Free In Pieces by Nick Hopton Page A

was missing and Mrs Donnelley had propped it up with a pile of books rather than pay for a repair. Through the small grimy window he could make out a few rooftops and the backs of small terraced houses. The sound of a baby screaming came from nearby. It reminded the Sleeper of home and he felt his stomach lurch. He wondered how he would find a new place in such a short time?
    ~
    Jimmy was no dreamer. For him football was a way of life, one which he enjoyed, but now that he had become a professional, it was no longer his dream. However, like many people, he did have a secret ambition. Although he told Si most things, knowing that his friend would not take the mickey or break his confidence, Jimmy had never told him about one corner of his life which had been shrouded in darkness since his early teens. And he still didn’t want to shine a light into it, not until the time was right. Especially now that he knew Si had once shared the same secret goal.
    When he was fourteen Jimmy, Si and some other schoolmates took a train to a provincial town one Saturday evening. Not far from London, the town’s only claim to fame was the huge stadium recently constructed by local developers. The idea was to draw in the youth from dormitory towns all around London and create a venue for top international rock bands.
    Jimmy and his friends had never been to a proper rock concert before. He spent the evening mouth-wide-open, mesmerised by the high-energy performance. Prince leapt about the stage and effortlessly created electrifying music with his purple guitar. Jimmy couldn’t take his eyes off the star.
    On the way home some of the others dozed and Si offered round an illicit can of lager. But Jimmy, between swigs, remained silent, lost in a new dream. It was a dream that didn’t evaporate in the morning.
    Jimmy decided that night that he was going to be a rock star. He wanted this even more than he wanted to be a famous footballer. The trouble was that until the Prince concert he’d never played an instrument or sung, and he was too shy to start. Only mummy’s boys learned musical instruments at school. The kids with the tidy uniforms and short, neatly-parted hair, who spent their lunch hours taking piano lessons and singing in the choir. This was hard to reconcile with his dream. Surely Prince hadn’t been such a ponce when he was a kid? Would the delicate Head Chorister metamorphosise into a strutting, groin-thrusting rock ‘n’ roll icon in later life?
    Jimmy couldn’t get his head round this puzzle. He was also afraid that he would be ridiculed by his friends, perhaps even by Si, if he discussed this with them. So he remained silent. He played soccer at lunchtimes and breaks, and jeered at the musical goody-goodies as they minced past, straining under the weight of their cellos.
    But the dream wouldn’t go away. He lay awake at nights, especially after watching
Top Of The Pops
or
The Tube
, and pictured himself on stage.
    His tastes developed, and by the time he was seventeen and playing for Millwall schoolboys, he fantasised about strumming a folk guitar in front of a large band. He dressed like Bob Dylan and Van the Man and put posters of Jim Morrison on his bedroom wall. In his dreams he strode purposefully about a wide stage grasping a microphone and occasionally striking a few chords on the guitar which hung about his neck. The crowd of adoring fans, mostly girls with low cut tops and full lips, blew kisses and screamed whenever he moved. In his sleep Jimmy smiled and, wrapping the duvet cover around him like a spangled cloak, he turned over with a sigh.
    And now at the age of twenty-seven, although Jimmy knew it was ridiculous, he realised he still wanted to be a rock star.
    ~
    The Sleeper was seriously concerned about leaving Mrs Donnelley’s; he needn’t have worried.
    â€˜My sister’s looking for someone to take a spare room in her house. I’ll give her a call and see if