Here Starts Life
4 Years old - 1967
Born in Quinton an affluent little town in Birmingham UK in 1963, Mercedes Jones was the middle child of three, her brother Michael the eldest and Michelle the youngest. She found herself left out of things in many ways; her brother was the apple of their Mothers eye, her sister was a replica of their Dad and the baby so Mercedes being a mix of everyone she never really fell on any side. If things were happening Michael naturally gravitated to Mom and Dad felt duty bound to protect Michelle so Mercedes felt she was always left to fend for herself.
Michael was 6 years old, Mercy 4 and Michelle 1 when she finally became special to someone, she'd started school she was in reception class when she met her best friend Sam Evans. Sam lived maybe ten doors up from her on the same street, and although they'd seen each other nearly all their lives in passing, conversation wasn't something that had ever happened for them. They generally stood holding the shopping trolley while their Mother's went into some deep conversation about whatever was going on on the street and the price of something going up or down. They'd stand around kicking dust, wheeling trolleys or making fed up noises or just becoming a pest until their Mom's gave up and walked away for the embarrassment to shout at them as they turned to smile at each other for a job well done.
They started school on the same day and smiled maybe because they knew each other from the shopping trips "He can sit by me" Mercedes called across the class as the teacher stood asking where there was a space for Sam to sit.
"Thanks" he smiled as he sat in the chair next to her
"We can be like friends" she told him as they shared a smile and turned their attention to the teacher
"Like Ben?" he asked smiling cutely
"Ben like 'Ben the two of us need look no more, we both found what we were looking for' you mean" she sang loudly in the class as everyone looked on, some of the words obscure
"Yeah 'now it's us, now it's we' Michael Jackson he's so cool, my Mom likes him too"
Thanks for being my friend Ben" she smiled
"My names Sam not Ben"
Mine's Mercedes but your my special friend, so you can call me Mercy, nobody else calls me that"
"Sam, Mercedes will you two stop talking" the teacher called out as they looked at each other before turning back to pay attention
Mercedes Dad worked from 6am till 6pm Monday to Saturday in a local chemical factory, just 10 minutes away from home while her Mom worked in a metal factory a 20 minute bus ride away from home that took nearer to 60 minutes in the rush hour traffic 9am till 4pm.
Sam's Dad worked driving lorries all over the place and spent most of his time driving around Western Europe, Hungary, Greece and places like that, his lorry was his workplace, bedroom and kitchen. Before Sam started school they'd spent many a weekend on the road with him, taking family days out all over Europe. His Mom was a housewife, his Dad didn't want her to work, with three sick parents to tend to nearby, he felt that was more than enough to keep her busy and now Sam was in the fold, she could do without the added demands on her time, and she seemed fine with it
They hadn't played many games or even had that much time to talk before Mercedes Mom turned up and it was time for her to go home, she cried that first day for having to leave all her friends "We'll get you a sweet on the way home" her Mom told her changing her mood immediately "Lillian" she called out seeing Sam's Mom across the playground
"Mavis" she shouted waving back "Wait for me" she ordered as she ran off to find Sam "Thanks" she smiled as she got to Mavis with Sam's school jumper in her hand "First half day and he's up for losing his jumper" she swung the jumper rolling her eyes
"Mercedes' ribbons gone, but I just couldn't be bothered" Mavis laughed rolling her eyes back "I suppose we'll moan when they finally come home naked" she told her as they walked home
"I suppose" Lillian laughed
"Sorry I promised Mercedes a sweet" she walked towards the shop telling Lillian
"No problem" she smiled following her in, they stood talking as they watched the children choose their sweets
"I'm actually on my dinner hour I've got to get Mercedes to the sitter and get back to work" Mavis told Lillian as they talked
"If you didn't mind I could collect her and keep her until you get back we're not too far away and they seem to be getting on" Lillian suggested
"I'll have to speak to her Dad about it and let you know in the morning" she replied as the children came running back with their choice for their parent to pay, they left the shop sucking their lollipops
That night there was an agreement and the next day Lillian picked both children up and took them to her home, Mercy was mesmerised she'd never seen so many toys in one place, her eyes darting around as she looked at the cars, trains, Etch a Sketch, Speak and spell, everything you could think of was sitting around his living room "This is my play room" Sam told her as he flung his coat down and Mercedes watched his Mom pick it up and put it away
"You have a whole room downstairs?" she asked shocked
As time went on Mercedes began to enjoy being at Sam's house more than her own, she was having sandwiches instead of yam, dumplings and sweet potatoes, juice instead of weak squash and cakes, blancmange or jelly with every meal. Term ended and started again and then they were at school for a full day, having school dinners and playing together
"Will you be my best friend forever?" Sam asked one day as they played at break time
"Always always" Mercy smiled as they held hands
They went through reception, infants and into junior school sitting next to each other as friends, becoming monitors in their infant years; responsible for making sure everything was packed away properly after class and reporting hazards to the teacher
9 Years Old – 1972
"Mercy" Sam shouted as he watched a snowball heading straight for her "Look out" he pointed at the ball of snow travelling through the air, they were in the playground having a snowball fight with the rest of the children and somehow they'd ended up on opposite sides
"Evans" Ronnie shouted at him, Ronnie was a tall black guy who felt he was the best fighter in the school, he's always had something against Mercy and him, maybe it was because they were friends and he couldn't get in the middle of that, no matter how he tried. He had a habit of shouting Mercy out anywhere and anytime he would call her fat, dumb or a cow with every sentence he made mention of her in, Mercy had begged Sam not to get involved because she felt Ronnie was trying to pick a fight with him, so he'd just stand back and listen to his crap
"You shouldn't hit girls" Sam shouted back at him
"She's not a girls she's a..."
