Dreams of Sex and Stage Diving (14 page)

THOUGH SHONEN'S BULIMIA had improved after Elfish's encouraging news about the fund-raiser, it was a long way from being cured. Today she had been shopping in the supermarket and this had been a stressful experience from start to finish. Touring around the shelves pushing a trolley she experienced both the irresistible urge to stock up with some junk food and the certain knowledge that once she had eaten it she would feel bad and throw it all up again.

Driven by whatever childhood misery fuelled her disorder, she swept supplies into the trolley. As she did so, she practised excuses and reasonable stories in case anyone asked her why she was buying so much food; Shonen's guilt about eating extended to a paranoia that other people knew all about it and were watching with disapproval.

“I have a large family to feed,” she would say, if challenged by the checkout woman. “I rarely get the chance to shop; I am buying provisions for a month. The woman next door to me fell down and broke her leg and I'm shopping for her as a favour. I am having a dinner party for twelve people and they are all big eaters.”

Unchallenged by the checkout woman, or the manager, or the store detectives, she bundled her food into a collection of flimsy carrier bags and struggled home. She was so encumbered with food
that on the outskirts of her estate it took her much time and effort to find her purse to give a little money to a hopeless-looking woman with no place to go who sat begging beside the children's playground. Shonen always gave money to beggars.

Once home she wolfed down a meal, vomited, ate, vomited, ate, vomited, then collapsed. She was on the verge of plunging into total despair when she remembered that things were not entirely without hope. Elfish was coming to the rescue. Elfish was going to put her theatre group back on the rails. These days the thought of Elfish had become very inspiring, looming large over Shonen's hopelessness like a benevolent goddess.

Shonen cleaned up the toilet, resisted the urge to eat again, and forced her bulimia from her mind. With an effort of will she made herself think positively about a new production. This was such a pleasant thing to contemplate that not long afterwards she was on the phone to the rest of her group, practically bullying them out of their own defeatism with enthusiastic plans for the future.

Despite being neurotic, depressed and defeated by life, Shonen was not one of Brixton's lonely characters. She had many friends and was frequently in contact with the various members of her theatre group.

These fellow performers were surprised by the sudden change in her. She had organised their appeals for funding and sponsorship and now called them up to organise planning meetings for a new season. She invited them round for drinks and launched into enthusiastic discussions about writing and rehearsing a new play and taking it to next year's Edinburgh Festival. And, she said, if the Edinburgh Festival did not work out then they could do it free in a pub somewhere. Anything to perform.

When the members of the acting group asked her what had brought about this abrupt change in her demeanour, this sudden
enthusiasm for life quite uncharacteristic of her recent behaviour, Shonen unhesitatingly gave all of the credit to Elfish. Elfish had taken the trouble to find someone who could actually help them and she appreciated this immensely. Not only that, Elfish's strident endeavours to bring her own ambitions to fruition had acted as a powerful inspiration to Shonen.

“If she can overcome her difficulties, then so can we,” she told her theatre group.

“Elfish is so determined. She is inspiring. If she says she can find us someone to look after our funding then she'll do it because Elfish does not give up.”

Mo was at this moment thinking much the same thing, although not with kindness. He had learned from Irene Tarisa that Shonen was helping Elfish with her speech, and that May and Casaubon were playing in her band. Aisha was even painting a backdrop for her, which seemed like a sure sign that Elfish was confident of success.

Mo was perturbed, so perturbed that he spoiled his band's rehearsal that day by continually picking faults in each musician's contribution till the rehearsal ground to a halt in animosity and bad-tempered recriminations.

ARTEMISIA WAS QUEEN of Halicarnassus in Asia Minor. She sailed with Xerxes, King of Persia, against the Greeks in 480 B.C. She was unique, being the only woman to fight in the war, a war which involved millions of men. She did not have to do this. Her husband had died, passing the sovereignty to her, but she had a grown-up son who could have led her forces. Artemisia was moved by the spirit of adventure.

Herodotus gives a very favourable account of Artemisia, possibly because he too came from Halicarnassus. Artemisia led a small squadron of ships, captaining the flagship herself, and gained a reputation for her prowess in war. The Greeks particularly hated the fact that a woman was fighting against them and offered a large reward for her capture but she was never taken.

Artemisia also gained a reputation as a shrewd adviser to the King. She was the only one of Xerxes's counsellors who advised him against fighting the battle of Salamis, saying that the huge Persian army should continue the war on land rather than sea. Xerxes did not take her advice and went on to suffer a catastrophic defeat at Salamis. His fleet was routed and his entire plan to conquer Greece suffered a severe setback. This increased Artemisia's reputation
because her advice was proved to have been correct and Xerxes realised he should have paid heed to it.

