Sunny Solihull - 10:17 pm - 10-10-2006
As promised, I have written about my exploits in Solihull. So without any further ado, let us begin!
The Journey
I set off from my house at about 1530. I got a bus to Nottingham and then got onto the train for Birmingham New street. No one checked my ticket. I walked through the Bull Ring shopping centre to Birmingham Moor Street. In Bull Ring I came across two identical Chinese Medicine shops. How can there be that much demand for Chinese medicine?
I arrived at Birmingham Moor Street Station sometime during the late 19th century. The station was decorated in a very Victorian manner and looked quite novel. There were 5 platforms, but only 2 of them appeared to be in use. Platform 5 had a steam train in it.
I was upset to see a shabby looking diesel pull into the station. I hopped on and sat down. No one had asked for my ticket by the time I jumped off onto the Solihull station platform at 1837- bang on time. I was expecting to see a joyous Annabel run up to me and give me a massive hug in delight at seeing me but she wasn’t on the platform.
I wandered down the stairs to the ticket office. She wasn’t there either.
I wandered outside and looked down the road and around the car park. Nowhere to be seen.
I rang her mobile. No answer.
It was at this point I wondered whether the whole trip had been a trick, and that I had offended her in some way and this was her revenge. This didn’t seem too likely though, to be fair. So I sent her a text expressing my dismay at her absence.
I waited.
I looked at the newspaper front pages. They weren’t too interesting.
I waited.
I read a notice about the penalties for not buying your ticket. It wasn’t too interesting.
Finally, I received a text saying she was on her way.
I waited.
I waited some more.
I re-read the ticket penalty notice.
Annabel appeared! Ten minutes late… I’d been traveling three hours but arrived on time, she had only a thirty second walk but she was late.
I accompanied her back to her house while she gave me a rubbish excuse about her ballet teacher. Well, actually it was a pretty good reason… but still.
Settling In
We were greeted by Annabel’s mother who was extremely welcoming. We had the inevitable conversation about my journey and I thanked her for letting me stay. I was then introduced to Annabel’s father and the same conversation was repeated.
Anny pulled me upstairs and showed me around the house. I dropped off my stuff in her brother’s room (where I would be sleeping) and then made my way to her bedroom.
I was immediately overcome with how much/many crap/decorations/trinkets was/were (delete as you see fit) there. I believe there is a photo which beautifully sums up the aurora of the room.
We then sat down, chilled out and “caught up” with each other for about half an hour before descending for dinner.
Dinner was nice. The food was good, and there was plenty of interesting conversation. I don’t like eating with people I’ve only just met because I’m always worried that I will embarrass myself, but as I’ve been invited back I can’t have been too bad.
Off Out
After dinner we went back upstairs to decide on a film to go to see. I hadn’t heard of any of the films on, so I left the decision up to Anny. She chose Little Miss Sunshine. I agreed, and that was that.
We left the house and walked down the road. Anny pointed out that it was quite chilly. I said that we should go back to get her a jacket, but she assured me she wouldn’t need one. I told her that if she was cold later I wouldn’t be giving her my jacket. I am neither noble nor selfless. She didn’t seem too bothered.
We arrived at the cinema and the queues were ridiculous. We bought the tickets and went into Screen 2, ready to search for some seats.
We managed it alright. We managed to find two of the seats that weren’t occupied by the four old ladies in the front row. A few more old ladies came in, followed by a middle-aged couple. I didn’t have great expectations of the film by this point, and nor did Annabel.
Thank God we sat it out. It was the best film I’ve ever seen! I could spend hours explaining how good it was, but this entry is getting long as it is. Maybe another day huh?
We left the cinema, discussing the film gleefully, and stepped into the cold outside world.
“Oh God. It’s freezing!” said Annabel.
“Yeah, it is.” I replied.
We chatted for about five minutes before:
“Can we run home?”
“Why?” I inquired, positively confused.
“It’s freezing!” Anny said.
It was at this point that I did something that I was ashamed of, something I regret deeply, something that I hoped I’d never do… I broke my word.
“No! You keep it,” Anny said.
“I don’t want it.”
“Take it!”
“No.”
“Fine then. I’ll leave it here, on this pillar.”
“Alright,” I replied.
With a sigh, she put the jacket on.
“Are you not cold?”
“Nah, I have Scottish blood in me,” I retorted.
Back Home
We returned to Annabel’s and made our way upstairs. We reminisced, made plans for the next day and swapped stories about our adventures with our friends.
I went to the toilet, and then went to wash my hands. Anny had told me that the wash basin was in the room between the hall and her parents’ room, so I went in there.
