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forensicated · 2 months

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Information for use in fan fiction and anything else related to The Bill. This will be added to and edited every so often and please feel free to comment if you want to add or edit anything.

Part 1

The Bill is set in the fictional Sun Hill which makes up part of the also fictional Borough Of Canley. It's roughly set around the areas of Whitechapel, Stepney, Shadwell, Spitalfields, Portoken, Limehouse and parts of Aldgate, Bishopsgate, Shoreditch and Mile End. It's also known as the Tower Hamlets area. Maps of Sun Hill show the Isle Of Dogs area.

The station address is: Sun Hill Police Station, 2 Sun Hill Road, Canley, London, E1 4KM. The telephone number is 020 7511 1642.

The caution: I am arresting you on suspicion of (OFFENCE: eg murder or sexual assault). You do not have to say anything, but it may harm your defence if you do not mention when questioned something which you later rely on in court. Anything you do say will be given in evidence.

This MUST be said, IN FULL, each time someone is arrested and officers MUST make sure that the person understands it ALL.

Vehicle Call Signs:

Area Car (Sierra 1, Sierra 1-2, Sierra 1-7, Sierra Oscar 21 and Sierra Oscar 22)

Van (Sierra 2)

CID Cars (Sierra Oscar 5 to 9) (Sierra-1-1 has lights/siren hidden like below but they have a magnetic light to stick on top like below)

TSG (Sierra Oscar 1-3)

IRV (Sierra Oscar 2-3)

Panda (Sierra Oscar 8-4, 8-5, 8-6, 8-7)

Officer call signs:

Sierra-Oscar 5-2 - Superintendents used this so it was the call sign for Brownlow (and Derek when he was acting Super), Chandler, Okaro, Prosser, Heaton and finally Jack Meadows.

Sierra-Oscar 5-4 was for Chief Inspectors so Derek, Cato and Stritch but the call sign and roll was retired at Sun Hill after Derek was killed.

Sierra-Oscar 5-5 was the call sign for DCI's so this is Kim Reid, Frank Burnside and Jack Meadows.

Sierra-Oscar 7-5 was used for Frank Burnside when DI

Sierra-Oscar 3-3 was used for Roy Galloway when DI

Sierra-Oscar 7-0 was used for Neil Manson when DI.

Sierra Oscar 7-1 was used for Sam Nixon when DI

Need to check on those for Johnson, Wray, Haines and Deakin if required but they can just use rank/surname as described below.

Sierra Oscar 3-2 was used for DS Geoff Daly (In All Change)

Sierra Oscar 6-7 was used for DS Don Beech (In All Change)

Sierra Oscar 2-8 was used for DS John Boulton (In All Change)

Sierra Oscar 3-6 was used for DC Will Fletcher

Sierra-Oscar 9-8 was used for DC Gary Best

Sierra-Oscar 4-2 was used for DC Grace Dasari.

Sierra Oscar 223 was used for DC Rod Skase (in All Change)

Sierra Oscar 613 was used for DC Duncan Lennox (In All Change)

CID would most often use their rank and surname too.

Sierra Oscar 1 was used for all inspectors at the station from Deeping, Kite, Frazer, Monroe, Matt when he was acting Inspector, Gina, Smithy when he was acting inspector, Rachel and then finally Smithy when full inspector. (Smithy was 833 as PC and 54 as Sgt)

SO25 - Rachel Weston

SO30 - Callum Stone

SO33 - Craig Gilmore

SO46 - Jo Masters (after moving from CID to uniform)

SO48 - June Ackland (SO643 when a PC)

SO48 - Diane Noble for one night (she was supposed to return but the ITV cut backs and the show moving to one episode a week meant her two-parter return was edited down to one episode and new scenes filmed to explain she was transfering to Barton St.)

SO54 - Smithy (833 as a PC and Sierra 1 as an Inspector)

SO54 - Jane Kendall and Tom Penny

SO55 - Ray Steele

SO61 - John Maitland

SO66 - Sheelagh Murphy (SO661 wheb demoted to PC)

SO79 - Matt Boyden

SO82 - Joseph Corrie

SO87 - Nikki Wright

SO92 - Bob Cryer

SO95 - Stuart Lamont

SO96 - Alec Peters

SO99 - Phil Hunter (during short punishment stint in uniform)

SO101 - Taffy (Francis Edwards)

SO128 - Lewis Hardy

SO134 - Phil Young

SO139 - Timothy Able

SO140 - Nick Klein

SO148 - Mel Ryder and Yorkie (Tony Smith)

SO149 - Gary Best (Changes so SO 9-8 in CID)

SO158 - Honey Harman

SO171 - Reginald Percival Hollis

SO201 - Dave Litten

SO202 - Kerry Young

SO201 - Pete Muswell

SO212 - Millie Brown

SO217 - Laura Bryant (was SO7667 when a PCSO)

