Colour Blind Dave

Many years ago, I was a student at art college. My best friend there was Dave. He didn’t look like your typical art school kid, though. His head was shaved and he wore a white shirt with stone wash jeans. His hook nose and acne rounded off a rather menacing appearance, but he was a genuinely funny and likable person. I had long hair and wore baggy jeans and t-shirts.

One day we were sitting and smoking in one of the fire exits that overlooked the car park. I’d taken my dad’s car that day and had misjudged my turning circle while I was parking, hitting a grass verge and taking a huge lump of it with me. We could see the car.

“What’s that on your bumper?” Is it a bird?” Dave asked, squinting.

“Yeah Dave, it’s a parrot.” I said, laughing.

“Nah, seriously. I can’t tell what it is. Looks like a bird, though.” Dave said, still squinting.

“It’s grass and mud. I ballsed up the parking this morning” I said, owning up.

“Ah! It’s grass! I thought it was a bird!” he said, and seemed glad to know it.

“How many green birds do you know that make their home round here?” I asked, smiling.

“I couldn’t tell. I’m colour blind.” He kept his gaze on the car and all of a sudden I felt bad for jibing him about the parrot.

“Ah shit, Dave! I’m sorry. I never realised.” I said, pardoning myself.

“It’s alright, mate. How were you to know?” Now he gave me a smile.

“What’s it like, though? What do you see?” I had to ask.

“I don’t know myself really. I have trouble distinguishing green from other colours, apparently. Red too. That grass and mud both look pretty much the same colour to me. I suppose I’m used to it.” he said, shrugging.

I looked back at the clump of mud and grass on the bumper of the car and tried to imagine the bird that Dave had seen. I couldn’t picture it. Instead, the circumstances that led to him telling me and whether he had told anyone else on our course came to mind.

Then, I looked back at Dave who was putting his cigarette out on one of the steps.

“Time to go” he announced.

Then we went back to our studies.