From the feet – Wayne 47

[For back story go here: Story so far at 30 Nov 2020 and this one.]

[Other back story through in-links.]

Wayne knew better than to let on but he felt himself glowing inside when MacCabe told him he was looking good. The two were wandering around the duck pond in the park, ‘chewing the fat’ as they described it to each other, but it amounted to making plans and drawing boundaries.

From time to time MacCabe switched on his mobile phone camera, “just to rough a few things out” he said, although he was also pretty certain some of this footage, suitably treated, could find its way into whatever the documentary ended up being. Bleach it out, turn it black and white, or maybe push the colours – one way or the other it would add to the naturalness of the piece, the sense of shooting from the hip. Yeah, maybe that was the MacCabe style.

Wayne was glowing because MacCabe’s compliment came at a point when he was trying out a new style. It was something more formal - not a suit exactly, but certainly heading that way. A nice straight, clean jacket with clean lines (as a YouTube style guru had advised him – and 6 million other viewers) offset with a casual white T-shirt underneath and straight no-nonsense black jeans. Stylish, casual, but above all smart. And then the baseball boots were a nice touch, he thought. No particular brand here but a vibrant yellow colour to pop against the more muted tones elsewhere.

Dave was with the look until the reached the feet. Dave said they looked like duck’s feet. This time, thought Wayne, Dave was wrong. Or maybe they did look like duck’s feet but if they did they did so in a good way. And alright so MacCabe may not specifically have been referencing the footwear when he said Wayne was looking good, but he wouldn’t have said that if the boots were ruining everything, right?

“So you grew up round here?” asked MacCabe.

“Not here, no,” said Wayne.

“Oh,” said MacCabe, crestfallen at the least.

“This park would have been way too posh for me growing up,” said Wayne. “I was knocking around the estate over there,” he pointed vaguely. “We never fed the ducks. My mate Harry chased them around a few times when a couple ended up in the carpark round our place. Caught one once and nearly wrung its neck.”

“They make a stupid noise all the time,” said MacCabe. “Can’t blame Harry. Was it really violent when you were growing up?”

“Don’t think so,” said Wayne.

“But the duck..?” prompted MacCabe.

 “Boring more like…”

“Right,” said MacCabe. “So nothing to do so you’re hanging around and these ducks come along and it’s like what do you do to relieve the boredom so..?”

“He didn’t actually wring it’s neck,” said Wayne, clarifying. “He almost caught it. You know, he might have kicked it. I don’t remember, I was just...”

“But there were other things like that?” pressed MacCabe.

“What, like seagulls?” asked Wayne.

MacCabe let this drop, for now, deciding they’d ended up down a blind ally full of wild fowl rather the one of harsh tales he was after. Wayne was also happy to move on. The idea of going over his childhood wasn’t vastly appealing. He knew MacCabe was going to have some interest in this but it had to be honest and authentic. Plus he didn’t want to rile any bird-loving fans.

“So is your Aunt Phillis nearby?” asked MacCabe.

“Yeah, low level block over there,” said Wayne. 

“She in at the moment?”

Wayne felt his nerves rising. If they were going to call in on anyone or start interviewing other people he felt he should at least get a chance to prepare them – chewing the fat or not. He was sure Phillis would make great footage for the film but he wasn’t convinced now was the right time to find out.

“She goes out on a Friday,” he began lazily. “Does shopping, sometime goes and sees her friends and…”

“What, even now? With lockdown and everything?” interjected MacCabe. “I mean, isn’t there someone who does that for her? I’m guessing she’s had a vaccination and everything but…”

“OK, OK, so she’s not seeing her mates at the moment,” said Wayne. “But I don’t want to go over and see her OK? She’d get anxious or something.”

MacCabe sighed and slowed down. He put his phone in his pocket, breathed in the fresh air and sighed.

“What do you want this film to be?” he asked. “Think of this as a collaboration. If you were going to give it a title or theme or – whatever. What do you think it should be?”

Wayne stared into the middle distance. His thoughts roamed over his career to date, but also over the past year. How circumstances had put extra pressure on every aspect of his life. How it had caused things to happen, stopped other things and created the moment in which he now stood and the music which still buzzed persistently in his head.

“Seriously?” he said. “It’s a love story.”