Wednesday, 29th July 1981
It was almost the end of July and, for the Wolves Motorcycle Club, the riding season was well underway. There was something on every weekend and, whether it was a ride-out, party, or weekend at a festival, Smudge, as a Prospect, was expected to be there doing the donkey work. For the past six weeks Smudge had spent most of his weekends tending bar, setting up camp, watching over bikes, tearing down camp, or generally cleaning up after everyone else. It was ball-aching work, but if you wanted to be a full patch member of any proper motorcycle club then you had to prospect for them first.
It had proven too much for his pal Spence though who, at the beginning of June, had decided to jack the prospecting in. He'd been getting serious with a student nurse called Caitlin and she'd not been keen on him getting into the lifestyle. In the end, Spence had decided that he wanted Caitlin more than he wanted the club. There was no animosity towards him from the club. This was the purpose of prospecting, to weed out those who weren't really suited to the lifestyle. Smudge and Spence would remain good friends. The only problem with Spence leaving was that it meant more work for Smudge and the other prospect, Crash.
Things had been going well though with Niamh, the petite redhead who Spence and Caitlin had introduced Smudge to. Like Caitlin, she was also a student nurse and since they'd first met at the beginning of May, Smudge and Niamh had seen a fair bit of each other. Niamh however had made it clear to Smudge that she didn't want to be a Prospect's girlfriend or, for that matter, limit herself to one man. 'Friends with Benefits' was how she described their relationship and what she did when he wasn't around, Smudge didn't ask and Niamh didn't tell.
Because of Smudge's prospecting commitments the two of them met mainly during the week, after work. Often they'd go to see a movie, paying extra for a couple's seat on the back row. Smudge couldn't have told you much about the plot of many of the films they'd seen, having spent most of his time making out with Niamh. She always wore a short skirt or summer dress and he always ended up fingering her while they kissed. Niamh was like no other girl he'd been out with before. His previous partners had, at best, tolerated his amorous advances, whereas Niamh it seemed actively encouraged them.
After the film was over, if it was a warm dry night, they'd go out into the countryside on Smudge's bike and find a quiet place to fuck. If it was a wet evening, Niamh let him do her up against a wall in the alleyway behind the cinema. It wasn't glamorous, but Wolverhampton in the 1980's wasn't that glamorous in general.
That Wednesday it was a warm evening and, after the film, Smudge and Niamh had ridden to a meadow on the outskirts of town. Smudge had taken to tying a bedroll onto his handlebars 'Easyrider' style so that they didn't have to fuck on the grass and, after they'd enjoyed each other's bodies, the two of them lay on it gazing up at the stars.
Neither of them could deny the elephant in the room however. Niamh's student term was ending that Friday and she was going back to Ireland for six weeks on the Sunday. Smudge was going to miss Niamh, probably more than she was going to miss him, he thought. He'd managed to get Saturday night off from his prospecting duties and was looking forward to spending their last night together. But then Niamh dropped a bit of a bombshell.
"I've been invited out on Saturday night," Niamh began slightly apologetically. "I set a friend up with a guy some time ago and they've just got engaged. Since it was me who introduced them they wanted to take me out for a meal to say thank you before I went back to Ireland. I thought we could go together. Would you mind?"
Smudge did mind but he kept his feelings to himself. He'd planned on pushing the boat out and taking Niamh to the Italian restaurant on the high street for a romantic meal. Then, afterwards, since his mum would be at her boyfriend's for the weekend, they could go back to his house for a night of passion. But Smudge knew he was in no position to dictate what Niamh did.
"We'll still get to spend the night together?" he asked hopefully.
"Of course," Niamh laughed.
"Then it sounds good."
"Lynne's a fully qualified nurse and he's a footballer. You might have heard of him, he's called Davey Swann."
Everyone had heard of Davey Swann. He was the only thing keeping Wolverhampton Wanderers in the top flight of English football. Smudge had actually met him, although briefly.
"He bought a bike from Richardson's a couple of months ago. I prepared it for him," Smudge told Niamh. "I met him briefly and his fiancΓ©."
"What did you think of her?"
Smudge was always wary when girls asked questions like that about other girls.
"She's nice," he said.
"Do you think she's pretty?"
"I guess."
"Come on," Niamh laughed. "She's gorgeous."
Niamh was right, she'd had a great body.
"She's not as gorgeous as you," Smudge said diplomatically, which earned him a kiss.
"Actually, when I told Lynne you worked in a bike shop and rode with a bike club, she asked if you might give Davey a few pointers on riding. He keeps coming off his bike apparently."
Smudge winced at the thought of damaging such a nice bike.
"Sure. But how do you know Davey Swann?" he asked.
"I went out with him for a while when I first came to England," Niamh offered.
Hearing this hit a nerve with Smudge. Smudge knew he couldn't compete with the likes of Davey Swann. Top class footballers earned a fortune compared to lowly motorcycle mechanics.
"Don't be jealous," Niamh told Smudge. "Davey's a nice guy but he's not really my type."
"If you say so."
"Oh and Lynne's going to help me pack up my room on Saturday morning. If I put everything into storage then I don't have to pay for it over the summer. She also offered to give me a lift to the airport on Sunday, so I don't have to catch the bus."
"I could have given you a lift," Smudge said, slightly offended not to have been asked.
"I don't think we'll get me and my suitcase on the back of your bike Smudge."
"Oh right. Yeah I'd forgotten about that..."
__________
Thursday, 30th July 1981
In a way it was a good thing that Smudge and Niamh were just 'Friends with Benefits'. If they'd been anything more then Smudge would have felt the need to come clean about his side-line, ferrying Topper's wife, Irene to and from her 'exotic dancing' appointments.
It had started a few months back started when Topper, who was the Wolves' Sergeant At Arms, had asked Smudge to pick Irene up from a strip club in Walsall one Friday night. Irene was what they called an exotic dancer, which covered a multitude of sins back in the 80's. Anyway, Topper had wanted to spend the night with his girlfriend and told Smudge to tell Irene that he was on urgent Wolves business. Irene didn't believe a word of it of course and, to cut a long story short, Smudge had ended up fucking her. Or more accurately Irene had ended up fucking Smudge.
Smudge lived in fear of Topper finding out about what had happened, but surprisingly Topper then offered Smudge some work ferrying Irene to gigs. Smudge now found himself regularly picking Irene up from her various 'engagements' on a Friday evening while Topper found more 'urgent' Wolves business to attend to. Smudge would pick Irene up from whatever club she'd been performing in and give her a lift home on the back of his bike. She'd invite him in for a coffee, they'd fuck in Irene's kitchen and then Smudge would be on his way.
Occasionally, Smudge would escort Irene to other appointments, usually in her Ford Fiesta. These were often in working men's clubs or the back rooms of pubs and the shows tended to be a lot raunchier than what happened in the strip joints. Irene would go much further on these occasions and, if they were a young crowd, sometimes she'd go as far as letting guys fuck her (with a condom of course). Irene had a thing for younger guys but it was surprising though, given the opportunity, how many of them couldn't get it up when they had to perform in front of a crowd.