-
r
- Our first
evening wore on. Those
who couldn't find seats, us included,
stood where best we could. The stairs
became choked, and the bar staff and the
bouncers cleared them. The pay phone that
lived beneath the steps, rang unanswered.
It was useless to pick it up; the place
had no public address system for one
thing, and finding a stranger in the
throng was impossible. It was likewise
foolish to try to make a call; the taped
music over-powered even the sharpest ears.
-
- People
left for other pubs. New people filled
their places. Occasional troublemakers or
the over-emotional were hauled out of the
crowd or the pub toilets by solemn door
men. The cigarette smoke was blinding.
Drink flowed, was stolen, spilled. I was
terrified. It was great.
-
- For every
dog-rough, wall-eyed, pot-bellied,
gnarlly, sour-pussed fella, there was a
gorgeous girl. In fact, we noticed, the
more pug-ugly a man was, the more likely
to be accompanied by an amateur, fragrant,
beauty queen. Naturally that was
disheartening, for such handsome chaps as
we....
-
- And the
women actually spoke! Not like in school,
where your simplest greeting was answered
by a silent, withering glare. These girls
asked the time, looked for a light, posed
nearby as if in anticipation of some
effort on our part. The one failing was
their tendency to move in shoals, like
something predatory... I was a long way
from the shore and knew it. John, more
outgoing than me, chatted easily with one
and all. I gulped my beer and stayed
silent for the most part.
-
- Closing
time came surprisingly fast. The crowd
barely thinned, until barmen started
shouting at the top of their voices, "Guys
and girls! Are yis right now, please?"
Then, the last chance of refills gone,
the tape-player unceremoniously unplugged
in mid beat, staff buzzing about like
angry bees, grabbing the empty glasses
and stacking up the stools, sweeping
around the fallen, we climbed out into
the night chill and breathed in the fresh,
cold air. Night One was over. There would
be many more.
|
Willie,
the cool, clean hero
|
|
Viv
parties
|
|
Peter's
pints...
|
| |
|
|
