Jayhawk
Apprentice
Four of us – Bron, two young journalists and I – entered the restaurant. I watched a sheepish expression pass over Bron’s face.
We were passing a woman of about his age – late fifties – who was evidently in the company of a daughter and her young man. Bron, wreathed in what seemed apologetic smiles, approached them, slightly bowed and laughed politely at the woman’s greetings, and we were then shown to our table.
When we were settled, I asked Bron who the lady was. He said she was a Somerset neighbour not seen for a number of years. I explained to the younger journalists that when they were still playing with dolls or colouring books, Bron had a Diary in Private Eye which, in issue after issue, was filled with some of the cruellest but also the funniest prose ever written.
The surname of the woman at the nearby table had awakened in me the memory of who she was. She and her husband had employed a Filipino servant. Private Eye in those days published lists of those among the privileged classes who made the selfish decision to employ Filipinos on very low wages. His entry, written when this woman’s husband had just died, now returned to my mind. The cause of death, Bron revealed to readers of the Eye, was gluttony. He had eaten the servant.
We were passing a woman of about his age – late fifties – who was evidently in the company of a daughter and her young man. Bron, wreathed in what seemed apologetic smiles, approached them, slightly bowed and laughed politely at the woman’s greetings, and we were then shown to our table.
When we were settled, I asked Bron who the lady was. He said she was a Somerset neighbour not seen for a number of years. I explained to the younger journalists that when they were still playing with dolls or colouring books, Bron had a Diary in Private Eye which, in issue after issue, was filled with some of the cruellest but also the funniest prose ever written.
The surname of the woman at the nearby table had awakened in me the memory of who she was. She and her husband had employed a Filipino servant. Private Eye in those days published lists of those among the privileged classes who made the selfish decision to employ Filipinos on very low wages. His entry, written when this woman’s husband had just died, now returned to my mind. The cause of death, Bron revealed to readers of the Eye, was gluttony. He had eaten the servant.
