"want what you need"23:22 Jun 17 2009
Times Read: 1,025
I left the house Tuesday morning, in shorts, black shirt and heavy boots & heavy they maybe, but as I’d said t my neighbour Dot, who was out front watering her front border, “They’re damn comfortable.” And so they are, whether I am gardening, or maybe even walking.
I left home, back slung over my shoulder, knowing full well that after picking up next weeks Radio Times, I would be picking up my meds, which I’ve been actually needing of late, particularly the painkillers and, the muscle relaxant.
Well, I got part of the way up Allport, heading for the station, on my left; and coming out of the bungalow on the corner of Marfords came out the young woman who I helped months ago, when she came off her bike.
She’d been dressed as if to go home, meaning that on a sunny day, she was in a red leather and jeans, with a light overnight bag slung over her shoulder, which did fit her previous inebriated behaviour.
Back then, she’d insisted that I disappear as I saw her safely down the drive, to what I’d assumed had been her folks.
Well, I had doubted my memory, for a second, or two, as to whether it was the same person, until I’d noticed her limp, which is similar to mine.
“So how’s the bike,” I’d called in a conversational tone.
She had blanked me, completely.
“Oh,” I’d said to myself. So, I held back, let her walk on, then I’d continued walking myself, towards the first block of shops and the chemist.
She had past the triangular bed of roses and, got to the edge of the road, then crossed without looking left or right; ostensibly, for fear of catching my eye I think.
Well, once across the road, she’d carried on to the Co-Op/or Spar, or whatever it is now, whilst I continued on, to the Post Office, for next week and then next door but one, to the Chemist, for my meds.
Now, the way she had blanked me had got to me, so once I got home I got weeding and watering, then head still rattling, I had sat down to write. That was when Mike had rung: “Are you coming out??” Well, in the mood I’d gotten myself into, that’d seemed like a really good idea.
I arranged that I’d leave home at 1:00 p.m. and, after I’d checked my email, that is what I’d done.
Mike had been on his bike, wearing light green Crocs, which weren’t good for walking, [or anything else, in my opinion] so he rode ahead, while I walked, my speed, which is too fast for him anyway.
As I walked beneath a warm sun, down the country lanes to the Mere, I continued to think back to the young woman, with particular reference to that first time we’d met.
I recalled that as I’d half-carried her to the bungalow where she’d been aiming for I’d smelt the Tennents Super on her, her breath and, her sweat. I’d also noticed that her foundation was too thick and her lipstick applied, then reapplied, to judge by the mismatch between it and her foundation.
And, this time she’d looked au natural, from the little I saw of her face, as she’d left the bungalow. So maybe that was good. Maybe she isn’t drinking, since that accident?
Either way, it seems I’m not too know more, it seems.
As it was, I joined Mike at the benches overlooking the Raby Mere and was irritated beyond belief, to find that some twerp had set fire to it, so it’s plastic had melted into a pool around the metal insert.
We had talked and smoked and watched the couples with their children; the old folks with their grandchildren and, the families feeding the ducks. There’d also been nurses taking their break. All-in-all, there’d been plenty to see, on a sunny day. And, in other words, the afternoon had been quite perfect.
At one point when I’d been offered some tobacco, I had said, “no, thank you I want what I need, no more.” After all, what’s the point of having unreal expectations?
At about 3:30 p.m. we went over to the wall surrounding the Mere. I’d found a place near the sluice and sat where I used to sit, to see if the fish I knew was going to show, yet been perturbed to see a slick of something oily on the water’s surface, something oily and probably man-made.
I’d sat in full-lotus, on top of the wall and said: “I had said we should go soon, awhile ago, hadn’t I??”
“Yes, you had,” Mike had said with a smile, as he’d passed me a light for a smoke.
And so, we’d stayed a little longer, just enjoying an enjoyable moment, a part of a very pleasant afternoon.
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