For David Harris and David Jones – Rolf and Locker to their peers within the gang – it’s a slow, easy and relaxing start to summer. After all, at sixteen and with exams behind them, that’s what glorious weather should be about. So they take their time with football and Allevio, barely recognising that the world around them is shifting. Slowly, however, the subtle and overt pressures in their working class community become apparent, and grow by the day. Friendships are dissolving as adulthood beckons; gang members are going their separate ways. Rolf’s mother is ill and domestic finances are tight, and Locker is desperate to avoid baby-sitting duties. And they both want a girl-friend. Together, they secure part-time work at the local department store, keen to see the rewards that money can buy.
Closer to home, they find that Seth, the local villain, has his eyes set on robbery, a threat of violence mounting. With heads in the sand, Rolf and Locker initially brush off the danger, looking to the bright city lights and embarking on a quest for alcohol, girls and condoms. A run-in with the police and an unexpected invitation twist their fortunes – and their outlook – upside down. But when Mrs Harris becomes the victim of an unprovoked attack, they realise just how serious a problem they face. Can Rolf manage the situation with customary objectivity whilst dealing with his feelings for Lucy, the girl next door with the strange hair style? Will mild-mannered Locker be of any use at all? And can they trust Mr Simpson, rumoured to be the local pervert?
Not Being Kids is a coming-of-age story of trust and friendship, threat and danger, risk, reward and love. Set in a tough working-class community of 1970s South Yorkshire, the story follows the adventures and experiences of two best friends trying to negotiate their individual and intertwined paths to adulthood. Through a series of comic, life-changing and ultimately tragic events, they must cope with their own problems and frailties, and learn how to deal with an increasingly complex and hostile world. Sunshine with probability of cloud.
