The Fallow Season of Hugo Hunter by Craig Lancaster

Author:Craig Lancaster [Lancaster, Craig]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Fiction, Literary, Retail, Sports
ISBN: 9781477825440
Google: c9gEoQEACAAJ
Barnesnoble:
Publisher: Amazon Publishing
Published: 2014-11-01T04:00:00+00:00

The concierge called a cab for me, and when I told the driver that my friend was somewhere in East London with a lot of flowers, he said, “Columbia Road,” as if it were the simplest thing in the world, like telling me the time and the temperature.

Even in the dark and the rain, with few other cars on the road, the drive took nearly fifteen minutes. I stared out the window at the passing buildings and watched the first hint of daylight scratch at the sky. The driver minded his business, and for that I was thankful. He no doubt figured that an early, frantic ride to a place I was only guessing at didn’t portend anything good.

The driver made a turn and the headlights flashed on a phone booth. “That your friend?” he said. Hugo was unmistakable. He wore the same button-front shirt and slacks he’d had on at the final press conference for the fight. He cowered as the lights fell on him.

“Wait here,” I told the driver, and I scrambled out of the car and over to the phone booth.

I took off my jacket and gave it to Hugo. “Put this over your head.”

I led him to the car, and we climbed in.

“Everything all right?” the driver asked.

“Yeah, fine,” I said. “He got into a little scrap.”

“Need a hospital?”

“No, just take us back.”

The cabbie backed up. As he turned and looked through the rear window at his progress, I watched the Columbia Road vendors and their incessant motion, scurrying about as their stands took shape. Flowers of every color and size you can imagine, and a few you can’t, filled in the open spaces and cast shadows like monsters on the buildings that lined the street, lit up by the headlights.

And then, just like that, we turned and darkness fell on Columbia Road again.

It was as if we’d never been there.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.