The Colour of no money

Saturday I met up with ed and Damien, and they were hungry, so we headed through the usual touristy bustle to McDonalds, and i gave them both these Mc-vouchers I had. Even though i am supposed to be vegetarian now, i found myself ordering a quarter pounder with cheese. I also found myself trying to ignore the moo-feel that i get when i eat beef.

later, what with D away with his daddy, i bought a bottle of vodka with some of the money i had left and headed down to New Cross to meet Jane who was DJing.

for not the first, second or even third time in my life, i was the queen of the pool table - men were queuing up to beat me, simply because they couldn't believe a blonde was dominating the table for so long, seeing off men left right and centre and potting and placing superbly.

Jane, Karen and i also met this guy, Sahid. It all started when Jane and I went to the bar to order some soda water and lime with which to pour the vodka i had bought into. He was at the bar writing away. I didn't pay much attention, even when Jane said he was alright looking, but then for no reason did this thing where i slapped the bar to make the page of his book flick upward. After that whenever he tried to press it down it wouldn't stay down, so there must have been a breeze in there anyway, and that's how we all got talking. He said he liked soda and lime too. I said it was better with vodka, as he ordered himself a soda and lime. We walked off.

Then Jane and me stopped and conferred, and i don't remember who suggested it, but we nominated her to offer him a shot of vodka in his drink. He acquiesced, and that was that, we all hang out together that night, me and him taking to the pool table, following which i beat him twice, (but he was quite a good player), and he proceeded to watch me play and cheer me on as i thrashed a group of Romanians, one by one, who were staying in the hostel upstairs.

Anyway, Jane said she found him sexy, Sahid that is, and I said, I don't. Karen said she did, but i didn't get it. Meanwhile, one of the Romanian guys kept coming back for more, and with each shot huddled, crouched and discussed with his friends the best way to take a shot - that was how much he needed to beat me. He never did. Well not that game. He told me he had his own cue. Don't they all?

Then Some other guy came on, I noticed he had a deformed hand, but he was good and quite confident to start with. Sahid and I joked that if I took my cardi off, to reveal my sheer blouse underneath, he would go ga-ga and lose, it wasn't personal to him, just an idea, the funny thing was, not long after i took it off, he potted the black in the middle of the game and lost. Who knows. Then this Chinese guy came on, and when he potted the white, suddenly threw his pool cue down on the table, and stormed off shaking his head, grimacing but amused, amidst a hail of laughter. It was odd. He was one of the better players. Anyway, for this game I'd put my cardi back on, what with the fact whenever I looked up, there was a set of hungry eyes gleaming in my direction from some shadow or light spot in the bar.

Finally after all the vodka plus the ones Karen bought, i lost interest in pool, and lost on the black with a silly shot, handing it (with some relief) over to my manic opponent, who in his desperation to win, had run upstairs to get his very own black pool cue. He made some reference to it, as if to say that was why he was doing so well, but he was doing so well cause i was drunk, and a little tired. One of his friends, who said he was from Chile, then Italy, but actually had rather Eastern European burr to his voice, told me he knew that I had let his friend win, and that I was very talented and had lovely 'white skin', and that Sahid was lucky to have me as a friend. Sahid, it turned out, was staying upstairs and knew the guys, and he told me that while they were a bit seedy, they were alright. And Sahid said to me when I came off the table, 'I don't want to play him, I wanna play the winner - you', which I liked. So Sahid played the manic Romanian, who had given me a (greatly relieved and assured) kiss on the cheek after beating me. Anyway, Sahid beat him.

The bands had been coming on and off all night, and some were just too loud for me, I prefer gentler stuff, but Jane and Karen were also DJing a loud guitary DJ set, and Sahid really loved it. Jane promised she'd put on Amy Winehouses 'wake up alone' for me, which she did at the end when the lights went up, and to which I danced and mimed away to. By the end of the evening me and Jane had both given Sahid a peck on the lips at his great surprise, and not that he wasn't a great bloke or anything, but it was because of the booze, I mean this is exactly what it does - alcohol can add eroticism, or sensuality where previously there had been none - before I leant in taking him by surprise and planting a soft mwa on his lips, I'd just knocked back a slammer. And I'd honestly not fancied him. It was funny, I think he found us quite a surprise, but he sent me a text saying we'd made his night by the time I had got home.

the next day on Mother's day, I was alone, 'cause Dylan was with his dad, But that was cool 'cause I spoke to him on the phone. I had a few drinks on my own, watched Shallow Hall on TV and fell into a deep rewarding slumber.