SO218 - George Garfield

SO227 - Viv Martella

SO235 - Roz Clarke

SO249 - Gemma Osbourne

SO251 - Jamila Blake

SO258 - Beth Green

SO275 - Roger Valentine

SO294 - Danesh Patel

SO298 - Yvonne Hemmingway

SO315 - Dan Casper

SO330 - Robin Frank and Ron Smollett

SO335 - Donna Harris

SO340 - Dave Quinnan

SO342 - Abe Lyttleton

SO351 - Malcom Haynes

SO354 - Arun Ghir

SO355 - Cameron Tait

SO358 - Gary McCann

SO361 - Emma Keane and Vicky Hagen

SO362 - Luke Ashton (for his return post 2002)

SO363 - Steve Loxton, Lance Powell and Kirsty Knight

SO408 - Nick Slater

SO416 - Sam Harker, Ken Melvin and Gabriel Kent

SO432 - Luke Ashton (for his first 97-99 stint) and Des Taviner

SO437 - Leela Kapoor and Leon Taylor

SO452 - Adam Bostock

SO469 - Polly Page

SO483 - Diane Noble (was SO48 for her one night stint as Sgt)

SO487 - Cathy Marshall and Rosie Fox

SO510 - Billy Rowan (though poor love lasted half a shift)

SO517 - Mike Jarvis

SO518 - Cass Rickman

SO543 - Will Fletcher

SO561 - Debbie Keane

SO570 - Cathy Bradford

SO577 - Barry Stringer

SO595 - Tony Stamp

SO600 - Jim Carver

SO643 - June Ackland (SO48 as Sgt)

SO659 - Suzanne Ford

SO661 - Sheelagh Murphy (SO66 as Sgt)

SO682 - Di Worrell

SO686 - Sally Armstrong

SO740 - Ben Hayward

SO743 - Pete Ramsey

SO759 - Steve Hunter

SO795 - Ben Gayle

SO800 - Richard Turnham

SO832 - Delia French

SO833 - Smithy (SO54 as Sgt and Sierra 1 when Inspector)

SO876 - Nate Roberts

SO876 - Nick Shaw

SO888 - Amber Johannsen

SO943 - Andrea Dunbar

SO988 - Eddie Santini and Ruby Buxton

FED REPS: Federation Representatives support and advise officers if they've been accused of something or matters like pay, rights, allowances, conduct, equality and development etc. It's often mocked, mostly when Reg is in the position as everyone's favourite busy body, however it is a responsible position and Reg was very good at it if only due to his nitpicking and love of the rule book.

Fed reps: Reg Hollis, Barry Stringer, George Garfield, Nick Klein, Leela Kapoor

The Area Car can only be driven by the officers who are qualified to drive them for example: Roger Valentine, Tony Stamp, Kirsty Knight, Callum Stone, Ben Gayle, Gemma Osbourne, Yvonne Hemmingway, Matt Boyden, Vicky Hagen, Gina Gold, Steve Loxton, Mike Jarvis, Will Fletcher and Des Taviner.

Civillian Staff:

Jonathan Fox - Senior Crown Prosecutor and one time boyfriend of Gina Gold. He left Gina because she wouldn't commit right as she was about to commit to him. She tries to tell him this when he returns during her cancer fight but he's moved on with someone else... she can't handle just being friends so asks him to leave.

Matt Hinkley - Senior Crown Prosecutor

Eddie Olosunje - CSE

Lorna Hart - CSE

Audrey ?? - A CSE who checked Gabriel's clothes and is very friendly with Gina - they play poker together.

Dean McVerry - CAD

Marilyn Chambers - SRO - Reg was about to propose to her and was waiting for her where they had their first date when Colin Fairfax drove his van into the front of the station.

Julian 'JT' Tavell - SRO

Robbie Cryer - SRO (SRO's used to be Front Desk Officers)

DOPA Mia Perry (Press Officer) - Mickey's girlfriend who cheated on him with John Heaton

Margret Barnes - Cleaner who was obsessed with Ramani

Special Constable Terry Knowles (Killed on his first day trying to be like Des)

PCSO Colin Fairfax - Racist who drove a van into the front of the station, killing Ken, Marilyn and Andrea.

PCSO Laura Bryant - Became a full PC.

Marion Layland - Charles Brownlow's long suffering PA.

Rochelle Barrett - Drugs Referral Officer

Tom Kent - FME in the early 90's

Important Reoccurring Characters (Police):

Guy Mannion - Chief Super to Brownlow and then Borough Commander. Pain in the arse.

