9am. Me - Laurence stayed out all night
Ben- I'll call him
Me - I already did, his phone goes straight to voicemail.
9.15 Me - Do you think my hair's looking very Princess Di today?
Alex-Don't get into any cars with foreign-looking men then
Both-So, no cabs.
9.30 Ben- That was the Hemel Hempstead police. They say Laurence is in custody, he'll
be back by the end of the day. They won't say what he's done because he's an adult.
10.00 Me - One day travelcard please.
BR guy - Ten pounds please
Voice in head - Chip and Pin is so cool
10.30 Bouncy lady - Oh!
Me - ?
BL - I thought Eurostar went in the other direction
Me - We're virtually at Waterloo, there's nowhere for it to go from there
BL - Just...I thought Paris was in that direction (points towards Scotland)
Me - Hmm.. Maidstone's that way (points towards Maidstone).
10.50 Voice in head - New Primal Scream album, nice....lot of transport police around today.....wonder how Lars is doing......
Announcer - The next station is 'Cherring Cross'
ViH - Hmmmm, they used to say 'Chairing cross' ...still, even the Queen's accent has changed.....damn, didn't mean to come up on the side of the....ooh, Dorothy Perkins, oh nice...I swear they're designing just for me this season....I wonder why that woman's head doesn't get hot with that scarf wrapped all the way around like that.....
11.20 Me - Would it be ok for me to take a picture inside the store?
Assistant - Er, why?
Me - Because I'd like to show my friend that his film has an actual slot in Virgin Megastore in Oxford Street.
Assistant - Sure, go ahead, here, let me move these....
11.40 T-Shirt guy - Looking for anything in particular?
Me - Thin Lizzy.
TSG - Tin Lizzy? What kind of music d'they play?
Me - er .... rock....quite an old band
TSG - Don't think we have them...
Me - Ah! Here, Thin Lizzy
TSG - Oh yes...ok...hmmm...of course....
12.00 Guy on Street - Can I tell you about Addadiction.org.uk?
Me - Are you trying to sell me something?
GoS - We're raising awareness
Me - OK
GoS - And money
Me - Ah, is there paperwork involved, only I'm not a UK resident.
12.15 Me - Large Cappucino please
Me - (Phone) Oh, hi, how come you're there?
X - Got the message about Laurence, came back from work
Me - So is he back yet?
X - Nope
13.18 Me - Hi, weren't you here two weeks ago?
Irene - yes, I can't believe I'm getting my immigration documents today, it's four years since I applied.
Me - wow, four years?! (wiping sweat continuously from brow beneath beating sun outside of Canadian High Commission).
14.05 Quebecois - Please take a seat and check that everything's there, then fill in the refund form and bring it back to me. And congratulations.
Me - Thank you.
14.20 ViH - Wish I'd seen that...and that...and that....jeez, could you GO any slower...ooh lovely, flower scented breeze...erk, the London Underground smells better than me.....
14.45 Me - Alex, I'm on the train, I should be back by half three. Is Lars back yet?
Alex - nope, no word.
17.00 X - (phone)So my son is still being questioned? Can I see him if I go there? Can you give me the duty solicitor's phone number? Will you be able to tell me when he is released?
X - Data Protection Act, can't get anything out of them because he's an adult, won't tell me what he's done, whether he's been charged, nothing.
17.30 X - That was the duty officer at Hemel Hempstead nick, they say we can go and get him.
19.00 Duty Officer - He was released half an hour ago. We told him you were coming to get him. I'm afraid I can't tell you whether he had anyone with him. No, our records show he had no money.
20.30 X - I don't know what else we can do, we've walked all round this town, we've been into the worst dives, no-one's seen him. He's not answering his phone. We can drive around for a bit but then we'll have to go back. At least the traffic won't be quite as horrendous now it's a bit later.
21.15 Laurence - (Phone) It's me mum, I'm home.
Laurence was in a car with another boy who had no driving licence and was too young to drive. Laurence knew this. We don't know the status of the car. The kid crashed into a traffic light and then took off. The police gave chase and the car was finally apprehended somewhere on the M25. Both were taken to Hemel Hempstead police station. Laurence had banged his head being hauled out of the car and had to be taken to the hospital but then spent the night in the cells. He was not charged. The other boy appears in court next week. The Data Protection Act effectively gagged the police on all counts and left us knowing nothing all day because our son refused to use his one phone call. He avoided us and was brought back to Woking by the parent of the underage driver.
3 comments:
" wowza - sounds like the boy needs you - good thing you are there. Bring him back to Canada till he straightens out? hmmm.
are you coming back tomorrow? June 9? I appear to be hosting the next writers group. oh and my car's brakes are dying - when the car dies, so does my writers' group appearances. let's pray for Laurence and my car.
as you were. "
Soz, had to paste this. Blogger was misbehaving last night with the result that three copies got posted and then it went down completely and I couldn't fix until this monring.
I was poised with credit card in hand ready to do exactly that this morning Karen, since there did appear to still be places on my flight, however Laurence wasn't up for it and if there's one thing I learned from yesterday it's that he's an adult and I can't just throw him over my shoulder and kidnap him to Canada (also he's 6'4")
Hope your car recovers, I'm sure we have garages in Canada, can't it just be repaired ?
I heard rumour that we even have the occasional bus or two :)
I was not aware that the Celtic notion of time is not linear but circular. This is very interesting. I love the idea that the space that we don't talk about is more important than the spokes of the wheel. The image of a container of stones, then being filled with sand and finally with water was very striking. Thank you for these thoughts, Janis. They are good for my head. AR
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