Something Else

Chapter 2 - The Fight

Claire stood at the sink with her arms up to her elbows in bubbles as she scrubbed away at the pile of dirty dishes Lee had left sitting there since late Wednesday night. She shook her head, thinking, men! How she loved doing all these little things for him – what would he do without her!

Lee emerged from the bathroom, lit two cigarettes and took one through for Claire.
'You'd better get a move on if we're going to be on time,' he told her.
Claire turned around with a frown and wiped her hands on the tea towel before taking the cigarette from him. 'What do you mean, it's only half nine, I didn't think we were meeting 'em 'til half ten?'

Lee shook his head, pulling his hair back in a ponytail and squeezed the excess water out. 'No, quarter to ten.'
'Quarter to ten!' she exclaimed in disbelief, shooting an eye to the clock. 'You told me half-past ten! When did it get changed to that?'

'Last night,' he informed her casually. He took a drag on his cigarette as he threw the damp towel over his shoulder. 'We decided to get there early in case Joe and that turn up. Know what I mean?'
Claire's face dropped. 'Great! Thanks for letting me know sooner. I'll never be ready in fifteen minutes.'

Lee shrugged his shoulders in a way that told her if she wasn't ready in fifteen minutes, he'd be going without her.
Pulling the plug on the last few dishes in the sink, she scowled, feeling sure this was another one of his ploys to try and get another night out with the guys.

Lee and Claire were the last to arrive at the pub. When they got there, the others were busy working out whose cars they were going to take and decided on Pete's van, Steve's Station Wagon and Lee's cab. Everyone was in high spirits. It had been quite some time since the last all-nighter. And with the prospect of the first confrontation with Joe and friends for a while, there was an added high all around.

Vibrations was the latest 'Indie' and 'Techno' club to open at the old renovated church down by the disused power station at Pyrmont, where there was no local residence to complain about the noise. It stood in its original grounds, surrounded by immaculately manicured gardens. And apart from the big neon lights announcing Vibrations, the building was still, externally, the original old sandstone church.

It was ten-thirty when they arrived. They checked out the other cars in the car park as they drove in to see if Joe and his mates were already there.

'Here,' said Jimmy, pointing towards the bouncers in the doorway of the church. 'They're knocking people back.' He watched as a couple of guys reluctantly walked off and wondered why they'd been turned away. 'Maybe it's a collar thing,' he surmised.

Dave shook his head. 'Nah, places like this don't have collar rules. Wise up!'
But Jimmy had come prepared – just in case.
'What the fuck's that?' Billy wanted to know, looking around at the tatty little collar he'd just stuffed into his neckline.

Dave grinned, having seen Jimmy design it.
'It's my emergency nightclub getting in collar,' he informed him proudly.
'You ain't fuckin' wearing that!' he told him. 'Not if you're coming in with me!'

Lee turned around from the front seat to see what they were talking about, and when he saw the collar that had obviously been cut off some other shirt hanging out of his t-shirt, laughed. 'No chance, Jimmy,' he told him. 'Get it off, or they'll think there's something wrong with you.'

'And there isn't?' questioned Dave.
Jimmy whipped the collar off and tossed it on the back shelf with a shrug before digging into his pocket. 'Anyone for their medication?' he then asked, revealing a bag of 'E's.

What they had done to the inside of the church was spectacular. None of them had seen anything like it before. As they walked in, directly in front of them was a massive bank of at least fifty video screens which were playing a tape of the Happy Mondays.