The Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner Page #2

Bring me a poet's stick.

Come in.

- Colin Smith, 993, sir.

- Good. Come in, Smith.

Sit down.

- Cigarette?

- No, thanks.

Well, you're a new boy here,

aren't you, Smith?

- Yeah.

- Yeah. Well, so am I.

Two new boys together,

in a manner of speaking.

Well, perhaps we can help one another.

How, sir?

Well, you can help me by telling me

all about yourself.

Now, for instance,

how'd you come to be here?

- What's that tape recorder on for, sir?

- Don't let it worry you.

- No, I won't.

- Anything you say is strictly confidential.

It won't go beyond these four walls.

Okay?

So, how'd you come to be here?

- Well, I got sent, didn't I?

- Yes, I know you got sent, but why?

I got caught. Didn't run fast enough.

Well, now, when you broke into this,

what was it?

- Bakery.

- Bakery, yeah.

What were you thinking about at the time?

I wasn't thinking about anything,

I was too busy breaking in.

Yes, but...

Well, just describe the action to me

in your own words.

Put me in the picture.

Got over the wall of this baker's yard,

broke into his office.

I think you can do

a bit better than this, Smith.

Surely your nerves were on edge,

weren't they?

You felt afraid.

Well, if I felt afraid,

I mean, I wouldn't have broken in, would I?

Yeah, all right, fair enough.

Look, I want you to help me.

I'm going to say a word

and I want you to reply with any word

that comes into your head, okay?

Like, if I say to you, "Food,"

what do you think of?

I'm sorry, I don't get the idea at all.

Well, would you like to do it to me?

- Say a word to me.

- Tape recorder.

Tape recorder. Desk.

I don't know why I said desk,

it just happened.

Now, I'll say one to you.

Water.

Football.

Football.

Sky.

Snow.

Snow, indeed.

- Girl.

- Look...

I mean, what are you trying to do to me?

- I don't understand.

- Now, come on, Smith,

please, I'm trying to help you, help me.

- Girl.

- Boy.

Boy.

- Have you got a girlfriend, Smith?

- What's she got to do with you?

Oh, right, right.

- Gun.

- Horses.

- Knife.

- Smoke.

- Car.

- Compass.

- Father.

- Dead.

Why did you say that? Is your father dead?

Right.

- When did he die?

- The other week.

The other week?

I'm very sorry.

Your mother was very upset, I expect.

- No.

- She wasn't?

Not very.

Well, I think that'll be all for now.

Thank you.

- You mean I can go now, sir?

- Yes.

All right, thank you very much, sir.

- I hope you do well here.

- I hope you do, sir.

- What?

- In a manner of speaking.

Oh, I see. Right. Thanks.

Well, they certainly drive themselves hard

on the playing field.

Well, they're high-spirited, Mr. Brown.

If they weren't, they wouldn't be here.

Each of us has to expend our energy

on something, you know.

"Mens sana in corpore sano,"eh?

Well, that's better than some of that

psychiatric stuff they shove at us.

You mark my words.

Yes, but surely you believe that

an emotional readjustment

might be the answer

to some of their problems.

Well, of course, I do,

if I didn't, I wouldn't be here, would I?

No.

But how do we tackle the basic aggression

- which these lads obviously feel?

- By channeling it in the right direction.

I was just wondering whether

life wasn't a little more complicated

than a football match.

Go on, Col, get to one. Go on then.

Come on!

- Did you see that?

- Oh, you had him there.

Right down the middle with it, Don.

- Get it.

- Foul ball!

- That's a foul, ref!

- Oh, come on.

Come on, ref, it's obvious...

- Swallowed your whistle, ref?

- Go.

- Come on.

- Go on, Col.

Get to one, go on then.

- Come on.

- Get around him.

- Come on, Col.

- Go, go. That's it. You're on your own.

- You're on your own, boy.

- Kyle!

- Shoot!

- Come on.

- Well done, mate.

- Great.

Great, everyone.

Get out of there.

Quiet! Quiet in the shower!

All correct, sir. Class 22.

It was that new lad, Smith,

who scored that goal, wasn't it?

- Yes, sir.

- He can run.

- He's not bad, sir.

- Well, he might be useful to us.

- We'd better keep an eye on him.

- Right, sir.

- Where is he?

- Oh, he's in the shower.

Oh, right. Come along, Brown.

All right, now, get on with it! Get moving!

That was a good goal, Smith.

- It was a good goal!

- Oh, thank you, sir.

Hello.

Often, a moment like that can make

a big turning point in a lad's life.

It's not hard to guess what

sort of home life that lad had.

- Where the bloody hell have you been?

- Out.

You're never around when I want you.

Here am I, struggling,

and I don't get a blind bit of help from you.

He's always out he is. He goes after girls!

- He goes after girls!

- All right.

Shut up, you lot!

- How's Dad?

- The doctor's with him now.

Poor devil. Breaks your heart to see him.

I don't know.

This is the last thing I expected.

- It'll be all right, Mum. Don't worry.

- Don't be daft.

Even the doctor said it's no use hoping.

He's trying to get your dad

to go to hospital,

- but I know he won't.

- No.

Mum, could I have some money

to go to pictures?

No, you can't.

You can go to your Aunty Vi's

- and look at her television.

- Don't want to.

- She only got BBC.

- Be quiet.

Can't you see your mum's upset?

You won't get me to go to no hospital.

I'm no bleeding guinea pig for anybody.

- When's Dad going to die, our Colin?

- He isn't gonna die, Johnny.

Doctor told Mum he was yesterday.

- We'd do best to leave him.

- It seems so, but he's very poorly.

He's in quite a lot of pain

and won't even have anything to help it.

I'll need you to see he takes this though.

It's a difficult time, but all we can do now

is see that he's comfortable.

I'll look in tomorrow.

I'll not go to no hospital, hear?

- I'm not going to no hospital!

- All right, we know you're not.

I'm going to be late for work.

Billy, take that round to the chemist.

- I'm not taking any pills.

- Suit yourself.

- Mum, can I go?

- Can I go!

Shut up!

Don't bother about the chemist.

He won't take it.

Here, run down to Mrs. Rolly's,

and get some of that herbal pain killer.

Mike! Hang on a bit.

Our Col.

- How's your dad then, Col?

- Oh, he's asleep.

- You coming?

- Where to?

I don't know. Come on.

Hey!

- Where'd you learn to drive like this?

- Me cousin had a taxi.

Hey, look. Keep death off the road.

Hey, get a load of this gear in the back.

- What's in here?

- I'll wear that.

- Hey, do you want a fag?

- Great.

- Here you are.

- Thanks.

Where should we go to then, James?

Who do you think I am,

the bloody chauffeur?

Just shut up, or you'll get out and walk.

Go on, run him over. Better luck next time.

- Let's go to London.

- We haven't got enough petrol.

- Hey, birds.

- Slow down, then.

- Slow down.

- We'll have these.

- Hello, gorgeous. Coming for a ride?

- Who are they?

- I don't know. Take no notice.

- Skid, show off.

Don't be like that, darling.

I'm just trying out me new car,

a birthday present from me old man.

Coming?

- I bet it isn't his.

- It is, honest.

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