The Unheard words of new writers...

Episode 26: Uniform Defiance; character featured: Self

He was getting ready, but it was taking a long time. Right now he was staring into the mirror but he could not see himself. He could see a boy of Junior’s age. Him as a child, perhaps. Defiantly fixing his neck-tie, so that only the broad triangular end protruded from the ridiculously huge knot. Dressing up but seeking not to conform to the school dress code; ending up instead conforming to the dress code of his peers. True rebellion would involve wearing what you wanted despite the possible consequences.

He loosened the knot, “come on brother,” he spoke aloud, pulling the tie off and throwing it onto the bed.
Anna came into the room, she was busily getting dressed-up also. “What you say babe?” She asked.
He looked at her, as if she didn’t exist, “nothing. No, I wasn’t talking to you.”
“Charmed I’m sure.”
“No, no. I didn’t mean it like that. I was just remembering school days.”
“Ha, school d-a-ze right.”
“Yeah. Those.”
“Well, let’s hope they got some old skool days going on there tonight.”
He didn’t answer, returning his attention to the mirror, charged with past defiance.
© editor@unheardwords.com, 2005 (all rights reserved)

Episode 27: Unexpected Surprise; character featured: Evoke

The cab stopped just around the corner from the venue, she paid the driver, who got out and opened her door. Monica had managed to open her own door and walked around the back of the car to join her friend.

"You got some lucky fella waiting inside fa ya," the driver said, taking his time to look her over.
"Luckier than he knows," she said.
The driver raised his eyebrows and flashed her his gold toothed smile, "the man lucky, yes," he grinned, closing the passenger door and climbing back into the car. He slid his window open, "tek care darling," he shouted, the car racing back into street life.
"I think you've...."
"Pulled? Yeah I know," she smiled. "But, it's not the pulling, it's the taking part," she mimicked the driver's toothy smile, sending Monica into laughter. "Let's go girl," she took Monica's arm and they made their way towards the café-bar-club (Ashanti2).
© editor@unheardwords.com, 2005 (all rights reserved)

Episode 27: Unexpected Surprise (2); character featured: Richard

The joint - Ashanti2 - was warming up. Some of the café's early evening diners had finished their light meals and had made their way back downstairs to the ground floor. The venue was large and its bars and 3 dance 'galleries' spread out, like showcase spaces, across the basement, ground and first floors.

A bar within the `urban soul park' gallery had been reserved for the event. The gallery had four bars, one in each corner of the wide, long space, formed as quarter circles. Likewise, the gallery had depth and comrpised a walkway, creating a viewing platform, from which drinkers and talkers could watch the dancers below on the sunken dance floor.

"So Richard, you're a big time movie man now?"
"No movies yet."
"Man, that's good. That's safe man."
"Not as safe as you, what was it you said you were doing now?"
"Promotion and 'dat. Ya'know, the music scene's gone boom in the last few years man. Tonnes a people just wanna get their freak 'dat way. Just chill wid' the rarities or trance like, ya'know tripping to the anthems like."
"Sounds involved. Like an interesting seam of material for one of my projects."
"A film. Yeah man. We could make a movie together man. Magine 'dat - tell you, there's some things I've seen man. It's gonna make a great film man."
"Well, as I said, no movies yet, but who knows perhaps this could be my first." The two men, old school friends, shared a laugh.
© editor@unheardwords.com, 2005 (all rights reserved)

Episode 27: Unexpected Surprise (3); character featured: Evoke

"Excuse me," Evoke caught the attention of a tall handsome man, standing against the chrome rail, his back to the dance floor. She'd just entered the gallery, and was trying to get her bearings, Monica had gone off to find the bathroom.
"No excuse me." The man looked delighted to see her.
She had been hoping to locate Richard, but now she became distracted, "I've just arrived and I wanted to make sure I'd come to the right place," she said.
"It's right, miss?" He extended a hand towards her, somehow retaining that delighted air.
"My name's Evoke," she told him, raising her hand to meet his. His grasp was warm and friendly, though it felt over familiar to her.
"Evoke," he thought for a moment, "that brings something to mind," he beamed at her. "No, I was gonna say, it's right Evoke, but is it right for you?"
She moved aside to let someone carrying drinks pass, all the time retaining eye contact. "It's right for me, Mr?"
"Geoff."
"Geoff." She echoed. And suddenly a woman appeared by his side and eye contact was broken off.

