Anthony
Anthony estava me esperando no ponto de ônibus. Fiquei feliz em revê-lo! O B&B onde havia me hospedado antes estava fechado, aliás tudo estava fechado àquela hora, por isso aceitei o convite para pernoitar em sua casa. Precisava desesperadamente tomar um banho. Lá chegando, ao subir as escadas, reparei um acúmulo de lixo nos degraus. Estou com um mau pressentimento – pensei, como Indiana Jones.
Anthony was waiting for me at the bus stop. I was glad to see him! The B&B where I had stayed previously was closed, as everything else in the city by that time, so I accepted his offer to stay at his place. I was in desperate need of a shower! But when we got there, making our way upstairs, I noticed lots of garbage all over the steps. Indiana Jones’ quote came to my mind: I have a bad feeling about this.
Cota de malha e espada encontrada na Casa do Anthony em Glastonbury / Coat of mail and sword found in Anthony’s place
A porta do apartamento parecia travada. Com certo esforço conseguimos abri-la apenas o suficiente para entrar. Quando acendeu a luz entendi o porque. Tecnicamente, era uma kitchinette com cozinha e banheiro. Na prática, um depósito de lixo. Todo tipo de coisas e pedaços de coisas se amontoava pelo chão. No canto, uma cama de solteiro servia de sofá, coberta de lençóis puídos e restos de comida de gato sobre folhas de papel. Anthony abriu caminho até lá entre pilhas de objetos, fitas VHS, roupas, aparelhos quebrados, livros e revistas.
– Este prédio vai ser demolido em breve, outro está em construção ao lado; os moradores serão transferidos em poucos meses – disse ele, como se isso explicasse um ser humano viver naquele monturo.
The door was apparently blocked, it took us some efforts to push it open just enough to get in. When he turned on the lights I understood why. Technically the place was a kitchenette, with one bathroom and kitchen. Practically it was a dump. All sorts of stuff and pieces of stuff were huddled on the floor. On the corner, a single bed served as sofa, covered in shabby sheets and cat food leftovers on scattered pieces of paper. Anthony made way to it pushing aside stacks of VHS tapes, objects, clothes, broken gadgets, books and magazines.
– This building will soon be demolished. Another one is being built beside it, the tenants will be transferred in a few months – he said, as if that was a perfectly suitable reason for someone to live in such filth.
Anthony e seus morangos / Anthony and his berries
No banheiro, para meu constrangimento, a lâmpada estava queimada, então deveria deixar a porta entreaberta. A descarga não funcionava, portanto tive de usar um balde. O chuveiro continha pilhas de caixas cheias de lixo, então para tomar banho, precisei encher a pia da cozinha com água fervida na chaleira elétrica, completar com água fria e ali mesmo derramar sobre o corpo com o auxílio de uma canequinha. Precisei ferver sete vezes a chaleira e, quando me dei por limpa – cabelo lavado com xampu e condicionador –, o recinto tinha virado um lago no qual ele diligentemente passou o rodo – embora os caixotes de lixo ali acumulados tivessem ficado encharcados. Como Anthony pareceu não se importar, também não liguei, afinal água evapora até mesmo na Inglaterra.
For my embarrassment, in the bathroom the bulb was burnout, so the door should be left ajar. Toilet flush was also malfunctioning. Had to use a bucket instead. In the shower there were stacks of boxes containing garbage, so bath should take place in the kitchen, boiling kettles of water to mix with cold water from the sink and use a mug to pour it over my body. After boiling seven kettles I considered myself clean – my hair was washed with shampoo and conditioner – but the kitchen was flooded. Anthony squeegeed it easily, apparently not caring for the mess. There were more litter-boxes stacked there, thoroughly soaked by then. I didn’t care either. After all, water evaporates, even in England.
Tony e o amigo que nos deu carona/ Tony and his friend who’s given us a ride
Ele fez chá com biscoitos e estendeu uma pele no chão do quarto, por cima de guimbas de cigarros, revistas e papel amassado. Deitou-se ali e elegantemente me cedeu a cama. Exausta, dormi imediatamente sob edredons surrados, mas, felizmente, inodoros.
Na manhã seguinte, ele já havia combinado com um amigo para nos levar de carro a uma estação chamada Shepton Mallet (entre nada e lugar nenhum) onde passava o trem para Salisbury, de onde sai o transporte para Stonehenge na véspera do Solstício. O amigo comprometeu-se a nos buscar no dia seguinte, no mesmo local. O ônibus para o Solstício fora gratuito cinco anos antes. Agora, custava oito libras para ida e volta!Um terrível baque nas nossas finanças, pois teríamos que comer e pegar o trem de volta. Mas pensaríamos nisso mais tarde.
Tony made us tea with cookies and spread a fur on the floor over cigarette butts, crumpled papers and magazines, where he laid down to chivalrously offer me his own bed. Exhausted, I fell immediately asleep under shabby duvets – fortunately, odorless.
Next morning, a friend of his appeared , as they had arranged, to drive us to Shepton Mallet station, in the middle of nowhere, to take the train to Salisbury, from where we were supposed to take the bus to Summer Solstice. The guy promised to pick us up back there the next day. Five years ago, the bus had been free. Now it costed 8 pounds, return included. That was a terrible blow to our finances: we had to eat and pay the train back! But for the moment we just let it be. We’d deal with that later.
Avalon 