"... Ronnie" Miss Walker shouted at him before he could finish his sentence, everyone in the playground stopped and looked as Ronnie walked over to her for his telling off, Sam smiling as he watched him walk over to Mercy to apologise
Sam's Dad had started driving further away to places like Saudi Arabia, Iran and Qatar spending weeks away at a time, his Grandparents were getting more dependent on his Mom so their family times together were getting less, Mercy had become his centre of attention, she was who he went to when he was feeling happy, sad, angry or even unwell and they sat and talked about everything
"I hate my life" Sam told her one day when they sat at the dinner table in Mercy's parents house waiting for the usual Saturday soup "I want to do something to get their attention, they act as if I don't even exist"
"Sam" Denis; Mercy's Dad, smiled as he walked in through the back door to see them sitting "Nice to see you" he told him before bending to kiss Mercy on the head "Mercedes" he grinned at his daughter as he walked through into the living room, minutes later he came running through the kitchen making his way to the bathroom and leaving his cigarettes on the kitchen table
"Sam" Mercy gasped looking at him as his hand went up to grab the packet "What are you doing?" she whispered
"Getting us a cigarette, he smokes it can't be bad" he told her as he took the cigarette out and put the packet back in it's place "We can try it on the way home from school on Tuesday" he smiled
"What with your Mom walking us home?"
"I heard your Mom talking to mine about letting us walk home alone, I think she's going to do that soon, whatever day that happens we'll have this" he held the cigarette up telling her
"I don't know" she looked at him saying "What if it kills us?"
"It hasn't killed your Dad yet" he smiled trying to put her at ease
"Mavis" they heard shaking them out of their conversation as their Dad came back into the kitchen "The pot smells ready" he smiled at her Mom
"Why don't you just say you're hungry" she slapped his chest as she walked past him laughing as she went to share out the dinner, Sam was as usual licking his elbows at the mutton soup with all the yams, dumplings, sweet potatoes, pumpkin and other exotic foods his palate was experiencing, he loved Mavis' cooking more than his Mom's, but he'd never tell them that.
The weekend over and school was back on, Ronnie still, after all these years, had a problem with their relationship, and he'd found himself a couple of friends to be on his side with this hate thing they had going on. Linden and Victor were just as rough as Ronnie and didn't really need a reason to dislike anyone. Linden was from a broken family his Dad, it was rumoured, had run off with some woman who had four children for some man who was doing a stretch in prison, Linden was up for blaming every woman in the world for the situation his Mom was in, left with no money, losing their home and no Dad he was looking for payback. Victor revealed once that his Dad had beat him viciously with a belt, he claimed it only happened once but his moods sort of told everyone it was more regular than that and so these three hard done by lads sort of took it upon themselves to become the bullies of the school.
On Wednesday that week Lillian finally decided Mercy and Sam, at nearing 10 years old, should be trusted to walk home alone, she informed Mavis and told them when she dropped them off that morning that they should make their way home.
That dinner time Ronnie and his friends gave Mercy a really bad time at school; calling her names, throwing sticks in her hair and getting as many of the other children to chant at her, Sam had been in football practice on the field up the road from the school and got back just at the end of dinner time, washed and got into class on the bell
"Where's Mercedes?" he asked Wendy who sat in the desk in front of them as he sat at the empty desk "Wendy" he whispered loudly as the teacher spoke "Where's Mercedes?"
"She was in the playground last I saw her" she turned to tell him as the teacher called her name
"Sam" the teacher stopped talking to look at him "Where's Mercedes?"
"I don't know Miss, I was at football" he replied getting a chill as everyone in the class looked round at him "Sorry Miss I need the bathroom" he jumped up telling her as he made for the door without waiting for permission. "Mercy" he shouted pushing the bathroom doors open as he went, looking for feet and finding nothing "Mercy" he shouted as he burst through the doors to get into the playground "Mercy" he shouted running across the playground over to the bike sheds where they usually sat talking at break times, breathing when he saw her coat sitting on the bench "Mercy" he said letting all the air out of his lungs "Why are you sitting out here?" he sat beside her asking
"Ronnie and his damn friends calling me names, the whole school was chanting 'Fat Fingers' at me, I'm not fat I'm thick" she cried as Sam hugged her
"You tell me enough times to ignore all their stuff, and here you are taking so much notice of it you're missing our favourite lesson"
"It hurt"
"That stuff always did but we raise above it, that's what your Mom would say" he smiled "And plus I thought the only thing that mattered was that we were friends?"
"It is" she smiled up at him
"Come on lets get to class" he pulled her up saying "We can smoke that cigarette on the way home today" he told her as they entered the school
"We're going home alone?" she smiled
"Apparently" he smiled
The rest of the day seemed to spin past as they went from lesson to lesson, wishing English was a half lesson instead of the full hour until suddenly it was 4pm and the bell rang, they ran to the cloakroom grabbed their coats and headed out of school. They stood in the doorway of the nearby public house lighting one of the two matches Sam had taken out of his house in preparation for the event, excited "Light it" Mercy told him as they stood looking around
"I am" he giggled striking the match on the wall as Mercy covered it with the hands to stop it going out
"Quick" she said as Sam put the cigarette in his mouth and drew breath through it letting the smoke out straight away "My turn" she grinned as she watched him "Dad pulls it all the way back" she told him as she took it off him
"Back to where?" Sam asked as he watched her put the cigarette to her mouth and take a big pull, it hit the back of her throat and she started coughing uncontrollably "Are you alright?" he grabbed hold of her asking as she stumbled about coughing, trying to catch her breath "Mercy" he panicked as he watched her looking around to call for help as she moved around coughing "Please" he looked at a passing Mom asking as they heard car wheels screech and a scream before there was an impact, he looked back to see Mercy laying at the side of a car "Mercy" he shouted running towards her.
