OYSTERS

GREEN PARK – drunken business man and woman in their mid-forties – dressed in long grey overcoats – she has him pressed up against the red wall-tiles in a corner of the ticket area – he has an odd smile on his face, the aloof conqueror - she moves like a magnet joins them, when he sways left she follows, when he tilts backward she responds forward – his eyes are dark, thin smiles – she is all black tresses and briefcase and she pleads in a cigarette scratchy voice: “I’ve always fancied you.” There is nothing romantic about this clinch; it is desperate, groping, consuming and it stinks of wealth – mobile phone sex, dealer sex, intermarital sex, sex that smells of Thatcher’s needle edifice on the Isle of Dogs –
MUDCHUTE DLR – a haggard, grey man – never seen a man look so grey – like dust – his eyes are nasty, he stares at a woman across the carriage aisle with evident intent – deep folds in the flesh of his face either side of his mouth move and throb as he grinds his teeth in there – he wears a dark coat – there is a heavy aura about the space he takes up in the world – he turns his gaze to me when he realizes I am watching him, those deep-set eyes look into me with something like an immediate challenge – I have to turn away cold and suddenly frightened, thankful I am not a woman –
ISLAND GARDENS – Ramon sat always on an aisle seat with one arm hanging straight down into the aisle space, his large signet ring prominent there – he would tap a rhythm with it on the plastic base - with his other he would tip the brim of his baseball cap and pick his nose – then he would ride the open tracks back and forth and watch the reflections of people as they got on, sat close by, or left at their destination to be replaced by another figure in haste or repose depending on their day – most of all he liked to look at the young men and when he saw one he really liked he would pull out his thick gold necklace and play with it under his chin, toying with his long fingers and hoping they would catch a look and understand his semi-hidden signal – it had worked three times and he had pulled more than a link – rich men and poor, Zones 1 – 3 –
BERMONDSEY – a child in a push-buggy screams with such joy and gusto trying to compete with the howling noise of the wind in the underground tunnel, he tips his head up and with mouth wide open – when he is done he looks round the carriage laughing and looking for approval - his mother smiles, and the carriage smiles with her -