Tube Stories #1 - "Silent Train"

(https://soundcloud.com/martinos74/tube-stories-1-silent-train) 

I'd just come back from a gig in a chapel down the road, 
I wasn't looking for redemption, 
Just wanted a song to sing. 
There had been a draft, slowly chilling my right hand side, 
Maybe the departed tugging at my sleeve, 
Telling me to be grateful, not picking holes in something I'd looked forward to. 

So the gig finishes and I'm on the Bakerloo home, 
A little bit twisted and a little bit stoned, 
Just over the carriage from me, I hear a couple of voices, 
One particularly louder than the other, which I ignore for a while, 
My intrigue tells me otherwise and I listen in. 

She has a Tesco's bag of shopping, strewn open by her feet, 
He had a look of innocence, but a strangely gripping speech, 
Did they know each other or had they just met? 
"Have you any Brothers, Sisters or family", he said. 
"I've got a Brother, he's ok, my Dad hated my Mother, so he ran away. 
She's in hospital now, taking pills for her head. 
She's angry, she wishes she was dead." 

They talk of someone they know, Tina I think, 
She was young and innocent, 14 years on her head. 
"If she gets pregnant I'll have to look after the kid, it's my responsibility, she's only 14 you know!" 
The guy looks sad, looks down at his white, stained trainers, "that's her responsibility though", he flips. 

Her voice gets louder, "I've had a couple of kids you know. One lives with his Father in Hampshire, the other was taken off of me and adopted", 
"The social took him because I was drinking. I was only 19 and I had 2 kids". 
"I don't drink much, hardly at all" 

We pass through a tunnel, loud, the tracks screech, the train shudders, but over the din I hear her mumble: 
"So what do you think of me then?", 

Pause. 

"You talk a lot!" 

Pause, silent train. 

"This train journey is well long" he interrupts. 

Kilburn Park saves the mood, refreshing her with memories, 
"I've been here before you know. But I'm not going to tell you why. Not until I've known you for a couple of months" 
"What happened?" 
"Nah, I won't tell you. I went to the police station. I didn't get arrested or nothing, 
I won't tell you" 

"You live near to the station?" 
"Yeah, 1 more stop, then it's 5 minutes walk", 
"Is it safe?", she says 
"Not a lot of accidents and it's kinda like anywhere init" 

"You know I was raped here? I was followed from the station. 
I as going home. 
I was only 14, 
I was only going home, 
Everyone has the right to go home" 

Silence, the boy stares into space. 

"I was only 14 you know" 
"Are you sure you want company tonight?", she probes 
"Yeah, yeah of course I do. It's just what I need at the moment". 

My stop's up. I leave. Confused. 

He's annoyed, she's annoying, they're strangers but know each other. 
They both annoy me but intrigue fills me. 
Are they just frivolous, or in need of love? 
What's the moral of this story? 
I'm leaving, confused 

------- 
London, England : September 2013

Story of a conversation heard on my tube journey home. Strange, interesting. Life is tough!
Recording on : https://soundcloud.com/martinos74/tube-stories-1-silent-train