The driver was out the car, the shopkeeper was out fussing and others stood on the pavement looking on "Bring her in here" the shop keeper told the man as he helped Mercy up, while Sam picked her school bag up, outed the cigarette and followed them into the shop "Are you hurting?" the shopkeeper asked
"My knee" Mercedes told her holding her knee
"Maybe this will help" the shopkeeper told her handing her a packet of Minstrels, Mercy's eyes widened it was very rare her Mom shared her Minstrels and now here she was getting a whole packet
"Do you know your home phone number?" she asked
"Sam" she smiled looking at him as the woman passed him a packet too, she wanted to scream with excitement but remembered she was supposed to be hurt
"Thank you" Sam smiled opening the sweets, they knew they needed to eat them quick before this woman smelt cigarette on their breath and contacted his Mom for that instead "Yes its 01212225585" he told the woman before throwing a handful of minstrels in his mouth
Less than fifteen minutes later Lillian was standing in the shop crying for what could have happened, explaining it was their fist time walking home alone and she wasn't going to do that again, as she called Mavis to fill her in. Twenty minutes later Mavis was there crying and ordering an ambulance to take her daughter to the hospital, the driver told them he wasn't actually watching the road so he felt everything was his fault and he'd make contact with the police to say as much, they finally got to the hospital and after a two hour wait they found nothing and sent them home.
The next day Sam and Mercy made some promises about watching the road, staying on the pavement and getting home before 4.20pm so when his Mom dropped them off she agreed they'd try again at making their way home. Of course Mercy accidentally on purpose fell outside the shop and again they went in for sweets leaving for home five minutes later, they had their puff of cigarette and washed their mouths out with minstrels.
The following day Ronnie and his friends cottoned on that they were walking home alone and followed them, jeering about their friendship, the fact that Mercedes was friends with a white guy, telling her she was the ugliest girl in the school so he could have her and pushing the two of them around "Mercy" Sam grabbed hold of her as they pushed her into the wall, turning to retaliate he was so angry
"Sam please don't" she begged
"Oh Sam please do" Linden smirked, walking towards him
They got all the way to the shop before the shopkeeper came out to defend them, telling the three boys to find their way home before she called their parents, she must have known who they were because the boys didn't argue they just walked off without turning back. They went in and of course there were more sweets before they made their way home to Sam's house "Sam" his Mom shouted as they got through the door "I'm in the kitchen"
Sam and Mercy made their way to the kitchen "Mercy" Lillian smiled "I think your Mom's at home today you can go straight home" she told her wrapping two hot teacakes as she spoke "I know you like these" she told her putting them in her hand "Sam watch her walk down the road" she instructed as she turned back to her baking tray to collect more teacakes
Sam saw Mercy down the road, waved and went back in, surely he was getting two teacakes too, he walked in with a smile on his face to see his Mom with tears in her eyes "What's up?" he asked standing beside her
"Your Grandma Horton passed today, remember I told you that was going to happen?"
"Yes" he looked up at her, tears in his eyes, he didn't see them much, even though they didn't live very far away, his parents didn't want him constantly upset they said but he remembered the times they had shared were happy, they gave him everything he wanted. He hugged his Mom and it felt like it had been a long time since he'd felt her arms around him loving him like that, she'd been so many things to so many people and somewhere in there she'd slipped at being his Mom in this way
"I know this sounds selfish baby, but it's a bit of relief she was suffering and so were you" she looked down at him, kissing his forehead "I'm sorry about spreading myself so thin, but you'll understand when we get to a certain age" she smiled "Dad's coming home tomorrow, go get washed up and have something to eat" she told him letting him go and flashing him with the tea towel she had in her hand "And you need to eat it all before your tea cakes" she shouted after him laughing
Sam was happy his Dad was coming home, he loved seeing him but the place changed when he came, Mercy didn't come round, his Mom didn't go out, he went to school in the car and his parents picked him up and they always went somewhere so it was difficult to get them to take Mercy with them unless it was the Friday shop at the supermarket. He missed his Saturday afternoon soup, his Monday cornmeal porridge, his weekly cigarette steal, they weren't even smoking them any more it had turned into this campaign to stop her Dad from smoking
Then one of the days, when he came out of school, his parents were waiting in the car, unexpectedly they gave Mercy a lift home, his Mom let her into her house and they went off on their travels, apparently his Dad was looking for some ornament for his truck before the shops shut. They treated him to a fish supper before he was sent to bed almost an hour earlier than usual, he could hear the talking, crying and then nothing before he fell asleep, something was strange about the whole day.
Their birthday was on the same day 2nd September, which meant they were generally the youngest in the class, but that didn't phase them, they'd always have a secret celebration the day before because they knew they'd end up spending the day with their families, they'd buy sweets and sit singing Michael Jackson songs to each other, whatever was their favourite, or what they'd heard their parents playing. It seemed like days after their birthday celebrations that Sam sat playing with his toy watching and listening to his parents conversation, they were talking yet again about his grandparents in some sort of code, mixing it all in with the weather.
"Christmas is coming soon son, what do you want?" Jack; his Dad, asked him as they sat in the conservatory watching the weather getting cold that Saturday afternoon
"I don't know a bike I guess, I'm getting too tall for mine" he looked up from his etch a sketch to tell his Dad
"We'll see how good you are" he smiled at him, Sam knew that meant he was getting it, and he knew what he was going to do with the old one
"Mercy" he smiled as they got to the cloakroom that Monday morning "I'm getting a new bike for Christmas and I was wondering if you'd want my old one, it's not been used much, I have a puncture kit for it and the seat can be adjusted"
"I can't ride a bike" she giggled
"I could learn you, in the spring I could learn you in the garden"
"I'd have to keep it at yours, Mom and Dad would spit blood for me accepting things like that"
"That's fine" he laughed "Where do you get your phrases from?"
