Sinister: minette

[Ian Watson]

I used to have a cat called Minette. It is French for kitten.

There's logic in there somewhere.


----------
>From: "chippy eileen" <chippyeileen at xxx.com>
>To: sinister at missprint.org
>Subject: Sinister: minette
>Date: Tue, Mar 19, 2002, 10:56 pm
>

>
>her name is michelle, but she likes to be called shelley.
>her mother picked the name, because she thought it was exotic ('i wanted to 
>call her MINETTE but bill wouldn't let me')
>i am supposed to talk to her while her mother, who is named mary but calls 
>herself maria, talks to my adopted mother, margaret.
>  maria roves east langerston and the surrounding area cutting the hair of 
>various women of leisure.  those women that are available between 9 a.m. and 
>3 p.m.  at 3 p.m. maria has to go home and put bill's dinner on.  bill likes 
>his dinner on the table as soon as he returns from the factory.
>
>this is my first day off from the chippy for a while, but i have little to 
>do with it.  it is taking some courage to face the village again.
>so i am spending the day in my bedroom, with shelley, who doesn't like me.
>
>shelley is wearing a denim jacket and a ck t-shirt.  she dropped out of
>sixth form last year and now accompanies her mother as her 'mobile hair
>service' services the world.  or, at least, that part of yorkshire that is 
>ready for her.
>
>shelley is looking through my cds
>
>"what's this shit?" (it is teenage fanclub)
>
>i think about defending my musical taste, but decide not to waste my time.
>i look at shelley, and wonder how minette would have turned out.  i imagine 
>a waif-like french girl, clutching her satchel and running up the steps of 
>the Sorbonne, beautiful brown hair flowing behind her in the wind.
>
>minette, in real life, is a little different.  she was in the year below me 
>at school.  she tells me she remembers me 'because you do remember all 
>the.........'
>she looks at herself in my mirror, scraping a lock of newly-permed hair to 
>the back of her head, where it forms a pile and cascades to her shoulders.
>she looks at my short red hair with distaste
>
>"who did that?"
>
>"my hair?"  she puts a stick of gum in her mouth, not offering me one, and 
>wish i could think of something clever to say to her 'i err.... i...i cut it 
>myself'.
>
>the only response is a nod and a barely suppressed smirk.
>
>i can feel her eyes on me as i pretend to study my duvet.  i think minette 
>wants to tell me something, and i try not to be interested in what it might 
>be.  eventually, there is a sharp intake of breath and i decide to get in 
>before she does -
>
>"shelley.... do you listen to music much?".  she seems taken aback.  "have 
>you ever sat in the dark, and just played and played and played a record 
>until you can feel it seeping in through your pores, and mingling with your 
>thoughts and feelings, and becoming part of them"
>
>minette looks at me as if i had just asked to have sex with her mother.
>
>"no".  she shuffles, and turns away.
>
>"have you ever shut off your mind completely, and only let the music in?
>has a record ever become such an important part of you that you change
>forever?"
>
>"are you on drugs?  mandy althorpe said you were.  she said she saw you in 
>leeds one night and you were on drugs"
>
>"shelley...  just try something."
>
>i don't know why i did it.  i wanted her to shut up.  i wanted her to
>understand me.  i think i wanted her to like me.  i looked through my
>records, and tried to find something that shelley macdonald wouldn't think 
>was "shit".  in the end, i decide to put on something i like instead.  i put 
>on "geometrid", because i have been listening to it a lot in recent days.  i 
>draw the curtains and turn the speakers toward her.
>
>"now sit very still, close your eyes, and empty your mind.  think of
>nothing, and try and imagine the music.  try and feel it, as it enters your 
>ear, and follow it through your body, and see where it stops, and tell me 
>how it feels."
>
>at this point, i expect her to leave.  but she suprises me.  perhaps it is 
>because she is interested.  she would never do this sort of thing with her 
>real friends.  she would never do this in front of anyone whose opinion 
>interested her.  she would only do it with someone who she regards as an 
>outsider.  and, in this small village, there aren't many of those.  i think 
>she wants something exciting to happen, although she may not know it.
>
>i switch on the album, setting it to skip certain songs (i don't want her 
>telling people i listen to songs about drinking piss.  i have to face them 
>again at some point) and i sit back, with my eyes half shut.
>
>i can see minette is concentrating.  she is holding her breath, and biting 
>her lower lip.  she never smiles, but looks as serious as i have ever seen 
>her.  and she is mercifully silent.  i am regretting my musical choice.  i 
>wish i had picked something less fey.  i can't imagine a situation where 
>minette would choose to listen to 'these things'.  but i'm amazed to see her 
>fingers starting to twitch, her head to wobble a little, and a smile come to 
>those permapursed lips.  her fingers twitch again.  she's feeling something.
>
>maria's voice floats up the stairs "shelley, time to go"
>
>shelley snaps out of her reverie.  she doesn't look at me.  she picks up her 
>coat, and heads for the door.  but then she realises she's forgotten the 
>bombshell
>
>"i saw andy the other day down the bull..............         he's gay now"
>
>
>as i write this mail, minette - or shelley as i will try and call her - has 
>just left the house.  she came back at half-past seven and sat, watching 
>eastenders with margaret whilst i taped the copy of "geometrid" that she had 
>requested.  i asked her to say hello to andy from me, and watched her smile
>to herself, nurturing her new-found knowledge.
>
>i wish i could see her face when she realises stuart david is singing
>"drink piss to cool down your brain".
>
>i wish i knew what she was going to do with that tape
>
>eileen
>
>
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> +-+       "sinsietr is a bit freaky" - stuart david, looper           +-+
> +-+  "legion of bedroom saddo devotees" "peculiarly deranged fanbase" +-+
> +-+    "pasty-faced vegan geeks... and we LOST!" - NME April 2000     +-+
> +-+  "frighteningly named Sinister List organisation" - NME May 2000  +-+
> +-+  "sick posse of f**ked in the head psycho-fans" - NME June 2001   +-+
> +-+               Nee, nee mun pish, chan pai dee kwa                 +-+
> +-+               Snipp snapp snut, sa var sagan slut!                +-+
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        +---+  Brought to you by the Sinister mailing list  +---+
     To send to the list mail sinister at missprint.org. To unsubscribe
     send "unsubscribe sinister" or "unsubscribe sinister-digest" to
     majordomo at missprint.org.  WWW: http://www.missprint.org/sinister
 +-+       "sinsietr is a bit freaky" - stuart david, looper           +-+
 +-+  "legion of bedroom saddo devotees" "peculiarly deranged fanbase" +-+
 +-+    "pasty-faced vegan geeks... and we LOST!" - NME April 2000     +-+
 +-+  "frighteningly named Sinister List organisation" - NME May 2000  +-+
 +-+  "sick posse of f**ked in the head psycho-fans" - NME June 2001   +-+
 +-+               Nee, nee mun pish, chan pai dee kwa                 +-+
 +-+               Snipp snapp snut, sa var sagan slut!                +-+
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