I walked back down the corridor and was shocked to walk right into Annabel’s dad. I muttered an apology and he told me that we should go to bed soon.
I went back to Annabel’s room and told her that the door was open to her parents’ room which made me feel a tad awkward being in the hand-washing room (probably not the name they use for it).
“McAsh! You shouldn’t wash your hands in there! That’s my parents’ room!”
“But, you said I should…”
“Only in daytime!” she said, laughing cruelly, “Did you turn the light on?”
“No.”
“Good! My mum was sleeping in there.”
“Where was I supposed to wash my hands?”
“In the bathroom!”
“Oh what! I feel proper stupid now,” I whined.
“Did my Dad see you coming out of there?”
I pondered this for a moment.
“I don’t honestly know.”
Annabel burst into more laughter.
Saturday Morning
I awoke at around tennish, and made my way into the kitchen. Anny was there along with her mother. I was offered breakfast, and I replied that I did indeed sleep well and that was that.
Anny told me that she would be going to Solihull to pick up a few things and that I would be welcome to join her, but it wouldn’t be much fun. I decided to stay and try to get started on my economics essay.
I went back upstairs and she disappeared into the town.
Half an hour, and one paragraph later Annabel’s dad came upstairs to tell me that a friend of Anny had arrived and would I like to meet her?
I joined him in the kitchen, where a girl was sitting reading Vogue. She stood up and said
“Hi, McAsh!”
I had no idea who she was.
“Hi!” I said.
The three of us sat and chatted for a while on a variety of subjects including but not limited to: Solihull and surrounding area schools, Norfolk, Rochdale and Scottish Tartans.
Annabel returned clutching a top from TOPSHOP. She seemed dead excited to see the girl sitting at the table. She was clearly a close friend.
The three of us went upstairs and had a chat. Well, to be honest I didn’t contribute too much. Ten minutes in I deduced that the girl was Philly.
It then became clear that she was in actual fact, Jo, Philly’s twin.
It later turned out that it was Philly after all.
Luckily, I had not addressed her on first name.
At 1224, our conversation was cut short by Philly having to run for a bus or train (can’t remember which) which was leaving at 1228 (how do I remember the time?).
And thus it was two. We sat around doing very little for about an hour and then set off for Birmingham
Brum
We walked to the train station and went up to the ticket office and Annabel asked for a child return to Birmingham. The ticket master (is that the right term?) asked her how old she was.
“15,” she lied.
“Really? You’ve been fifteen for about two years now,” he replied.
She laughed uncomfortably while he printed the tickets.
“So, when’s your birthday then?” he questioned as he gave her the tickets.
“Oh, it was really good thanks!” she blurted, and then immediately realised what she’d said.
Luckily, the man saw the funny side of it so we were free to go.
We were only waiting for a few minutes before the train arrived. We boarded and it left the station. We arrived at Moor Street and no one had checked our tickets.
We went into the Bull Ring, and began to look for a place for Anny to get her ears pierced. We tried Selfridges first but they were to expensive, so we tried to find Claire’s. Confusingly, the map of the shopping centre was out of date, so the Claire’s we were trying to locate no longer existed. Luckily, we decided to ask someone for help and we were directed to the real location.
A short amount of time was spent choosing an earring (well… I say short) while a little girl had her ears pierced. Then Anny was told to sit in a seat by the window to go where her ear would be pierced. By this time, I was slightly bored so I amused myself by wrapping a shoelace around a bottle of water and tying it in a bow. When they had finished, I passed Anny her water back, and after paying for the piercing, we left the shop, along with the stolen shoe lace! Badass or what?
We had decided to eat at Wagamama. We walked into a market, which I assumed was the correct route. However it appeared that Anny had no idea where the place was. We stopped to discuss our best plan, and discovered we were right next to it, so that was easy enough.
After queuing for about 20 minutes we were seated and our orders were taken. We decided to have some sake to share. When it arrived I poured us a little cup each and we drank it. It was warm and tasted more of alcohol than anything else. Anny claimed it was burning her throat as she drank it, but that might have been because she’s a fag.
During the meal, we discussed plans for the rest of the day. We contemplated numerous ideas, but the best one we had was to go see Little Miss Sunshine again. This was decided upon, so after paying we set off for the Odeon.
Upon arriving, we were dismayed to see that the film was no longer showing. Feeling rejected, we returned to Solihull.