"Parents" she laughed
"I'll keep it in my play room"
"Okay thanks" she smiled reaching up to kiss his cheek "Best present ever" she told him as he punched the air "How longs your Dad here for, we never get any time when he's around"
"I guess, we rarely get time together so when we do they want it to count, sorry"
"Don't apologise, I should, I see my Dad every day and I'm ragging you for the times you get, you should be with them, we'll get back to us when we get back to normal" she grabbed his arm saying as they marched off to class
"I'm faking sick this Saturday I miss your Mom's soup" he laughed as they walked
"Then we won't see each other till next year" she frowned as he hugged her
The time went fast as they finished school for the Christmas holidays, Sam played sick and went to Mercy's for Saturday dinner, taking his traditional cigarette and that was it they didn't see each other again until it was time to return to school.
It seemed like Christmas night when his Dad went back out on the road, everything was such a whirlwind but it was the day before he finally went back to school, his Mom announced they would be getting dinner money now, so on day two they agreed to use one days meal each week to buy sweets, so on that day they shared their lunch, they were in week three when disaster struck
"Sam" his Mom shouted as he sat eating his breakfast before school "Sam" she shouted again as mad as he'd ever heard her
"Coming" he jumped up to see what was happening now, shocked when he found her in his room
"What the hell is this?" she asked holding the cigarette he'd taken from Mr Jones' box just before Christmas "Where did you get this from, are you smoking?" she asked all at once
"No" he looked down sheepishly saying
"What are you doing with this in your room?"
"I've been helping Mercedes, we're trying to get her Dad to stop smoking, so when we can, we take one away, I just didn't get the time to crush it yet"
"You've been stealing from Mavis' house?"
"Not stealing Mercedes asked me to take it"
"It's not Mercedes cigarette to give Sam, and I know you know that this is stealing"
"I'll give it him back"
"I'm going to have to speak to Mavis about this and we'll think about what's next for you two" she told him putting the cigarette in her pocket as she left his room
They had the conversation and although they agreed the children had Denis' best interest at heart, stealing needed to be punished, they decided they were a bad influence on each other right now, therefore they needed to be kept apart for a month as punishment. That was fine out of school but in school they actually got tighter. They joined music and drama classes after school, while Sam got serious about the football team and Mercy joined the netball team.
"Mom" he woke up one Sunday morning sitting in the kitchen watching her bake, fed up with this punishment thing keeping Mercy and him apart "Why don't we go to church?"
"We've just never been religious" she turned to tell him "Why?"
"I think I want to go to church, they've been talking about God at school and I said I'd like to know more, I thought I could go with the Jones, Mercy parents will be there, what do you say?"
"I'll speak to Mavis" his Mom looked at him replying, the last time he'd been in church was to his Grandma's funeral last year and he looked totally alien in the place, he wasn't even paying any attention to the preacher "Are you sure about this?" she asked going out into the hall to make the call
"Yeah it might help with the lesson" he smiled, Mercy had told him her Dad would never say no to someone wanting to know about God, and this was just another way to break their keep apart punishment, he smiled as he heard his Mom's voice go to a higher pitch signalling they'd said yes
"They said fine" she came back from the hall telling him
"Thanks Mom" he kissed her cheek saying as he ran upstairs to get dressed
Two weeks of Sunday school, prayers, after school clubs and no mention of Mercy from Sam or visa versa and their parents were satisfied they'd learned their lesson and allowed them to play together again. The rest of the school year went fast, they had the whole summer to look forward to, Mercy had a bike to learn to ride and Sam, well Sam was wondering why Mercy was on his damn mind so much.
10 Years old – 1973
"We're going to meet your Dad in Jersey for the summer" his Mom announced three weeks before the holidays started
"But I made plans"
"Unmake then" his Dad told him holding his Mom as he spoke
Sam didn't even feel he could argue, two days ago his Grandpa Evans had died in his sleep and his Grandma Evans had bottled everything up and maybe forced her heart to stop, he'd heard his Dad say. His Dad cried forever before he got mad threw some stuff around and cried some more while his Mom stood watching and he cowered on the stairs, then they both stood telling each other they were orphans now and cried in each others arms. The house had been solemn the following day and now this announcement
"Uncle Ken wants us to have a break, and up at his place was were Nan and Grandpa were happiest so we're going to scatter their ashes over there" his Dad told him
"Oh" Sam said walking off to find his room he needed to cry too, he was missing summer with this girl, that, for some reason he didn't quite understand, had become so important to him
"We're not going to be here for the summer, this will be our first one apart" Sam sat telling Mercy as they ate their last lunch of the school year together "Dad's taking my Grandparents ashes to Jersey by my Uncle Ken's to scatter and they're spending the summer with him and his family, my cousins"
"Are they your real cousins?"
"Yeah of course Anne and Louise"
"How old are they?"
"Anne's 12 and Louise is maybe 8 or 9"
"Have you been before?"
"Yeah a few times but only for weekends"
"So what do you do there?"
"We eat out a lot I guess Aunt Sylvia don't cook" he laughed "We go to the beech, do day trips all over the place, go to the fair and I get out of chores" he laughed harder "What will you do?"
"Mom and Dad are working so I guess we'll go to Aunt Joy's" she frowned "The only thing good about staying there is they have a secret door in the fence that we get out of and play in the streets at the back without them knowing"
"Do you have any cousin's there?"
"There are loads she's like the childminder for the whole of Selly Oak" she told him as she sat watching him laugh "She's not really an Aunt just friends of my parents from back home, so out of respect we call her Auntie" she laughed with him
"Loads, what do you mean loads?"