Trevor Hicks - DAC/Assistant Commissioner

Georgia Hobs - DAC

Roy Pearson - DAC. Neil Manson's father in law and user of rent boys. Murdered by one after attempting to retrieve a video that was being used to blackmail him.

Lisa Kennedy - Commander (Her son is involved in an altercation that leads to disaster at a football match)

Jane Fitzwilliam - Borough Commander

Louise Campbell - Borough Commander

Ian Barrett - Borough Commander - tried to blackmail PC Dan Casper into ending his affair with his wife, Rochelle. Ended up getting Dan held at gunpoint and left Sun Hill alongside his wife.

Amanda Prosser - acting Superintendent whilst Adam took time off following the death of his family in an RTA. Upset a bereaved father who then took her hostage at gunpoint and caused a siege at Sun Hill (second live episode)

Rowanne Morell - DI/DCI who came in to investigate a case and then came in as cover for Neil whilst he took some time off after his father in law's death/end of his marriage.

Andrew Ross - DCI if I remember rightly he was part of MIT and kept coming over for murders - the Serial Killer/Des's Fire bombing/Cathy's murders etc.

Frank Keane - DCI from MIT. Rubbed everyone up the wrong way and thought the sun shone out of his daughter - Emma's - arse.

Karen Lacy - stuck up DI from SO15 who immediately alienated most of Sun Hill after Emma's death by refusing to let her friends in uniform help and would only let them man a cordon and then told Jack that CID could only help if EVERYTHING was ran through her and came back to her and her alone.

Tom Baker - TREV which was a fan coined term that stands for Totally Reliable Extra Veteran'. Tom was an outstanding back up CID member for over a thousand episodes. He's even in the Guiness Book Of World Records for it.

Terry Knowles - Terry was a Special Constable who idolised Des and wanted to be like him. He tried to copy how he'd seen him pick up a woman and flirted at a blonde in a convertible. Unfortunately it all went wrong when she stabbed him in the neck and severed his jugular and he died, leaving a 2 year old son fatherless.

Doug Wright - husband of Sgt Nikki Wright. Nikki transferred to Sun Hill when she got fed up of the confusion over two Sgt Wright's and then having to work opposing shifts. He's based at Sun Hill but they cross over to police a football match. Sadly Doug ends up getting stabbed and they realise there's a Cop Killer on the loose after he taunts them and goes on to murder new recruit Billy Rowan on his very first day.

Mark Rollin - Lance Powell's Boyfriend/Fiance/Civil Partner/Husband. Mark is a Sgt in CO19 and keeps his sexuality hidden to avoid the banter and bullying. He goes to pieces after shooting dead Jeff Clarke and he and Lance separate - only for Lance to go out drinking to try cheer himself up and be murdered.

Steve Hodges - an irritating little man who was the Detective Superintendent at CIB at the time that Claire Stanton was undercover trying to get information to prove that Don Beech was corrupt. He expected Claire to pull evidence out her arse and moaned constantly.

Rachel Kitson - Crime Scene Photographer who murdered old school friend turned Super Model Cindy Statham. She got away with it and someone else was accused and locked up...but then Jo went back and looked at the footage again as she had a niggling feeling. Rachel realised she was on to her and took her hostage at gunpoint. It was Stuart getting suspicious when he received a text calling him 'hun' and realising that something was very wrong that saved her life with seconds to go.

Important Reoccurring Characters (Civilians):

Rod Jessop - June's second husband after Jim. He is a headteacher and a good man who has 2 children of his own. At first June isn't too sure as she thinks he's a little too keen but she warms to him and they fall in love and take early retirement together.

Irene Radford - Mother of Karl, Wayne and David Radford, a large crime family with a history going back decades with Gina. She takes Gina hostage at one point and she and David are literally seconds from killing Smithy and Kerry at another point!

Louise Larson - Wife of Pete Larson. Unhappily married but settled until she met Smithy. Feisty, sarcastic and full of one liners, she kept him on his toes and they wanted to leave after she agreed to give evidence (Pete was arrested after almost murdering Smithy. I'm sensing a theme here).

Abi Nixon - The cause of Sam shrieking "MY DAUGHTER!!!!!" Had a fling with Matt Boyden - as you do. Then ended up pregnant and engaged to Hugh Wallis - a profiler - who manipulated Abi into it as revenge. He forced Sam to think her daughter was a victim of the Serial Killer. She keeps the baby and her relationship with her mother improves.

Cindy Hunter - Phil Hunter's wife who sees all he does on the side and - usually forgives him, even when a major criminal demands he be allowed to sleep with Cindy. Gregory doesn't force her to sleep with him but does take degrading pictures of her to wind Phil up. She still forgives him... but she can't get past finding out he has a daughter with another major criminals wife when they are trying for a baby of their own and they finally split.

