City by James Roy

Author:James Roy
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: JUV000000
Publisher: University of Queensland Press
Published: 2012-10-16T00:00:00+00:00

TOYOTA OF THE BEAST

The Number of the Beast is 666.

Oh, there are jokes about it. Most are quite new to me, although those who tell these jokes seem to slip into them with the familiarity of a regular pew: 668 is the neighbour of the Beast, 665.95 is the retail price of the Beast, 732.60 is the number of the Beast plus GST. 1010011010 1010011010 1010011010 is the binary of the Beast, and DCLXVI is the Roman numeral of the Beast.

My Old Testament Fundamentals tutor told me most of these. He also told me that the Beast drives a BMW 666i.

That last one isn’t true. It’s true that my tutor told it to me, but it’s not the kind of car the Beast drives.

No, the Beast doesn’t drive a German car at all.

The Beast drives a Toyota.

It is this Toyota that is parked across the street from our house when I head out on my way to meet Jeff. I haven’t seen Jeff for about six weeks. He’s been in Europe, probably drinking too much and not sleeping enough. Investigating the youth hostels and the Berlin jazz scene. Making sure that our break-up wasn’t a mistake. And now I’m going to find out if he still thinks it wasn’t a mistake.

For the record I do think it was a mistake. I told him that at the time, using those exact words: ‘Jeff, for the record, I think it’s a mistake.’

He shrugged. ‘We’ll find out.’

‘By you going to Europe?’

‘Yes.’

‘Living in hostels?’

‘Yes.’

‘In close proximity with other girls? Girls who aren’t—’

‘Vee. Stop.’

‘I’m just saying . . .’

‘And I’m just saying that we’ll find out, one way or the other.’ Then, in a surprising change of direction that was probably intended to make himself feel better, he told me some lame joke about a man who drinks so much absinthe that it makes his farts go ‘Honda’. I didn’t find it terribly funny, what with being completely distraught at the time. But timing has never been Jeff’s strong suit.

So, I leave home that Friday morning, about ten, planning to meet Jeff at Delphine, which has always been our second-favourite café. Our favourite one, Belgrano on the Fiveways, was closed down almost a year ago. The story was in the paper that I find on our front path every Wednesday morning. The headline was catchy – GOTCHA! BELGRANO TORPEDOED BY LOCAL COUNCIL – but the article itself was pretty boring. Something about the owners not complying with zoning laws. Which would be fine, except that Belgrano on the Fiveways made the best coffee within a ten-minute walk – or a ten-minute cab ride, for that matter – of where I live. Delphine comes a distant second, although they do score some points for their almond meal chocolate hedgehog slice. This is what I’m planning to get. Jeff will almost certainly get baklava. He loves the stuff.

As I check the letterbox and close the little green gate, I see a car parked under the giant Moreton Bay fig across the road, its left wheels down in the deep, root-cracked gutter.

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.