"There's about 20 to 25 of us, that go there, depending on if their parents are working or not"
"Stop exaggerating" he laughed louder
"I'm not, there may even be more" she laughed "But seriously they have the biggest back garden you'd ever want to see"
"Okay I was saving this for your birthday but seeing as we aren't going to see each other for the whole summer, here" he said giving her something in a plastic bag
"Sam" she smiled opening the bag to reveal a copy of their favourite song just now 'Got To Be There' by Michael Jackson "Thank you" she smiled kissing his cheek
"Just in case you miss me, and I think we can buy them instead of singing them now"
"You know I'll miss you" she knocked his shoulder with hers telling him "We'll take this in turns" she told him holding the record up
"I'll miss you too" he told her as the bell rang and they looked around unable to believe they'd missed their time outside "We'll make Michael Jackson our missing you thing yeah?" he held his hand out for her to grab telling her
"Yeah" she grabbed his hand and got up to follow him out the canteen "You know our Michael, so keep it at your house" she gave it him back telling him
"We'll be shopping for school clothes on our birthday, so I'll bring you something then" she told him as they hurried off to class
Sam
Sam got to Jersey and was shocked to see how his cousins had grown, Anne had boobs and everything, long blond hair down her back all curled like an adult and paint on her nails with lipstick to match "Anne" his Mom gasped in just as much shock as him "You've grown" she smiled hugging her "How old are you now?"
"13 Aunt Lillian" she smiled
"And I'm 11" Louise added as Sam stood thinking he could have sworn one of them were younger than him
"Sam you're quite the young man now too" his Aunt Sylvia walked towards him saying, his smile widening for this woman who always treated him like a king
"Nearly 10" he smiled at her, at 10 he was much taller than Louise but maybe a few inches off Anne
The first few days were all about Nan and Grandpa, and everyone understood that, the brothers cried together for their parents and it seemed like their wives cried for the sight of seeing these grown men cry, but eventually the whole family got in the jeeps and took the ashes to a very hilly place by the sea and threw them into the water, shouting for them to fly. The next day the holiday started and they were visiting adventure parks, restaurants and beaches
"Children" they heard as they sat watching a movie they had no business watching at their age "Us adults need to talk will you go find something upstairs to do please" Aunt Sylvia asked as they got up to do as asked
"Come on Sam" Anne called as he went to walk into his room to play his etch a sketch "I have a TV in my room"
"We can carry on watching that film" Louise laughed
They all sat on the bed watching this woman seducing a married man all eyes glued to the TV taking care not to look at each other for the embarrassment as this woman took her clothes off and lay on the bed "Sam?" Anne asked "Do you want to lay on the bed with me?"
"No" he told her
"We could play boyfriends and girlfriends" Louise smiled with a telling look on her face
"I said no" Sam told them looking disgusted, walking out the room and leaving them to it, he contemplated telling his Mom about it but, whatever it was they'd discussed had left the women crying and he decided against it as soon as he got back downstairs
That night he went to bed and tossed and turned for most of it, when he finally did get to sleep, he dreamt about Mercy, she was the woman on the bed in the film he woke up shocked he'd actually started wetting the bed, he held himself trying to stop the pee from coming but he couldn't it was pumping out of him "Mom" he shouted concerned because he had no control "Mom" he yelled as his parents came running to his room
"Sam" his Dad called running to grab him "What's up?"
"I'm wetting the bed and I can't stop it" he told his Dad who picked him up and carried him to the bathroom
"Sam" he said calmly when he realised his son was growing up "You know this used to happen before and I told you it was your body starting to change?" he told him "Well you're a bit young but you've started to produce sperm son, it's what all men do you remember that talk right?"
"Babies?"
"Yeah babies, so all that talk we had about girls kick in now Dude, and that girl Mercedes is now a threat" he smiled
He stayed away from his cousins after that, and sat wondering what this all meant for his relationship with Mercy, she'd been the one constant in his life up until now and if he couldn't share things with her he really didn't know what he was going to do. He got quiet after that night and just sat waiting for the day when he could go back home and lay in his own bed, down the road from Mercy where he could just pass by uninvited and grab a bowl of cornmeal porridge or soup with all the trimmings, he needed home.
Soon the summer was up and it was time for him to go home, he was looking forward to buying his uniform, they loaded him up with birthday presents, jumped in the Jeep and took the ferry ride back home.
Mercy
"Are we going anywhere this holiday?" Mercedes dared to ask her parents as they sat shelling peas for the dinner on Sunday
"Aunt Joy's as usual" her Mom laughed "We don't all have the good fortune to afford not to work, we have this house to pay for, uniforms, food and tides at church sorry"
"The whole holiday?" Michael asked already sounding depressed
"The whole holiday" Mavis echoed after him laughing "You'll have a good time, just be careful"
"We'll get the Church trip though" Denis told them hugging Michelle as he spoke
So after that Sunday their mundane holiday started, up at 7am for breakfast, bath at 8am, lunch at 12.30pm, tea at 4.30pm followed by an ice cream from the van and inside play for two hours until everyone had to get washed and get to bed for 9pm. The only deviation from that routine was if other children came that weren't staying the night and then the house would half empty at about 7pm while weekends was all about family.
Parents would rock up about 8pm on Friday nights, all dressed up and ready to party, the women would go out first, they'd go to some secret place that was never spoken about for about an hour, then the men, who had already started drinking, would leave for the pub, heading back to Auntie's house for about 11.30pm with everything from the chip shop for the children to share. In the meantime the women stayed home frying fish, making fired dumplings ad rum punch, entertaining themselves in the kitchen while the children made party with DJ Micky Spice, otherwise known as Mercy's wannabe DJ brother, for a few hours before they went about making themselves not heard so they could stay up to get the chips and things their Father's brought home.
