An Afternoon in Clifton
Filed under Uncategorized • 12-09-2006 •
The final exam took place this afternoon. Beforehand, I went for a walk through the quiet back streets of Clifton with their three storey town houses – now divided into flats and solicitors’ offices – and Georgian crescents, with black iron railings fencing off their private gardens. I’d been listening to a Tom Waits CD in the car, and I couldn’t get ‘Grapefruit Moon’ out of my head. There was a Croatian waitress in the coffee shop where I had lunch. One of the other girls behind the till was explaining to her that in English “to lie” also meant “not to tell the truth.”
I saw a famous comedian in the street. He wore a Ramones t-shirt and sunglasses. He moved like he had a camera crew following him. He looked jumpy.
The shop assistant in the bookshop on Whiteladies Road gave me a lovely smile. She had blonde hair and tan cowboy boots. I was nervous about the exam, so I treated myself to a book by Elmore Leonard. I’ve wanted to read him since being influenced by his article ‘Ten Rules of Writing’.
The exam took place in an old church on Whiteladies Road. I got there an hour early and sat on the hard stone steps, flicking through my new book. The bell clanked. There was a Honda opposite, under a curving Victorian lampost. One by one, the other candidates arrived. I knew two of them from earlier sessions, and it was good to see them again.
And then, three hours later, it was all over. I think it went well. The results aren’t due until mid-October. But tonight, I’m celebrating anyway. Tomorrow, I have to throw myself back into the world of software marketing, but tonight I’m going to sink a few cold lagers and sit at this keyboard until I’ve written something I can be proud of.
