Page 273 of Edge of Eternity (The Century 3)

"Can I visit Walli?" Karolin begged. "Just for a few days? Alice has never even seen her father!"

"No," said Hans with a tight smile. "People who have applied for emigration are never subsequently allowed to take holidays abroad." His hatred showed through momentarily as he added: "What do you think we are, stupid?"

"I will apply again in a year's time," said Karolin.

Hans stood up, a smile of triumphant superiority playing around his lips. "The answer will be the same next year, and the year after, and always." He looked around at all of them. "None of you will be given permission to leave. Ever. I promise you."

With that he left.

*

Dave Williams phoned Classic Records. "Hello, Cherry, this is Dave," he said. "Can I speak to Eric?"

"He's out at the moment," she said.

Dave was disappointed and indignant. "This is the third time I've phoned!"

"Unlucky."

"He could phone me back."

"I'll ask him."

Dave hung up.

He was not unlucky. Something was wrong.

Plum Nellie had had a great 1964. "Love Is It" had gone to number one on the hit parade, and the group--without Lenny--had done a tour of Britain with a package of pop stars including the legendary Chuck Berry. Dave and Walli had moved into a two-bedroom apartment in the theater district.

But things had now cooled right down. It was frustrating.

Plum Nellie had a second record out. Classic had released "Shake, Rattle and Roll," with "Hoochie Coochie Man" on the B side, rushing it out for Christmas. Eric had not consulted the group, and Dave would have preferred to record a new song.

Dave had proved right. "Shake, Rattle and Roll" had flopped. Now it was January 1965, and as Dave thought about the year ahead he had a sense of panic. At night he had dreams about falling--from a roof, out of a plane, off a ladder--and woke up feeling that his life was about to end. The same sensation came over him when he contemplated his future.

He had allowed himself to believe that he was going to be a musician. He had left his parents' home and his school. He was sixteen, old enough to get married and pay taxes. He had thought he had a career. And suddenly it was all falling apart. He did not know what to do. He was no good at anything other than music. He could not face the humiliation of going back to live in his parents' house. In old-fashioned stories the boy hero would "run away to sea." Dave loved the idea of disappearing, then returning five years later, bronzed and bearded and telling tales of faraway places. But in his heart he knew he would hate the discipline of the navy. It would be worse than school.

He did not even have a girlfriend. When he left school he had ended his romance with Linda Robertson. She said she had been expecting it, though she cried all the same. When he received the money from Plum Nellie's appearance on It's Fab! he had got Mickie McFee's phone number from Eric and asked her if she wanted to go out with him, maybe to dinner and a movie. She had thought for a long moment, then said: "No. You're really sweet, but I can't be seen out with a sixteen-year-old. I already have a bad reputation, but I don't want to look quite such a fool." Dave had been hurt.

Walli was sitting next to Dave now, guitar in hand as usual. He was playing with a metal tube fitted over the middle finger of his left hand, and singing: "Woke up this morning, believe I'll dust my broom."

Dave frowned. "That's the Elmore James sound!" he said after a minute.

"It's called bottleneck guitar," Walli said. "They used to do it with the neck of a broken bottle, but now someone makes these metal things."

"It sounds great."

"Why do you keep phoning Eric?"

"I want to know how many copies we sold of 'Shake, Rattle and Roll,' what's happening about the American release of 'Love Is It,' and whether we've got any tour dates coming up--and our manager won't speak to me!"

"Fire him," said Walli. "He is a breast."

Walli's English was almost perfect now. "A tit, you mean," Dave said. "We say he's a tit, not a breast."

"Thank you."

"How can I fire him if I can't get him on the phone?" Dave said gloomily.

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