The bigger children were up in the attic, you could hear them playing instruments and singing gospel songs all evening, while the younger ones crowded into the main girls bedroom or the disco, they were give tickets for entry and squash was the only beverage served
"Let's play Mommy's and Daddy's" Paulette one of the cousins, not cousins, that were staying at the house suggested, once the disco had come to an end one evening
"No it's not my thing" Mercedes told her remembering the conversation with her Mom about staying safe and not letting anyone touch her body or her sister, pulling her sister closer to her so she could watch her, Michael smiling for his sister doing the right thing
"Come on we'll just watch telly in bed" Derrick told her eager to play Daddy, Mercedes lay on the bed with everyone else eventually to watch the telly, they were watching a classic horror movie they knew it was wrong but there were no parents supervising them right now, she doubted whether they even knew the old telly could work.
"Aarrrh" Claudia screamed pulling the covers over her head as Frankenstein popped up out the blue, making the younger ones scream Mercedes shushing Michelle to stop her Mom from coming up
"It's a horror movie" Kevin told them laughing, as he pulled the covers up to get warm
"We need to kiss goodnight" Derrick smiled at her saying
"How do you know Mommy's and Daddy's do that?" Mercy asked jumping up out the bed and dragging her sister with her "I'm not playing and if you touch me or my sister I'll tell my Mom" she told everyone in the room, Michael jumping up to defend that and everyone knew they weren't joking, it didn't make them popular that evening but they never messed with them again for the entire holiday
They finally left the last Friday of the holidays, in the middle of the night and ran all the way home, after their Dad told them scary stories about three legged horses, he'd call rolling calf's, and dead people being after them, they'd be so exhausted for running the, what felt like one hundred miles home, they'd fall into bed and sleep right through
End of the Holidays
So the holidays had come to an end and tomorrow was school uniform day, everyone knew the Uniforms were delivered to the local shop on the last weekend of the holidays so the shop would be heaving, Mercy was on hot bricks for seeing Sam again, she had so much to tell her best friend, and Sam finally knew he loved Mercy, he was bursting with how to tell her that without sounding like a slime ball. Michael, Mercy and Michelle stood in the familiar shop with their parents waiting to be served, this thing was like a family outing, everyone took it all so serious, she laughed as she looked around at the familiar faces of her school friends all screwing for the crap they were going to have to wear they were all going to look crap.
"Can I help you?" the shop assistant finally asked her Dad
"Yes Michael needs a full kit for Compton Grammar please" he smiled proudly, Michael was just starting secondary school, he'd made the grade to get into the local grammar school the best school in the area, Mercy was happy for him but he'd just upped the bar for them to fail at and it was high.
They stood quietly while Michael tried on, owned and discarded items before he was semi-happy with his new uniform "Anything else?" the assistant asked smiling at Mercedes as she spoke
"We might need a skirt made for this one" her Mom smiled at the assistant who was just as peeved as Mercy for hearing that outburst and from her own Mother too, she could have slapped her herself but the Assistant did a good job bringing a smile to Mercy's face
"I think you'll be pleasantly surprised by our range" she smiled at Mercy measuring her for her clothes as she spoke "Take no notice sweet, you're thick not fat" she told her "Be proud about it" Eventually Mercy was standing there in all her glory when she saw Sam come through the door with his parents, rolling his eyes for the drama of it all
"Sam" she smiled waving at him
"Remember what I said son" his Dad pulled him back telling him
"I remember" he told him pulling himself out of his hold "Mercy" he smiled hugging her as he got to her
"I have our present in my bag, happy birthday" she smiled reaching for her bag as she spoke and pulling him out a signed copy of 'Doctor My Eyes' by Michael Jackson "I got my Uncle to get it for us, I know you've always wanted it" she smiled
"Mercy" he grinned when he pulled it out the bag "It's too much"
"It's just enough for my best friend" she giggled as Sam's Mom called him, it was time for his fitting, she sat about for a while, watching Michelle get kitted out, waiting for Sam to get to the shoes so they could talk some more about their summer holidays "Next week" she finally said fed up with all the interruptions from both sets of parents as they tried to hold a conversation
"Mom said I have to start bringing Michelle home with me this term" she told him as they walked to school their first day back in preparation for transferring to big school
"That's fine, when do we start?"
"She's back at school tomorrow so I guess tomorrow" Mercy smiled "We'll be like parents" she giggled
"Talking about parents, I need to talk to you on the way from school tonight"
"Not now?"
"No later, it's a bit embarrassing" he looked at her, his face telling her that was the case
"Okay" she said as they sat getting familiar with their new teacher some new kids at school and, this thing called homework was looking a bit heavy
They were excited for the start of the new school year, there was something about being the oldest Pupil's in school, a new found responsibility, they were made Prefects; trusted young people given the responsibility of helping the teachers keep order, a spokes person for the school, as well as for every pupil in the school, and they took it serious.
"So" Mercy asked clutching her books as they walked out of school "What's this talk about?" she asked
"Can we go to the park?" he asked his face worried
"What's wrong?" she asked following him as he stepped off towards the park "Is everything alright?"
"Sit down Mercy" his hand reaching to the back of his neck indicating this was difficult for him
"Sam just say it, you're scaring me"
"When I was on holiday we watched like a dirty movie, my cousins and me and well that night I sort of had my first wet dream" he finally looked up at her saying
"You wet the bed?"
"Not exactly" he smiled as he went into detail about the workings of a boy becoming a man and how he'd started that process "The thing is Dad says I can make girls pregnant now so I have to be careful about my relationships"
"So we can't be friends any more?"
