On Cringila Hill (25 page)

He reaches for her hand. Then there's a rumble, they're bathed in strong light – the bus is rolling in. It shudders by, there's the stench of diesel fumes. The lights inside the bus go on. Dimce looks desperately around. Folk are out of the waiting room carrying luggage, there are passengers standing inside the bus. The driver is out, followed by a line of people whose journey is over. Feizel has the luggage, is walking to the boot of the bus. Dimce can see his mother has emerged. Piggy stands to one side and slightly behind her. Dimce reaches to touch Luz's cheek, leans and kisses her again.

‘Wait for me,' he says. ‘I'm gonna sort myself out. You wait for me. Come on up wit' me, when you ready.'

There's enough light from the bus that he can see her smile. ‘Be nice, Jimmy,' she says. ‘Soun's real nice, if that happens.'

He can see Feizel handing his bag for stacking in the boot. Dimce steps away from Luz, looks at his mother. He sees her push the ball of a thumb to her lips, turn it towards him. He nods, waves.

He hefts the bulging sports bag, waves to his mother again, kisses Luz one more time then makes his way to the open coach door. He stumbles up inside, finds a vacant seat, swings his ­mother's gift up onto a high shelf, seats himself at a window. He feels a stab as the driver swings in, shuts the door, starts the ignition. Luz and Samuel are already walking towards the street. The bus is reversing, pauses, swings about, starts for the exit of the staging area. His mother has turned away, covered her face in her hands, is hunched, her shoulders shaking with her sobbing. He sees Piggy reach out and touch her arm. Then they are out in the street, the coach interior lights still on. Jimmy looks down onto the footpath, and there is Jose Barradas, and, behind him, the tall figure of old Lupce. For just a moment the eyes of Lupce Valeski and Dimce Rodriguez lock, before the cabin lights are extinguished and the bus sweeps around the corner.

As Dimce heads north, he looks through the bus window at the city through which they're passing.
M
omentarily the lights inside the cabin switch on and he finds that he's staring at his own reflection in the glass. No one has occupied the seat beside him and he sees himself isolated, alone. And what he thinks is, ‘Yeah. Is good, no one else. What I got now is what I ever had, jus' me. Is enough.' And then he thinks, ‘Oh, it would be good if Luz come, but. That'd be good.'

As the bus is swinging down a hill towards the start of Mount Ousley, Jose Barradas has Lupce in the old Brougham and they are running along the western edge of the steelworks. It has been silent in the car since they left the bus station.

‘I guess you're going to miss Jimmy, now he's gone,' Jose says. Then, foolishly, the young man does not take the message of Lupce's silence, but repeats his question. ‘Lupce? I guess you're going to miss Jimmy.'

‘Jose Barradas,' the old man says, quietly, ‘when it seems to me like what I think about Jimmy is any you business, I'll tell ya.'

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© Noel Beddoe

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