Savvy by Ingrid Law

Savvy by Ingrid Law

Author:Ingrid Law
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
ISBN: 9780141918051
Publisher: Penguin Books Ltd
Published: 2008-11-12T22:00:00+00:00


20

Rushing out into the spring night, the air was crisp and cool, laced with the smell of diesel fumes and chicken fingers. After the noisy babble and bedlam inside the restaurant, being outside was a relief, a soothing hush of sky and pavement. I could hear cars on the road in front of the diner, each sounding like nothing more than a wave lapping shore.

Nobody spoke as we hopped quickly over potholes in the light of the single streetlamp, weaving in and out of trucks and semi-trailers towards the distant corner of the lot, moving towards the alley. We kept a close eye behind us in case Ozzie or anyone else might be giving chase. But whether he was still lying on his back in the middle of the remains of banana-cream pie, or just too embarrassed to follow, it didn’t appear that Ozzie was coming after us.

During all the commotion inside the restaurant, I’d forgotten about the down-and-out man by the bin. We had nearly passed him again before the noisy return of ‘Seen too much…’ would not allow me to forget that he was still there. I felt the pinch of sorrow and remorse, and realized that while my savvy had done nothing to help the soul-sick, broken man, there was something else that I could do for him. Dropping behind the others, I set my burger basket down on the ground near the outstretched hand. Then I removed the purple ribbon flower pinned to the shoulder of my special-occasion dress and set that too down with the burger, feeling sure that Poppa would understand. Aside from my silver pen, it was the only thing I had to give, the only way I had to show that I’d seen the man. That I’d listened.

Heading back to the bus, everyone was so breathless and shaken by the incident inside the diner only Will seemed to take any notice of my tiny offering, giving me a warm look as he waited for me to catch up.

Further now from the crowd of voices inside the restaurant and the voice of the homeless man, I was disappointed, but not surprised, when Bobbi and Carlene and Rhonda all rolled back into my head as loud and rowdy as if they owned the place.

‘Lester’s sure got his foot stuck in a deep bucket of mud now…’

‘The man sure has a way of doing it.’

As Lester struggled to open the door of the bus and balance the stolen pie at the same time, the rest of us leaned up against the side of the bus to catch our breath. Despite everything that had just happened, Bobbi was staring at me almost calmly, arms folded, with a probing, yet guarded, look on her face. Will Junior stood behind her, his expression unreadable.

‘Tell me what I’m thinking. Do you know what I am thinking?’ that little angel on Bobbi’s back sang through my brain. Carlene’s and Rhonda’s voices took backstage to Bobbi’s angel, their never-ending Lester-bashing sounding like back-up vocals to Bobbi’s newest tune.



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