RICHARD HILL

CHARLIE

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     Charlie was a nice old man. I have a feeling that people would say he talked too much. Being cornered by Charlie when you had something else to do may be a problem.

I met him at a festival in Newcastle. He had come down on his own to spend a little time, maybe have a reading or listen to the lectures. I guess he decided that I might be as good a listened as a talker. After sitting quietly during my lecture of some forty minutes he probably figured that at the very least I should give him a turn.

     Charlie talked to me about this and that, what he did today, what he did yesterday. He asked about what I was doing today and what I had done yesterday. He talked to me about the mysteries of politics and the secrets of friendship. After a while Charlie would go off and do something else or chat to someone else, but he would come back, perhaps when people showed their boredom. I didn’t mind. I found him interesting.

     When Charlie decides there is something special about you, he gives you a secret. He gives you something that he thinks will benefit you. He decided to give me a tip on betting on the horses. He had this system that was based on astrology and tidal charts. He wanted me to make some money. After painstakingly explaining the ins and outs of his system he left me to ponder on my good fortune. While he was away, I told a friend who was interested in racing about Charlie’s theory. When Charlie came back, he roundly chastised me for sharing this secret. He figured that if he wanted my friend to know then he would have told him. It was not my place.

     It was interesting to be chastised by someone you only knew for a few hours and only through casual conversation, but it seemed to be ok coming from Charlie. This seemed to open Charlie up to more personal sharing. He began to tell me about his wife. She was extremely ill. In bits and pieces, over more conversations during the day he told me that her illness was terminal and that she needed full time care. It was tough. He told me of the terrible night she fell extremely ill and how he had to drag her near unconscious body to the floor. He rang the ambulance and then did what he could to keep her alive until they arrived. It was touch and go, but finally she recovered enough to come back home. He did manage to take the odd day off, but he would always go back to look after her.

     I looked up at Charlie and I said, “Gee, there’s a lot of love in there.”

     He looked back into my eyes. Up to then we’d been having typical men’s conversation, sharing information, nothing too emotive. He was just sharing his stories. But now he looked at me and tears welled in his eyes. He said, “You know, she invested in me. When we were first married, and for a lot of years after that, she invested in me and my life. Now she is getting her dividend.”

     He became a little overcome at that point, excused himself and wandered away. We talked more that day. He was a lovely man and I was privileged to meet him.