Geoff retained his composure, sweeping his arm left in the direction of the newcomer. "This is my wife, Mercy," he said. "This is Evoke," he told Mercy.
Mercy bowed her head, politely for an instant and then began to whisper something to her husband. Evoke's sense of the wider event returned rapidly, she scanned her surroundings - finding a range of thirty something males and females arranged casually about the stylish dancehall (she preferred this to the term gallery) and was reassured.
"Now I know I'm in the right place, I've got to go an find a friend," she told Geoff and Mercy, slipping away from them with all the grace she could conjure.
"Yeah, nice meeting you", she heard Geoff call, as she faded out into the mingling assembly.
A track was just coming to an end and another club classic was just piling in, like a theme tune.
You're the o-n-e for m-e-e-e-e Yeah
© editor@unheardwords.com, 2006 (all rights reserved)

Episode 27: Unexpected Surprise (4); character featured: Richard

Richard had caught sight of her as she emerged from a chattering group, some of whom he recognised from days long gone. He watched her move slowly through the gathering. She looked magazine-ad perfect, he thought, s-e-x-y and elegant, and thankfully heading his way.
"...were into art Rich," someone was saying. He looked around to see his old school pal Kenny.
"Miss Maddison was embarrassed by you, remember? Painting that model we had in, in the buff."
He could vaguely remember. Those around him clearly didn't, they looked shocked yet pleased, no doubt that it was at his and not their expense. How many of them could escape embarrassment at their own school-day antics, though all of this was his and not their idea.
"We knew we had a model coming into art for weeks, but Rich got some fantasy into his head that it was going to be some butt naked temptress, who'd be happy to pose for us under-sexed youts while we got our cheap thrill acting out painting her."
"Na, no," he shook his head in weak protest, "you must have it mixed up, it's over fifteen years ago, memory can play plenty tricks," he defended weakly.
"No, it's the tru't." Chris was happy to pitch in.
Funny how crude former boyhood behaviour could make you feel -returning you to childhood all over again, he thought, only now with adult size embarrassment and guilt.
"OK, you got me. I confess," he sought to end his misery quickly. "I wanted the chance to show the depths of my artistic talents through the interpretation of a female nude."
The group broke into a variety of laughter. "That's right. Painting those titty-all-so-pretty." Kenny lowered the tone in true young-boy style, and they broke into laughter again.
© editor@unheardwords.com, 2006 (all rights reserved)

Episode 27: Unexpected Surprise (5); characters featured: Evoke, Richard

He caught her attention - she looked relieved to see him - and tossed his head to one side, beckoning her over.

"Bet you don't `ave to pretend no more right," Kenny was continuing, as she came to stand at Richard's side, "bet it's all casting sessions and `can you take your top off a moment so I can get a precise idea of how you're gonna look on camera'." More laughter from those assembled, fading as they came to realise Richard had female company.
"That's not what he tells me goes on in casting," she faked a startled looked.
Kenny sought quickly to cover his tracks, "no sir, an you know what, you can believe my man too. I'm only joking, my man's a true artist," he looked at his former buddy with sincerity, "true, soulful, artistic - seen."
"Hey, this man knows me," Richard chuckled, now embarrassed in another way, he was keen to deflect.
"Is that so?" She smiled, gaining the men's undivided attention. "Well, I'm not so sure `bout that."
© editor@unheardwords.com, 2006 (all rights reserved)

Episode 27: Unexpected Surprise (6); character featured: Self

He was about to enter The Gallery. He stopped just before the entrance doors, halting Anna who was holding his arm.
"What's wrong b-a-ybe?" She asked.
He took a deep breath, 'prepare to step back in time', he thought. "I'm fine Anna," he said, stepping forward and opening one of the double doors to let her go through first.
For a few more steps, as they made their way across the walkway, towards the bar, it seemed as if he'd gotten away with it, and wouldn't attract the attention that he'd apprehensively anticipated. Then, he recognised, Neville (aka Nevis), Kenny (aka Kean) and, 'oh my God!', Pamella (aka fix-up) and before he knew it, he was meeting and greeting, the faces of the places he'd once known. Chatting the chat he'd once spoken. And, recollecting happenings by the dozen.
© editor@unheardwords.com, 2006 (all rights reserved)

Episode 27: Unexpected Surprise (7);
characters featured: Evoke, Self, Richard

It was later in the evening, when she saw him. She'd been down on the dance floor with Monica and Richard, only Richard had departed a few tracks back and she'd decided to hunt him down and bring him back. She spotted Richard near the reserved bar and made her way over to him (suitably backed by another theme song, `extra, extra, read all about it!'). She could see that he was talking to another of his secondary school friends, though this guy didn't quite seem to blend in. He was wearing some fashionable, though obviously street casual jeans, a kaki cotton jacket, over a black t-shirt, and some non-descript brown moccasin-style shoes. He was the same height as Richard, though slimmer, a slightly lighter, perhaps Lindt milk shade, low-cut black curly hair. Handsome, she thought, as she drew closer, arriving and picking up on the words being spoken.

"I've made it sound too simple, it's not that straight forward. You have to work at it, like my relationship with...oh I don't know, Junior, my son," he looked at Richard seeking acknowledgement.
"Yeah, I know," Richard reassured.
"Yeah, you have to read it, how it's gonna go, you know, left a little, and you kind of manoeuvre a little right. Or, is it gonna fall away a little, so you'd compensate just so, you know. But, when you've gained the experience, you feel you've got the key," he looked up a Richard seemingly surprised with the force of his own revelation, "the key is yours."

And immediately, she was taken aback, falling backwards into the dream she had never been able to figure out, the key, she thought, does he have the KEY? - The End -

© editor@unheardwords.com, 2006 (all rights reserved)

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