Another event occurred during the battle which further increased her reputation. The vast Persian fleet, being outfought and outmanoeuvred by the superior Greek navy, was in full retreat. Artemisia's ship was fleeing along with the rest and she found herself hemmed in between a Greek pursuer and a ship of her own fleet which was blocking her retreat. Without hesitation Artemisia rammed this ship even though it was on her side. It sank with all hands. Her Greek pursuer, seeing this, presumed that Artemisia's ship must in fact be on his side and ceased the pursuit, allowing Artemisia to escape.

Xerxes was watching the battle from a hill near the shore.

“Do you see how well Artemisia is fighting?” said one of his advisers. “She has just sunk an enemy ship.”

Xerxes, distressed about the destruction of his fleet, at least had one thing to be glad about, and made a comment which was to become well known. “What has happened to my army? The men have turned into women and the women have turned into men.”

He later entrusted Queen Artemisia with the safe conduct of his children back to their home, which was a task of great importance and some danger.

Artemisia's immediate descendants built the Mausoleum, a famous building in Antiquity, parts of which can still be seen in the British Museum. “It's my favourite story from Herodotus,” said Aran. “Would you like to hear my favourite story from Thucydides?”

“No,” replied Elfish. “You know I can only listen to one story at a time.”

“Very well,” said Aran. “I'm going to put Artemisia into my video game. Would you like to play my video game?”

“Absolutely not. I detest your video game. Help me with the speech.”

ELFISH'S TWO REMAINING friends and pool partners, Tula and Lizzy, were also friends of May's. Not as close friends as they were of Elfish, but they had visited May during a trip to Ireland last year and she had received them very hospitably.

They were therefore pleased to learn from May that Elfish was finally providing her with a secure home in England.

“Secure for a while anyway,” said Lizzy, as they sat waiting their turn on the pool table. “Although I see the government is bringing in a law making it illegal to squat.”

This was to happen soon. In Brixton, a council flat would be just about affordable to rent but these were no longer given to single people, only to families, if they were fortunate. A private flat was so far out of the reach of most people it was not worth thinking about. Even an unpleasant bedsit was beyond the range of many people unless they could manage to have the rent paid by the social security, but this was hard to organise, and anyway landlords always wanted a deposit and a month's rent in advance so this was more or less out of the question as well.

This left squatting, and as the council had many unused flats it seemed like a sensible solution. The government, however, had now
resolved to make squatting, the one remaining safety valve, illegal, and turn even more people out on to the streets.

A strong article by Chevon in her prospective newspaper had pointed out that this was very bad timing. The streets of London were already fully occupied. Homeless people were everywhere, as were beggars.

Distressingly, in recent years, these people had become far more lost and hopeless-looking than before, due to the government's triumphant new policy of emptying and closing mental institutions, moving the occupants from these institutions out into the community. Whether or not the actual intention of this “Care in the Community” policy was that the mentally ill should now be slumped in hopeless and degraded poverty in shop doorways everywhere was not clear, but this was certainly the effect. Many of the beggars who now held out their hands in Brixton were people who were clearly unwell and obviously unable to look after themselves. Some of them were not even able to hold out their hands. They just sat in silence on the pavements, and might sit there till they died. A few would shout and run about wildly. Who was now meant to be looking after these people, nobody knew.

Those who, despite being poor, displayed strong mental health by finding an empty place and squatting in it were now to be turned out to join in the throng.

Already there were fewer squats in Brixton; soon there would be none, and a small epoch would have ended. As the people involved were not very important the question of where they were actually meant to live was not one that anyone had bothered answering.

May, however, would be secure in Elfish's house, at least for a while.

“Where is Chevon moving to?” asked Lizzy.

“She isn't moving,” Elfish told her frankly, but in this she made a bad misjudgement. She presumed that Tula and Lizzy would see immediately that it was a worthwhile deception in order to get May playing guitar on Saturday. They did not. They were outraged that Elfish was building up May's hopes falsely.

“May is in a really bad way,” protested Lizzy. “When she finds out you've lied to her and there is no place for her to live she'll collapse completely.”

Elfish, too obsessed to see the danger, merely shrugged. Tula and Lizzy were upset. They gathered up their leather jackets and left after lecturing Elfish briefly on what they saw as appalling behaviour.