Jenny Delaney - The girlfriend of George Garfield at first, Jenny is the nurse who looks after Dave Quinnan when he is attacked and left for dead in a youth club. She and Dave fall in love and have an affair which ends up in George leaving Sun Hill. They marry but do not get their happily ever after as Dave and Polly grow closer... and closer...

Kristen Shaw - Drug dealer who Zain goes undercover to catch and he ends up falling for her. She accidentally murders Honey by shooting her when the gun goes off in a struggle (Honey was trying to get Zain to do the right thing and arrest her with him). Zain reluctantly puts Honey's body in the water and they try to escape but in the end he can't go through with it and refuses to get on the boat with her to escape. He removed the bullets from her gun and so both end up arrested.

James Tennant - The father of Amy Tennant. This storyline goes on forever for over a year and Neil and James get close and become good friends through it before Amy is found.

Scott Burnett - Scott is the husband of a woman who is found murdered. At first his best friend is charged with it and as his FLO, Honey helps support him through it. They fall in love and in a whirlwind romance they get married.... only for Honey to realise that Scott actually murdered his first wife!

Laura Meadows - Jack's long suffering wife who put up with a lot, including affairs. It comes to a head when Jack - in full midlife crisis mode - thinks he's in love with Debbie McAllister and wants to support her and her new baby. Debbie thinks of him mostly as a father figure and is horrified when he finally puts the moves on.

Lilian Rickman - Cass' mum is devastated when her daughter is killed by the Sun Hill Serial Killer. She travels down and bonds with the team and later invites them to the funeral in Liverpool which some travel up to and then have to go straight on shift once they get back to London. She later returns to tie up the sale of Cass' flat and she and Tony grow closer and end up sleeping together.

Marie Graham/Carver - The bereaved mother whos daughter killed herself after being accused of sleeping with underage students. She's an alcoholic who seemed to understand Jim and all his problems... and then started to abuse him 2 days after their marriage. (he should have known it was a bad omen when he and June almost kissed the day of the wedding when trapped with Polly and Tony!)He is accused of abusing her before he ends up in hospital (Gabriel hit him over the back of the head with a vodka bottle - long story) and he cracks under accusations and shows his many wounds. He leaves Marie and goes on to recover and get back together with June... only for Marie to turn up on THEIR wedding day and cause a scene at the reception and then fall down the stairs and knock herself out. Jim, with a sprained ankle, ends up going into hospital too!

Pauline Smith - Smithy's mum seen in Killer On The Run. His father was an abusive drunk who used to knock her and Smithy around until Smithy was old enough to go out with his friends. Smithy has little to do with his unnamed father and next to no contact. She adores her son and is very proud of him. They are close and Smithy has a key to her house. He also had an unnamed little brother as a PC (mentioned in Soft Talking) but this seemed forgotten when he returned as a Sgt.

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darkeralmond · 3 months

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CHASE’S HALLOWEEN BLOWOUT

TREVOR ZEGRAS X OC

October series

synopsis: pink slip pulls up to chase’s halloween party and trevor and hayden get a little close and personal during the party

warnings: mentions of drinking & throwing up

word count: 3.1k

I was glad when Wes said he wanted to do his own costume and Mal and Alex wanted to do their own matching costumes. I had been planning my costume for months now, possibly even a year. I saw girls dress up as Patrick Bateman last year, and they looked so hot. Since August, I have been collecting the items I needed for my costume. Now it was time to assemble it all together.

It was an hour before the party, and I was finishing up my makeup in the bathroom before I put my costume on. I put on some cherry-flavored lip gloss before ruffling my hair slightly. I grabbed the bottle of SFX blood and made my way back into the bathroom. "Weston! Get your ass in here and help me!" I screamed as I poured the blood into a spray bottle.

"What do you want?!" he whined as he entered my bathroom, adjusting his black tie. He decided he wanted to be the Onceler very last minute, which meant he rushed to Amazon to get everything. His green blazer was the perfect shade of green, perfectly matching his hat.

I handed him the spray bottle and explained to him as I buttoned up my poncho over an oversized old shirt, "I need you to spray me with blood. I need it mostly up here on my head and on my poncho. Just make sure not to get my suit, I wanna wear this again." He nodded along with what I was instructing him to do before I stepped into my shower. "Alright, go!"

"Do I just spray it on your face?" he asked, his eyebrows knitted together. I nodded my head aggressively and held up my chin.

He shrugged his shoulders and said, "Close your eyes." I did as he said and squeezed my eyes shut. Without any warning, the cold spritz of SFX makeup sprayed my face. My face scrunched up as I felt a chill run down my back. "Cold?"

I nodded my head, scared of getting the blood in my mouth. He finally finished spraying my face and went down to the poncho, causing me to open my eyes. He unscrewed the cap and just splashed me with the blood. I screamed before letting out a loud laugh. "Thanks, Wes!"

