Part 4 (1/2)

'That is what we mean.'

'In that case, no. He hasn't talked. But here's all the newspaper reports, lawyers' papers, etc. Maybe these will help you.'

'You have been very efficient, Howard, very efficient,' said Durrani. 'We are much in debt to you. It is possible, inshallah inshallah, that we may have merchandise to sell in England when Graham is in German prison. Are you interested?'

'I don't have any money, but I am honoured you ask me.'

'We would give you 100% credit,' said the Lebanese Sam. 'Simply sell it, keep your commission, and give us the agreed amount of money.'

'I'm not really that kind of dealer, Sam. Graham would give me a pound or two to sell every couple of weeks. That's it. I've never done any real business of any kind.'

'Surely you must be knowing people who are buying merchandise?' Durrani asked.

'No, I don't.'

'But you were at the Oxford University with Graham, no?'

'Yes, we were at Oxford together, but it's not much of a business school.'

'It is world's best, Howard. Graham sells his merchandise to people from the Oxford University.'

'That's very probable. Can't you get hold of any of them to sell your stuff?'

'We know only David Pollard, and he is now crazy man.'

I knew David Pollard. He was an exact contemporary of mine at some Oxford college other than Balliol. He too read Physics and was by no means crazy, though he was a little eccentric and had recently suffered tragic circ.u.mstances. In fact he was brilliant and invented all sorts of things from kidney dialysis machines to LSD manufacturing accessories, as well as pioneering the first British joint-sized rolling papers, Esmeralda. His girlfriend, Barbara Mayo, had gone hitch-hiking on the M6 motorway, and had been raped and murdered. The police never found the killer, but David was routinely grilled and treated as the prime suspect. The police finally let him go, and he threw his LSD manufacturing plant into the Thames. I had no idea he was Graham's main wholesaler.

'Jarvis once came out to Beirut to see me,' said Sam, 'but I have no idea where to get hold of him. Neither does Mandy. I don't think he was at Oxford University, but Graham sells to him.'

I had met Jarvis a few times with Graham. He was a state-of-the-art London Sixties dealer: shaded gla.s.ses, pop-singer clothes, model girlfriends, and lots of new vocabulary. He hailed from Birmingham but spoke Chelsea.

'No, he wasn't at Oxford, but I could probably track him down.'

'Good,' said Durrani. 'We look forward to good business. I will ask Mandy to call you when we are ready.'

The German and Mayfair experiences filled me with a new kind of energy and excitement. So much of me longed for more of this adventure. I thought of things I could buy with a lot of money.

Back in Brighton, I saw lots more of Rosie and little of anyone else. I told her about my recent adventures and the proposition I'd been made.

'That's wonderful, Howard,' said Rosie. 'That's obviously what you should do. Get out there and be somebody in your one and only life. I think selling Durrani's has.h.i.+sh in London is a brilliant idea. It's what you've been waiting for, isn't it?'

'I don't know. I just don't have any money to set myself up. I'd need a flat in London, a car other than my beaten-up Hillman, operating expenses, all kinds of things, let alone money to live on.'

'Howard, I don't know about you and Ilze. But Richard and I are not going to carry on pretending to be living with and loving each other. We're separating. My family has money. His family has a lot more, and they will certainly make sure that Emily, their granddaughter, will be properly provided for. I'm going to move to London. My parents will rent me a flat and buy me a car. You can stay there anytime you want, use the car, and if you need to borrow a couple of hundred pounds to set up a business, I couldn't think of a better investment for me to make.'

In a whirlwind of love, romance, and unlimited possibility, Rosie, her baby daughter Emily and I moved to a maisonette in Hillsleigh Road in the expensive part of Notting Hill. Richard would visit and play Go. We have remained very good friends. Ilze would also visit, and although we both felt somewhat betrayed by each other's infidelity, we remained on the very best terms.

During my postgraduate year at Oxford, I had met and liked a friend of Graham's called Charlie Radcliffe. He was from an aristocratic background, had an enormous collection of blues records, chain-smoked marijuana, belonged to the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament, and had been busted for forging a staggering quant.i.ty of first-cla.s.s counterfeit United States $100 bills with the words 'In G.o.d We Trust' replaced by an anti-Vietnam war slogan. He worked then for Robert Maxwell's publis.h.i.+ng company, Pergamon Press, in Headington, just outside Oxford. Now Charlie, too, was living in London, and when he heard of Graham's bust, he tracked me down to get what news he could. I told him what I knew and mentioned the possibility of my being asked to sell Graham's has.h.i.+sh in his absence. I asked if he could help me out by either selling some or getting hold of Jarvis, whom Charlie knew quite well. Charlie was eager to make some money but explained that he had a partner, Charlie Weatherley, who would have to be involved. I had met Charlie Weatherley a few times when he was an undergraduate at Christ Church. He was now a heavy has.h.i.+sh-consuming biker and, when not pus.h.i.+ng his Norton Commando to the limit, listened continually with amus.e.m.e.nt to the Grateful Dead. He was a joy to be around. Charlie Radcliffe and I decided that the simplest and fairest arrangement for all concerned was that Jarvis, the two Charlies, and I form a syndicate to market Durrani's has.h.i.+sh. My initial responsibility would be to receive the has.h.i.+sh from Durrani and store it at Hillsleigh Road. Jarvis and the two Charlies would sell the has.h.i.+sh to their various dealer connections. I would then be expected to take the money to Durrani after splitting the profit four ways. We were ready. All we needed was the has.h.i.+sh.

