{"id":2652,"date":"2012-06-07T15:12:16","date_gmt":"2012-06-07T15:12:16","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/ink.verticalplus.co.uk\/archive\/?p=2652"},"modified":"2012-06-07T15:12:16","modified_gmt":"2012-06-07T15:12:16","slug":"robert-graham","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/inksweatandtears.co.uk\/archive\/robert-graham\/","title":{"rendered":"Robert Graham"},"content":{"rendered":"

Thinking Loudly<\/strong><\/p>\n

The first time they meet is in the National Portrait Gallery caf\u00e9, below ground, before Christmas, early in the evening.<\/p>\n

\u2018And that\u2019s for you,\u2019 she says, giving him change.<\/p>\n

She speaks with an accent and her eyes are icy blue.\u00a0 Is she feisty or cheeky?<\/p>\n

\u2018Thank you,\u2019 he says.<\/p>\n

\u2018And it\u2019s not even Christmas.\u2019\u00a0 A smile flashes across her lovely face.<\/p>\n

\u2018Sorry?\u2019<\/p>\n

She waves her forearm like a car wiper.\u00a0 \u2018Oh, I\u2019m just thinking loudly.\u2019<\/p>\n

He smiles.\u00a0 \u2018What\u2019s your accent?\u2019<\/p>\n

\u2018You know, Eastern Europe.\u2019<\/p>\n

She is blonde and fair-skinned.\u00a0 \u2018Czech?\u00a0 Polish?\u2019<\/p>\n

\u2018Yes.\u2019<\/p>\n

\u2018Which?\u2019<\/p>\n

\u2018Well Polish, of course.\u2019<\/p>\n

He picks up his tray but doesn\u2019t quite move on.\u00a0 \u2018I went to Krakow once.\u2019<\/p>\n

\u2018Why not?\u00a0 Is very common.\u2019<\/p>\n

Even now he isn\u2019t moving on.\u00a0 \u2018When do you finish?\u2019<\/p>\n

She pulls a face and shakes her head.\u00a0 \u2018Poh. Already I am finished.\u2018\u00a0 She looks at her watch.\u00a0 \u2018I am overtime.\u2019<\/p>\n

He takes a sharp breath.\u00a0 \u2018Have you got plans?\u2019<\/p>\n

She pulls another face.\u00a0 \u2018It depends\u2026 \u2018<\/p>\n

Depends on what?<\/em> he wonders. \u2018I\u2019m going to a concert at the Royal Festival Hall.\u00a0 Maybe you\u2019d like to come?\u2019<\/p>\n

She nods.\u00a0 \u2018If my colleague arrives, I think is okay.\u2019<\/p>\n

\u2018Great.\u00a0 Oh \u2013 what\u2019s your name?\u2019<\/p>\n

\u2018Irena.\u00a0 I am Irena.\u2019<\/p>\n

\u2018I\u2019m Joe.\u00a0 Joe Lowe.\u00a0 Friends call me Joe Blow.\u2019<\/p>\n

She shakes her head slowly.<\/p>\n

\u2018It\u2019s a joke.\u00a0 Kind of a joke.\u2019\u00a0 He sees the flashes of ice in her eyes.\u00a0 \u2018Great.\u00a0 So I\u2019ll just go and drink this tea, yeah?\u2019<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Because of the first couple of cocktails at a table outside the NFT bar, they do not get as far as the concert. Because of the next couple, he is telling her about his old girlfriends.\u00a0 She pretends to listen; why would she want to know about his girlfriends? \u00a0She thinks he is drunk.<\/p>\n

She takes out her iPhone, leans in close to him and taps the phone\u2019s flank.\u00a0 \u2018Here is summary of my travels.\u00a0 You look here, Joe Blow.\u00a0 My favourite bar in Warsaw.\u2019<\/p>\n

He peers from the back of the phone.\u00a0 \u2018Sorry.\u00a0 Can\u2019t see.\u00a0 Screen\u2019s facing your way.\u2019<\/p>\n

\u2018Wait.\u00a0 I come across.\u2019\u00a0 She moves her folding chair next to his. \u00a0\u2018Is better?\u2019<\/p>\n

