Ultra Dense Metal Ball on Endless Still Ocean

“We must believe in free will – we have no choice.” – Isaac Bashevis Singer

 

          “Take it away! Oh fucking hell mate, quick… oh… I’m gonna be sick.”

            “And here I was thinking you’d appreciate a bit o’ bacon… dripping with lardy fat…”

            “Oh God…”

            Five minutes later Ed returned from the bathroom and sat down looking thoroughly rotten.

            “You’re not in Australia,” I observed.

            “That’s true,” he allowed.

            “How did you get home?”

            “I’m not sure. But I do know it involved a bus in Westbourne Park at one point.” He looked to the heavens, reflectively, for a moment. “Where the hell is Westbourne Park?”

 

*

 

            In the mid afternoon I got a text from Annabell: ‘Hi! How are you doing?’

            What the hell does that mean?

            Is she just being polite or does it mean something more? What if it means more? What if she wants me back? Perhaps she’s just being proud, holding back a little but seeking something. But then… there’s isn’t a ‘kiss’ at the end. What does that mean?

            By the time Ed had returned to normality, in late afternoon, I still hadn’t made up my mind how to reply.

            “At least I don’t look keen,” I said.

            “Oh yeah, you look really serene. You’re a fucking solid steel ultra dense ball of impassive metal on an everlasting and perfectly still ocean, you.”

            I shook my head patiently. “She doesn’t know that.”

            “But you do.”

            “So?”

            “So why do you care mate? She’s long gone, a nice mess in a worker - the man’s conservative.”*

            A pause followed while I caught up. It became silently known, by the briefest of nods between us, that I had understood. That is: I understood his cryptic meaning though I may not have taken his plain meaning.

 

* nice mess = anagram of nice = cien; in a worker = in ‘ant’; man’s = his; conservative = tory; Altogether = ‘Ancient History’.