He placed the spray bottle on the sink before making his way out of the bathroom. "Of course. Just hurry up and get dressed," he yelled out to me from my bedroom door. "Wait! Do you have the address?!"

"Yeah, who's driving?" I asked, taking the poncho off and draping it over the curtain rod.

"You!" He then shut my bedroom door. Why did I always have to be the DD? I just wanted to get wasted at this party tonight, but also I have a lot to lose with Trevor. How I act when I'm drunk is something that my closest friends will only see.

I finally changed into my costume — it consisted of a black cropped tank top, a black mini skirt, a white button-up, a blazer, long black socks, and Converses. I grabbed my Bluetooth headset and let it hang from my neck. This is perfect. I grabbed my phone from the edge of my bed and brought it back into the bathroom with me. I took a couple of mirror selfies which I would post later.

There was a faint knock on my door, signaling to me that it was Alex. "Come in!" I yelled as I grabbed my purse from my desk chair. My door opened and there stood Alex dressed up as Nick Wilde leaning against my doorway.

He had the perfect amount of sass to dominate the role of Nick Wilde and Mal had the optimistic personality that Judy Hopps also had. "You about ready to go?" he cocked his head to the side, leaning it against the door frame.

"Yup," I beamed as I grabbed my pheromone perfume and rolled it on my wrists and my neck. "Waiting on me?" "Yup," he answered, "Like usual." I shot a dirty look, narrowing my eyes and lowering my eyebrows. He cracked a smile and pushed himself off. "Let's go. You're driving."

Like usual.

🎶

Trevor had given me specific instructions on where to park which was by his car. I recognized it from the night he gave me a ride home and pulled in behind it. I put the car in park and turned it off. "We gotta bit of walking to do," I told the group leading them to let out a harmony of groans. "At least we'll be able to easily leave!" I argued as I grabbed my purse from the floorboard and got out of the car.

Once everyone was out, I locked the car and looked down at my phone which said it would be a 1 minute walk. Wes's hand brushed against my back as he said, "Lead the way, Hayden." I did just that, guiding us to Chase's house. I prayed that I put the right address Trevor told me into Waze.

For me, it felt like less than a minute since I was navigating the entire time, but the rest of them complained — especially Wes. I knew it was the right house when I saw the strobing lights and the Halloween decorations scattered on the lawn in a frat house manner.

"Holy shit!" Alex exclaimed as he took in the sight of Chase's house. When I saw his face, the only thing I could compare it to was the same expression a kid had stepping into a candy store with unlimited amounts of money.

"It looks better than I expected!" Mal beamed.

"Looks exactly how I thought it would," Wes said. I couldn't help but agree with him.

I pulled out my phone and called Trevor to let him know we were outside the house. When he answered, I could barely hear him over the blaring party music. "Hey! We just arrived. Can you come out here?" I asked him. I couldn't even hear his answer, I heard the 'Chug! Chug! Chug!' in the background. I hung up and looked at the three before telling them, "I think he'll meet us out here."

I saw Trevor stumble out of the house and yell out to us, "Hey guys!" He jogged toward us and wrapped his arm around me. I was overcome with the smell of his strong cologne, but it smelt really good. Kind of musky and umber? "Come on in!"

He dragged me into the house meanwhile the others followed after us. "What's your costume supposed to be?" I asked Trevor, looking up at him. When we stepped foot into the house, I was instantly engulfed by the loud bass coming from the speakers scattered around the house.

He scoffed, "Isn't it obvious? Men in Black! Though my other half isn't here." I furrowed my eyebrows after hearing him say that. "Oh! Jamie's also dressed up with me!" I nodded my head and smiled widely. "You want anything to drink?" Trevor asked, leaning in close to my ear so I could actually hear him.

"Yeah, sure!" I shouted in response, When I looked back to where my group was supposed to be, but they were gone again — abandoning me like they did at the game. Trevor then led me away from the door and dragged me to wherever the hell the drinks were. He knew the layout of the house, telling me that he had been to parties here before. He might even just lounge around here with Chase.

The sound of the crowd died down a bit when we entered the kitchen. It was huge, but only a few people resided here. "What do you want?" His arm snaked off of me as he pointed down at the coolers.

"Is there Coke in there?" I asked. He popped open the blue cooler and dug through there in search of a Coke can. He made it to the bottom and pulled one out, holding it out to me. "What a gentleman," I teased as I took it from his hand, popping the tab open.

He chuckled as he grabbed himself a Modelo can and cracked the tab open. "Cheers," he said as he held up his drink. I clanked my can against his and took a sip. His eyes looked past me and a small smile grew on his face. He looked back down at me and asked, "Would you like to meet my friends and the party host?"

