Dot and Sam 7

Dorothy Philpot. Landlady of The Harbour Light pub
Sam Philpot. Drag-queen.
Billy Parkins Doorkeeper.
Jessica Merlot The town’ and county archaeologist.
Josephine MacDonald The town and county archivist.
Richard Drummond Town planning inspector
Robert Vincent. Junior planning inspector.
Georgina. (Georgie) Homeless Transgender girl.
Bobby Gay boy on the school bus.
Marty Girl on the school bus.
Jack. Marty’s twin brother (Keen runner).

In the centre of the corridor, Marty’s brother immediately recognised Georgie’s defensive manoeuvre as that of a streetwise girl knowing to find a well exposed and public place; the school corridor was certainly that. If he was going to at least manage an apology he needed to speak fast before she blocked him.

“Look I’m sorry if started off on the wrong foot.”

“Yeah. You can say that again. Just stay away from me okay!”

“But we can’t work together in the lab if you’re going to avoid me.”

“Don’t worry I’m getting that sorted. By Monday next week we’ll each have different lab partners.”

“Can we just start again. I was a twat this morning.”

“Once a twat, always a twat.”

“But to change partners, you’ll have to report me.”

“Duh!”

“That’s a bit over the top.”

“So is grabbing my boobs, a bit ‘over-the-top’ as you call it. It’s sexual assault.”

“But it wasn’t that bad.”

Georgie almost screeched. “Yes it was! You just don’t get it do you?”

Her deafening protest caused several heads to turn, and Marty’s brother cringed in fear. Fortunately for him there were no staff in earshot, but it still left him terrified that Georgie would follow through with her threat. With his hands trembling he fumbled to store away his books but when he turned again, Georgie had stormed off down the corridor to the library. He decided not to follow her but instead thought to try to approach her when his sister was with him on the bus. Instead he used his free period to do some running on the track to compensate for the run home he would not be taking.
Ordinarily, he would have gone to the library but he did not want to encounter Georgie again and be accused of harassment or something..

At the bus stop that afternoon, he saw Georgie talking to his sister Marty, so he decided to back off until they had boarded the bus. As he waited at the back of the queue, he prepared a note to hand to his sister on the bus. He was hoping she might act as some sort of go-between. The queue for the bus was a relatively orderly affair because the bus for the junior school had departed earlier with the younger kids.

Once the main group had boarded, Marty’s brother, Jack, slipped silently behind them and as the group were choosing their seats, Jack pushed a note into Marty’s hand before slipping upstairs. Marty frowned then uncrumpled the note as she sat alongside Georgie.

As Marty squinted at the crumpled letters, Georgie peered over.

“Whassat”

“It’s from my bro’”

Georgie turned to look away and out of the bus’s window as Marty read it. She then explained the nature of the letter to Georgie.

“He desperately want’s to speak to you, to apologise.”

“Yeah. Well just tell him to stay away and keep his hands to himself.”

“He’s worried about you reporting him.”

“He’s right to be. I’ll speak to my foster mum about it tonight. Maybe she can sort it. I might go off on one if the head gets the wrong idea and tries to accuse me of provoking your brother.”

“Wrong idea? Wrong idea about what?” Marty wondered.

“Never mind. My mum and my case worker will sort it.”

“Will my brother be expelled.” Marty asked nervously.

“I shouldn’t think so. I’ll explain to my foster-mum Dot that it was a typical teenaged stupid thing and I’ll let it go, provided I don’t have to get close to him at the laboratory benches.”

Marty fell silent. Like most girls she did not like uninvited attentions or violations of her person but Jack was her brother after all.

The pair sat in silence until they reached Marty’s stop then, as Jack clumped down the stairs he leaned over Georgie and whispered ‘Sorry’ again before hurriedly following his sister off the bus. Georgie frowned with slight amusement as she heard Marty scolding her brother as the bus pulled off.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

On the Thursday during a lessons break; Georgie was sitting on a low wall chatting to Marty when the school secretary approached with a brown envelope. She handed it to Georgie with a smile.

