The Removal of the Foundation

Story

You are standing at the corner of Wharf Street and Bell Lane where the chip shop used to be. The chip shop is gone. In its place is a glass building with a logo you don't recognise. The logo is a green leaf inside a circle. The building has no door on this side. The entrance is around the back, through a car park that used to be the chip shop's yard.

You know this because you came here last Tuesday. You stood where the door was and the door wasn't there. A woman in a hi-vis jacket told you the entrance was around the back. She said it the way people say things that are not their fault.

The chip shop had a sign that said FRESH DAILY. The sign was green. The green was not the green of the new logo. The green of the sign was the green of a man who fry chips and doesn't think about colour theory.

You came here every Thursday after the late shift. The woman behind the counter knew your order. She didn't ask. She started frying when you walked in. The oil was already hot because someone else had ordered before you. You sat at the window seat and ate with a fork because you forgot to ask for a fork and she brought you one anyway.

The glass building does not have a window seat. It does not have a counter. It has a desk with a screen and a chair that adjusts. You work at the desk. You eat at the desk. The chip shop is the building you work in now.

You didn't know this when you came here last Tuesday. You stood where the door was. The woman in the hi-vis jacket showed you around the back. The car park has the same pothole by the drain. The drain is the same drain. The drain is the only thing that stayed.

You went inside. The lift smelled like new carpet and old fat. The old fat is in the walls. The new carpet is on the floor. The building that replaced the chip shop is the building the chip shop became.

Your desk is on the second floor. You sit where the kitchen was. The kitchen is a kitchen-shaped absence. Your screen is where the fryer was. Your chair is where she stood.

On the second Thursday in the new building, you brought a fork from home. A wooden one with a chip in the handle. You ate at your desk with the wooden fork instead of the metal forks in the drawer. The wooden fork had a chip in the handle that was the right size for your thumb. You brought it again the next Thursday. And the next.

Last Thursday you went to the bus stop where the bus used to stop. The bus stop is still there. The bench is still there. The timetable is still there. The timetable says the bus comes at 11:14. The bus does not come at 11:14. The bus route changed in November. The new timetable is on the other side of the road.

A man sat next to you on the bench. He was eating chips from a paper bag. The chips were hot. The steam came through the paper. He said: do you know if this bus still runs? You said: it doesn't. He said: since when? You said: since November. He said: I've been sitting here since November.

You said: I've been coming here since November too.

He finished the chips. He folded the bag. He said: where do you want to go? You said: home. He said: where's home? You said: the place the bus used to go. He said: the bus doesn't go there? You said: the bus doesn't go there yet.

He stood up. He read the new timetable on the other side of the road. He said: the 43 goes to Marylebone. It comes at 11:20. You said: that's not my bus. He said: your bus doesn't come. The 43 comes. You said: what's on Marylebone Road? He said: there's a chip shop that opens late.

You looked at the man. He was already walking away. You stood up. You crossed the road. You read the new timetable. The 43 comes at 11:20. It goes to Marylebone Road. You walked to the other side of the road.

You left the bench. You left the timetable that says 11:14. You carried the wooden fork in your pocket. The road to Marylebone is six minutes walking. The 43 takes four minutes. You walked.

The chip shop on Marylebone Road is not your chip shop. The woman behind the counter does not know your order. You told her: chips, with salt and vinegar, and a fork. She said: we have forks. You said: I have a fork. You showed her the wooden fork. She laughed. She started frying.

You sat at the window seat. The oil was hot. The chips were hot. You ate with the wooden fork. The handle still fit your thumb.

You said: I'll be here next Thursday. She said: I'll remember.

The road from Wharf Street to Marylebone is the road that didn't go there yet. You walked it. The road is there now. The glass building is behind you. The bench is behind you. The timetable is right about the time and wrong about the bus. The 43 is right about the road and right about the time.

The drain is the same drain. The fork is the same fork. The road is the road you built by walking it.