"I thought I already met all your friends," I joked, taking a sip afterward.

His mouth gaped open as he playfully shoved me. "I'm offended you think Jamie is my only friend," he snipped. "I was gonna introduce you to Charli, Dixie, and Chase!"

I laughed in response and nodded my head, "Yeah sure!" He smiled, taking my hand in his and intertwining our fingers. A smile swept across my face as the blush crept to my cheeks. He guided me through the kitchen and to the back sliding door which was open. There was a pool with people scattered all over the place and beer pong tables set up.

Charli, Dixie, and Chase were by one watching their friends play. "Yo!" He whistled catching the attention of the three of them.

Chase's face lit up when he spotted Trevor. "Big T!" he whooped as he dapped him up, pulling him into the hug all guys do.

Trevor greeted Charli and Dixie differently, giving them one-armed hugs. He then came back to my side and draped his arm around me. "This is Hayden, the one you specifically requested." He winked at Chase before giving me the floor to introduce myself.

"Hi!" I said before reaching out to shake his hand.

"Man, fuck that! Come here!" Chase pulled me into a hug, which I wasn't expecting. When he embraced me, that's when I could smell the reeking stench of alcohol.

He let go of me and I introduced myself to Charli and Dixie. Charli pointed at me when I introduced myself as she said, "Your guys' music is so good! Literally, my favorite song ever is definitely 'Mastermind'!"

I felt the corners of my mouth turn up as I giggled a bit, "Wait, really?" I've never heard anyone mention anything other than Betty before. It felt more validating whenever someone famous said they liked your music. "I didn't think many people knew that song."

"Are you kidding?!" she laughed. "It's amazing! It's on almost every playlist I have!"

I looked up at Trevor and smiled, "I already like your friends. Seems like they know a lot more about Pink Slip than you." I gave him a playful nudge. "What's your favorite song anyway?"

"It's obviously Betty," Trevor said as he shook me a little, "but that's because it's the first time I laid my eyes on you."

"Aw," Dixie smiled. "You guys are so cute. Trevor is a real gentleman."

"I try my best," he chuckled. His hand slowly grazed against my back, making its way to my waist. He pulled me closer to him, making sure every guy at this party knew we were seeing each other. I glanced up at him and smiled a bit, resting my head on his chest.

🎶

I pushed through the crowd, lost like a stray dog. I had decided to go to the bathroom which was the worst choice I could've possibly made. Not only had I lost Trevor but my friends were nowhere to be spotted, and I was growing anxious. I said hi to those who said hi to me, but would immediately continue my efforts to find anyone I knew. Though I was physically at the party, my mind was mentally somewhere else. I wasn't aware of my surroundings causing to ram right into someone, nearly spilling my drink. I looked up at the person with an apologetic look on my face, but it melted away, and I felt a relieved smile slip onto my face. "Jamie!"

He looked down at me and smiled back, "Hey, Hayden! I was wondering where you guys were." He then looked around and frowned, "Where's Trevor... and everyone else?"

I shook my head, "No, I lost them all. Do you know where Wes, Mal, and Alex could be?"

Jamie hummed and again looked around. "I thought I saw them taking shots with a couple of other people earlier, but I'll help you look!" He turned to his friends who he talked to and excused himself.

The two of us set off to go look for Alex, Mal, and Wes. "Thanks again," I said, "For the invite and everything." I took a sip of my Coke and looked up at Jamie. "Can I ask you something?"

"Yeah, what's up?" he asked, still searching around.

I sighed and looked down at my drink. "When will Trevor actually ask me out on a date?"

He let out a long sigh as he began to answer, "I know I'm close with him and all, but I have no idea. I'm being really honest." That answer disappointed me a bit, but what he said next made me feel better. "Hayden, all I'm gonna say is this. He's not shut up about you since the night after the Sharks game and he really likes you, I know that. Just expect him to ask you out soon, alright?" I nodded my head as a smile spread across my face. My heart rate accelerated as I took a sip of my drink. "There they are!" He pointed to Mal, Alex, and Wes who sat on the couch with a a few TikTokers.

🎶

I was powered by 3 Cokes and a rocket pop-flavored Prime. I was pulled into the living room, which was now a dance floor, by Mal, Alex, and Wes — who were all drunker than a skunk. I was asked to take several pictures with people while in the middle of a large crowd. A dance circle formed around Mal and Alex while they danced, bringing all eyes onto them.

Wes and I were laughing and watching from the side, both of us recording on our phones. In a split second, Wes's demeanor changed as he stopped filming and pulled up his messages. I couldn't see who he was texting, but he said, "Hey, I'm gonna head out."

"Wait, what's going on? You doing alright?" I grabbed his wrist loosely, but he pulled away.

