NORMAN
Given the way the sunlight is glaring between the wooden blinds covering my window? I can tell it's morning.
And the difference in the tone of the light reminds me that I'm not in Georgia anymore. Well, that and the fact there's a steady hum of traffic. Plus the ever-present honking of car horns from one block away.
Welcome home, Reedus!
Groaning I roll under the bedclothes and reach for my phone. Press the on button until the display lights up.
Nine AM?
Sheeeeit!
I was hoping for a bit more shut-eye, given it's my first full day home. And my first morning without an early-bird call to the set for filming.
My head flops back down onto my pillow again as I unlock the cell. Hearing the little bips as message notifications merrily ping away. I let out a hoot of laughter, opening one from Andy and seeing the selfie he took of us all together.
Me, him, Greg, Lauren, Mike, Steve and Mel. All grinning with glazed eyes of exhaustion and intoxication. Celebrating not only the end of one tough half-year on location but also my good fortune.
The night before last had been the wrap party. We've now finished filming the second season of The Walking Dead. And boy Oh boy....we sure as hell partied hard. Before going our separate ways until next year.
Shaking my head happily, I let the phone drop onto the bed and gaze at the ceiling.
Musing over the last few hectic months and how much my life has changed. Since that incredible day at the beginning of last year. When my agent, Jo....gave me the awesome news.
I've been acting on and off for the last fifteen years. Both on the stage and in a few movies. Never really taking it too seriously as it was more of a means to an end. Pay checks that let me keep a roof over my head and food in my stomach. While I pursue two of my other great passions....art and riding.
No, fuck no....not riding horses!
Shit! Those big lumps of teeth and hooves scare the absolute bejeezus outta me. Always have and probably always will.
AMC, the production company that churns out The Walking Dead? Found that out the hard way this season. When they made my character Daryl Dixon ride one....before getting tossed off.
Still, it was worth the cuts and bruises I got over those two days. In order to make the scene work.
Hopefully, I'll never have to get back on one of those fuckers ever again. Because they've now given Daryl AKA me an awesome Triumph Bonneville customised chopper to hoon around on.
That's what I mean when I say it's a passion and it has been since my early teens. Riding motorcycles.
The art? Hell, I'm into everything nowadays. Photography, drawing, painting and sculpting. When I get the time, that is.
And that's just what I plan to do over the next week or so. Cos I've got a shitload of photographs to wade through on my laptop. Most of them were taken in between filming down in Georgia.
The balloon that is my brain eventually floats its way back to earth. And I give a huge sigh of relief, appreciating just how freakin lucky I am right now.
Never even heard of The Walking Dead until two years ago. That's when I found out by chance that AMC was holding casting sessions. And Jo gently pushed me into having a go. Didn't get the part I read for, but I must've given them quite a show at the audition?
Because a week later one of the production directors, Frank....gave Jo a call. Asked me to come back and sign a contract. That's when I realised, they'd created a character in the series just for me.
Holy shit, eh?
Thought it'd just be for a few episodes. Yet I've managed to survive and not get turned into a zombie or 'walker' as they're known.
The show took off right from the get-go and before I knew it, I was bedded down for the second season.
And yesterday, my hand shook like crazy when I signed a brand new contract. Two more seasons with a huge pay rise to boot!
Not that the money was a dangling carrot. Making it a no-brainer for me to scrawl out my signature on the piece of paper. Guaranteeing me work for the next couple of years.
Hell, I've been on the bare bones of my ass so many times before. Hardly having enough spare change to keep me in cigarettes. Let alone fed, clothed and boozed up.
No, it's more the fact that I can keep heading off to the set or other related events for eight months of the year. To be with a group of incredible people who make it all worthwhile. Colleagues who I now love. Most of whom have become amazing friends and taught me so much about giving everything one hundred percent.
Which is what I do.
It's time to take things a bit more seriously, now that I'm getting older. Not too seriously though 😉
*
I was brought back to earth again with a whoosh of breath. When a black furry lump landed on my stomach and started pummelling. Could feel his claws make biscuits through the blanket as his purr motor kicks into top gear.
"Hey, fuzzball! About time you woke up" I croon to my little cat as he trills and rubs his midnight head against my bare chest.
I got Eye for my son Mingus a few years ago. When he declared his life wouldn't be complete without a little black kitten.
He lives for the most part with his Mom, my ex-partner Helena. Ming that is....not the cat. But when I'm home in New York, we spend as much time as we can together. And on occasion, he flies down to Georgia to stay during school vacations.
My boy is the greatest love of my life. And the day Hel told me we were pregnant is one of the happiest I can ever remember. It's also the day I vowed to be a better father than my Dad had been.
But like him and my Mom, Helena and I couldn't make it work in the long run. No one's fault. We simply realised it just wasn't gonna be and nothing would change that.
But unlike my folks, we've managed to maintain a better relationship apart than together.
And I don't think Ming has suffered the fallout of our split in any way? He was still a toddler when it all went pear-shaped. But Hel and I make damn sure he always knows we're still a family....no matter what.
My kid is growing like a weed and I'm so proud of him I could explode. Smart as all fuck and really grounded. Considering his Mom is one of the most famous and beautiful models on earth.
And his old man is just an arty-farty and most times....eccentric vagabond. Who for some unknown reason has become a pin-up boy to a legion of fans. That's growing in number day by day.
Fucking weird, right?
*
'Speak of the little devil' I thought as my hand left Eye's soft fur and picked up my ringing phone.
