True West by David Whish-Wilson

Author:David Whish-Wilson [Whish-Wilson, David]
Language: eng
Format: epub, pdf
Publisher: Fremantle Press
Published: 2019-02-15T00:00:00+00:00

PART II

12.

School was nearly out. Lee sat in the truck and checked his reflection in the rear-view mirror. The bruising on his face was gone. There was a pale scar on the bridge of his nose and a strip of sandpapery skin on his left cheekbone, but other than that he looked no different from when he’d last seen Emma those eleven months ago.

Despite the letter she’d written, he wondered whether she’d forgiven him, would want to see him again. He didn’t plan to tell her about his current situation but he craved the sound of her voice and that playful sparkle in her eyes, the feeling of her soft skin against his own, however brief that might be.

He’d robbed four banks now and was getting to like it. He wore a kerchief over his face like an old-time bushranger and Brad wore the same. The banks they were knocking over were two-man operations, and there was always the driver in the car outside. His name was Mick and he was also a veteran, now a prison guard on the night shift. It was all done with military precision, from the planning to the execution. Nobody got hurt, although Brad put the fear into the staff and customers to the extent that they didn’t remember too clearly. The identikit pictures published in the papers were way off.

Lee checked his driver’s wing mirror to see if there were any students leaking out of the school grounds, but all was silent. He’d scouted Emma’s exit from the school. She always left by the main entrance with the same group of friends, walking the two hundred metres to the nearest bus stop. She looked happy as she undid her braids and shook out her hair, something that none of the other girls did.

He wondered if she’d seen the identikit pictures in the daily papers, and thought of him, even though the resemblance was poor. He was described as young and of medium build. Average everything. Brown hair and eyes beneath the grey cap.

The truth was that his new life had become normal, from the bank jobs to working his tow truck solo, the other drivers of True West Towing leaving him alone. He only went to the depot to fill up his Ford, or to deposit those vehicles that were written off. He’d towed a Mitsubishi people-mover with a busted transmission on his way to Emma’s school, had dropped it off at the mechanics workshop in Spearwood run by Gerry, the boxer. After that he went to Gerry and Frank’s boxing gym to train for an hour. He showered there, so he’d be cleaned up. He trained there most days of the week now, letting himself in with the key Gerry had given him. They were alright, those two.

A single girl in the full uniform walked out of the front building, holding her straw hat against the sea breeze and wincing into the sun. Lee rolled down the sleeves of his check shirt and popped the buttons closed.

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