Friday 12 October 2012

'Memories' by Chris Connolly



Q.
A. Pretty – even without two full legs. But she kept on about it, like she thought I might forget she only had one leg if we talked about anything else.
Q.
A. Don’t get me wrong, I was interested in that – in getting with a one-legged lady. Can’t do that every day now, can you? I just wasn’t so interested in the details. Wasn’t like I hadn’t seen a missing leg before – the places I’ve been over the years?
Q.
A. Plastic, I think. I could tell she got a kick out of showing it, like she thought it would shock me. Maybe that’s why a woman like her was in that kind of a bar in the first place…
Q.
A. Well, we got onto that topic. A blood-clot. When she was a kid. See? Even the story behind it wasn’t of interest, but I had to keep on pretending I was interested so that she’d soften up a little and maybe go home with me.
Q.
A. I was more interested in the things a man could do without an extra leg in the way, if you get me. I was getting all wrapped up in this, in the different things I might be able to do – the different angles, the leverage, that sort of thing – and we were both getting more and more drunk. I hadn’t been expecting it. It wasn’t the kind of bar you’d pick a girl up, you know? So it went on like that until one of us said we should leave.
Q.
A. Leave together, yeah… she was keen. I don’t know, maybe that was her thing – going to bars like that, picking up guys like me. Wrong side of the tracks and all that, you know?
Q.
A. Well, you have to understand, this bar we were in wasn’t the kind of place where anyone would take a second look at a one-legged lady – you’d be more likely to stick out if you had all your limbs, if you get me, so there’s no reason I remember that night more than any other night. I guess there’s no accounting for memories, they just do what they want and you have to let them do it. I suppose that’s why I mentioned her…
Q.
A. That’s the thing – I didn’t end up going home with her. After all that…
Q.
A. I know... it’s a strange one. I mean, the conversation wasn’t much and we were both pretty drunk, but what sticks in my head is whether she remembers that night as a strange one, or if it was just a regular night for her.
Q.
A. Well, that’s what I’m getting to. I mean, how often is it that a woman ends up not going home with a man for the sole reason that an elevator doesn’t work and he has a bad back? I don’t know, It’s funny the things you get stuck on remembering sometimes. You just wouldn’t know, would you?

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