Darley Street- Episode Two
Saturday
In Hill Street, a few doors up from the shops, there’s a young family, Mum, Jo Graham and Dad Mike, with two young kids who are livewires, Tito (7-year-old) and Rosa (6-year-old). It’s mid Saturday morning, and the family heads down to Darley Street to do some local shopping.
Sally spots them out of her bookshop front window and has a giggle. Rosa has a harness on; some days it’s essential, as she has been known to, ‘Do a runner’ and head into traffic at full tilt.
Mike has a firm grip on the lead and knows that in the local community, some locals find the idea of having a child on a leash rather archaic. Jo and Mike know how necessary it is and soon come to terms with people’s odd glances and then smile as others say ‘well done!’
The family heads around the corner and enters Fab Foods. Time to stock up on some bulk foods, the Graham family likes their offerings and organic options, rather than what’s in supermarkets. Mike has a well-paying job at a local legal firm, and Jo does some freelance writing to add to the mix, a happy ‘livewire’ family, one of many in the area. Sally notes they weren't there too long but were soon heading down the street towards her second shop, Chapter Two Books, run by Chloe and her team. Sally opened the shop a while back now, people wanted ‘new books’ and Sally was in a position to oblige.
There was probably a reading on for the kids this morning. Sally couldn't quite see how many people had entered the store, but knew the readings were well-liked by locals with kids.
Various people wandered by. Saturdays were very much a mixed bag of people coming to Darley and Hill to see what was on offer. Word would spread, especially if there was some form of interesting activity.
Next door at Eclectica, the acoustic duo would sometimes turn out to be a famous guitarist and a mate. Lots of people would turn up. One afternoon, Tom blocked off the small car park on the other side of his shop and had a small band set up there on a stage. The street was blocked in one section. Oh, didn’t that cause an issue with the council! People turned up in their droves though.
On Saturdays, the mix of people could be delicious. Sally had at times sold weird and wonderful things on a Saturday, people finding her shop like they were on some kind of magical mystery tour.
At times, she and her team would dress up as characters out of books, the Potter series being the most obvious, but sometimes it would be Shakespeare's birthday, and they would wander about the shop speaking like the man himself.
One day, Sally got dressed up and had only one customer come in for the whole day; it was a guy asking how to find the main road. He did say he liked her costume.
Mrs Mac rarely came out on a Saturday, saying it was too busy for her. Now, with her walking frame, it was also a bit tricky to negotiate the parts of the street with cobblestones, like the short alleyway next to Sally’s shop.
Today must have been an exception, she came tottering by with bags off the handlebars, she seemed to like going to the Canvas Crepe store, perhaps she was having a visitor later that day and was off to get something special.
Sally noted the Nursery and Florists were busy this morning. Dan and Germaine, with obligatory aprons on, are busy shuffling back and forth. Sally always thought it strange; it wasn’t the biggest of shops, but they had a good range of plants, so the turnover was there.
Laura’s Laundry, the next shop up, always had a good morning and then a late afternoon run of customers. Laura told Sally once that people would drop their kids off at school, then come and do their laundry.
Tom at Eclectica liked the 9.30 plus crew, they liked his coffee and cake and filled the sometimes off-peak time.
Some renovation was going on up the street, one of the shops being made more presentable. Then, across the road from that was Carl’s Collectible Cards with an empty shop next to it.
Carl’s place lived for the weekends, hipsters, millennials and the like would wander in in their obligatory dark colours, crazy boots and ‘Goth hair’. The rest of the week was online sales and the occasional parent buying up birthday presents for their goth or Manga obsessed child.
Saturday, the doorbell would ring, and Sally’s crew would feign not getting excited about the prospect of a customer walking in. Sometimes it would be the likes of Mr Grevans who had some relic from the past they wanted to pass on.
Sally knew her prices, and was quick to research things online; she would also be quick to let people know that they were dreaming, asking for the prices they often did. Some left in a ‘huff’, some knew they had to accept their fate on the day.
No two days were the same in Darley Street; people come, and people go. Saturdays were no exception.
Darley Street will return on Wednesday 10 June. Stay tuned!
