The Twelfth Week
Monday 21 — Sunday 27 May 1984
The Transits come at midnight. His team sit in the back. They drink. Listen to music: Under Cover of the Night. Loud.Deafening —
Their Transit stops. The Mechanic and his team have their bags packed. Ready. Their tools. The paint. The Mechanic and his team go from street to street —
House to house. Scab to scab —
In the last street. The last house. The last scab. They tip paint over the scab’s dog. Put the empty cansthrough his windows. Thelights go on –
The Mechanic and his men shout. They run –
The Transit picks them up.
In the back. They drink. Laugh. Listen to music: Breaking the Law –
The Transit stops. The Mechanic and his team have their bags. Their tools –
They do the padlocks. Do the chains. Bentley Brothers — Hauliers.
Through the yard. Tools out. The Mechanic and his men set about the trucks —
The windscreens. The brake pipes. The tyres –
Back to the Transit –
More drink. More laughs. More music: Smash It Up –
Transit stops. Bags. Tools. Padlocks. Chains. NCB Property.
Through the pit yard. Set about the offices. The windows. The doors. Anything —
They smash it up —
The Transit comes back for them as the sun rises. This tour finished.
The Transit drops the Mechanic near his mother’s house.
He picks up the dogs. Heads home. He has a shower. A drink. He lies on the bed. Their bed. He switches on the news. Switches it off again. He gets up. Into the lounge —
He puts on a record. Sade. Turns it off again. He sits on the sofa in the dawn —
The curtains shut. His eyes wide open –
The money on the table. The Polaroid —
He knows she’s hurting. Knows he is not therefor her. Knows —
*
The Chairman was ready to meet. The Chairman was not. The President ready to meet. The President not. Preconditions. No preconditions. Set agendas. No set agendas –
The talks were on. The talks were off. The talks on. The talks off –
The talks on again.
Everyone went South with the President. Everyone but Terry –
Terry left to wait by the phone. To wait for the call. The word.
Terry did his homework. Two piles of big files on his desk. One pile of accounts. One pile of actions.
The phone rang. Click-click. It was the President. The President for Terry –
The talks were off again. The Chairman was a liar. Everyone was a liar –
Terry was to chair the morning meeting. The President hung up.
Terry gathered his files. His homework. He went upstairs –
They were waiting for him. They were waiting for news –
Terry had no news. No one told him anything –
So Terry told them things they already knew –
The Board in Derbyshire had sent out personal letters to every miner in the area but just sixty men had gone back; ten thousand still on strike. Lancashire had suspended one thousand members for crossing official picket lines. The President of Kent had been remanded in custody for nine days for breach of bail conditions.
Mike Sullivan raised his hand. Mike asked, ‘Is it true a Nottinghamshire miner nailed himself to his own fucking floor in protest over the scabs at his pit?’
The phone rang. Nigel picked it up –
Click-click.
‘Tell them we’re in a meeting,’ said Terry.
Everyone laughed. Everyone but Nigel. Nigel shook his head –
It was the President. The President for Terry –
The President wanted Terry. The President needed Terry –
Now. In London –
Terry dropped the phone. Dropped everything. Left Mike in charge –
In charge of everything.
Terry caught the first train down. First class –
It was a big day. The talks were scheduled to happen –
Huge. The Nottinghamshire High Court action was set to be heard too –
Terry took a taxi to the hotel. Through the revolving doors. Up the stairs –
Enormous. Terry knocked on the door. Terry walked into the hotel room. Everyone looked at Terry. Everyone but the President and Paul. Terry looked at Joan –
Joan shook her head. Joan whispered, ‘Kent won’t lift the picket of Hobart House. The President won’t cross a picket line. The Board won’t change the venue –
‘The Prime Minister won’t let them.’
Alice Keyes picked up the phone. Click-click. She put her hand over the phone. She said, ‘President. It’s Yorkshire.’
The President took the phone from her. He said, ‘Comrade?’
Terry looked round the hotel room. People came in and people went out again. Took away cups and saucers. Brought in papers and files.