He shook his head and flashed a false smile, "Val's just not taking her break up good, so I'm gonna head over there. I got an Uber, don't worry about me." Valarie was one of Weston's friends from high school who recently broke up with her partner of about a year and Weston has been going over there a lot recently. I checked my phone and saw it was 2 in the morning, why would she be asking for him at this time?

Before I was able to question him any further, he gave me a hug before pushing through the crowd toward the front door. I went after him, but when I was able to make my way out of the crowd, he had disappeared. I stood there alone with both concern and confusion pulsing through my stream. The expression he had when he got the text wasn't one from an Uber driver. It was more personal, but I didn't know who it could've been from.

"Hayden!" I turned around when my name was called and saw Trevor approaching. He had a pair of shades on and his hair was messier than it was earlier. "There you are! I was looking for you all over."

I smiled a bit as I replied, "I couldn't find you after I left the bathroom so I ran into Jamie and we went to find Mal, Wes, and Alex." Though it shouldn't have been his business and I was probably overreacting, I still decided to tell him about Wes leaving. "It's weird because Wes just got an Uber and left."

Trevor's eyebrows furrowed as he asked, "Did he say why?" I shrugged my shoulders since I didn't even know if he was being honest with me. "That really sucks. Where's Alex and Mal? Do they know?"

I gestured over to the loud commotion which was the dance circle. "Over there," I laughed. "It's whatever."

Trevor adjusted his loose tie, a couple of buttons of his shirt undone. He looked so good, I just wanted to rip it all off. Woah. Calm down, I thought to myself. "You want someone to dance with? I'm not that good at dancing, but I'd say I'm pretty good company." He got closer to me, before taking off his sunglasses and placing them on the top of my head.

I let out a little giggle and rolled my eyes. "You are so corny, Trevor!" He raised his eyebrows, a smile forming on his face as he awaited my response. "Okay! Fine!"

'Grove St Party' was playing over the speaker, the whole house screaming the lyrics. Trevor was right when he said he wasn't good at dancing. He pulled out dance moves similar to ones you would see a dad doing at a wedding reception. I cackled as he did so, trying to keep up with whatever dance he did since I couldn't do any better. I watched as his face lit up seeing how effortlessly he could make me laugh.

"You know," he started, "Hayden, you look really good tonight!" Heat rushed to my cheeks as I did my best to dismiss it, but he kept going. "I'm serious, you are so beautiful, Hayden."

"Well, you're not bad-looking yourself." He grabbed my hand and pulled me closer, causing my smile to fade. Is he about to kiss me? At a party was the worst spot to do it, but if he wanted to I wasn't opposed to it.

"Hayden!" Alex yelled to me. Great. I looked over at him and saw him holding onto Mal by her waist. She was the most wasted out of all of us and her face was starting to turn green. "Mal just threw up, it's time to bail."

I looked up at Trevor who looked disappointed. Maybe he was trying to kiss me. "I'm sorry, thank you so much for the invite!" I pulled away from his touch and added, "Please tell Chase I said thanks for the invite!"

"I'll walk you guys to the door," he offered.

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justforbooks · 2 years

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Lamont Dozier was 20 years old when his wife, Ann, introduced him to Eddie and Brian Holland one day in 1962. She was packing records and doing typing at the offices of Motown Records in Detroit, where the Holland brothers were among many aspirant songwriters and performers vying to come up with the label’s early hits. Lamont, after mopping the floors at another label while trying to get his singing and writing career off the ground, had taken the offer of $25 a week from Motown’s founder, Berry Gordy Jr, the money to be advanced against future royalties. Once he had struck up a working partnership with the Hollands, the trio wrote and produced million-selling songs that would help define popular music in the 1960s.

Dozier, who has died aged 81, played his part in many of the songs that built the Motown legend and which now seem as impervious to the ravages of time as those of Rodgers and Hart or Lennon and McCartney. Holland-Dozier-Holland classics include Heat Wave and Nowhere to Run (with Martha and the Vandellas), Can I Get a Witness (Marvin Gaye), Baby I Need Your Loving, I Can’t Help Myself and Reach Out I’ll Be There (Four Tops), This Old Heart of Mine (Isley Brothers), Take Me in Your Arms (Kim Weston) and a record-breaking string of No 1 hits in the US charts for the Supremes, starting with Where Did Our Love Go in 1964 and including Baby Love, Stop! In the Name of Love, You Can’t Hurry Love and You Keep Me Hangin’ On.

Long after their original radio and chart success had faded away, many of Holland-Dozier-Holland’s million-sellers turned out to have embedded themselves so deeply in the public consciousness that they enjoyed second lives, reimagined for new audiences in cover versions by non-Motown artists. Rod Stewart’s This Old Heart of Mine, Kim Wilde’s You Keep Me Hangin’ On and Phil Collins’ You Can’t Hurry Love were among the many reinterpretations that kept a smile on the faces of Holland-Dozier-Holland’s song publishers as the years went by.

