Concert of Remembrance

by

Jacquimac

Part 6

It was getting late so we all decided to call it a night and my bodyguard took me home. I told my brothers that they didn`t have to follow me around but they insisted saying that they had heard someone was going to try and give me a good kicking.

Over the weekend several of the kids came round to borrow CD`s so they could start practicing the various songs, I had pretty decent coolection of old time music. I wasn`t into the modern trash they called music. The majority of todays musicians only did it for the money and I didn`t feel any heart and soul in the music, and most of bands were just too loud.

Julie and her mum only lived two doors down and came round, so we put on some old films that were made depicting the two Wars, we also sorted out the Cd`s that we both needed. Julie started teasing about me doing Gracie Fields songs but soon stopped when I put on a Gracie Fields DVD and heard me singing along with it.

I had an ear for accents and after hearing one a few times could copy it, I had also seen watched the Gracie Fields DVD`s a lot so I knew I could copy her Lancashire accent with no problems I could even recite some of her jokes as well.

The Lanky Twang or Lancashire Accent is similar to but different from the Yorkshire accent, more so when it was spoken by working class people and then there are other very slight differences from town to town though you would be hard pushed to hear them.

The North of England is renown for it`s sight and for it`s famous people and sporting teams.

As well as Gracie Fields there was Robert Shaw (Bolton), Eric Morecombe (Morcombe), Dora Bryan (Oldham) Eric Sykes (Oldham) George Formby (WIgan) The Beatles (Liverpool) just to name a few, there were many more big screen stars, musicians, composers,sportmen, inventers,Scholars etc, but Lancashire was a famous place in it`s right.

Apart from the War of the Roses, it was also the place the Industrial Revolution started, It was the main cotton processing center for a couple of hundred years. Lancashire has been the site were many movies were made due to the buildings and landscape. Pity about the weather though we get a lot rain up here.

I don`t think there is anywhere in England were hardship was celebrated as much, I don`t mean they enjoyed the hardship of live in days gone by. What I meant was the enjoyed to fullest and had fun when they could.

Nowadays with the high unemployment the people feel sorry for themselves, no longer is the spirit of community and belonging.

The Teenagers idea of fun seems to be getting drunk and fighting, or drugs, crime etc. That is one of the reasons we wanted our concert to be a success, not only to raise money but to show that we care and can do something worth while.

We still have our bigots amongst our little group but we have to show them that they are wrong and get them to try and change.

So over the rest weekend I rehearse my songs to get the accent right, the songs I knew well as my Mother and Grandparents were always singing them.

Monday came all too quickly and it was back to school, mum dropped us off as she went into the office, my brothers went and joined their friends and I was standing in the playground alone.

The next thing I knew I woke up in hospital, someone had thrown a rock at me from behind, the wound was stitched and I was kept in overnight for observation.

My Brothers were fuming as they couldn`t get their hands on Darren Clarke, a boy from my class who had at been my best friend until I started living as a girl, he had thrown the rock but had been caught by one of the teachers.

The next day I went home with a thumping headache, I had been given painkillers but I try not to use them I hate taking any kind of medicine.

Darren`s parents had been called to the school as the police were now involved and had been found to be homophobic as well, they had encouraged Darren`s actions and freely admitted it and had been arrested themselves. Darren being underage couldn`t be charged but his parent`s could and would be.

Social services were brought in and after speaking Darren took him away from his parents, it was found out that his parents were launching a hate campaign against me and Darren`s actions were a direct result.

Julie`s mum Brenda contacted social services and offered Darren a home, he wasn`t a bad lad and was under the thumb of his parents. Nobody had known how badly his parents had treated him.

Brenda brought Darren round and he apologised, after everything had been explained to him he understood and explained he only did what he did because his parents had threatened him with a beating.