Strange Street

The Londoners

"We want to make Sing Street the next big thing, come sign with us Connor, we'll shape your talent into something great". He couldn't believe it. Was he even hearing correctly? There was no way, absolutely no way that Christopher Jones of SDL Records was signing Sing Street. This was big, as in really big, as in bloody astronomical. This was something that could change their lives.

Now don't get him wrong, Connor was ecstatic when he and Raphina reached London but he couldn't quite shake the lingering feelings of guilt. He hadn't just run away from his parents or school, he had run away from Sing Street. Sing Street was more than just a band afterall, it was an alliance, a friendship, it was a brotherhood. None of them were related by blood but the connection he felt with those boys was something special. He had made a promise to himself the moment he took his first step on London grounds. "The world will know of Sing Street, maybe not now but someday and I'll make it come to pass". Yes, it seemed extremely far fetched but hey, so did sailing off to London in a tiny boat, with his girlfriend at the age of 15 and as Raphina always says, "You can never do anything by half Cosmo".

It had been 5 months since Raphina and Connor had arrived in London. Honestly, they really didn't think this through. They were just teenagers, they didn't know anybody in London, all they really had was Raphina's model shots and Connor's guitar. Although Brendan had managed to hook them up with some cash before they left Dublin, it wasn't really enough to start a whole new life in London. These were all the worries that were plaguing Connor's mind. The anxiousness was truly evident on his face but Raphina had noticed straight away. "Don't worry Cosmo, all we need is our art and each other". Hearing these words of reassurance from Raphina had washed away all of Connor's worries and a new type of determination had begun to simmer up through the depths of his mind.

The first thing they did after their short exchange was find accommodation for the next few days.  If they were gonna pursue their dreams they'd obviously need a place to stay. Times were tough it was 1985 for God sake. It was a gruelling task to find a place to stay. Every hostel and b&b was either full or very much beyond their budget. They couldn't just blow all their money on a place to stay, they still had to worry about other basic necessities. Night time had approached and with the way things were looking, Raphina and Connor would be sleeping on the streets.

There was honestly no hope left. They were tired, hungry, cold and just fed up. Connor was about to drag Raphina to a nearby bench to settle down on but a voice reached out to them. "Hey, you two, your both Irish right? You look like you need a place to stay, why don't you stay at my place for the night. I own a bit of a small hostel down the road". This really was a bit  unexpected. This random saviour of theirs was called Harry and he was a man from Cork. Connor honestly knew before Harry mentioned it, you could just here it in the accent. Harry had moved to London because life in Ireland was just hard. He was surviving on scraps, him and his family so when the chance for them to travel to London and live a better life came, you better believe he grabbed it by the horns. This had been 4 years ago. Now Harry and his family were in a good place and when they saw their fellow Irish people in need they couldn't help but offer them some gravely needed assistance. "What a good fucking day to be Irish", Connor thought.

Ever since then, Raphina and him had gone through a rollercoster of events. Raphina had been doing some small time adverts for some shops but she was slowly getting there and Connor had been doing some solo gigs in a few pubs here and there to make money. They would have a million stories to tell the others once they got back. All these crazy events had led to this very moment. Connor Lawlor was having a conversation with Christopher Jones about signing with SDL Records. Who would've thought? He couldn't wait to break the news to the band. Looks like Connor and Raphina would be heading back to Ireland for a bit. He knew Raphina would be just as happy as he was. Connor was just filled with positive thoughts, not that they would last long, not with the raging storm that was slowly brewing down in Dublin.