It had been the perfect Friday afternoon
the job was almost done
The house we were decorating was owned by a little old man
forever in the same three piece suit he'd probabbly had since he was demobbed
He seemed to be forever on his way to the post office
carrying brown paper ansd string wrapped parcels under his arm
He'd bring us out china cups of camp coffee and plates of custard cream biscuits
The house had belonged to his parents who had both passed
away within weeks of each other a few years back
They were the only people he had ever lived with
this was the only house he had ever lived in
I wondered what would happen to the house when he's gone
It was a short walk to my bedsit once a similar house to the old man's
now broken into lots of single room accomodation
It also once had a great garden like his now occupied by onestorey
modern block building containing the dentist and chiropodist
In my room was an electric cooker which I only used in winter to keep warm
next to that was a sink with a glass shelf above it on
which was a toothbrush and carton of marlboro's
There was a table with a chair in one corner a single bed in the other
and about four sq ft in the middle
There was a wooden drawer under the bed with most of
my clothes in the rest was over the back of the chair
I had a record player on a table and boxes of records underneath
The bathroom for the first and the second floor was opposite my room
it had a meter for the water which took two 50pence pieces you'd have to
wait half an hour for the water to heat up and keep an
eye on the door in case some sod pinched your bath
There was one toilet upstairs and one outside but no one used the outside
one anymore so it was where the local prostitutes would take their clients for a quickie
I'd spend as little time as I could in my room my skin was
still warm and soft from the bath as I walked into town
So I was sat on my usual bar stool in my usual pub by 630 the usual twelve
or so regulars in at this time of the evening nice and relaxed before the post
800 crush we'd crowd around the tiny bar then pool tables the house rule
for fool was winner stays on you'd chalk your name on the balckboard and
wait your turn The challenger would pay for the game so
if you were good you 'd play all nightTonight I was great
She walked into the pool room just as I potted the black the next name
on the list bent down to the slot on the table and put coins in
I was used to seeing her surrounded by burgundy flocked wallpaper and
red velvet upholstery in the sunday night pub around the corner she looked
different stood here in the pool room she looked good she was looking at me
I ended the game as quickly as I could without losing badly and stood near her
Would you like a drink she asked I get them What do you want I replied
The same as you're having she said
The great thing about being a regular when the bars turned deep
is it only takes a raised eyebrow and a couple of nods and two bottles of Holster Pils
had been passed over people's heads to you We did the pool room dance
for a while moving to excuse me's bending around elbows
and pool cues until we decided to move on
It was too early to go to the club so we went around the corner
to the Sunday night pub It was still quite busy on a Friday night full of couples
and students It had a reputation as a gay bar probably why the students came in to feel safe
She was my dream we drank pernod and blacks talked about John Barry Ford
Cortinas she preferred the Mark 3 what was best gel or Brylcream I preferred the Brylcream
She even agreed On Her Majesty's Secret Service was the best Bond film
if you accept it as a whole and not just get hung up about George Lazenby
She smoked Silkcuts she didn't mind Marlboros
but we both had a fondness for Old Port cigars
We moved down to the club Upstairs for a couple of onion bhajis
went down to the quiet bar near the dance floors
We decided to leave early you wouldn't want to be there in the end
when the lights came on You'd never sit down in here again In a depressing
shuffle we pushed to the door now it was good to get up
and out while it was still a black hole warm and smokey full of possibilities
She lived by the river the other side of town queue for taxis was hell as usual
next to the late night chippy the worst chips you could buy but at this time of
night full Outside fights and throwing up We jumped in the taxi nothing mattered but us
Back at hers a bedsit in a house similar to mine she'd done something painted
three walls put up some old fifties star wall paper a big Bowie poster and
some nice curtains it would be easy for me to change my woodchip magnolia
bedsit standard Afterall it was my job She had a few lamps here and there were
some candles She made us proper hot chocolate not the instant shit you get
from the machine She had Fox'sbiscuits and a small bottle of Cointreau too
The end of a perfect day The taste of chocolate cigarette and orange liqueur
made it even seem better I undid her tartan miniskirt pulled off her black wool
tights my lips moved up her legs What the fuck I had a large hard dick poking
me in the eye Shit you're a chap I felt like jumping
through the window screaming I couldn't move
She hestill looked the same I had a pain in my head
I wanted to do something say something
He was holding me sobbing you must have known how could you not tell
And I love you I can be your woman His eyes were still beautiful
deep brown his lips still chocolatey and orangey
Shit I said I was never a breast man anyway