Banging Cousin Becky in Blackpool

So far Becky had managed to stay out of trouble and Danny, Jenny and I were the ones who had incurred Aunt Agatha's wrath but with Becky being Becky it didn't last long. A family passed by - a mother, father, son and daughter - all wearing glasses, dressed the same and wearing socks and sandals. Becky discretely nudged her brother, and Jenny and I and traced a square with her fingers, all of us laughing.

Aunt Agatha was onto this in an instant. "Rebecca, would you like to explain your little joke to the rest of us?"

Becky was still smirking. "No, Aunt Agatha."

"Rebecca, it is exceedingly common to make private jokes and snigger about them with one's friends," Aunt Agatha admonished her niece, who still stood smirking. She then turned to Jenny, Danny and I. "And if you choose to laugh along with Rebecca and her complete lack of manners, it makes you all as common as she is."

One person who had not said anything so far was Katie, and this was hardly surprising. Katie took after her father more than her mother, and was a skinny, mousy, nervous little redhead who wore glasses, somehow managing to be pretty and plain at the same time. Since childhood she had lived under the strict control of her mother, not daring to step out of line. One time we had visited when we were about twelve, we had all gone out into town and Katie had said that she needed to go to the toilet.

Poor Katie was then loudly admonished by her mother in front of crowds of people for using the term 'toilet' rather than the correct term of 'lavatory'. Becky and Jenny also copped Aunt Agatha's wrath for teaching their cousin to use common and vulgar terms like 'toilet' and 'loo', and when the three girls set off for the nearest ladies' room, the embarrassed Katie was blushing the same color of red as her hair and close to crying.

And it wouldn't be the last time for something like this to happen. The next summer Katie used the term 'period' to explain to Jenny and Becky why she wouldn't be able to go swimming when they went to the beach that afternoon. Aunt Agatha overheard, went off her head and poor little Katie copped a barrage for using this term instead of 'ladies days'.

Uncle Larry was the first to address Katie. "How is your fiancé, Katie?"

Katie nodded. "Yeah, Billy he's real good. In fact he'll be here real soon, he's on his lunch break and he's helping to take me for my driving lesson."

Aunt Agatha might have reprimanded Katie for saying 'yeah' not 'yes' and 'real' rather than 'really', but she had bigger fish to fry for the moment. "Yes, Katherine has decided to join the ranks of the modern, liberated feminists and learn to drive a motor car," said Aunt Agatha with a snort of derision.

Aunt Agatha's philosophy with driving was a very simple one. Men were meant to drive, and women were meant to be driven. And before the war, this more often than not was the case. Now things had changed. All of the men in the family had licenses, but during the war women had to fill men's roles and this meant driving. Mum, Aunt Maggie and Stan's wife Doris had never driven before the war, but had all learned during it. Aunt Agatha however had refused to learn to drive, and stuck to this philosophy even now years later.

And in the younger generation things were even worse for Aunt Agatha. It was fine from myself and Sam to have obtained our licenses and for Danny to be learning to drive at the moment, but it was not okay that Jenny and Becky had their drivers' licenses, nor that Stan and Doris's daughters had also learned to drive. Now that Katie was learning to drive, Aunt Agatha was the only one in the family who could not drive and she was not at all happy. All of us earned her glares, sharing part of the blame for Katie's driving ambitions.

"Agatha, learning to drive is essential for any young woman nowadays," said Stan, coming to his niece's defense. "As soon as Pam and Angie reached that age they learned to drive."

"Stanley, I've said this many times but women and motor cars are never a good combination," said Aunt Agatha. "Now excuse me please." More guests had arrived to be checked in and Aunt Agatha went to serve them.

We made our way to our rooms on the top floor, where I would be sharing a room with Danny, Becky and Jenny would be sharing another, with Mum and Dad having another room across the hall, Aunt Maggie and Uncle Larry in the room next to them. For obvious reasons I wished I could be sharing a room with Becky, but of course this could only happen in my imagination and never in reality. I think Becky would have thought it weird and uncomfortable, and it would leave Danny and Jenny sharing the other room, looking puzzled and saying, "Um, yeah?"

We put our things away and then Danny and I decided to go for a walk with our sisters to enjoy the sea air. On our way downstairs, our ears were assaulted by the sound of classical music playing from the lobby. It sounded like typical BBC radio programming from a Sunday, but it wasn't the radio and it wasn't a Sunday. Aunt Agatha insisted on playing it, to try and add a touch of class to her hotel.

