W - A Walk In The Park

Gently they kissed in the sun and the grass could not have looked
greener, right where they were standing, her eyes shut so tightly as he
held her close. Behind them a sparrow pecked at a half eaten sandwich
discarded by the bench, near to where they stood. He looked away and
into the distance, trying to fix the scene forever in his mind. Gordy
had known the girl for some weeks now, but they was the first time they
had kissed. He had met her at a gig, at the Green Gable, and they found
that they had a common interest in the Jacknives. Gordy knew Jack who
led the band, the rhythm guitarist. And Angel, the girl standing next
to him, knew Erin the band's lead singer. They had been in the crowd
that had come to see the band play. They had both liked the Borogroves
that had opened the gig, but 20/20 Vision were too heavy for their
liking, and of course the Jacknives played what they damn well liked.
The Jacknives had opened with a love song which was so unexpected that
it blew the crowd watching them away. Usually the band opened with In
The Midnight Hour or Slow Down, both uptempo numbers with a solid beat,
but this time was different.

Angel smiled at Gordy: "So you want to go out with me then? Gordy, are
you sure you know what you are letting yourself in for? If I commit to
you, I commit completely and there isn't anyway to turn back the
clock."

"Yeah," said Gordy, being a man of few words in situations like these.
"I want to go out with you, Angel. You make me feel good, make things
seem a lot better than they are."

Gordy worked in an office as a clerk in the town they both lived in,
and he hated his job. He wanted to leave but he felt trapped, he needed
the job to pay the rent on his flat and if he quit he wouldn't be able
to pay even for a packet of cigarettes. But he had the idea that going
out with Angel would make life a whole lot more interesting. And he
would stick with the job till something better came along. Angel worked
in a travel agency, and of course got a huge discount on cheap holidays
to Spain. Angel loved her job, she loved helping people pick the right
holiday as she knew how important it was to have the right sort of
holiday, and get away from it all. They listened to the same kind of
music, and drank in the same pubs and life was good.

"So I thought we could come to this place and we could remember it
forever," said Angel, always the poet.

Gordy smiled. "I won't forget this place," he said.

*

Across from where the two young lovers stood another couple were
sitting on a park bench. Two sparrows pecked eagerly at the bread
crumbs dropped from Simon's sandwich that Gina had made specially for
him. Simon had a newspaper open on his knees. "There's a flat here," he
began, "the rent is affordable and we can move right away, which has
got to beat staying at your Aunt's." Gina laughed.

"I think she quite likes you Simon," she said, kissing him, "are you
sure we can move in right away?" Simon nodded. "That's great! I can
cook for you and we can have friends round and we can chat all night,
and play our music as loud as possible. And we can play this new
Jacknives album as often as we like instead of the radio like Aunt Mary
always likes to listen to, and it will be wonderful."

Simon looked at the rent and wondered if he could ask his boss at the
factory for a raise. They could afford it, just, but it would no more
going out to restaurants and buying clothes when they wanted, and going
on trips to France or Germany just for the fun of it. He resolved to
cut up his credit card just as soon as they had moved in and got the
flat sorted out. Gina had some money left to her from her parent's will
but he didnt expect it to last if they carried on spending money at the
rate they did. When they bought CDs they always bought one each. Gina
insisted. Well that would have to stop. He turned and kissed her full
on the lips and she flushed as she did so as two people, a man and a
woman, were walking by arguing quite loudly. And the man gave them a
filthy look.

*
Three sparrows were squabbling over a bread roll that had dropped out
of someone's bag on the way home from the shops.

"Well, Sally, you will just have to stop seeing him. It's got to stop,
and stop today." Sally noticed the girl and her man sitting on the
bench and they were so in love, she thought. Mike just glared at them
as they passed.

"What do you see in a bloke like that Sally? He's young enough to be
your son, for chrissakes. Now stop shitting on me and tell me you
aren't going to see him again." Sally felt tears come into her
eyes.

"I can't Mike, I love him. I...I also love you and ...."

"Bollocks. You cannot love two people at the same time. That's crap.
Where did you meet Tonic if thats his name? Sounds a mighty stupid name
to me. Plays in a band does he, I think you said?"

"Well, we met on the chatrooms," Sally said trying not to cry. "He's a
drummer for the Jacknives. And we had so much in common that...."

"Our phone bill is enormous, you must spend, what, three hours a night,
every night talking, and what do I have? Bugger all, a tape or a DVD to
watch and nothing happening upstairs. Tell me, when was the last time
you let me f...."