No has.h.i.+sh materialised. Durrani never got in touch, and Graham was released after serving a six-month sentence. Throughout that six-month period, however, partly because of the conveniences provided by the Hillsleigh Road maisonette and partly, I'm sure, by the continual hope of Durrani coming through with large amounts, our newly formed syndicate operated as arranged with has.h.i.+sh from other sources. Through these dealings, I became acquainted with Duncan Laurie, a major has.h.i.+sh importer who had set up the Forbidden Fruit chain of Sixties boutiques in the King's Road and Portobello Road, Lebanese Joe, the person responsible for Graham's knowing Durrani, and James Goldsack, David Pollard's dealing partner. Essentially, I was making money and connections by sticking Rosie's neck on the line and mercilessly using her accommodation, car, and telephone. But I was also able to buy a few pounds of has.h.i.+sh at the best prices, and these I would sell in quarter-pounds and ounces to university dealers and friends in Oxford, Brighton, London, and Bristol, where my sister was doing a French degree. My new career had begun. Trading in cannabis would remain my active profession for the next eighteen years.

My views on cannabis differed in some ways from those of Jarvis and the two Charlies. They were far more radical than I and tended to see has.h.i.+sh as a new meaningful currency capable of overthrowing the fascist overlords. They wished has.h.i.+sh to remain illegal. It gave us a means of living and salved our rebellious consciences by f.u.c.king up the establishment. We were true outlaws: we didn't really break laws, not real ones; we just lived outside them. We didn't pay tax because we didn't want our money being used by the armed forces to kill innocent foreigners and by the police to bust us. We just wanted a good time, and we worked hard and took risks to get it by supplying a badly needed service. I went along with most of this but couldn't begin to condone the punis.h.i.+ng of those who wished to smoke marijuana and, therefore, could not logically condone the illegality of the has.h.i.+sh trade.

Graham had hatched up several plans while incarcerated. Some were hindered by his inability to enter Germany without first paying his rather hefty fine. I agreed to take 5,000 of Graham's money to Frankfurt to give to Lebanese Sam. He would then take care of the fine. Currency restrictions made it illegal to take more than 25 out of the country, so I stuck the money down the back of my trousers and checked in at Heathrow. A couple of policemen did an unexpected anti-terrorist pa.s.senger search. Before I had time to realise the danger I was in, I had been incredibly inefficiently searched and motioned through the boarding gate. I didn't feel relief. I just felt a bit dazed and confused.

On the way back the next morning, I hid the receipt for the fine payment and 300 generously given me by Sam in my sock. I bought some duty-free perfumes for Rosie. Customs stopped me at Heathrow.

'Where have you come from, sir?'

'Frankfurt.'

'Is this all your luggage?' he asked, pointing to my small briefcase and plastic bag of perfume bottles.

'Yes.'

'Did you buy these perfumes duty-free?'

'Yes, at Frankfurt airport.'

'Do you realise, sir, that it is illegal to buy duty-free items if out of the country for less than twenty-four hours?'

'Yes,' I lied.

'How long have you been abroad?'

'Two days,' I lied again.

'Would you mind opening your briefcase, sir? I would just like to have a quick look.'

The briefcase contained only my used airline ticket, a toothbrush, and a book appropriately ent.i.tled The Philosophy of Time The Philosophy of Time.

'Travelling light, sir?'

'I stayed at a friend's house. I didn't need to bring anything.'

The Customs Officer picked up my used airline ticket and looked at the dates.

'I thought you said you had been gone for two days. This ticket shows you left London last night.'

'Yes, two days: yesterday and today.'

'Would you come this way, sir?'

The Customs Officer led me to a cold, breeze-blocked room.

'Let me see your pa.s.sport. Thank you. Would you mind taking off your clothes?'

'Of course I mind.'

'Mr Marks, if you have no contraband, you have nothing to fear.'