None of us were fans of the classical music, but while Jenny, Danny and I said nothing Becky as usual had plenty to say. "If I had to listen to this bloody awful music all day, then I'd have to sit with a bucket by me desk because I'd be throwing up so much."

Becky feigned vomiting which amused us, but not Aunt Agatha who as if by magic appeared from a doorway behind us.

"Rebecca, do you have an opinion you wish to share with everybody else?"

Becky turned to face her aunt, defiant as always. "Yeah, this music's awful. You should play something more modern."

Aunt Agatha looked at Becky with contempt. "And what would a common girl from Liverpool who answers telephones at a General Post Office switchboard all day know about good music?"

"We've got real good music down in Liverpool," Becky asserted. "Who knows, one day in a few years a band from Liverpool might be one of the biggest bands in the world."

"I sincerely doubt that Rebecca," said Aunt Agatha.

"Don't change this music from being garbage," said Becky. "How about playing something like Perry Como or Patti Paige?"

"Guests of this hotel do not want to listen to American music, Rebecca," said Aunt Agatha.

Becky as usual decided to push Aunt Agatha further. "Or how about some rock and roll? Like Bill Haley and the Comets? Or that new guy, Elvis Presley?"

Aunt Agatha looked like she was about to suffer apoplexy. "The day rock and roll music is played in this hotel it will be over my dead body young lady. I think that smoking makes women look common, but in your case Rebecca you have already proven yourself to be one of the most common young women in England, and the more time you spend with a fag in your mouth means less opportunity for you to open your mouth and talk the utter nonsense you always do. So I suggest Rebecca that you go for a walk and smoke a cigarette, and if you know what's good for you keep your opinions to yourself in future. And get that smirk off your face Rebecca, you look like a Cheshire Cat."

A phone at reception rang and Aunt Agatha went to answer it, giving the still-smirking Becky no opportunity to answer back again. We went outside into the sea air, and were greeted by an interesting sight. Katie's fiancé Billy, a handsome young man who looked a bit like American actor James Dean was a few years older than her and was a police constable had arrived to take Katie for her driving lesson, but he was not the only one. It also seemed that a father, a brother and an uncle were required to teach Katie to drive too. So while nervous little Katie sat in the driver's seat and her fiancé in the passenger seat, Sam, Uncle Herbert and Uncle Stan were in the back seat, a tight squeeze given Stan was not a slim man.

Katie looked terrified as she drove down the road very, very slowly. "I reckon they might reach Birmingham by Christmas if Katie keeps going at that speed," observed Becky. "And does it really take four men to teach one girl to drive? I think they want to get away from Aunt Agatha. I know I would, even if it meant getting in a car with Katie driving."

"Katie, I'm just not sure if she's driving material," said Jenny, shaking her head as she lit a cigarette. "She seems way too nervous."

Becky laughed as she also lit up a cigarette. "Yeah, if even the slightest thing went wrong out on the roads our Katie would need two things - a clean pair of knickers and a roll of loo paper."

Danny recoiled. "Yuck Becky, thanks for putting that image into me head."

"Happy to oblige you, Danny," said Becky. "So Danny, this year does Big Sister Becky get to hang around with your mates and the girls from school or is she too much of a square?"

"She's too much of a square," said Danny, glaring at his sister.

"That's telling me," said Becky. She again tried to embarrass her younger brother as we reached a road. "Now Danny, remember what Mam said. About how your big sister has to hold your hand so you cross the road safely?"

Some lads about Danny's age were passing by and sniggered thinking Becky was serious, Danny blushing and mumbling under his breath and Becky stopped her teasing. A sea plane flew overhead and Danny's attention was captured by the aircraft. Perhaps because he grew up during the Second World War our Danny had a fascination with aircraft - planes, helicopters and even flying saucers - and given he was such a bright lad in school, he was going to complete his A levels and join the Royal Air Force with the intention of learning to fly and becoming an aircraft engineer. A few years ago Danny's ambition in life was to become a commercial pilot on a new De Havilland Comet airliner, but after what happened on more than a few occasions, Danny not surprisingly changed his mind.