“This is from the headmaster’s office, strangely it’s addressed to you not your parents though the headmaster tells me he has sent a covering letter to your foster-mother and your caseworker.”

Georgie opened the letter as the secretary hesitated then she sighed. The secretary became concerned and asked.

“Is there anything I can do?”

“No thank you Miss, I’ll sort it tonight with my foster mum. Thanks for bringing it.” She finished as she handed the letter to Marty.

When the secretary left, Marty scanned the letter before responding.

“So, he has to apologise in writing to you.”

“If that’s all he has to do, he can count himself lucky. He’s obviously had a letter from the head and I suppose your parents have as well.”

“They won’t be pleased.”

“He can count himself lucky that the head did not involve the police. I asked Dot to ask the head to keep the police out of it. My case-worker agreed provisionally, so that’s one crumb of comfort for your brother.”

“So what’s this thing about you having a caseworker. Were you in child-care then?”

“No. I ran away from home. Dot found me sleeping rough and called the social services. When the SS started to talk about taking me home, I refused and they had to find a placement for me. I’d been working on the archaeology dig during the start of the summer so Dot told the SS that she’d put me up because she knew of me through the archaeology team leaders. The rest is history and here I am living at the Harbour Light.”

“A gay pub!” Marty exclaimed. “Is that why you ran away from home? Are you gay then?”

“No, not exactly. And that’s enough questions.”

Marty was intrigued but knew when to keep her mouth shut. She reckoned that Georgie would tell her in her own good time if she ever felt the need to. That evening, Marty helped her brother compose the letter of apology.

As they chatted over the letter Jack lamented.

“I’m an arse-hole. I really fancied that girl.”

“Well she is pretty,” Marty conceded. “I suppose every seminary gland in the college drips when they look at her.”

“Martha! That’s a terrible thing to say!” Their mother snapped angrily.

“She’s right though mum.” Jack added. “I thought it was Christmas when she was partnered with me in chemistry.”

“Well let this be a lesson! Girls don’t like being groped! I thought we’d brought you up to be better than that!”

“Be serious mum,” Marty observed. “We all know boys can be arseholes. It’s only when they become men that they realise women are not slabs of meat. Respect for women; that’s what defines the men from the boys.”

“Alright enough please,” Jack sulked as he held his pen poised; “let’s finish this letter.”

After completing the letter he turned to his mother and sister. “How am I supposed to deliver this?”

“The same way it was delivered to you; via the school secretary. That way you’ll avoid any contact.”

“I was hoping to give it to her myself. A sort of reconciliation – apology thing.”

“I you want to give it to her yourself; you’d better pick a place where it’s obvious there’s no possibility of close contact.” Marty suggested. “But first we’d better check with the headmaster.”

“I’ll phone the head in the morning,” their mother declared, and that was how the situation panned out.

Marty spoke to Jack during the morning break and they agreed that Jack would hand his letter to Georgie while she was queueing for the bus home.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

As Marty and Georgie chatted in the bus queue, Jack unexpectedly appeared in his running kit and paused momentarily to extend his hand and offer the letter.

Georgie paused before she realised what he was doing as he explained.

“It’s my letter of apology. Take it please.”

She took the letter but before she had a chance to speak, he just said ‘SORRY’ quite loudly before running away at much faster than ’jogging’ speed.

Georgie turned to stare in surprise at Marty then shrugged.

“Well It’s an apology of sorts I suppose.”

“He’s done what was demanded. He kept contact to a minimum while publicly apologising.”

Marty’s reply was confirmed by the numerous stares and grins on the other girl’s faces in the queue.

“Aren’t you going to read it out to us?” One girl laughed.

“Bugger off!” Georgie replied. “Case closed,” she added as she pushed the envelope into her bag.

Those words gave Marty some relief as the bus arrived for she could at least convey that small piece of good news to her brother when they met again at home. Her brother was off the hook. She parted with Georgie at her usual stop and watched the bus depart for the old town where she knew Georgie got off at the end of the lane that led to the Harbour light.

