In the Masonic Hall on the Deptford Road a group of singers were preparing for another rehearsal
In a few weeks they would be singing at The Royal Festival Hall with other singers from Israel, Bolivia and Finland
The Rotherhithe Singers were looking forward to their visit, it was a great honour
But there was one problem
Tina T
“You sing like a pig” said Faux Lounge the leader of her section
“I do not, I am just different” replied the tearful Tina T
But it was too late and within minutes Tina T had been expelled from The Rotherhithe Singers
But she was no longer upset
Perhaps singing was not for her
She went into the Caribbean Café opposite the Masonic Hall and ordered a coffee
The owner Yje an elderly Negro sat next to her
“We are not always here to sing” he said offering Tina T a joint
“But in a few weeks’ time I would have been at The Royal Festival Hall for a night of film music” she said taking a deepdrag
It was the wrong thing to do for within minutes she was asleep on the sweaty formica table
When she awoke she found herself in a back room of the café
Yje had gone
But she was not alone
A man of about thirty five was sleeping on a small bed near her. He was wearing a pair of jeans but was not wearing a shirt
There was something about his appearance which suggested boyishness
Tina T studied the man/boy for a while but soon fell asleep
“My name is Douglas D what is yours?”
The question startled Tina T from her sleep and for a minute she did not reply and just looked at the man/boy
“I am called Tina T”
“You have vomited down your shirt but I watched you to ensure your safety”
Tina T felt strange, she found it odd that the man/boy had watched her whilst she had vomited but strangely comforted that he had looked after her
“Would you care for my shirt as I have no use for it at present”
Tina T looked at her own shirt which was covered in vomit
“But what of your comfort” she asked
“I have no use for it” the man/boy replied throwing a floppy white shirt in her direction
Tina T waited for the man/boy to alter his gaze whilst she changed but he did not
She thought him homosexual and changed within his gaze
“You are a very beautiful woman Tina T and what a fine pair of lungs you have”
Tina T felt herself blush and looked at her feet
She had lost her shoes
After searching the café for a while she gave up her search and walked barefoot into the room where the man/boy was
“I have lost my shoes and the weather is so fucking foul” she said
“It is of no consequence as my room is near” the man/boy replied springing to his feet
It was then that she noticed the slightness of Douglas D; he was of above average height but painfully thin with rather long limbs
She thought he looked like a puppet devoid of its strings
They let themselves out of the back door of the café into the cold wet street; it was a typical January morning
A woman heavily wrapped in an overcoat and boots passed them and threw change in their direction
“She thinks us foreign” The man/boy said
“Why?”
“Because every morning that I pass her I speak an exotic language, sometime I speak the language of birds”
Within a few minutes Tina T and Douglas D were in front of a scruffy house which seemed uninhabited
“My room is on the top floor” the man/boy said turning the key in the frozen lock
The interior of the house surprised Tina T, she had expected the interior to be dank and musty but the house smelt of exotic spices and perfumes
After she had climbed the steep stairs Tina T found herself in the man/boy’s room, it took her breath away
The walls were covered with posters from films
The Maltese Falcon
2001 a Space Odyssey
Betty Blue
were just three of dozens of posters which covered every available space in the room? To add to the confusion there were a number of stuffed birds displayed
“I take it you like cinema and birds” Tina T said feeling a little stupid at stating the obvious
“I love the music of cinema but I absolutely adore birds”
“What is this bird?” said Tina T examining a small bird mounted on an even smaller branch
“A Nightingale”
“It is a most beautiful songbird”
“No it is much overrated”
“And what Is this?”
“It is a Night Jar, a lovely bird but with a monotonous voice”
“You have a great knowledge of birds then”
“No I just record them in my book that is how I gain my knowledge” and with this Douglas D threw a small book onto the chair near to where Tina T stood
“And what is that?”
“It is my diary of birds”
Linnet
Once a common bird of farmland and heathland areas the Linnet has undergone a major decline in the past few decades, due to the lack of seeds available on farmland in the winter.