Thought they'd be on the plane by now? Hel had taken him home to Denmark, so she could attend her parent's wedding anniversary party.
Ming is already talking a mile a minute by the time I get it to my ear.
"....just at the airport now Pops dropped us off Mom wants to know if we're still good for the next week cos she has to go down to Miami for a photo shoot on Saturday can we go out to Coney it'll be closing down for winter after this weekend and I wanna make you throw up on the Cyclone how's Eye is Daryl still alive....is....is...."
"Whoa, slow down tiger! Deep breath, kiddo. Otherwise, your mouth is gonna seize. Now to answer your questions."
"Yes....yes....you'll be the one upchucking....he's purring at you right now....Dixon's still breathing. And yes, Mingo....I love you too."
I picture his eyes rolling and the grin taking over his face.
"Sorry, Dad. I just can't wait to see you. It's been nice visiting Nan and Pops but they're kinda old you know? They took me to the Tivoli, but that's like....for little kids. And it's not much fun cos all my cousins are still in school."
"Oh, yeah....I love you too."
"Well, that's a relief to know. Yeah, I'd forgotten you started shaving, drinking and chasing women once you hit the ripe old age of nine. You sure you don't wanna cruise over to Atlantic City instead of Coney?"
"I can get us a room each? We'll hit the slots, get shitfaced clearing out the mini bar and have some girls come up for a sleep-over."
"Whaddya reckon?"
"DAAAAD!!!! No way!"
"The girls at school and their moms already act bad enough when they find out that you're Daryl. Plus all those ladies who keep coming on to you when we go out? Nuh-Uh, you can keep that! "
"Ok then, pal. We'll just stick to getting wrecked and winning a fortune instead. I'll be around about four PM tomorrow. How about you put your Mom on now? Love you heaps...."
I blew kisses down the phone and heard him smacking his cheeks catching them.
"Norman, I just saw your text. Congratulations....you get to live for another couple of years!" Hel laughed.
"Hey, hon! Yeah, thanks for that. The meme doing the rounds at the moment is 'Kill Daryl and we riot'. Anyways, did the party go alright? Do your Mom and Dad like their present?"
"Very much. It was so thoughtful of you. Buying them the tickets to come over at Christmas and in first class too! Very extravagant, but thank you."
"Awwww, it's no problem....I can more than afford it nowadays. Hey, listen I told Ming I'll be over about four if that's Ok?"
"I know it's earlier than we'd planned but the news about the contract will probably break soon. And, well....it might be a good idea to have a chat with him about the publicity and all that."
"Thought it was crazy now, but things are just gonna amp up to the max once the word gets out."
"Of course you can come earlier. Norman. And that's smart thinking. He's been pretty cool about it plus the school has done what they can to help. But I can tell that the attention is getting to him a little bit. We'll work it out."
"Look, they're just making the call to board now so we'll see you tomorrow. Can you stay for dinner?"
"Love to, if it's Ok with you and Paul? See you then, hon....safe flight."
I hung up with a massive grin on my face. Cos I'm so looking forward to seeing them both again.
Hel lives with her partner Paul, in an apartment just five blocks from mine. Which makes it easy for Ming to go between both places when I'm in town. Not disrupt his life or schooling too much.
But my rise in celebrity is starting to have an effect on him, hence my decision to have a chat about it. And how we'll deal with the way some females behave when they recognise me.
Shit, it's hard for me to get used to it let alone a nine-year-old boy!
*
The old bod creaked a bit when I sat up on the edge of my bed.
In a couple of months, I'll be turning thirty-five. And playing a bow-toting redneck in an action series is taking its toll. I suppose smoking almost a pack of fags a day, partying every week and downing my fair share of alcohol isn't helping much either?
Those vices and a hectic lifestyle of filming, publicity outings and fan conventions? Are making me old before my time.
"Not about to join the AARP yet though, are we Eye?" I whisper, bending over to put his food and water bowls down on the feeding mat.
I think anyone watching me groan and shuffle my way towards the bathroom for a shower will probably say it's a membership long overdue.
There's still a fair bit of warmth in the days, considering we're coming up to late autumn.
So I throw on a tee, jeans and boots. Before grabbing a cap, jacket and my Ray-Bans. Most days, they're enough of a disguise for me when wandering around the streets.
Unfortunately, there's too many photos up on social media. A lot of them are my own....idiot that I am.
So now the lone figure of just another guy going into a gallery, shop or bar is becoming more recognisable.
Still....I'm not going to resort to a wig or any other disguise like that quite yet.
But I'm considering donning one of my masks every now and then 👹
*
Throw my wallet, keys and phone into a pocket then sling my ever-present Ricoh over my shoulder. Stumble down the flight of stairs and open the door to the street.
The noise of the city hits me like a sledgehammer. Yet along with it? I feel the excitement of being back in this non-stop metropolis start to seep through my veins again. It's like slow-moving adrenaline.
Have no idea why I paused on the small stoop outside my apartment? By now I'm usually lighting up my first hit of nicotine for the day. While trundling along the sidewalk, heading to my favourite coffee joint around the corner for a decent slug of caffeine.
Is it fate? Serendipity?
Or just sheer, dumb Reedus luck making another sweep through my life?
Whatever it is, I stop in my tracks and stretch my arms toward the sky. Laughing lightly as joints pop and muscles relax.
When they fall to my side I let my eyes sweep down the tree-swathed street.
My sunnies are in my hand, halfway to my face....
Well....fuck me....!