“The following morning was a Friday and the routine had returned to normal. Georgie boarded at the end of her lane, Marty boarded several stops closer to town and Jack resumed his morning run from home to school morning and evening.

Some weeks, later when Jack and Marty had their seventeenth birthday, their parents decided to exercise their newly acquired statutory rights to drink with their meal and they duly booked a table for the Saturday night at The Harbour Light. When Georgie noticed the booking she wondered why Marty’s family had chosen The Harbour Light. Then she silently scolded herself with a grin, she knew as well as Dot and Sam, that their pub had become a popular venue.

As a precaution Georgie asked one of the regular waitresses to swap jobs for that night and Georgie ended up working the bar. This precluded her meeting Marty or Jack but could involve meeting their parents if they chose to order drinks at the bar. Marty had secretly hoped Georgie would be waitressing and she was disappointed to see her friend behind the bar laughing and joking with the drag queens. Both Jack and Marty looked enviously as Georgie laughed and joked and shared the adult banter whilst simultaneously working the hectic routine behind the bar.

There was one pleasurable moment however when Georgie took her break and visited their table unexpectedly.

“Hello. Is everything alright with the food?”

“Yes thanks, it’s delicious.” Marty’s father enthused.” Are your Marty’s friend at school?”

Georgie nodded and smiled as she gathered some plates and returned to the kitchens on the way back to working behind the bar. It was obvious that The Harbour Light was hectic on Saturday nights and Georgie had little time to share with Marty’s family. The family eventually finished their meal and chose to sit out in the newly extended courtyard where they could legally finish their drinks. This was an area where the staff would take their breaks and the drag queens could sit between their acts whilst mingling with the customers. It was a very popular venue with the regular cliental and Marty’s parents watched fascinated whilst the waitresses relaxed and exchanged banter with the drag queens.

At this juncture, Sam entered amongst a bevy of drag queens and sighed comedically as she reached down to unbuckle her heels.

“She reminds me of Lily Savage!” Jack whispered to his mum.

“Is she really one of Georgie’s adoptive parents.” Their father exclaimed with amusement.

“Yes, but she’s fun!” Marty explained. “Georgie’s spoken of her wit lots of times. Hush, here’s Georgie again.”

Georgie emerged from the bar with a large tray of drinks and set them down on a large table where the drag queens and the serving girls each took their chosen drink. Then Georgie slumped into a chair beside her ‘Aunty Sam.’

“Where are your friends love?” Sam asked her.

Georgie nodded to the family and Sam immediately hobbled over in her ‘flatties.’

“So. You’re Marty, Georgie’s friend and the birthday girl.”

Marty became a bit flustered for Sam was by now something of a local celebrity.

“Me and my twin brother.” She managed to croak.

“Well a friend of Georgie is always welcome here,” she declared while motioning to some of the staff. “Come on you lot. Get these tables connected. We’ll make this a proper party!”

There was brief commotion while the furniture was rearranged then everybody was soon returned to their seats and Sam demanded a chorus of ‘Happy Birthday.’ The table soon erupted into song and celebrations were soon in full swing. Then, to Marty’s and her family’s surprise, Dot appeared with a large birthday cake. Amid whoops and squeals of delight, the candles were lit and both the twins were invited to blow. Then Sam stalked amongst the crowd and ordered everybody in the pub to sing a second chorus of ‘Happy Birthday.’ Both of Marty and Jacks parents were amused and impressed to see how a noticeable sense of community had grown up around the Harbour Light since it’s reputation as a ‘gay pub’ had developed.

Next, Sam provided an Impromptu drag show on the wide dividing wall and invited both Marty and Jack up on the ‘stage.’ There ensued some banter and teasing that broke any last vestiges of Ice and the party consequently endured until ‘late’ the following Sunday morning.

At five o’clock, a taxi arrived to ferry Marty’s family home.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~