Wednesday 6 August 2008

Letter to Daniel.

Dear Daniel,
Thank you for your news - I'm glad you're home safe and sound.
I have thought much on your hasty exit from what was an unsavoury affair and cannot help but deliberate on whether you will ever reappear on this side of Europe again. And I'm puzzled as to why you care if Agata knows about you and Marta. It was truly dreadful the way Agata treated you towards the end so why shouldn't you have had some fun from someone who valued your company? We were all incredulous at the text Agata sent one of the girls on your last evening in Lodz, saying that she intended to spend a nice night with you. Dear me... how she played with you Daniel. A local lad would never have tolerated being kicked around like a football, but you kept bouncing back to her.

Agata's female 'companions' told me how she came on to blokes when out on the town, and when your name was awkwardly mentioned she dismissed you as a 'short-term loser' with whom she would soon dispense. They told me how she embarrassed you. How she continually crushed you. As a Soft Foreigner she took huge liberties with you. Even before setting eyes on her I was wary as Darek had warned me - I value his judgement and of course I remembered how she had dealt with you over the phone when you came to stay at my place after she threw you out the first time. My fellow Londoner Jason described her simply as hateful, but I know only too well that even a misguided devotion can cloud the most coherent mind. Within half an hour of you introducing me to her in the pub she proceeded to be quite remarkable in her rudeness and had she not been with you I would have had her swiftly removed from the premises.


I warmed to you the moment we met and it was distressing for everyone that you could be so in love with a person who treated you with such contempt. Each time she tossed you into the street, all you could do was stare blankly at your mobile waiting for the faintest sign from her. It comforted her to know that you had no work and spoke no Polish. Had you not been so fixated and reliant on that woman you could have had a lot of fun here being single, but it's clear that she was your only reason for being around.

This brings me to the subject of Evelina and her English Language School. Evelina was exceedingly keen to hook up as she was (and still is) a teacher short. We discussed your visa situation and she could have dealt with that easily as she had done previously with other Americans, that was not an issue. The crux of the matter was not your ability (or your legal status) which was not in question as it was obvious that you would have been well-liked and up to the job. Evelina would have wanted you to commit for a year from September, but it quickly became apparent that without Agata it was unlikely that you would be hanging around, so we didn't go any further with it, and in the end that's exactly how it turned out.

I wanted to clear up the drug situation. You asked me several times to facilitate your quest for the purchase of cocaine, but it was ignoble that you should be seeking expensive recreational diversions - if you had spare cash to play with then your first thoughts should have been to pay back the money that had been given you. That surprised and disappointed me.

I hope you will find some satifying work my American friend and that the rest of your year is filled with success. It's a shame that your last weeks in Poland were so troubled but you yourself had made your bed and were unwilling or unable to remake it. You suffered a few late night beatings from Polish thugs and that saddened me, it's necessary to be alert here in these oft harsh climes - especially as an outsider.


It is only with age, sadly, that we can see the mistakes we have made and the opportunities that have been missed. I have also wasted time although, even in the thickest of infatuations, I've never allowed myself to be humiliated or degraded. Now you are back home, you are around people who genuinely care for you, there will be much to do and I know you will be more content. I wish you well and if you ever happen to be London bound then I would be delighted to see you.

Thank you for scooping up Magnus's jacket on Saturday night, it has made it's way to Lola so presumably will be in the hands of it's owner very soon.

The instructions you gave me for downloading films from the internet are indeed detailed, although I must say I don't know if I will get round to doing it. It takes quite a while, and besides, they're cracking down on internet downloading! It is of course appreciated.
Send me a picture of yourself with pals in Baltimore.
Best wishes