mechanic tells Vince and Leslie.

The Mechanic takes Jen’s hand. They walk back to the Rover.

‘Lock the doors,’ the Mechanic tells her. ‘Put the radio on.’

Jen nods. She gets in. She locks the doors. She puts the radio on. Loud.

The Mechanic goes to the back of the Rover. He opens the boot –

Takes out the spade.

*

Terry Winters walked the floors and corridors of St James’s House. His ear to the doors, he listened to the voices. The telephones ringing. The typewriters –