Brothers and Lovers
by
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The moonlit beach was a sandy cove between jagged rocks. White-foamed breakers roared, exploding in sparkling jets. Crystal spread the blanket on the sand and lay back, “Come here, my movie star....”
I did as I was told. Clothing ended up in a small pile alongside us.
I saw her smiling, “Like Burt Lancaster and Deborah Kerr? From Here to Eternity?”
“Ja, I remember.”
The gentleness with which we had become lovers a few weeks earlier was overtaken by urgency, a bestial coupling, a commitment of total belonging.
Afterwards we lay back exhausted, aware only of deafening surf and recovering breathing. Clouds darkened the sky.
Torchlight shattered our paradise. We blinked. Beams shone in our eyes. Crystal screamed, grabbing the blanket to cover our nakedness.
Two dark uniformed figures loomed above us.
A growl came from behind the lights. “OK you little lovebirds....let’s look at you!!!!” .
“Hey, Dirkie! Two little totty lovebirds having a bleddy good time”
The torches traversed the scene. I held Crystal tightly,felt her shaking. “Please Officer, we’re not doing anything wrong,” summoning all the dignity I could muster.
Light beams found our faces. A chubby face leered close. Brandy fumes wafted over us. “No Piet, it’s OK. They’s white. Let ‘em be.”
The other giant shook his head. “Maybe,but what are they doing fucking on a Coloureds only beach?” Crystal’s face was spotlighted. “Hell, she’s pretty. So, girl, how old are youse?”
Crystal lifted her chin. “Eighteen, sir.”
“What’s your name?”
“Crystal, sir. Please let us go. We’re sorry we’re on the wrong beach. We didn’t see a sign.”
The light shone on me. “You, boy, how old are you?”
“Also eighteen, sir.” My body was shaking along with Crystal’s.
“He’s not Afrikaans, Dirkie. What’s your name, hey?”
“R-r-raymond, Off-off-officer.”
Both men laughed. “Raaaymond? That’s a sissy name. You a sissy, Raaaymond?”
Crystal sat upright. “No, Officer, he is definitely NOT a sissy. We call him Ray. I wouldn’t be here with a sissy anyways....”
The policemen squatted, malignant smiles on their faces. “OK, but you's stark naked on a Coloureds only beach in pitch dark....”
Dirkie stood. “Piet, I think we’ve given them a hellovva fright. Let ‘em get dressed”.
But Piet was not in a lenient mood. “You mad? What about the car parked down by the kaffir picnic spot?” He looked at me accusingly. “You got a driving licence, boy?”
I shook my head. There was no way out of this. On a Coloureds only beach, no licence, driving under age, no insurance, someone else’s car. What would my parents say? AND OHMIGOD what about Gerry Webber, Crystal’s Nazi father?
While I sat numb, Crystal stretched for her bra and sweater, giving the constables an eyeful of her uptilted breasts. She slowly pulled the sweater over her head, eyes fixed on the two gawking males. Piet had forgotten his questions, swaying slightly, gaze riveted on Crystal’s reverse striptease. She moved closer swallowing, then faced him square on.
“My name is Crystal Webber. My father's Gerry Webber of Gerry’s Gymnasium.”
The men’s mouths dropped open, “Gerry Webber’s daughter! Hell!!!!”
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About the Book
'Brothers and Lovers' is a novel stretching from Apartheid South Africa in the nineteen-fifties via a cruise up the East coast of Africa through the Suez Canal to London and Europe ending in the first years of the 21st Century.
An ill-fated love affair between Raymond, a Jewish boy and Crystal, an Afrikaans girl,vehemently opposed both by his parents and her bullying father. Parallel to this is bitter fraternal strife between Raymond and his brother Larry.
The story describes the sectarian hatred amongst the white groupings of South Africa set against the racist paternalistic attitudes toward the coloured and black populations.
In contrast there is a picture of London in the swinging sixties and seventies , a French Alpine Ski resort and life in England under New Labour at the turn of the Century.
Historic events taking place alongside the progress of the story are described in italics.
About the Author
Michael J. Davidson was born in 1940, in Port Elizabeth, South Africa. Educated at Grey High School, he qualified as a Dental Surgeon at Wits University, Johannesburg, in 1962,emigrating to London soon after.
He practised Dentistry in surgeries in Kensington and Harrow, retiring in 2005. He has attended several Creative Writing Workshops during the past two decades, under published authors Dennis Evans, Hil Slavid and currently Siobhan Curham. Siobhan has played a most important role in the progress of 'Brothers and Lovers ' editing, encouraging and most of all, enthusing about the project from the outset.
In 1998 he published with co-author Karen Hogan, 'Odd Bedfellows' a compilation of Poetry and Prose.
His sports and hobbies include skiing, scuba diving squash, tennis, swimming, playing jazz piano and writing lyrics for festive occasions which he sometimes allows himself to be persuaded to perform!
Married to Julia since 1967, they have three daughters, Laoise, Sara and Aviva, and one son-in-law, Alon, married to Sara who have presented them with three gorgeous grandchildren, Maya, Guy and Natalie
Further writing ambitions include publishing a collection of his poems and also a small volume entitled 'My letters to Editors that they never published!'
The Davidsons live in Harrow on the Hill, Middlesex