Slowly, the winter receded and made room for a wonderfully chaotic Northeast spring. One day it was warm and sunny and almost more like summer than spring, while the next day saw a return to northerly winds and winter, with beautiful, fluffy, light brown cumulus clouds in the sky dropping the occasional flurry of snow onto the town. It was on that day that Brian and Michael had agreed to meet again for a pint and a reminisce.
The venue chosen was the Shipwrights Arms, down near the river, which had once seen some of the finest ships in the world built. Not even a single crane remained and only a crumbling slipway into the river gave any hint of what had gone there in days gone by. Weeds were starting to grow through both the slipway and the pavement. An empty crisp packet was being blown around the street by the cold, northerly wind, as Michael made his way to the pub.
Michael opened the door to an almost deserted pub and saw Brian sitting with a nearly full pint directly in front of him. They greeted each other and Michael went to the bar and ordered himself a pint. On receiving it, he paid and sat down at the table with Brian.
Catching up
“Funny weather isn’t it?” Michael remarked.
“You’ve been away too long, old son”, Brian replied. “You’ve forgotten what spring can be like round here…”
“Aye, you might be right.”
“Still it’s quiet in here the day…”
“It is indeed…”
“I remember when it was crowded. Especially after a shift came oot of the yards.”
“That was a long time ago.”
“It was…it was another world. Seems like another lifetime now.”
“Do you remember when we used to come down here in early November and stand outside the door asking for penny for the guy?”
“I do. We never got much here mind…”
“Oh, I don’t know. I think we did alreet. Got enough to buy a few bottles of pop. Or even fireworks…”
“Aye, we were demons with those fireworks.” Michael recalled with a slight sparkle in his eyes.
“Mind, it’s funny…”
“What is?”
“It really gets on my nerves now when I hear fireworks going off from mid-October onwards,” Brian explained.
“Does it bother you that much?”
“Yeah, it does. Perhaps you don’t get it in London or on Newbiggin Avenue.”
“Well, no I suppose…”
David
“And it was an even bigger nightmare when David was younger. It used to take ages to get him off to sleep…”
“David? Is that your bairn,” Michael asked.
“Aye.”
“How old is he now then?”
“He’s just turned thirteen.”
“Is he doing alright? At school and that, I mean…”
There was an awkward silence for a few moments, before Brian replied.
“Well, since you’re asking…no.”
“Really?” Michael exclaimed.
“Yes, really…” Brian said quietly.
There was another awkward silence.
“Do you mind me asking…”
“No, it’s alright. It’s just that he doesn’t go to school at the moment…”
“Do you not get into trouble for that?”
“No, no, it’s alright. We are waiting for him to get a tutor…”
“Why doesn’t he go to school?”
“He doesn’t really go anywhere. He spends almost all his time in his bedroom.”
“What does he do?”
“Well, he’s online isn’t he? He seems to have more friends in America than in this town.”
“I see…”
“It’s a funny thing, but when we were kids, just about the worst punishment we could get was to be sent to our bedrooms…”
“Because we were isolated and it was boring. There was nothing to do.”
“Exactly”.
“So what’s changed?”
“Well, the internet obviously. But he’s not alone. Apparently, there are tens, perhaps even hundreds of thousands of kids like him, across the country.”
“That seems a shame…”
“Well it is, but you see I think kids like wor David are afraid of the world outside their bedroom, but online they can create their own world and have a level of control over it. Or at least feel that they have a level of control…”
“But in reality, they can easily be manipulated, without realising it.”
“Of course.”
“It must worry you…”
“It does.”
“Does he have any friends round there, then?”
“No, not really…”
“It all sounds very different to our childhood…”
“It is. And he has no real sense of place, of where he’s from. I sometimes talk to him about it ands he looks like I’m from Mars…”
“We were always clear where we were from… and our heritage as well,” Michael replied. “We could see the shipyard cranes and the pit wheel and…”
“Well, David isn’t.”
“Have you tried taking him offline?”
“Yes, of course.”
“Did it not work, then?”
“He just went berserk. Smashed up his room and would have started on the rest of the house, if we hadn’t agreed to let him have his computer back.”
“I see…”
“Karen’s at her wit’s end about it.”
“Sure…”
“And there’s so little support. We just seem to be stuck on our own…”
Michael momentarily turned his head away.
“Sorry, have aah said the wrong thing like?” Brian exclaimed, beginning to become agitated.
“No, no, not at all…” Michael replied, as calmly as he could.
“It’s my bairn I’m talkin’ aboot ye knaa…”
“I know, I know…look, sorry if I gave the wrong impression…”
There was yet another, awkward silence…
Mind, there’s not a lot to see round here anymore, even if David did go out…” Brian said eventually.
“What makes you say that?”
“Whey man. Look around you. The high street that used to be full of shops… what’s it got now? Charity shops, mail bars and bookies…And a couple of cheap off licences. What does that tell you?”
“Quite a lot,” Michael agreed. “Quite a lot.”
To be continued…
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