Novel Chapter 11 Klaatu barada nikto klaatu barada nikto.

Chapter 11

Klaatu barada nikto klaatu barada nikto.

It became obvious to most people, that Finbar didn't seem to have any friends to play with over the weekends. It was his choice as he liked to play by himself, where he could use his imagination and make things authentic, and if he was playing a bit from a film, it had to be right.

For example: in High Noon, Kane, played by Gary Cooper, dropped the marshal's badge on the floor at the end of the movie and they, he and Grace Kelly, got on the horse and cart and left town. His mother told him that she had read in 'The Daily Sketch' that John Wayne had said, Kane stood on the badge which was un-patriotic.

Another film he liked was 'The Day the Earth Stood Still' and he liked the part where the woman had to go to Gort, to wake him up, and say 'Klaatu barada nikto klaatu barada nikto.'

This is what Michael Rennie told her to do when he was in hospital.

Further south from their home, along Moseley Road, was a piece of waste land which had been bombed, during the war, and kids in those days called them bomb buildings – as opposed to bombed buildings – and they would play there. These were dirty horrible places but in conurbations it attracted inner city children as it was an open space.

One of the games the kids played was The Day the Earth Stood Still, and where the space ship landed was represented by an old car which had been dumped.

The kids gathered around the car and one of the bigger kids stood very still like Gort. They knew that Finbar knew the lines from the film, because he had told them, and one of the kids was sent to get him.

Every time Finbar was called he noticed a boy who was a lot older than everybody else, sitting on a pile of bricks next to one of the boys. The big boy had a coat strewed over his lap and the lap of the little boy next to him. Finbar knew about him, as he had been told, that the big boy played with other boys; wilies. It was always a different boy each time he went and, in fact, it was the main reason he didn't play with that group of children. Finbar noticed that he naver had a little girl next to him. This boy's name was Robin and Finbar had told his father about him and was told to steer clear. “What was his name again?' he asked Finbar.

“Robin.'

“I'll remember that – Robin bastard.' he joked.

Of course he was, reading his Eagle, in the sheriff's office and when the kid opened the door and asked Finbar to come along and do the lines.

Finbar made up the words which were nothing like what were used in the film but somehow, after the game, he got to know the correct lines.

He played after school near his school on week days, which was around Hertford Street and Brunswick Road: in fact the top of Brunswick Road stopped at the Railway line. He often thought if he could get on to the embankment he could go all the way home which would be faster, and nip down when he heard a train coming. Then he could climb over the wall, behind his sheriff's office and . . . well, maybe not.

He would have his school clothes on – they didn't have uniforms in those days – and be carrying his lunch box. Not that he had lunch at school – school dinners - but lunch was for the milk break for which his mother made two slices of buttered toast, which he carried in the lunch box, and he put the toast into the radiator in its grease proof wrapping paper, to keep warm.

When milk time came, the toast was lovely and as soon as he opened the wrapping, the kids in the class crowded around his desk, like pigeons begging for bread and he, Christ like, fed the forty thousand.

Finbar's nick name at school was 'Toasty.'

He liked school dinners, but preferred his mother's food and walked home each day by himself.

He had plenty of time to view 'Watch with Mother' on the television before getting back to school by one, forty five – quarter to two.

On Saturdays he attended the children's matinee  at the Imperial Picture House to see the serials, cartoons and an old feature film which appealed to children.

One week the manager of the theatre went onto the stage and made an announcement.

“Please note, boys and girls, that next week's show starts at Quarter-to-two; tell your mothers and fathers – quarter to two.'

That was easy for Finbar to remember, it was the same as school time, but on the way out, one of the girls skipped along the street singing “Quarter-to-two, quarter-to-two, quarter-to-two.'

Finbar went up to her singing 'one forty five, one forty five, one forty five, and he hopped away. She ran up to him and pushed him in the back, then she ran off.

