Description

Chapter One...

 

I could hear a God almighty rumbling, my
eyes hurt, my feet were bloody freezing, there was little light. My nose
twitched at the awful stench; it was a mixture of damp cloth, stale urine and onions
frying. I had no idea where I was or how I got here. I was not drunk; perhaps I
would feel better if I was full of booze.

My body was too weak to move. The onion
smell was hitting at my hunger, yet in the same instance; I felt sick.
Something at my left side moved slightly; I slowly shifted my eyes to the left;
they were too bleary to see clearly. Rain was pattering on to what sounded like
plastic. As I listened, I heard a slight sigh; a young voice spoke.

"Are you awake?"

I saw a young lad of about fourteen; at
least I think he was. I could not be positive of what I saw at that time.

"Where am I?" was the only thing I could
think of saying.

The young voice spoke again. "I found you
by the railway embankment; it was raining so I dragged you down here under the
bridge. I knew you were ill and not drunk, or a druggie, there was no smell on
you. If you had been either I would have left you; I expect like me you're
hungry?"

Nodding gently, wishing I were dead; the
voice spoke again.

"When the mobile food wagon packs up there
might be some leftovers; he usually gives them to me, you can have some.
Perhaps you'll feel better after that."

I lay still; my brain was not working at
full rate, perhaps because I did not want it to. The thought of closing my eyes
to sleep, never to open them again appealed to me. I must have drifted off into
some sort of stupor. Later when I awoke in this strange stinking hole; I heard
distant voices then movement as the boy pushed his way back under the filthy
plastic, carrying a cardboard box. My nose told me it contained food. I pushed
myself onto one elbow; that was all I could manage. It was still raining the
sound was constant. The boy turned round and about, like a dog trying to make
himself comfortable in his small den. The only light was coming from the street
lamp on the bridge above us. He handed me a small plastic bag; inside were
oddments of food smelling of greasy fried onion. I ate greedily at first; ashamed
of myself I apologised to the lad. He took more scraps from the greasy box then
handed over a container of hot tea; I sipped from it. There is heaven in a
cuppa, whether from plastic or bone china; I have tried both. My mind was slow
but beginning to function; feeling warmer I heaved myself to a near sitting
position; then pulled a well-used tissue from my fleece pocket to wipe greasy
crumbs from my week old beard. My armpits smelled, no doubt my expensive muddy trainers
too. I thought of the life behind me, Sandra's continuous nagging about clothes
she needed, new furnishings, holidays, the things we used to have. It had not
taken her long to spend what little money I had.

The young lad spoke, breaking my thoughts.

"Are you feeling better? There's some more
food; I usually save it for later but if you need it you can have it."

I shook my head. Looking at him; I asked.
"What the hell are you doing in this crap hole?"

He replied with a shrug of his shoulders.

"What are you doing here?" He asked
mockingly.

I shrugged too we both managed a smile.

"Crap-hole it may be, but it's all you and
I have for tonight. It's about two o'clock so we had better get some rest. We
can exchange stories in the morning," said the wise young one. "By the way my
name is George; Andrew George."

"I do not believe it, my name is George
Andrews!" I responded with amazement.

We both grinned; I shook my head and
grunted. He pulled an old smelly duvet from the black bin bag he had been
sitting on.

He said, "Perhaps we were meant to meet,
George Andrews, g'night."

I replied "G'night Andrew George," and then
fell into a fitful sleep.

Andrew George was still sleeping; the fact
that I desperately wanted to pee had awakened me. The streetlight flicked off
as I peered through a sheet of torn plastic hanging by my side. Dull daylight
with fine rain filtered through the holes, where the hell could I go to relieve
myself? As if he had heard my thoughts the boy said:

"If you want to pee then you'll have to find
a wall; anything else then you'll have to go to the public loo about fifteen minutes
walk away on the railway station. If you can't wait, crap in a bag or something
and put it in the waste bin. Hurry then we'll have an early breakfast to talk
about what we are doing later today."

He said the words as if he were in charge
of the situation. When he mentioned breakfast; I had visions of egg, bacon,
toast, grilled tomatoes and mushrooms, his breakfast would be something
entirely different. I scrambled out of my smelly nest into what should have
been fresh air. Someone had got there first and sniffed anything that was fresh
long ago; using it all for themselves. I found a wall to pee up; it was still
too dull and wet to see anything. I was pleased to get back into the stuffy
plastic tent. Playing tents was a game to be enjoyed when young, but at forty
not so funny. Besides that, my cushy life had softened me. By the time I
returned breakfast was ready.

"Hey presto," said Andrew George, taking a
piece of discoloured kitchen roll from the greasy cardboard box to reveal two
cold bacon rolls.

"I knew we would want something to eat this
morning to start our adventure."

"What adventure?" I asked, surprised at the
brightness of this boy.

"How old are you?" I asked.

"I was sixteen the day I left home; it was
a day I had long waited for."

"Oh! And why were you so keen to leave?"

Crumbs were dropping from my mouth as I
spoke, thankful for the cold squashed bacon roll courtesy of the food wagon
owner.

"C'os I wanted to get far away from my
mother's latest boyfriend; he's a drunken whinging sod. He smashed my computer
just because my mum wouldn't give him more money. I walked out; that was the
last straw. My real dad left home when I was a baby; I don't know where he is, but
I hope you'll stay for a while anyway."

"There is nowhere else for me to go, so
perhaps I could fit you into my social calendar for a time." I answered
sarcastically.

"Let's shake hands on it," he replied.

Duly we shook hands. The boy left to go to
the palatial outside toilet. On his return; I stupidly asked if he knew of a
washbasin with warm water to wash in. I was surprised to hear him say:

"Yes, wait until Boxer comes to open his
food wagon; he gives me a plastic bowl of warm water; you can share it."

"I ought to have a shave." I heard myself
saying.

"Don't push it, there won't be enough for
that; anyway the beard suits you, leave it on for a while. I'm lucky being fair
I don't need to shave yet."

It was strange we had met only a few hours
ago and here we were talking like old mates. I was not so keen to top myself
today something had changed. The day was grey but I had found a glimmer of
light. I started to tell the boy why I was here; also about Sandra.

"I could stand no more of her screeching
voice, when I heard she was off to Spain with some rich builder bloke; it was a
relief at first then I got lower and lower. I walked off to leave forty years
behind me. With no money; no job, no home, no wife. The last I could well do
without, the others are necessities."

Andrew George sat quietly listening; then
said "Life's a bitch when you are down and it's hard to get up, still; together
we'll do it; all that's needed is money. Just a little bit of cash."

"Oh yes and where do we get that from; I
don't do stealing." I told him.

"Neither do I. that's the trouble. I might
not have had much but I have no criminal tendencies. That sounds like Boxer
arriving; stay here I'II grab some water, he might not give it to me if he
knows that I have company."

I did as I was told, wishing desperately we
had somewhere to go to. My house was up for sale but there would be little from
that to come my way, Sandra would have seen to that. Why did I marry such a
selfish cow? She looked good on my arm in the old days and I was envied. No one
should marry for that reason, bloody good luck to the idiot that had her now; as
long as he isn't made redundant too!

The warm water in the plastic basin was a
blessing, faces first then under arms, the water would not stretch to feet and
other sweaty places. I'd give a lot for clean underwear; my boxers were grubby,
streaked with skid marks.