Born in Detroit, Lamont was the oldest of the five children of Ethel (nee Waters) and Willie Dozier, whose families had migrated north from Alabama and Georgia. Willie was 21 and Ethel was 14 when they married and settled in Detroit’s Black Bottom district, originally named for its fertile soil. Drafted into the US army soon after Lamont was born, later Willie had trouble holding down a job and it was Ethel who kept the family going with her earnings from cooking and cleaning in suburban homes.

Lamont was educated at Edgar Allan Poe elementary school, where his love of words and poetry began, at Hutchins junior high school, where he met Aretha Franklin, the daughter of a celebrated local Baptist preacher, and at Northwestern high school, where he picked out songs on a piano, already with the idea of a career in music. He was still at school when he and a group of friends formed the Romeos, harmonising in the doo-wop style and winning the $100 first prize at the Graystone Ballroom’s talent contest.

Dozier wrote and sang lead on the records they made for a label owned by a local businessman. When a song called Fine Fine Baby became a regional hit, Atlantic Records took an interest and gave it a national release. Atlantic’s offer to make further recordings was unwittingly torpedoed by an over-confident 16-year-old Dozier, who insisted that the group would sign only if they could record an entire album straight away.

By that time he had dropped out of high school and was shining shoes on the street to make money. His mother, fearing for his future, drove him to an army recruiting centre, much against his wishes. After another car rammed them from behind on an icy road and Dozier’s head hit the dashboard, he arrived for the interview with his clothes soaked in blood from a broken nose and was relieved to be turned down.

The partnership with the Hollands provided him with the focus he needed. After hits on the R&B charts with the Marvelettes and Martha and the Vandellas gave them initial traction, it was with Heat Wave that they found an application for the fervour of gospel within music aimed at teenagers, creating a template for the Motown sound. By contrast, the songs they created for the Supremes traded on a winsomeness that perfectly suited the come-hither style of Diana Ross, the group’s lead singer, tilting soul music in a different direction.

Their most adventurous work was done with the Four Tops, whose act had been slanted towards cabaret performances when Gordy signed them. After the lush romance of Baby I Need Your Loving and Ask the Lonely, a song called Reach Out I’ll Be There burst into the world in 1966 with the impact of a Like a Rolling Stone, a Strawberry Fields Forever or a Good Vibrations.

Dozier and Brian Holland had written it together at the piano, shifting the song between major and minor modes, its chant-like lines a conscious amalgam of gospel urgency with Bob Dylan’s phrasing. In the studio, Eddie Holland and the arranger Paul Riser used a piccolo on the introduction, along with timpani mallets on a tambourine head, to achieve what Dozier would describe as “a journey of emotions with sustained tension, like a bolero”. Finally, to turn it into a plea of operatic intensity, they pitched it in a key above the normal range of the group’s great lead singer, Levi Stubbs, forcing him to strain for the notes.

Although the Four Tops were sceptical of its unorthodoxy, it became a No 1 in the US and the UK. And, as always with Holland-Dozier-Holland, there was more where that came from over the subsequent months, in the shape of Standing in the Shadows of Love, Bernadette and 7 Rooms of Gloom, each almost equally remarkable.

When the trio broke away from Gordy over arguments about royalties in the late 60s, they were at the height of their success, wielding sufficient power within the music industry to form their own successful label, Invictus, whose hit artists included the Chairmen of the Board, Freda Payne, and the duo of Holland-Dozier, whose single Why Can’t We Be Lovers, featuring Dozier, became a hit. After the partnership broke up in the early 70s, Dozier resumed his singing career with a series of albums that started with the pointedly titled Out Here on My Own in 1973 and Black Bach the following year. Including the hit singles Trying to Hold on to My Woman and All Cried Out, they demonstrated his ability to create fine music without the assistance of his former collaborators.

In later years he provided songs for Alison Moyet, Debbie Gibson, Peabo Bryson and Regina Belle, wrote with Simply Red’s Mick Hucknall, and worked with Phil Collins on Two Hearts, a hit song from the 1988 film Buster, nominated for an Oscar and recipient of a Grammy award. In 2020 a sample from the swooning ballad I Got It All With You, from his 1979 album Bittersweet, provided the basis for Crazy, a hit for the singer Kelly Rowland. He and the Hollands were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1990.

Dozier’s first marriage, to Ann Brown, ended in divorce, as did a second, in 1969, to Daphne Dumas. In 1980 he married Barbara Ullman, who died in 2021. He is survived by six children.

🔔 Lamont Herbert Dozier, songwriter and singer, born 16 June 1941; died 8 August 2022

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