Dockside – Chapter 44 – Milk Crates and Municipal Mandates

Headmaster Davies attempts to enforce his Wavertree injunction against the alternative comprehensive, only for Sue and Mikey to transform the milk yard into a massive, city-wide tenant committee. On Hope Street, Danny modifies the transmitter to prepare for a radical, direct broadcast to the waterfront.

The pale afternoon sun was doing nothing to melt the black ice inside Mike the milkman’s yard, but the atmosphere inside the timber storage shed was white-hot. Sue stood by the blackboard, her red pen tracing out the names of the private property developers who had just purchased the options on the south basin. Sitting on the upturned gold-top crates were twenty local mothers and dockers, their hands clutched around steaming mugs of tea Mike had passed down from the office.

"This is an illegal gathering under the municipal public health ordinance!"

The sharp, clipped voice cut through the hum of the gas heaters. Sue turned slowly, her jaw tightening as she spotted Headmaster Davies standing by the iron gates, flanked by two corporate lawyers in pristine overcoats. Davies held a white legal document, his gold-rimmed spectacles glinting coldly in the frost.

"The Wavertree Academy board has secured an administrative injunction, Miss Hughes," Davies said, his voice carrying the sharp authority of the education authority. "You are running an uncertified educational project on commercial premises. These boys are skipping their certified trade training, and their families face immediate financial sanctions if they remain in this yard."

Mikey Gallagher stood up from his milk crate, his notebook clutched tight in his hand, his hood pulled low. He didn't look at the lawyers; he looked right at Davies. "We aren't skipping our training, soft lad," Mikey shouted, his accent thick and fierce. "We’re learning how you and the board are funding the new science wing with the cash from the corporation that just flattened my nan's house. You want us back in your classrooms? You better bring the bobbies, because we aren't moving an inch from this blackboard."

Sue stepped forward, her briefcase resting on the desk like an anchor. "The injunction is missing the signature from the regional tenant tribunal, Mister Davies. We checked the registry before the morning delivery started. Until that document is cleared, this yard remains private community property. If you try to enforce this, I’ll have Radio Dockside broadcast the names of your board members’ construction shares straight across the city by five o'clock."

Davies’s face turned an aggressive shade of crimson, his fingers tightening around the paper as he realized the walls of his academy weren't thick enough to keep the waterfront out of his ledger.

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