A Vagrant Story (24 page)

Rum sent a glance back and forth between Sierra and the woman he saved. “What’s the matter, you know that chick or something? She looks about my age, kinda cute too.”

“Quiet! Yeah, I know her all right – now shut up.”

“Then what’s the problem?” he asked again.

“Best do as she says. No point making a scene,” Alex added.

“So you’re just going to stay tucked down there for the rest of the trip?”

“No. I’m going to stay tucked down here, and you’re going to sit in front of me for the rest of the trip.” She indicated Rum should land himself on the chair she hid behind. “And please, try not draw attention.”

“Fine. But you owe me for this.”

“Whatever. I’ll buy you lunch when we get off.”

Chapter 16

The journey continued in relative silence.

Tucked down behind the seat, Sierra really did wonder if this was even necessary. Even if the woman did at some point bother looking their way, the chance of recognition seemed slim. It had been some ten years since Sierra last saw this woman, and she might have by now put behind what Sierra couldn’t.

All passengers dwindled till that one remained. Even on an empty carriage the woman locked her eyes straight ahead. It was a wonder why she didn’t change coaches, probably for the same pity that caused the bums to tolerate the wino - for a time.

It happened then, following the tension, the silence, Rum’s devout shunning of Alex and Henry – the woman stood in wait for the door to open at the next station.

Sierra counted her fortune. Their stop was the next one after this. Last thing she needed after hiding the whole way was to bump into her while getting off. She found herself peeking out to watch the blonde woman depart.

The train eased to the station. The doors opened. The woman stepped out onto the platform. She froze right there, with some anticipation turning to look back into the train. She frowned curiously at that girl peeking out from behind a seat, beady little eyes almost hidden by tangled blonde hair and green ear flap hat. Focusing for a moment she seemed about to dash back onboard.

“Sierra!” the woman called.

The doors closed. The train took off. And she was gone.

Sierra released a gallon of tension in the form of a wide exhale. A hairs breath, she thought.

Alex, Henry, and most of all Rum gazed her way for explanation. She simply ignored by staring straight through, head conjugating thoughts. Regret followed relief. She felt like a school child having escaped safely from a bully. There was no fight and no reward, only safety and fear of the next encounter. Only now she did desire a next time, and sort of wished she’d done it this time.

A muffled voice on the intercom called out the next station. In response Sierra stood and looked at the rushing lights in the tunnel outside.

“Get your things. This is our stop,” she said.

They bid a welcome farewell to the close-quarter box carts. The train in return splashed them with a shrill frosty wind as it heaved off down the tunnel. If it could be so cold down here, they could only look ahead with grim expectations for the temperature on surface level.

They made their way up the subway stairs to the main street, where all four nearly jumped back in to cover from the biting wind. They spent so long indoors they’d lost that special immunity from the cold. Surely they’d have plenty of time to recover it. 

Since boarding the train first, a fresh foot of snow amassed over the old. It overflowed the curbs making the roads inaccessible to motorist. Regardless, they’d not likely be driving with this ghostly mist encompassing the streets in its own tranquil silence. Perhaps the lack of visibility could answer why other pedestrians were absent from the scene, or perhaps they were simply stumbling out there in the thick of it all.

The four stood clueless outside the subway staircase, all huddled in a stammering group. Sierra glanced up and down the empty street for direction.

“Let’s see, we should be heading down … I’m not too sure where we should be heading.”

“You said you were familiar with this place,” Rum said.

“Yeah, over ten years ago. I remembered the general area, that doesn’t mean I have it mapped down in my head.”

Sierra hummed a thought, hurrying to check a nearby bus sign. She checked a map on it and called back with directions.

“The place we’re looking for is on this bus route. Looks like it’s the next block over - walking distance. I figure we can find it if we stick along this road.”

“Checking the bus routes,” Alex said. “I’d have thought four homeless people would have better street sense.”

“Vagrants have better street sense. We’re more like Middle Park décor,” Rum stated.

“Then it’s time we were upgraded,” Sierra said from the bus stop, carefully tearing the map clean off. She held it up to show them, and tucked it into her pocket. “At least now we’ll know our way around.”

“That thing list diners?” Rum said.

“It’s a bus route map, Rum,” Sierra replied.

“Shame, now we’ll have to go look for one. Remember, you promised you’d buy me lunch.”

“Now?”

“I asked cause I’m starving. I haven’t eaten since we left the hostel.”

“I see your point,” Sierra said with a grumble in her tummy. “But after buying the tickets I don’t have enough cash for four meals.

“That’s okay. We can ditch Henry and Alex for a while.”

“I suppose, but I don’t think they’d like that.”

“We are standing right here, you know,” Alex said.

“Yeah, that’s the problem,” Rum replied.

“It’s fine with me,” Alex replied. “After that long train ride I think we could all use a little time apart. You two go buy something to eat. Me and Henry will get lunch the old fashioned way.”

“Enjoy your bin meal then. Today Sierra and I eat like kings,” Rum said.

“Dethroned kings,” Alex stated.

“Let him count his grains,” Sierra said. “We’ll meet back here outside the subway steps whenever we’re ready.”

“And what time is whenever?” Alex asked.

“Whenever is whenever.”

