I parked up near Warrior Square in St Leonard’s. Immediately on the street there were people playing shit awful music at mega volume through their car stereo, or shifting around in dodgy groups where you think you might have your phone snatched or someone is gonna spit at you. It’s still a bit lively and pissed off in St Leonard’s. I wandered down the seafront.
Two young women were feeding chips to seagulls on their second floor windowsill. Drunk men pissed on the beach with no care. The cold wind was blowing in off the sea. I put my hoodie up, fitted right in. Last time I was here Lou and I watched a small time drug deal go down in a car park. Didn’t even bother to do it in the car, just out in the open. There’s a crime museum where they have all sorts of artifacts. “This is Charlie Manson’s toilet brush,” type stuff. Standing outside it was a large group of Macdonald’s-bodied people in identical ghost hunter sweatshirts. You could have run a butter knife down any of their cheeks and spread the result on bread for a nutritional meal. They looked like they were about to go hunting ghosts in the crime museum, and they might well find all sorts of stuff in there if they don’t need to sit down almost immediately. It looks like it’s a load of damp catacombs where you can commune with Rose West’s pajama bottoms. Maybe too many stairs, but I’m sure they have some Red Bull.
I haven’t seen people for a few days, that’s the problem. My tolerance has gone down. It’s just been me and the cats and the birds and the trees. Now I’ve remembered there are millions of people out there who do stuff like think they are clever cos they’ve watched a thing on YouTube saying space doesn’t exist or whatever the latest guff is, I don’t even want to write that shit down.
I went to see my mate in her new flat. It’s a sanctuary, and I’m proud she’s made it for herself. It’s taken work.
We caught up, laughed about the struggle, and I packed myself back out and off pretty quickly. Cats don’t feed themselves, and being here means looking after the furry little blighters.
Now I’m in bed early again, gonna get my head down, it’s dark. It’ll be warmer tomorrow I think, which is a blessing. I’ve started to relax a little and dress lighter. Maybe a mistake since it is only April. But maybe there’ll be a summer this year.
AlBarclay 