"I don't want that to happen for us, I want to be friends best friends actually, I just want you to know what's going on for me and why, I might look at you strange sometimes"
"I notice that already" she smiled
"I'm embarrassed" he grinned
"Don't be I think it's... sweet" she rolled her eyes telling him, they finally ended the conversation and made their way home a few minutes late, but his Mom wasn't too fussed about that, they had news to distract her
"Mom, I'm a Prefect" Sam shouted as they got in the house
"Well done son" she turned to tell him, she was usually at the cooker but today she was sitting at her sewing machine
"And Mercedes" he told her
"Well done Mercedes, you're parents will be proud too" she smiled at her
"Thank you Mrs Evans"
"Hey good news" she took her foot off the pedal telling them as she turned fully to look at them "They've raised school age, you'll be there till your 16 from this year"
"How's that good news?" Sam asked
"You'll be Prefects for two years" she laughed "You'll get an extra year in junior school"
"What?" Sam asked already mad at having to spend more time with Ronnie and his friends
By the next week, they were already in a routine, meeting at Michelle's classroom, Mercy collected her and they swung her all the way home, stopping at the swings sometimes to let her have a go as a treat instead of sweets
"Mercedes" they heard across the playground as they walked towards their bench behind the shelter one dinner time "Hold up" Ronnie and his stupid crew came walking up to them smiling "Is that grease in your hair making it so shiny?" he asked touching her hair
"Don't touch me" she pushed him away telling him as Sam stepped forward "Sam please don't, leave it" she told him as the gang walked off cussing at her "They're idiots"
"You're not going to be able to stop me one of these days" he told her he was so angry he had to say something "They're bullies and they need stopping" he slapped his fists together telling her "Mercy" he spun round looking at her "Next time just don't stop me, please" he calmed with his last word as he looked at her "What's that?" he looked in her hair asking touching the substance as he spoke "It's chewing gum, they put chewing gum in your damn hair" he pulled at it telling her "It's stuck" all Mercy saw was a bald shell of herself and burst out crying "Let's find a sink" he lead her inside telling her
"Mom's going to kill me" she screamed as they failed to get any out, making the mass larger with every touch "Leave it, I'm dead tonight anyway" she pushed him away telling him, she was mad but he was fuming, those guys were going to pay
That night his Mom tried too as Sam made up some story about attempting to throw his gum in the bin and Mercy's head getting in the way, it getting more mingled as they tried to remove it, his lips thin at having to lie for those guys at Mercy's request, yet again. Mercy looked on wondering where Sam had got that whole web of lies from, but happy that she wasn't actually being told off for anything, and they believed it was an accident
"Thanks" she smiled as he left with his Mom that evening, she knew she had a conversation to have in the morning, no way was Sam leaving that like that, her evening was spent sitting while Olive oil was rubbed in her hair and combed until the gum finally came loose
The next day they got to school deposited Michelle in her class and went off to hang their coats up ready for the bell to go "You had a nice evening Mercedes giant Jones" Ronnie called across the cloakroom as Sam seemed to make one giant leap across the room before Mercy had even clocked what he'd said. The next thing she knew Sam and Ronnie were rolling on the floor and everyone was standing around cheering like they were watching telly
"What is wrong with you people, help him" she shouted as Victor and Linden hovered ready to pounce, a few guys stepped up and helped keep the other two at bay so the fight was fair. The floor scuffle seemed to go on forever until both guys got up breathing heavy saying stuff that no one could understand because they had no breath before Ronnie waved his hand at Sam and they walked way from each other "What the hell?" Mercy stood asking following Sam to the bathroom to wash his face and straighten his clothes "What was that Sam?" she asked as he looked at the marks on his face in the mirror
"Thanks for not stopping me, I should have done that a while back" he looked in the mirror telling her
"I appreciate it" she smiled "But I don't like seeing you hurt"
"I couldn't sit back and listen to that shit any more Mercy, you're important to me"
"You're important to me too" she wiped his cheek with the damp tissue telling him
"No I mean I love you" he brushed her hand off him telling her "I mean really love you" his face as red as the brightest red you've ever seen "And I guess Dad saw that, which is why he told me to be careful around you" he looked into her eyes telling her, they moved towards each other and their lips brushed as their eyes closed for that second "I love you" he told her when their eyes met again
"I love you too, always always" she smiled
"Pinky Promise, no matter what?"
"Pinky promise no matter what" she giggled grabbing his pinky, cleaning him up before they put their badges on and made their way to class, school was draining that day, everyone in the class was terrified for seeing one of their friends die right there in class
"God" she gasped as they walked out the school at the end of the day "Do you think Harvinder will be in school tomorrow? my guess is she's dead" she asked Sam as they grabbed Michelle's hand to cross the road at the Lollipop Lady
"Miss told us to ask our parents, so we'll do that and share notes tomorrow" he told her as they walked
Mercy went home that night and asked the question to be told about birds, bees and blood, lots of blood, the fact that it was going to happen to her put the fear of god into her, she asked her Mom for pads to put in her bag and became attached to her black coat which she wrapped around her waist everywhere she went, the Harvinder incident was not going to happen to her, she already had enemies.
"So I can give children but you can't take them yet" he smiled at her as they met up to walk to school the next morning
"What's that supposed to mean?" she asked puzzled
"Until you get your period you can't have children"
"I didn't hear anything about children just blood, birds and bees"
"My Dad always gives it straight, he was on the phone for nearly an hour last night" he rolled his eyes and took a breath before carrying on "Once a girl starts to become a woman they start bleeding monthly, boys get sperm and if your pregnant there'll be no bleeding for 9 months and my Dad will kill me, literally"
"Why can't my parents be straight like that?"
"I don't know"
"So we can't kiss ever again or we'll have children?"