It was said that a Linnet’s song was a delightful series of twitters and whistles but in reality it sings like a pig and should have remained incarcerated in the gilded cage
Golden Oriole
This stunning but shy bird rarely reveals its presence apart from its distinctive and fluty song. Its lyrical voice is a series of four notes “wee-la-wee-woo” it said that once heard that it is never forgotten. Well this writer forgot its song within minutes
Tina T
“What is your favourite bird, the one with the fairest voice?” asked Tina T glancing up from the book
“Well apart from you my songbird it has to be the Coot”
“I sing like a pig and you know that, but why a Coot, I have never heard a Coot sing”
Coot
Though superficially resembling a duck a coot is in fact a member of the rail family which has adapted to swimming rather than walking (?).It has semi-webbed feet
Its voice consists of a single note but is by far the most beautiful sound in the world
Tina T placed the book on the chair and walked to the window. It was raining and a fog was beginning to form near the banks of the Thames
“I am hungry, have you any food, I can cook you breakfast”
“I have no food in the house only tea”
“Did you bring me back here to fuck me?”
“I have no desire to fuck you”
“You prefer boys then”
“I do not have any character defects that I know of. You are indeed beautiful but I have no desire to fuck you. I have brought you here to teach you to sing”
“I have been told a million times that I sing as a pig would snort, snort, snort”
“In time you will sing as I do and perform at concert halls all over the world”
Tina T laughed and sat in the chair she began reading from the book once more but did not note its comments
“I am sorry, you must think I am a right cow, I was just so disappointed to be rejected by The Rotherhithe Singers”
“So you went to Yje’s café and got stoned and met me”
“Do you work there?”
“I do”
“I have never seen you there”
“I have seen you, the girl with the golden voice”
“Fuck off ! don’t take the piss it’s a sensitive subject, I love singing”
“There is a card to the left of you, stand up and read the contents to me”
Tina T picked up the card which was blank
“Is this another of your games?”
“Just sense the words and read them to me”
“Tilly T was minding the shop as Pavel P visited the sewerage farm to reclaim his bicycle. Tilly stayed dry but Pavel became soaked in the heavy rain but at least he did not small of shit”
“Now sing it to me”
“What this, it has no rhythm”
“Imagine the rhythm”
Tina T began to sing the words and surprised herself as her words contained a kind of lyricism
“Sing it to my accompaniment” said Douglas D as sat at the small piano in the corner of the room
For the next hour Tina T sang the same words over and over again until she was exhausted
“I will bring you a cup of tea”
“I am hungry that dope has made me hungry”
“You are not hungry, do not imagine hunger it is imperfect”
“You speak in riddles Douglas D”
“Then associate with fine riders”
“What!”
“Never think of yourself as imperfect, I shall bring you tea and then we will listen to Nana Mouskouri”
“I can take or leave her”
“She has one of the most perfect singing voices in the world as you shall have quite soon. We shall listen to my favourite Only Love”
Tina T lay back in the chair looking at the strange man/boy opposite her with his long limbs, slowly her eyes grew heavy listening to the song and soon she was asleep
A sudden jolt woke Tina T and she sensed a number of people looking at her. She had been singing, there was a polite applause
Tina T blushed, smiled lightly and looked at her feet
She was wearing shoes and was travelling on an underground train and was dressed in her tedious work clothes
The train stopped at Baker Street
Tina T alighted from the train and stood on the platform; she was feeling dizzy and decided to sit down
For a while she was alone but an elderly man in a dark suit soon joined her
He was carrying an evening paper
Tina T ignored the man and stared at the railway lines trying to collect her thoughts
The elderly man opened his paper and as he did so Tina T noticed its headline which jolted her from her lethargy
Missing Castrato Found Dead in Thames
The body of world famous castrato Divemato who had been missing for three weeks was discovered in the River Thames yesterday evening not far from The Royal Festival Hall
Tina T did not read more
“Would you like the newspaper my dear, you seem to have more need of it that I?” the elderly man said suddenly
“Please may I have it”
“I also have a note for you; it was given to me by a most peculiar young man”
The elderly gentleman handed Tina T the newspaper and a small note written on a page torn from a diary