As for me, I was able to delay my national service until I finished my carpentry apprenticeship, and hoped to complete it in the Navy as a ship's carpenter. I had always liked the sea and ships, so the Navy would probably be a better fit for me than the Army or RAF. And as I would already be qualified in carpentry by that stage, the Navy would need to spend less time and money training me to do the job.

"So Becky, this year I think you set a new record for annoying Aunt Agatha," said Jenny.

Becky rolled her eyes. "Yeah, she's got a real cob on today and she always gets on me tits. Silly old cow. I can't do nothing right with her, I'm always guilty until proven innocent. I know how bloody Kim Philby feels."

"Kim Philby? The MI5 guy? Why do you feel like him?" I asked.

"Because he got accused of being a Communist spy when there was no evidence against him, named and shamed in every paper in the country and overseas," said Becky. "The only thing Philby was guilty of is having rotten choice in mates, those two blokes who vanished, and are probably hiding out in Russia. The diplomat guy Mclean, and that other one Burgess. I heard Burgess was a poofter as well as a spy, but I'm not sure if that's true."

Jenny laughed. "Maybe Aunt Agatha might think you're a communist spy, Becky?"

"Don't bloody suggest it, she'd probably think that and report me to MI5," grumbled Becky. "Then our house would get raided and they'd be going through me bras and me knickers looking for hidden secrets I'm passing on to the Soviets. Anyway, I don't think we've heard the end of that spying business yet. Probably there's other men involved. One could be an ordinary family man who comes home every day to his wife and kids, and another might be a friend of the Royal Family for all we know."

I was only half listening to Becky, as I had a problem to deal with. Every time my cousin talked about her bras or her knickers, it sent blood to my groin and today was no exception. And in crowded Blackpool this presented a problem, so I had to think about unsexy and sad things to stop getting an erection.

As we reached the beach, I looked up at Blackpool Tower and lit a cigarette, wondering what our summer holiday for 1955 would be like. Aunt Agatha and Becky had certainly provided plenty of entertainment on day one that was for sure.

*

When on holiday in Blackpool as children, we had obviously had gone everywhere with our parents, but now we were young adults our parents largely did their own thing and we did our own thing. Danny preferred to spend his time with friends from school who were up here on holidays with their own families.

Jenny's boyfriend Phil, a handsome guy who looked a bit like American matinee heartthrob Rock Hudson arrived the next day - they had met through Phil's sister with whom Jenny and Becky worked at the exchange - so obviously my sister wanted to spend most of her time with Phil. Sam and Katie were busy at the hotel, and Katie always took a daily driving lesson with her father, brother, uncle and boyfriend.

At the hotel, there were plenty of Becky actions and Aunt Agatha reactions, or Aunt Agatha actions and Becky reactions, the two at war as usual. Aunt Agatha found plenty more to complain about besides Becky, such as some Chinamen opening a Chinese Restaurant, Italians opening an Italian Restaurant and far worse an American style diner opening a few streets away. Not only did it serve hamburgers and milkshakes and refer to chips as fries, but it had a juke box which played rock and roll music! If one asked Aunt Agatha which was more dangerous - atomic bombs or rock and roll, I think my aunt would have said rock and roll.

But as usual Blackpool was fun, fun and more fun. Going up the Blackpool Tower to see the sights, where I got an even better view when a gust of breeze got up under Becky's frock and blew it up, showing me and everyone else around my cousin's light blue knickers. After getting back down, Becky purchased a stick of famed Blackpool rock but the way she was eating it made me think unnatural thoughts about my pretty cousin and again having to think about sad and scary things to prevent a problem in my groin.

There was no end of things to do and see in Blackpool; the circus, zoo and aquarium at the Tower's base, beautiful beaches and the piers were abuzz with life. Further down there were the rides of Pleasure Beach, and arcades and the fun fair on the beach. In the evening there was plenty of nightlife for us to enjoy. Even simple things in life - like enjoying fish and chips which we could do in Liverpool - was made so much better by enjoying it on the beach.

There were plenty of pretty girls around, and by their accents they came from Manchester, rural Lancashire, Yorkshire and plenty from Liverpool, but to me the most beautiful girl was my cousin Becky. I couldn't stop looking at her and thinking about her with my heart racing. I wished we were going out together, but of course we were not, we were cousins.