Getting Ready
We sat around for quite a while enthusiastically doing very little while waiting for Ellie, a friend of Anny who would be coming over to get ready with us. She arrived just as Anny was going into the bath. We were introduced and Anny went into the bath. I spent little over ten minutes getting ready, which includes bathing and getting dressed; the girls spent closer to an hour and a half. Ellie had brought a bottle of pink champagne with her, which we satisfactorily emptied. I hadn’t eaten for hours, and I hadn’t drank alcohol in three months, so I’m afraid I was already feeling effect.
We were about to set off for the party when I realised that my lack of food might have dire consequences. I asked Anny if it was cool to take an orange with me. She said it was so I did.
In the car I began the process of peeling. No one was sure where to go, so both Anny and Ellie began ringing people for directions. By this point, I had successfully peeled my orange and was holding it all in my hands. I didn’t want to eat it, in case it made a mess over Annabel’s mother’s car, so I sat patiently. Eventually, we got through to someone and found the party.
I got out of the car with my orange and orange peel and tossed the peel into a bush. I then realised that I would be meeting lots of new people, and I didn’t want to be eating an orange while I did that. It might not give a good first impression- I wouldn’t want to look like an orange enthusiast, no one needs that.
Thus, I put the peeled-orange back into my pocket. Upon entering the building, I was introduced to Lucy (whose party it was), Rachel, Gemma/Jemma, Glen and Nick. They all seemed pretty cool. At first I didn’t really enjoy myself because I’m not really into the whole dancing thing. However, after a bottle of rose and a double JD and Coke, I let myself go a little more.
Anny, Ellie and myself went for a walk by the water. Ellie rang up her boyfriend Ryan. I was allowed to speak to him, and I excitedly told him that we were best friends. He seemed to agree, so that was good.
We went back inside, and I greeted everyone whose name I knew with “Hey! My old friend… [INSERT NAME]“.
Myself and Ellie went for a walk outside and sat on the curb of the main road. We decided that we were Buddhist chums. I don’t know what that means, and I don’t think she does anyway, but it’s the truth and I’m damn proud of it.
We then went back inside. I looked for Anny but couldn’t find her. I was feeling quite hot so I sat in the car park for a moment or to. It might have been half an hour later that I heard Anny and Ellie calling me. I called back and they came and sat with me. We drank some more champagne, and a few more of the gang arrived. After a while we went back inside and back to the dance floor. I eagerly greeted the few people I knew and they seemed pleased to see me.
After an hour or so of dancing it became time to go home. Ellie and Anny stole as much food as they could from the party and we started walking home. I still had a glass that I was drinking water from, I asked Ellie to put it in her bag, she took it but then threw it into a bush.
Anny had my coat by this point and she discovered the peeled orange in the pocket. She seemed slightly bemused, but I was just thrilled that I had it, having forgotten all about it.
The girls decided that they couldn’t manage the walk home so we went to an Indian takeaway to get the number for a taxi. We got it and rang them up. The taxi arrived shortly after and took us all back to Anny’s. We got in, cooked some pasta and went to bed.
Sunday Morning
I awoke fairly early on Sunday and popped into Anny’s room to see if she was awake. She wasn’t, so I went back to bed. Half an hour later I repeated this, and then again half an hour after that.
I thought my train was at 1200, so at 1000 I woke Anny up and told her that if we were going to do anything she’d have to get up.
About 10 minutes later, all three of us were downstairs making pancakes. The girls appeared to have surprisingly strong views on how to eat them. They thought that I was going to eat one without rolling it up, and expressed great relief when I did roll it. Anny complained that my lemon juice didn’t reach the edge of the pancake, and Ellie strongly requested that I don’t roll it with my knife and fork.
To spite them, I didn’t roll it at all.
Breakfast was followed by a long discussion about ballet, and people I don’t know. As I wasn’t really contributing to, or enjoying, the conversation I went upstairs to pack.
By the time I had finished they were in Anny’s room on Myspace. This seemed to last for ever. I yawned loudly but they didn’t seem to notice. Eventually, they got bored and we went downstairs to watch bits of Beauty and the Beast and then Romeo and Juliet.
We only watched for about half an hour before it was time for me to leave. Ellie, who was glued to the screen, stayed in the living room while Anny and I walked to the station.
We sat on the platform and chatted for a while before the train arrived, we made our fond farewells, and I jumped on.
My ticket was not checked on the way to Birmingham. I wandered around Birmingham for half an hour before getting the train to Nottingham. This train journey was the first and last of six that my ticket was actually checked. Had I known this would happen, I could have saved a tenner at least.
I got off the train at Nottingham walked towards the bus stop. Before I had even left the station, I smelt a familiar smell: a gangster was smoking a joint in front of me. I was home.