"Mercy are you serious?" he rolled his eyes laughing at her
"What?" she asked puzzled
"My Dad said Mom wasn't told anything either, maybe it's just you girls that don't know anything"
"Maybe" she frowned, school life was pretty plain sailing after that, Ronnie and his gang didn't mess with Mercy any more, and they sort of melted into school life
11 Years old - 1974
"I'm afraid it's nearing time to start getting serious about life you guys" Sam's Mom told them, checking his bag as they looked at each other wondering what she was on about
"Serious?" Sam asked as Mercy thought it
"Exams, you'll want to get into the best senior school in the area" she told them "Compton" she looked at them saying
"I'm just basking in making history in being a prefect for two years running" Sam laughed
"I'm not joking Sam, this is an important year" she warned as Mercy and Sam looked at each other, before Mercy grabbed Michelle's hand and they heading off to school
Christmas was soon here and they spent the time at home with their families Sam's Dad had just about made it home that morning and the house was a bit salty although his parents tried to hide it from him he knew when stuff was hitting. But he got everything he needed and by the evening everything, whatever his Mom was mad about was forgotten, he'd seen Mercy that morning at church so he was good
Just before Easter they had that dreaded conversation at school the teacher talked about moving on to secondary school and every student that wanted to attend alternative schools to the allocated one needed to sit their Eleven Plus exam to determine what secondary school they were going to go to, that was frightening for Sam and Mercy they'd never envisaged that they'd be split up.
"It's fine" Sam told her as they left the class "She said if we wanted an alternative school and we don't"
"I can't see my Mom agreeing to anything but Compton, Michael's there"
"You guys never spoke at school, even I'd have a hard time knowing you were related"
"I know but he set the bar, and if the allocated school isn't Compton, I'm going to have to take the test"
"Then I'll take it too"
The thought of not being together for the next 5 years every day was daunting, Sam lost concentration, he was totally stressed, Mercy was sad a lot of the time, she knew they were going to be slit up as soon as she heard the announcement that Compton wasn't the allocated school, her heart told her. After Easter they did the Exam and could only sit back and wait for the outcome a month or so later
"Sam" Mercy sat on the swings looking around "We need to talk about this, what are we going to do if we don't get into the same school?"
"I don't want to think about it Mercy"
"We have to, we need a plan"
"We'll see each other after school, meet in the park, I'll come to yours for dinner every Saturday, I'll go to church, leave your key at home so you'll have to stay at mine until your parents come home, we'll work something out" he got up angry telling her
"Sam getting angry isn't going to work, we need a plan"
"What do you think?"
"I think we'll always be friends, best friends no matter what, it doesn't matter how long it is till we talk again because we'll fit every time, I love you and you say you love me and we promised that would be forever so I say even if it turns out we get on with our lives at school we'll always be in each others hearts"
"You know the game we're playing right now right?" he asked a puzzled Mercy "Bullshit" he looked at her laughing "All that hearts and flowers shit never works, my Dad still sits in the dog house"
"It does for my parents" she laughed
"Bullshit" he told her again serious this time
"Okay" she looked at him seriously saying "How about when we miss each other we sing our records, we'll try to send each other records when we find them or something, to keep us thinking about each other"
"That's still not enough" he sulked
"Phone me in the evenings, I can't use our phone but you can use yours"
"Maybe" he smiled
"We'll leave home at the same time every morning so we'll see each other"
"Maybe"
"We can put the milk bottles out at 7pm every evening and say goodnight"
"We can do all that" he grinned "But we are going to the same school" he added
"If you say so" she giggled
"I say so" he laughed "Now come on lets get home" he grabbed her hand pulling her off the swing to make the journey home
four weeks later they received their decision letter "Mercy" Sam called down the phone on evening, after his Mom had delivered the news that had arrived that morning, "Did you get your letter?"
"Yes, did you get yours?"
"Yeah, where are you going?" he asked holding his breath
"Compton Grammar" she told him to silence down the phone "Sam" she called to no answer "Sam, where are you going?"
"Milton Grammar, I didn't know they were accepting so far out"
"That's like miles away"
"In the opposite direction to Compton"
"Apparently I was good enough to get into the Grammar school but there was no spaces left in Compton, they say I can go there or have my second option which is the Comprehensive and the exam would have been for nothing, Mom says I'm not going to that one so I guess I have no choice" she could hear the cry in his voice
"It's not the end of the world Sam, it's five years, and we still live down the street from each other, next year I'll be allowed out too so we can hang out"
"Nothings going to change for us is it Mercy?" he asked, Mercy suddenly becoming scared at the thought of not having him with her every day
"Nothing except we won't be in school together" she reassured him "Come on Sam you're going to make me cry" she told him, trying to get his mood up
"Sorry" he frowned "I guess here starts life"
"It does I guess but I will always love you" she told him
"Always, always" he mumbled, they spoke some more before closing the call down
The final day at school was like heartbreak hotel, apparently this was the last year schools were going to use this form of selection process, every 4th year was going to be sent to the same school so they weren't losing their friends, somehow the government finally worked out this stuff was traumatic for youngsters. But that wasn't helping Sam and Mercy right now
Mercy cried at everything, walking into the classroom, walking out of it, sitting on their bench, eating lunch, standing in the playground, looking at the football pitch everything had all their memories. On the way home they stopped at the sweet shop and brought Minstrels, she cried eating every one, crying harder when they finally got to her front door, she'd got her key just last week so she didn't need to go to Sam's house any more
"I have something for you" Sam told her as they stopped at her door "I'm hoping we'll take it in turns to post each other these" he said pulling a copy of I Wanna Be Where You Are' by Michael Jackson out his bag and handing it to her
"Sam" she smiled as she stood singing the chorus to him "I love this song"
"We love all his songs" he giggled "And I guess that's going to keep me going"
"Me too, thanks"
"It's not a signed one but it's worthy of our collection"
"Very worthy" she smiled kissing his cheek "Bye Sam, I don't want to cry in front of you any more" she put her present in his hand and walked away saying as he stood watching her push the key in the door and close it behind her when she walked in, he knew she was already crying because he was too, things were going to change for them, no doubt