Punting.

Samantha is living in Cambridge now that the boys have left. She sold the farm and bought a place there. Why not pop up and see her? I’m sure she’d like it. Thus spake Simon.

So it was that Samantha agreed to meet me in the Fitzwilliam Museum.  I took the train up from Kings X. Things have certainly changed as far as train travel goes. Very fast and efficient. Stations have changed too. No blokes having a smoke among the mailbags. Everything is automated.

I had a bit of time on my hands so I take a bus up Cherry Hinton to a small side street. It’s the house where Syd Barrett lived with his mother until he died. 

She was on the steps at the Fitzwilliam. I got a big hug and we walked around the museum, past the old portraits, the Egyptian statues, the porcelain, and the armour.

" I love this place, ' Sam said, 'I come here a lot. I find it very soothing. Something about being surrounded by old things perhaps.'

‘Why Cambridge Sam?’

‘Nostalgia I think. I studied at Trinity Hall. Happy days. I like to go to Evensong.’

‘Simon told me you were here.’

‘Good old Cambridge. Crawling with Chinese tour groups now of course. What did you think of Simon?’

‘The wheelchair? It was a shock to see him like that. I knew he was going to see Arthur in Thailand but I never heard about the accident.’

‘I didn’t send you those chapters yet. Does Simon know I’m editing your book?’

‘My book? I’m just the narrator. You send me the stuff and I make it sound natural…..that’s what I was told anyway. I assumed you were writing it.’

‘Not me. It’s a mystery. Oh Dick. It’s so hard to stay cheerful. Simon in his bloody wheelchair. We don’t see that much of each other anymore but I still care. And all this Brexit and Trump stuff is really getting me down. I suppose at our age it doesn’t matter that much but it really is depressing to watch the way the world is going’.

‘Times change. Bugger all we can do about it.’

‘Yes you’re right. I used to thing we could but we can’t. Sorry to sound so downbeat.’

‘That’s alright. I’d better be going or I’ll miss my train.’

Then she said it.

‘Why not spend the night here? I’ve got a spare bed.’

‘Well if you promise not to rape me.’

So Samantha took me down to her place by the river. She fed me tea and oranges that came all the way from Tesco. We watched the punts go by etc.

Wheelchair.

Got an email from Oscar in BVI. He’s going frantic. Apparently Blackjack and his crew were spotted in Martinique and he wants me to help him sail down and sort them out. Bugger that.

I give Simon a call. He's surprised to hear from me.
“Dick! How are you? Where are you more to the point?”
I tell him and it turns out he isn’t far away. Holland Park. He gives me the address.
“It’s on the ground floor. You’ll see why when you get here.”
So off I trot. His flat is in a new three story block. A woman in a nurse’s uniform opens the door and shows me into a small conservatory. And there’s Simon. He doesn’t look good to be honest. Sitting in a wheel chair, very pale and thin and there’s that smell you get in hospitals. Medicine and disinfectant.
“Bloody hell what happened to you mate?”
“It’s my spine Dick. Accident in Thailand. Constant pain. Lots of bloody medication. It’s a bastard.”
“I’ll be buggered. Surely they can operate?”
“Not easily but I’ve got people working on it.”
“So I take it you sold your mews place?”
“Oh yes. Had to. Russians bought it. They were fighting over it. Sold the Bacon painting too. Got 47 million pounds for it. Fat lot of good it’s doing me now. What brings you to London?”
“Me…..I was in BVI. Having trouble with some pirates in the Caribbean. Long story. I thought I’d come here and look for the Zeitgeist.”
“Makes sense.”
“ Do you still do your TV show?”
“The Beeb wheel me out now and again. The wheelchair was a good gimmick for a while. I got a lot of sympathy.”
“How about writing?”
“I write the odd review if somebody asks me. It’s not so easy to get around.”
“What do you think of Tracey Emin?”
“Well between you and me Dick it’s rubbish. Can’t say that of course. She has a big following. I’d get lynched.”
Probably not a good time to ask about the Zeitgeist.
“Well I’m sorry to see you looking like this.” I say. “What happened to your back anyway?”
“Thailand. That’s what bloody happened  Dick. You remember Arthur….my old school chum? Well I went to Bangkok to make a documentary. Arthur was involved as a sort of research assistant.”

Clearly something bad must have happened but I keep my mouth shut and let him talk.. He obviously wants to.

“Arthur was living in a village up in the north of Thailand. We met up in Bangkok.”

I get a vivid impression of Arthur in the lobby of the Landmark Hotel waiting for Simon. Sukhumvit Saturday night. Thais and tourists coming and going. The street busy with people and vendors. Nana Plaza getting warmed up for another night of debauchery.

I'll sort this later.

                                                             

Closing time.

RIP Leonard. I can't call myself a big fan to be honest. I find him a bit preachy. But he wrote some great songs and this video is outstanding. You can find more about it here.

And Perla Batalla is very saucy.