Quiz Night

QUIZ NIGHT


The “night” starts at 13 o’clock.  Miles and I stop at Donna’s house. She is one of the Pussies, but has invited us for “nibbles and drinks”.  


She greets us with some Bellinis (as in Harry’s bar) and takes us to the overcrowded 2ft by 2 patio where triffids are sharing vital space with about ten chairs and a table.  Donna is the perfect hostess, offering petit fours, hors d’oeuvre and filling up our glasses with more bellinis, prosecco, cotes de Rhone and a few Speckled Hens.  


Slim Shady is there, with wife Joan, Jackie, Shirley, a very scary old lady (in whose eyes I get glimpses of pure evil) and the weird couple that arrive with an enormous trug, for which we have to make room.


The atmosphere is jovial until an excess of Bellinis turn the afternoon into ugliness.  The weird woman is sozzled and going into a tirade. Miles finds it imperative to correct her as a matter of principle.  “But Iranians are not Arab. They are Persian” Adding, quite foolishly a “my dear” after the sentence and thus unleashing a fury rarely seen outside of hell.  Miles does a runner, exiting abruptly leaving the weird lady in a heap in the arms of her husband.


8 o’clock and I am still drunk.  I make it to the Boot where my team are waiting.  Slim Shady is there, but apparently all the ladies in the team decide to stand him up unable to crawl to the pub…  I offer him to join us on our team (risking permanent exclusion from K), but he declines and promptly joins “The Squirrels”...  


In our team R comes to his own, single handedly answering all the questions about Bruce Willis films and music in the 70s.  My biggest contribution today is to know how to address a Cardinal politely. “Your EMINEMS…” I manage to splurt. Alas, not good enough and the terrible hybrid “Shady-squirrel” wins the day once more.  


R and I walk back, too fragile for negotiating the bicycle and find Crazy Rob on the bridge.  He is delighted to see us and tries to tempt us into his den for some more drinking. R and I are having none of it, which doesn’t stop Rob from walking us home.  He is like a hyperactive child after a party full of E numbers…. In the end he borrows R’s bike with the vague promise of remembering where he leaves it, And just like that, we all part ways, with Rob riding the bike following Jupiter.