\u2018Much.\u2019<\/p>\n

\u2018Here is my friend Ludmila.\u00a0 Student of demographics.\u2019\u00a0 Irena sees him looking at her thigh and flicks to the next photograph.\u00a0 She flicks again. \u2018Me in Berlin.\u2019 And again. \u2018Here, in Amsterdam.\u2019<\/p>\n

\u2018No boyfriend?\u2019 he interrupts.<\/p>\n

She shakes her head slowly.\u00a0 \u2018Here is Bogdan, my best boy.\u2019<\/p>\n

The photograph is of a parrot.\u00a0 \u2018Nice.\u00a0 Back in Warsaw?\u2019<\/p>\n

\u2018Here in London.\u2019<\/p>\n

\u2018Oh.\u2019\u00a0 He reaches out for her phone.\u00a0 \u2018Let me take your picture.\u2019<\/p>\n

\u2018No!\u00a0 Why I have my picture on my camera?\u00a0 Is for picture of others.\u2019<\/p>\n

For a moment he looks at her, then taps the screen.\u00a0 \u2018He\u2019s very green.\u2019<\/p>\n

And they laugh.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The following week, Irena cooks for Joe and he meets Bogdan.<\/p>\n

\u2018He only speak Polski, my lovely boy.\u2019<\/p>\n

And sure enough, the bird squawks something incomprehensible.<\/p>\n

\u2018What did he say?\u2019 Joe asks.<\/p>\n

\u2018He say, I don\u2019t think much of your pickle.<\/em>\u2019\u00a0 She laughs.<\/p>\n

\u2018Lech Walesa,\u2019 the parrot says.<\/p>\n

Joe says, \u2018I understood that.\u2019<\/p>\n

Irena kisses the bird.\u00a0 \u2018My best boy darlink.\u2019\u00a0 She grins at Joe.\u00a0 \u2018Hold out your arm.\u00a0 You two boys heff to make friends.\u2019<\/p>\n

Joe extends his arm and the parrot steps onto it.<\/p>\n

\u2018Yess,\u2019 Irena purrs.\u00a0 \u2018Is Joe Blow.\u2019<\/p>\n

After a few minutes, Joe asks her to take the parrot off.\u00a0 \u2018I think I\u2019m getting cramp.\u2019<\/p>\n

She helps the bird back onto the stand.\u00a0 \u2018When I get cremp, I always hold my arms up like this.\u2019<\/p>\n

\u2018Does it work?\u2019<\/p>\n

\u2018I don\u2019t know.\u00a0 I never try it before.\u2019<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Soon they are staying over at each other\u2019s flats.\u00a0 But the parrot casts a pall over their relationship.\u00a0 Bogdan, he is sure, gets more treats then him.\u00a0 And when the bird comes out with a statement Joe does not recognise, he asks for a translation.<\/p>\n

\u2018He say, What a loser.<\/em>\u00a0 Not you, Joe!\u2019\u00a0 She laughs.\u00a0 \u2018He like you.\u00a0 Do you not know this?\u2019<\/p>\n

But eventually Joe makes the stand that he knows he must.<\/p>\n

\u2018It\u2019s me or the parrot,\u2019 he tells Irena.<\/p>\n

She shakes her head slowly.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Robert Graham<\/strong>‘s stories have appeared in magazines and on Radio 4. \u00a0Other publications: a novel, Holy Joe<\/em>, (Troubador, 2006), a short story collection, The Only Living Boy<\/em> <\/a>(Salt, 2009), and a novella, A Man Walks Into A Kitchen <\/em>(Salt, 2011).<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Thinking Loudly The first time they meet is in the National Portrait Gallery caf\u00e9, below ground, before Christmas, early in the evening. \u2018And that\u2019s for you,\u2019 she says, giving him change. She speaks with an accent and her eyes are icy blue.\u00a0 Is she feisty or cheeky? \u2018Thank you,\u2019 he says. \u2018And it\u2019s not even […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2652","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-prose-poetry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/inksweatandtears.co.uk\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2652","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/inksweatandtears.co.uk\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/inksweatandtears.co.uk\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inksweatandtears.co.uk\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inksweatandtears.co.uk\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2652"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/inksweatandtears.co.uk\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2652\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2653,"href":"https:\/\/inksweatandtears.co.uk\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2652\/revisions\/2653"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/inksweatandtears.co.uk\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2652"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inksweatandtears.co.uk\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2652"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inksweatandtears.co.uk\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2652"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}