She waited until the old man was out of sight then opened the note
Tina T
By the time you read this I will be no more, you might have read of me. But do not be sad as I had always planned to end it this way, to fill my wretched lungs with the filthy waters of the city
Although we only knew each other for a matter of hours I was aware of you for many weeks and your amazing voice
Your so called friends said that you had the voice of a pig, how wrong they were. It was not your voice but the way they heard you sing
You have the voice of a paradise bird
So had I
A soprano, mezzo soprano and a contralto rolled into one
But what a price I paid
But you have no price to pay, just achieve the tasks that I set you and as an inheritance you will share my voice along with your own
I will ask you to always sing without shoes so that you may feel the life beat of the world through the soles of your feet
I will ask you to always wear my shirt no matter how warrn it becomes
And finally today you will have to travel the Circle Line in full six times in each direction changing at a station of your choice
This must be done without interruption or rest
Attached to the underside of the seat you will find a key
This is the key to my rooms
Spend as much time as you require there
The rooms are yours
All I ask is that you feed my birds
Drink as much tea as you like
Any further questions you may have will be answered in my papers
You will not hear from me again Tina T
Tina T looked under the wooden seat and there was the key. She held it in her hand for a while
Two trains passed
She stepped on the third and began her epic journey
The task took Tina T many hours and as she walked barefoot towards the rooms of Douglas D she felt an extreme exhaustion overcome her
When she awoke she was in the rooms once more but everything had changed, the birds were no longer exhibits but were flying from room to room in gay display
The film posters were no longer static but were now live cinema
She was watching a dozen films at once
Tina T decided to take a bath but when she entered the bathroom the tub was already full and the steaming water was changing its colour as if lit from beneath
Turquoise
Lilac
Shocking Pink
Aquamarine
Tina T slid into the colourful waters and stared at the ceiling
Birds of Paradise were flying from branch to branch and singing the most wonderful songs
Tina T stayed awake all night amazed at the display
And slept the following day
The rooms were ordinary during the short daylight hours
Nothing moved apart from the fading light
But as soon as darkness fell the spectacular commenced
She read the diaries of Douglas D but did not learn anything new about him
But she learnt a great deal about singing
And music in general
Douglas D dismissed The Rotherhithe Singers as Sunday Singers and warned Tina T not to re-join them
In his final diary the initial chapter was devoted to Tina T
He told her to busk on the underground for the next year
She should sing songs from the movies
But always start with a song by Joan Baez
The Ballad of Sacco and Vanzetti
From the film of the same name
The Rotherhithe Singers had sung at The Royal Festival Hall and their contribution to the evening was widely praised
But soon forgotten
In the subway of an unnamed underground station in the centre of the city Tina T began singing
Nervously at first
Soon people began to stop to listen to her
A crowd gathered
She gained more confidence
Her voice gained its range
Father, yes, I am a prisoner
Fear not to relay my crime
The crime is loving the forsaken
Only silence is shame
And now I’ll tell you what’s against us
An art that’s lived for centuries
Go through the years and you will find
What’s blackened all of history
Against us is the law
With its immensity of strength and power
Against us is the law
Police know how to make a man
A guilty or an innocent
Against us is the power of police
The shameless lies that men have told
Will ever more be paid in gold
Against us is the power of the gold
Against us is racial hatred
And the simple fact that we are poor
My father dear, I am a prisoner
Don’t be ashamed to tell my crime
The crime of love and brotherhood
And only silence is shame
With me I have my love, my innocence
The workers and the poor
For all of this I’m safe and strong
And hope is mine
Rebellion, revolution don’t need dollars
They need this instead
Imagination, suffering, light and love
And care for every human being
You never steal, you never kill
You are a part of hope and life
The revolution goes from man to man
And heart to heart
And I sense when I look at the stars
That we are children of life, death is small