Sally slapped him. "Good bye Mike, you are a shit, and always will be a
shit.I tried to explain before, but I am sick of explaining to you. Why
don't you divorce me? Then I can be with Tonic. And..." She broke off
and burst into tears, realising just what she had said.

"Fine," said Mike, "I call the solicitor right now on my mobile and you
can move out today for good. Anything you don't take with you, is going
in a skip I am ordering just as soon as I have spoken to Terry."

And with that he turned on his heel and stormed off, leaving Sally to
cry.

*

By the swings, Joe waited for Lisa to turn up. He hoped she would, he
even had his mobile on, just in case something had come up, and she
wasn't going to show. He wore his best suit, polished shoes, the tie
she had given him for his 40th birthday along with an Omega Navigator
watch. He wished he had bought a new shirt, the collar on the one he
was wearing was frayed. A bit like his nerves, he thought. She was late
now, twenty minutes late in fact, he glance at the watch and felt tears
begin to form behind his eyes. They had been so in love, and now he had
gone and smashed it all up by having a fling with a girl he had met at
a Jacknives gig a few months ago. It was in the Green Gable pub, he
remembered now, and they had started with a love song and he had been
surprised when the crowd all surged forward that he bumped into this
girl with red hair and spilt her drink, so of course he had bought her
another drink, friendly like and then he had started talking to her and
well, the rest as they say was history. Lisa had stormed out of the
house when he had admitted that he had slept with the red haired girl,
Lucy. They had had a huge row about Lisa going to the pictures with
friends from work and not coming in till late, and later she had
admitted she had had a snog with one of the blokes who worked on her
team. And he had been so very careful about Lucy, but he had let the
whole thing come out. And then Lucy decided she really wanted to be in
Japan, which was like thousands of miles away, and now he had no-one.
No-one at all. He was depressed, skint and had nothing to look forward
to now Lucy had gone.

"Hello you," Lisa said, interrupting his thoughts. She was smiling. Joe
hoped she wasn't seeing another bloke now, well since he had moved into
a flat with Lucy. He licked his lips.

"Lisa, I...."

Lisa looked at him. "You've been crying Joe, haven't you?"

"Lisa, I...."

"Over me or over Lucy disappearing to Japan so suddenly?"

"Lisa, I...."

"She rang me you know. She said that you had been acting very
strangely, shouting out in your sleep. I think it got on her nerves
after a while, especially as it was my name you were calling. Still, I
am here now, and I haven't cancelled on you. I have been thinking.
Thinking a lot. About us, about you."

"Lisa, I...." The Joe gave up trying to speak and grabbed Lisa and
hugged her, sobbing.

"Yes, Joe, I thought you had been crying. And you are crying now. So
tell me why should I take you back? Will I be able to trust you again?
Eh?"

"Yes, you will Lisa." Joe pulled away from her, pulled out a
handkerchief and blew his nose loudly. Then he folded the handkerchief
and used it to wipe his eyes. " How his Joe Junior doing in his
band?"

Lisa smiled. "They have a new album out, I am very proud of him, and so
should you be. He asks me daily about you, you know. He wants his Dad
back. He wants his Dad to go down the pub and see him play in his band
again. Oh and I will be there as well, right by your side, because I
don't want you wandering again. I will have to keep a good eye on
you."

"Lisa, I am sorry I was such a shit, I love you and I want you to have
me back. It'll be different this time."

"Well there's been some changes," Lisa said. "I think you should know
that."

"Like, er?"

"Like I no longer work in that bloody office, I have quit and I am now
running a PR agency and the Jacknives are one of our clients." She
pulled out a CD from her bag. "I wanted to show you this, Joe. It's
their new album. Look inside." She passed it to Joe, who took it gently
from her and flipped it open.

"It's a dedication from Joe. It says 'To my Dad.' And there's a picture
of Joe above it. They have all got their own dedications. Lisa, was
this your idea?" Joe felt his throat gagging as he said this.

"Well, not exactly, it was Joe's idea, and their leader Jack thought it
would be nice. You know he is seeing Erin now?"

"Erin? Oh yes, Lucy's friend." Joe blanched as he said Lucy's name and
felt the world begin to cave in on him. He had been almost there and
now he had mentioned that girl's name. He felt doomed.

Lisa looked at him. "Oh yes, Lucy is Erin's friend. I know that. It
doesn't matter. Joe, you fool, I still love you, I always will. You
hurt me badly but I forgive you. Come on home with me and we'll sort
out everyhting else later on. You look as though you could do with a
cup of tea. And stop crying, you'll upset the sparrows." Lisa was crazy
like that, and that was why Joe loved her. The four sparrows flew off
just then.