The band was due to arrive the next day-the 17th of August. Their name 'The Beatles' made Danielle snigger, 'peedles' was slang for penis and all the publicans who viewed the advertisement for The Beatles laughed heartily. Chuckling to herself Danielle cycled to the Indra waiting to see the group who had come all the way from Liverpool. As she walked into the club the sight of five disgruntled boys looked at her, Bruno was standing next to converse but the confused and dazed look on the lads' faces said it all.
Danielle strolled up to the boys and Bruno, in an aggravated voice spat out to her "Sag ihnen, dass sie hier vom 17. August bis zum 16. Oktober arbeiten werden". Danielle looked into the boys nervous eyes, "you are to work here from the 17th of August to the 16th of October". She glanced at Bruno again "Sie müssen wochentags nachts 4 1/2 Stunden und an Samstagen und Sonntagen 6 Stunden arbeiten", "you will work for 4 and a ½ hours on weekdays and 6 hours on Saturdays and Sundays". The boys looked at each other with astonished faces then quickly looked at Danielle again. Bruno continued "Sie werden heute Nacht in meiner Wohnung übernachten und ich werde sie morgen zu ihren Unterkünften bringen.", tonight you will be staying in Mr. Koschmider's flat and tomorrow he will bring you to your accommodation. In conclusion Bruno said "Ihre Bezahlung wird 30DM pro Person und Tag betragen", "each of you will earn 30DM per day". Koschmider then gestured to the stage and the boys dragged their equipment to their new working quarters
"Four and a ½ hours John!" Danielle heard one of the boys say "how are we going to do that?" The bloke who Danielle assumed was John didn't answer he just calmly took his guitar out of its case and strummed a few strings gazing blankly at the floor. The boy who questioned John had chocolate brown eyes curved down at the corners; his short hair was pulled back off his face in a quiff, a few strands hung delicately over his forehead. He was quite good looking and Danielle hastily looked at the floor in case he saw her staring at him. A different boy sat at the edge of the stage calmly smoking a cigarette, he looked the youngest of the five and had thick eyebrows, prominent cheekbones and long hair combed back like a turban. He appeared to be in a dream- his eyes glazed over.
The sound of feedback from guitars being plugged into amps brought Danielle back to her senses; she went to the boys and asked them if they wanted anything to drink before they started performing in an hour. "Do ye 'ave a scotch?" John asked. "We have Holsten Pilsener or water, pick your choice" Danielle snapped "where does he think he's going with scotch?" she thought. "I'll have none of that Nazi shite", she heard John mutter as he bent down next to his amp. "Don't mind him" another boy called out his hair combed back in another quiff (these lads were obviously very original and unique), "that Holsten stuff will be good". He had black thick-rimmed Ray Ban sunglasses; a long face with a pointed chin, almost feminine features. He stretched his hand out to her "I'm Stuart". Danielle smiled at him and answered his hand shake, "Danielle" she replied, a shy grin creeping across her face. His light Scottish accent was pleasant to the ear unlike John's harsh Scouse growl.
A large crash of cymbals filled the room "for fuck sake Pete", Danielle heard John scoff as the poor lad, Pete, hurried to pick up his fallen cymbals. John shot daggers at him with his eyes and then quickly pulled out a packet of cigarettes, lit one and took a long drag. Pete was different from the others more sombre, yet strangely handsome, his hands shook as he tried to keep the cymbals upright. He bit his lower lip and continued assembling his equipment.
The boy with the down-turned eyes walked up to Danielle. "Hello", he said in a slightly-posh upper class voice, "I'm Paul" Danielle introduced herself again and then quickly remembered that they had ordered five drinks. She scurried over to the taps and quickly pulled 5 pints. John who appeared to despise the idea of drinking "Nazi shite" downed it in one and slammed his glass on the table. Danielle looked him straight in the eyes, he gave her a cheeky grin proceeded to leap off his chair and walked to the nearest mirror, pulling a comb out of his jacket pocket and began combing his hair. "The nerve of him", Danielle thought shaking her head.
The boy sitting at the edge of the stage, gave a small lopsided grin to Danielle when she handed him his drink, "thanks" he said in a quiet voice. "I'm George" he said in a thick drawl. He gingerly accepted the drink took a sip and placed it back down on the stage, playing a little riff on the guitar which was seated on his lap. A quick smile darted across Danielle's face and she brought the next glass to Paul who took the glass off her with a quick "thanks" as he quickly jotted down something on a piece of paper.
The final beers were for Stuart and Pete who were seated next to each other, Stuart was examining his fingers which looked cut and split while Pete quietly played a small beat on his drum. Stuart happily accepted the beer with a smile and a "thanks love" and Pete quietly mumbled a "thank you". "He doesn't talk a lot" Danielle thought to herself.
The boys had just finished their pints when Bruno bustled into their room and ushered them to start playing as the club would be officially opening in 5 minutes. The boys all stood awkwardly on stage, hustled in a small group and began playing. The loud cacophonous noise filled the club as the regulars (all 10 of them) strolled into the club. Apart from singing their songs the boys were completely quiet and you could have cut the atmosphere with a knife between the awkwardness of the boys and the audience.
About half way through their set, Mrs. Sauer (who lived above the Indra) yelled at Bruno to tell the boys to "turn down that racket!" Danielle quickly hurried to the stage and told Stuart to turn down their amps or they'd be kicked out, they reluctantly turned down their amps and Mrs. Sauer marched out of the room with her hair in curlers. "Ratty little bitch", she heard John mutter, stifling giggles Danielle handed drinks to the customers at the club.
The boys were wrecked at the end of the 4 and a ½ hours and trudged off the stage, half asleep. Bruno led them out of the club to his flat and Danielle cycled back to the Bambi Kino into her little cupboard bedroom, dressed in her cotton nightdress and slumped into bed, thinking of them 5 boys from Liverpool.