The cafe with five faces, p.47
The Café with Five Faces, page 47
“Fair point,” admitted Mike. “I wish they’d built one to keep the loose cannon known as Steve Bannon in, for sure.” He sighed deeply. “I really thought the Trump had no chance of getting re-elected in 2020, but if the UK can vote in Johnson, then anything is possible! Even if the Trump does pursue further warmongering in the Middle East just to detract from his endless inadequacies.”
“Three more beers, Kal,” John said, in an attempt to lift the despondency.
“Are you going to be here in the New Year?” James asked of Mike. “Or are you planning on leaving the UK as soon as?”
“No, I’m off to the delights of Moscow first,” Mike replied with an ambiguous expression, which left one wondering if this was a good move or bad. “A country which, despite my previous comments, almost looks like a liberal democracy these days when compared to Johnson’s toe-the-line rabble. Or perhaps I should say Cummings’ toe-the-line rabble. He’s the unelected bureaucratic bastard of dubious political heritage who seems to be running the show.”
“Couldn’t you think of anywhere else to go in one of the coldest months of the year?” asked John, shivering at the mere thought.
“Well, I had an option of Nur-Sultan, formerly known as Astana, the second coldest capital city on the planet, so I could almost be charged with common sense by opting for Moscow.”
“Surely no one could accuse you of that!” James tried to look innocent and serious but failed dismally.
“At least if the Brextremists get their evil way and dare to celebrate the demise of the United Kingdom on 31st January, I won’t be in the country to witness the sad shambles,” Mike pointed out.
“I can see the advantages in that; no one wants to see Farridge and Johnson beaming as though they’d actually succeeded at something!”
“On the down side, I believe I’ll be living on the sixteenth floor, safe in the knowledge that if there’s a power cut, I’ll probably die climbing the stairs.” Mike shuddered and hoped Russian engineering wouldn’t let him down. “A bright way to start the new decade that would be, some might say!”
And so, the lights went down on another year in the life of my café, but with the beacon of democratic hope which had illuminated the previous Christmas period now extinguished. It was a bleak end to 2019 with the promise of a dark decade looming ahead.
Aren’t books supposed to end on an optimistic note? Blame the turkeys, I say…
Britain, sailing into a definitely unknown and almost certainly bleak decade with no light at the end of the tunnel.
2020
Epilogue
As a postscript to the manuscript, now that it’s ready for publication, I’d like to add a few notes.
The political aspects of this book were written in real time and not amended with the benefits of hindsight, so there is no reference to some clearly important developments. For example, Budapest, the city, has changed, with one of my Hungarian friends referring to recent events as a ‘total power grab’ by prime minister Viktor Orbán, leading to calls for the country’s expulsion from the EU. Meanwhile, Beirut, the city, was beset with a largely peaceful revolution, which only subsided with the arrival of the COVID-19 lockdown; the combination of these two factors sadly seems to be bringing the much-loved country to its knees.
When I referred to Britain entering a tunnel of gloom with the last photograph, I was, of course, alluding only to the advent of Brexit. This was, and continues to be bad enough. What I did not anticipate were the storms which precipitated the disastrous flooding of the valley in which Hebden Bridge lies, as well as many other areas of Great Britain and elsewhere, nor the coronavirus, the effects of which, up to the time of writing, have been unspeakable.
The floods one can put down to climate change, which has been exacerbated by political incompetence at the highest levels of government in countries such as the USA and Brazil, as well as in Britain. Brexit and the coronavirus are disasters in different spheres, but the former was instigated and driven by Johnson and Cummings and supported by Trump, while the effects of the latter were aggravated beyond measure by the irresponsible policies of the same three men. Obviously, they are not solely to blame, but when it comes to the apportionment thereof, their names will top most lists.
There comes a time when decent, centrist politics which work for everyone rather than the few have to come to the fore, and the sooner this happens, the better. Writing from behind the closed doors of my café, I wish everyone well in what I hope will be a better future.
Chaelli Cattlin, The Café with Five Faces