Alex nodded his vague understanding of the plan as he watched Sierra and Rum disappear down the street and into fog. He hummed to himself, motioning Henry into movement.

“One thing’s certain, whenever their whenever arrives, it’ll be long after we do.”

“Alex?”

“Just thinking out loud. Sierra still wants back at us for visiting the graves and leaving them waiting at the station. This is a good time for her to do the same to us. Besides, I think those two just needed some time to talk. They couldn’t really get it all out on the train with us two staring at them.”

“I guess. But I think we should go back early anyway. We made Sierra and Rum wait on us, so if we’re stuck waiting it’ll balance things out. I’d rather straighten my karma now rather than let it pile up.”

“Karma?”

“Karma … it’s an Eastern philosophy. It’s all about positive and negative forces running through the universe. I only understand the easier parts, but basically it means that your good and bad deeds will be reflected back onto you. You know, every bad deed you do brings the bad onto you.”

“I know what Karma is, Henry. I just didn’t know you cared about that stuff.”

“Of course I do. That’s why I became Buddhist in the first place.”

“You’re Buddhist? Was I supposed to know this?”

Henry shrugged inwardly with a weakened gasp of breath. “I suppose I’ve never been too vocal about it. I guess in reality you could call me a failed Christian. To be honest, I never knew much about the religion I was born into, whereas with Buddhism everything was laid out for me already. Reincarnation, Karma, liberalism, these were things I already agreed with and could relate to. Legally speaking, I’m still Christian, but I’m Buddhist in the way I think.”

“Far as I know that’s all it takes to convert to Buddhism. And strictly speaking, you’re not registered anywhere so you aren’t legally anything anymore. I don’t think baptism counts on a welfare cheque.”

“I never thought of it like that. That’s nice to know. Now I can be fully Buddhist.”

“Good, now I can have all the meat we find. Far as I know Buddhists aren’t supposed to eat meat.”

“Really? I thought that was only the monks.”

“You really haven’t researched this whole religion thing have you, have you?”

“It is a little gung-hoe. It’s fine if it works.

“You did already give up one religion because you didn’t know anything about it. Are you going to let it happen again?”

“Suppose I really should research the rules sometime … but I’ll do that after we eat.”

“Just don’t rely on me too much. I don’t know enough about my own religion to start lecturing others on there’s. Let’s worry about theology later and focus on foodology.” Alex grinned for his joke, but no one else did.

Today’s lunch came from a selection of different bins: an apple from one, half a sandwich from another, and so forth until they could all be gathered together to form one decent meal. Their bin tracking took them from one to the next until arriving in a whole new district.

This area seemed isolated from the rest of the city. It gave the impression of a rural town, with its one main street lined with unfamiliar store names. It looked as if a small rural town had been picked up and jammed right into this bustling metropolis. Or maybe the town came first and those tall buildings crept up around it over time. In any case it remained unmoved, in scenery and retailers – the entirety of which seemed reliant on that single road cutting through the centre.

Picturesque snowfall on the aged buildings might easily conceal apparent financial difficulties. In another time, this would be a fine place to live.

Alex and Henry moved at a leisurely pace, somewhat sauntering as they crossed the snow clotted main road. With the road in such a state it was no wonder all the shops were closed up. It seemed this area wasn’t privy to same snowplough service as the rest of the city.

The pair sought shelter down a tree strewn laneway, something of a turnoff from the main road. The trees, though barren, provided ample cover while they sat and ate. Amidst the city’s silence and the howling wind rustling leaves, they for a time forgot the metropolis around. The middle of the countryside would be so peaceful.

“This is alright, isn’t it?” Alex said to Henry.

“It doesn’t feel right. I screwed up once already, I feel like I’ve run out of timeouts. We should stick to the plan and stop making idiot moves.”

“We’re idiots. We move.”

“I’m tired of it. Sitting around here won’t accomplish anything.”

Henry stood to usher Alex on, when the howling wind drained to a whimper. The trees stopped rustling and there came dead silence. Not a car, not a bird, not a word.

“Crazy weather,” Alex said. “I’ve never heard silence like this in the city before.”

“The calm before the storm? That Len guy did warn us about a blizzard due.”

“Old Len also warned us of an impending alien invasion once. That was after he and Rum landed some tequila.”

“He didn’t seem too drunk when we saw him last.”

“Too drunk … that’s a very relative statement in the land of bums.”

The silence shattered on the gasp of a horrible phlegm ridden cough. It descended quickly into a torrent of gasping, like a cat coughing up a hairball. It sounded awful, and though they couldn’t see the source, the sound echoed throughout the laneway, bouncing at them from every angle. It settled into arid gasping, and heavy pained breathing. It died suddenly, as though someone had.

The few previous traces of noise were easier to track, leading Alex and Henry straight to the source. It was someway down the lane amidst the trees, and lying comatose in a ditch.

A man lay with grey beard fallen backward over face, outstretched arms clutching a whiskey bottle. Another of the same brand lay empty beside. If his sorry state didn’t give it away already, his tattered grey trench coat and patchwork pants seemed suited for a bum’s life.

Alex and Henry stood on top of the ditch in expectation for some sign of life. It popped up in an unconscious belch. They deemed it enough, and slid down to heave the man out. Belches came abound until they set him down on level ground.

He lay in noiseless slumber, and would for some time.