Skywalkers by Dorothy Shorne

Author:Dorothy Shorne [Dorothy Shorne]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Winsome Books
Published: 2024-05-07T00:00:00+00:00

16 The Sack

Monday, Monday, so good to me – can’t trust that day…

Riley whistled the tune as he swept the steps to the building, fortunately relatively clean for a change. The clear, melodic voice behind him jolted him from his reverie with the next two lines from the song.

He paused mid-sweep and spun around to find Jodie standing behind him sporting a cheeky grin under her spiky emerald-green fringe. She gave him a thumbs-up and sauntered off towards King William Street. Not for the first time, he wondered why she hung out with Alex, and where they usually slept. A squat somewhere probably.

He had the impression that living on the streets was a new experience for her. Perhaps she slipped home periodically to mummy and daddy for a hot shower and a change of clothes. Nice voice though.

On arriving home from visiting his mother the previous day, he had downloaded the road rules that he needed to learn before sitting his written test. He skipped breakfast at the Daily Bean with all its distractions, opting instead to have avocado on toast at home. He studied while he ate. Ginge had to make do with a bowl of cat milk and a handful of crunchy cat biscuits, plus the opportunity to chase some cheeky birds in the bird bath near the lime tree.

The road rules weren’t unfamiliar, given he’d been riding his bike on the road for years, but some of the specific detail was new, like how many metres before an intersection he should activate the turn indicator and things like that. He set himself a timetable of three days in which to be confident enough to sit the test. There wouldn’t be time to study that evening, because of the yoga session at Torrens House. He hadn’t been for a couple of weeks and the stiffness in his muscles reminded him of that.

Carmen and Steve ran a weekly class for Skywalkers on their rooftop, depending on the weather. They were a rare husband and wife team, with the couple not only filling the caretaker role, but having the cleaning contract as well. Mid-morning, he saw Winston sweeping on his rooftop, which was unusual. He wasn’t normally so fastidious. Another behavioural change.

Riley cupped his hands around his mouth. “Hey, Winston… are you going to yoga tonight?”

Winston looked up, and for a moment, Riley thought he was about to shake his head, but then he responded with a thumbs-up.

“I’ll see you downstairs at seven.”

He received another thumbs up; a man of many words. Riley smirked to himself as he took the elevator back downstairs. A less talkative Winston was something to be appreciated.

Diane spoke to a courier in the reception area as he passed through, and another waited impatiently to drop off his parcel. She looked up and flapped a hand in his direction.

“Riley, don’t rush off. Help that man while I fill out a delivery docket.”

“He nearly said, “I’m not your secretary”, but thought better of it. From her tone, she was a bit frazzled.

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