Farewell Docker Town

Following on from " Docker Town".

You leave and the cold air hits you like a punch from a heavyweight boxer. It takes away your breath and you gasp repeatedly until your lungs decide to get up off the floor and carry on. The street outside is full of men. Old men, young men, desperate men. All wanting and crying out for one thing. Work. Some will be lucky today some won’t. The lucky ones will go home smiling the others won’t go home. A man stops you and grabs your arm. “Spare a couple of coppers guv?” You try to pull away but his grip is firm. “Please Guv!” His voice has gone from a question to a cry. You keep walking. You dare not look at his face. He lets go and falls to the floor. Other men just step over him as though he’s not there. One colour describes your surroundings. Grey. Thick smoke and fog hangs in the air and you soon realise that it was healthier being inside the pub. Up ahead is a crowd of men standing by a lamppost. All wearing caps and boots, hunched over with hands in pockets. You pass them. One of them shouts at you. “Any work guv?” They think you’re management because you’re dressed differently to them. You don’t stop. Just waive your hand. You can see the dock gates up ahead. So close. Close to normality. A woman to your left is standing outside a derelict building. “Want business love?” You make the mistake of looking up at her. She smiles. A toothless smile. She raises her tattered skirt above her knee. Hoping for a reaction. You move on hurriedly. She shouts out after you " Stuck up bastard, I can do more for you than your missus does indoors." You reach the gates and leave. Goodbye Docker town.