Becky attracted a great deal of attention from men, both here and back home in Liverpool. I remember one day we were walking by through the city near the river, and a middle aged couple clearly from London by their accents were walking by looking up at the Liver Buildings and the famed bird statues. Well, the wife was looking at the buildings, but the husband was so distracted by my cousin when Becky passed by that he tripped and only just narrowly avoided ended up having a swim in the River Mersey on a cold day.

However, unlike her cousins Jenny and Katie Becky did not have a serious boyfriend. She had dated guys and was a shameless flirt, but nothing serious. I felt a little jealous seeing Becky flirting with one of the young men who worked on the dodgems at the fun fair, but what was I to do about it? I could hardly ask my own cousin out on a date.

Time flies when you're having fun, and soon it was Saturday. Jenny was going out with Phil to the movies for the evening, Katie was going out with Billy, Sam catching up with his mates, Danny meeting friends his own age and Aunt Agatha and Uncle Herbert along with our parents were going to have dinner and an evening playing cards with Stan and Doris at their house. The hotel did have a dining room but it wasn't profitable to open it on Saturday nights due to everyone eating out, so it gave Aunt Agatha, Uncle Herbert and Uncle Stan Saturday nights off.

Becky and I, the only two single members of the group were kind of the leftovers, but we weren't going to stay inside and go to bed early.

"Let's go out and have fun together Ian," Becky suggested, and of course I spent the afternoon counting down the seconds until we headed out to enjoy the late afternoon and evening to spend some one on one time with my pretty cousin.

*

I felt like I was in heaven and floating on a cloud as Becky and I went to the Pleasure Beach to enjoy all the rides and the fun fair attractions. The summer sun was setting over Blackpool, and as Becky and I rode one of the roller coasters, we could see it vanishing in the western horizon, the rays reflecting off the blue waves of the Irish Sea. It was a beautiful sight to behold, but not as beautiful as Becky as she sat beside me, the sea breeze blowing through her long blonde hair as the roller coaster took us up and down on the loops of its track, both of us climbing off laughing when it returned to the station and the next lot of passengers got on.

Becky was attired this evening in a white blouse and pink poodle skirt, a scarf she wore around her neck and a ribbon in her hair matching her skirt, Becky's white shoes and white bobby socks matching her blouse. I felt pretty square beside her, wearing a beige short-sleeved shirt, beige trousers and brown shoes.

As Becky and I strolled through the arcades at the fun fair playing carnival games, both of us enjoying sticky red toffee apples I wished that we were holding hands and a real boyfriend and girlfriend, but we obviously were not so I had to be content to pretend. That boys noticed Becky as we passed by and thought we were going out together rather than cousins was a great feeling. I also began having weird thoughts about the way my cousin ate her toffee apple, imagining her doing something else entirely, much like the other day when she was sucking on a stick of rock.

"How about we go dancing?" Becky suggested as we finished our toffee apples. "I really enjoyed that dance hall the other night."

"Yeah me too," I agreed, Becky and I setting off for the dance hall, catching a tram for the Central Pier near where it was located, other teenagers clearly having the same idea.

As we joined the queue to get inside, we could hear the unmistakable sounds of the band playing rock and roll music, the latest tunes made famous by Bill Haley and the Comets. Becky laughed and put her mischievous look on her face. "I wonder if Aunt Agatha might be in here having fun instead of having tea with Uncle Stan and Aunt Doris?" she mused.

I joined my cousin in laughing. "Think she might have apoplexy if she did. She hates rock and roll, probably thinks that Americans invented it just to annoy her."

"If this was the 1920s Aunt Agatha would have hated the Charleston, and if this was during the War she would have hated swing dancing," Becky observed, as we went inside to where the band was in full swing, the dance floor crowded with teenagers and young people enjoying rock and roll.

Becky and I quickly joined them. I wasn't a particularly good dancer but Becky was great, and seemed to have a natural ability to pick up the rhythm and dance moves. Several times Becky's poodle skirt flew up as she danced, me seeing the white knickers my cousin was wearing and hoping I wouldn't get an erection on a crowded dance floor.

The band changed over from the lively rock and roll to slower tunes, for couples to slow dance to. While it was fine to dance with one's cousin to rock and roll, slow dancing with her was not so okay. While I really wanted to dance slowly and romantically with my beautiful cousin, I could not say so, unless I wanted to frighten Becky so much that she would take to her heels and run so fast that by midnight she would be back home in Liverpool, the poor girl horrified to have a cousin that was such a weirdo.