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CALLASSA. CALLASSA
1965
Lizzie Starks. Pop Singer
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Numero di pagina 3 :
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“Baby Darling, how far have we walked, it seems like ages and ages….and ages?”
“A few minutes more to go …. Lizzy.”
“What?”
“Thanks.”
“Thanks for what, letting you use my toothbrush? I know you have been and I bought you a new one day before yesterday.”
“Yes. Yours is better.”
“Just stay off my Vespa, that’s all.”
“I want a Mini.”
“I’ll buy you one. I have money.”
“No need, I’ve saved up.”
“Really? You have?”
“Yes.”
“You can buy your own toothbrush then.”
“OK.”
“Will you stop saying that.”
“OK.”
“What’s it like staying with me?”
“OK.”
Short silence
“So you think staying with me is OK? Hmm. Well, you should make me coffee every morning. Make me toast, butter and a boiled egg and don’t leave my percolator on after using it. Do you hear?”
No reply from Baby Darling
“Ciao piccola cara, ogni mattina…..Trar, lar lar lar. Ciao piccola cara, ogni mattina ….And, after I have eaten you can clean while I watch. Trar, lar, lar. Trar, lar, lar …. Hello little baby darling, baby,my baby every morning. Stop for a minute would you …. Piccolo tesoro.”
“We’re almost back.”
“So?…. Listen. I want you to know it’s not true what they say about me. I don’t have many boyfriends. Not so many, I mean.”
“Is that why you are rolling up your eyes?”
“Will you stay with me in the morning, I want to tell you something. About my record …..”
“Are you going on Ready Steady Go? On the TV? Are you? Lizzy? … Lizzy?”
“How did you know that?”
“I heard it on Radio Luxembourg.”
“So you’ve been playing my transistor while I’ve been out?”
“I didn’t think you’d mind.”
“Well I do, keep off.”
“OK.”
“What were they saying on the radio? Tell me. Hurry.”
“You are the beehive girl from the muck stacks, who drinks beer, fills cars with petrol, speaks Italian and has a scooter. “
“What else?”
“Something about you being a girl the Italians like, but ….”
“What? But what?”
“It’s personal.”
“If it’s about me, it’s not. Tell me.”
Tap on Baby Darling’s chest.
“They like your red plastic boots.”
“Is that it, how is that personal?”
“Mini skirt.”
“And ….? Well ….? You are making this up!”
“No. No. RAI like you, whoever they are, the English girl who looks like …..”
“Looks like who?”
“I’ve forgotten.”
“Sure you have. Who do I look like?”
“What’s it matter?”
“It does! I want to know.”
“Sing to me then and I’ll tell you.”
“Ciao piccola cara, ogni mattina. Ciao piccola cara, ogni. Piccolo tesoro. Oh, piccolo tesoro….”
“Not telling…..”
“I’ll make you. Yes.”
“We’re back…..Lizzy!
Lizzy runs toward the house and disappears. Baby Darling follows.
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Numero di Pagina. 7
Lizzie Starks. 1965
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After lunch. Lizzy’s gonk Bertie is sitting on the table along with a packet of Craven A, and Lizzy has just washed the dishes while Philip is sat watching intently.
“My dad wants me to work at Jenks’s. He says a regular job is better.”
“Better than what and tell your father to jump off a cliff.”
“He was in the war, he wouldn’t like it if I said that.”
“You working at the carpet factory is out of the question.”
“Why is it?”
“I want you to be close to me all the time. Especially . . .”
“In London?”
“Yes.”
“I thought your mum took you last time?”
“She did. So?”
“Nothing.”
Silence
“We can go and see Peter England ** later this afternoon. I want to buy you a suit. And you can tell your dad I bought it for you. I don’t care.”
** A small boutique on the high street popular for its mod gear.
“He wants us to have a bathroom inside like yours, can’t afford it yet though. Me having new clothes would . . . .”
“Would what, for heaven’s sake?”
“Nothing. He doesn’t like pop music when it comes on the telly, but my mum does. He says he was fighting for degenerates, if you know what I mean.”
“Do I know ‘who’ you mean? . . . .He thinks I’m a degenerate? Who does he think he is?”
“Lizzy I think you’re wonderful, I don’t care what he says.”
“What else has he said, tell me. I want to know.”
“The Beatles are terrible. The Rolling Stones are terrible. Billy
Fury is terrible. Ronnie Biggs ** is terrible. Harold Wilson is terrible. Mini skirts are . . . .”
** Great Train Robber
“There’s a Mary Quant shop . . . Just a minute. Has he seen me wearing my mini skirt or something? At the pub when I was singing last week? I didn’t know he was there.”
“Er . . . I think so.”
“Well, I know we are going to look fab together. I have a pink mini skirt with sunflowers, you haven’t seen yet. When you get your new purple suit this afternoon we can go see your dad and tell him . . .”
“Tell him what?”
“I don’t know. I’ll think of something. Anyway according to the man from Polydor Records I am to have a manager like Brian Epstein and then I can become the famous person. Tell your dad that.”
“I thought you said you didn’t want to be famous? You weren’t bothered?”
“I’ve changed my mind.”
“See, I told you! I did! Yes! You want to live the life of Reiley **.”
** Colloquialism
Lizzy laughs
“I don’t know what I want, all right.”
“I think when you are singing, a different world opens up.”
“I’ve been practising at Madam Hilda’s. She taught me to sing loud and then soft, holding the notes. See, I can shout down the backs and whisper in your ear. I love you.”
“You can shout that too, if you like.”
“Come on, hurry will you. I don’t want to spend my day off in here. Just let me get my purse.”
“It doesn’t feel right . . . you buying my clothes.”
“It’s the money they gave me in London . Well, they gave it to my mother but anyway. . . get ready. I want you to have a pair of Winkel Pickers too. Black and white ones. I’ve seen them.”
“Lizzy!”
“What?”
“Can I stay here again, tonight?”
Lizzy pondering
“Yes, but we’ll have to be quiet and not let nosey Cecil see us. Shout good night to me and then tip toe back in like last time. Anything else?”
“Can I play a record while you get ready?”
“As long as it’s Freddie and the Dreamers. It’s already on. Is that right about your dad wanting an inside bathroom?”
“Yes.”
“So he doesn’t like the tin bath when your mums’ filled it up?”
“No. It goes cold quickly, the water. Shall I put some more coal on the fire?”
“Yes, go on, you’ll have to fetch it from outside and don’t let anyone see you bringing it in. You hear me?”
“Yes.”
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CALLASSA
Lizzie Starks. 1965