Nobody Wants To Know Him

XXVIII - It's All Too Much

Tuesday 20th February 1973
Liverpool, England
8.21am (GMT)

Overall, the rest of the Hamburg trip went smoothly. John wanted to visit some old friends, so that's what we did while we were there. We met a lovely woman whom was introduced to me as Astrid, Stuart's girlfriend before he passed. She was really sweet, gorgeous, and witty all in one; a perfect combination and equally as perfect company for a morning cup of coffee. John and her spent the time chatting, luckily for me, in English, about what they've been up to recently, and reminiscing about the past. Astrid even told me a few embarrassing stories about John from his youth's adventures in Hamburg.

He also insisted we take a short visit to see another friend, one called Klaus. He was a man similar in age to John, just slightly older if I'd remembered correctly, and an artist. He showed us some of his works, which I couldn't help but think were impressive, and we stayed for a little over an hour while John caught up with him.

Other than meeting his friends, he took me out to the Reeperbahn to see what it was like, simply for the experience, and an experience it was. The atmosphere was thrilling, but packed. We had a fun time however in the clubs, more fun that either of us had expected, even if we didn't do anything wildly freaky. John claimed he'd done enough of that during his previous visits.

We also took another trip round the city, and John even took us to Bremen for a day; the old buildings and the town square were absolutely stunning. The evenings were spent blissfully, the pair of us simply enjoying each other's company, and it was one of the best experiences of my life. Once arriving back in Liverpool, my father picked us up again from the airport and dropped John home.

And now here I was, unpacking back at home, a Kinks record spinning on the other side of the room. As much as I had loved Hamburg, it felt nice to be home, comforting almost, being in a familiar environment.

But this tranquility could not last forever - only Charlie had cared to have a proper conversation with me since last night I had been so tired, so I was just waiting for someone to bother me once I had returned. And that is exactly what they did.

There was a knock at my door, and I called for whoever it was to come in, but to my surprise, it was my father, not Nancy as I had expected. I smiled at him, hanging one last shirt up in my wardrobe before sitting down on my bed next to the open suitcase and looking at him expectantly. He lingered in the doorway, seemingly apprehensive of entering my room.

"How was Hamburg?"

More than happy to talk about the trip, I told him just how it was, about our visit to the town hall, our small day out to Bremen, how incredible the German beer was, and how lovely John's friends were. My father smiled at me, expressing that it sounded like I had fun, and he was glad I enjoyed myself. His smile, however, felt forced, and I couldn't help but think that he had other things on his mind.

"_______, yer mother has asked me to speak to ye about... some things."

My heart thumped a little louder at the words. Surely it couldn't be anything bad, right?

When I made no response, he continued, "She... uh, we want ya to get a proper job. And find a living space. One that isn't here, is what we mean."

This was a conversation that was bound to come up, and a topic which I had already considered several times. I was already trying my best to find a well-paying job. Working in an office never appealed to me; the thought of sitting cooped up in this same mundane building with the same dull people doing the same tedious jobs for hour upon end seemed like the worst possible fate. But none of the places would have me: I had little experience, poor qualifications in comparison to other candidates, and my personality was not all that recommending either.