He ran after her and she suddenly stopped, facing him. When he reached her she dodged past him. They both giggled and played, fought and wrestled - she pinned his shoulders to the floor at one point.

Before they went home he asked what her name was: “Sofia Tabone' she said “What's yours?'

“Finbar.'

“What kind of a name is that?'

“What kind of a name is yours?'

“Sicilian.'

“Siss – what?'
“Sicilian.'

“You don't sound . . .what?'

“Sicilian . . . I'm Sicilian.'

“You don't sound like it.'

“You don't sound Irish.'

“Tabone?'

She pronounces it with the accent “Taboné.'

“Tabone.'

“No - Taboné.'

“I'll just call you Sofia.' he said.

“Sofía.' she said, pronouncing the accent on 'i'.

He didn't see her after that but found she lived in Brighton Road.

He went home, told his parents the news about the change of time, changed into his cowboy outfit and pondered why they had changed the time in the first place. Then he thought about Sofia.

A knock on the door – bum bup bup bum.

His mother: “Gillian wants to know if you want to go for a picnic tomorrow, after mass.'

“Okay! Yes' he said.

“Mr. Murdoch said you need to take some comics.'

“Okay' said the little boy.

Mr. Murdoch was Gillian's father and owned the shoe shop at the top of the lane. The first thing you would see along the road was Murdoch's Shoes.

Saint Anne's Church was a good walk north along Moseley Road then a left turn into Bradford Street. The masses were from eight-o-clock in the morning to noon; high noon he called it. They usually went to eleven-o-clock mass, when he went with his parents and sometimes 12-o-clock mass, if they were running late, which was always crowded with people standing outside. This time there were seats inside for them, and Finbar sat at the alter with other small children.

One of his favourite film series at the Imperial was 'Flash Gordon' and in it Ming's henchmen marched side by side towards Ming. At mass, two men marched up to the alter, just like the henchman, but they didn't really march, just looked like it; they carried plates and passed those plates to the end of the aisles, then the last one, passed it to the row behind for the people to put money on the plates.

Finbar looked to see the eagle eyes of the wardens, for that's what they were called, - the same as prison wardens - to see if someone, like his neighbour Sydney, with Sydney's talent for prestidigitation, might flick one of those coins and send it behind Finbar's ear.

Sometimes he would see a ten shilling note in the collection and sometimes he saw someone put their fingers in to rattle the plates pretending to put money in. Those people must have had no money so he was surprised that they were so well dressed.

He knew exactly when the two wardens made their march to the alter it was as if he could direct the whole thing.

“Dóminus vobíscum - Et cum spíritu tuo' was familiar to Finbar and when he had communion he would hear “Corpus Domini Nostri lesu Christi custodiat animam tuam in vitam aeternam, Amen.'

He never had communion at Saint Annes, preferring it at Saint John's where he took his first communion and was close to the convent where he attended religious instructions. After he received the first communion he was fed a big breakfast, with the other children making their first communion too.

In some masses there was music, and a choir singing and those were the ones he liked.

After mass Gillian called for him to tell him her father was ready.

He had forgotten about the picnic and didn't think it was going ahead as it was fairly cold out, but he collected his comics together and went up the lane to the back of Gillian's house.

A wide gate into their garden was opened and Gillian's dad got into the sports car and said “get in kids.'

Gillian and Finbar piled into the back of their car and her mother into the front.

The car was reversed out to face the main road and as it accelerated Finbar opened his comics and as the car was going fast and the top was down, the comics flew up into the air and sailed down like wings of angels to spread love, harmony and protection to the area.

Gillian's parents smiled and they all laughed and Gillian said “the comics were for the picnic.'

They laughed again, so did Finbar; he liked to make people laugh and it reminded him that if there was one thing his father didn't like, it was being laughed at: he would way “You're only making a laughing stork of me.' Fully knowing it was a laughing stock he meant; it was his perpetual joke.

Chapter 12

The Ballad of Carmel and Pat: 3