Boarding a bus back to her base wasn’t half as difficult as it getting a taxi to bring her. She had money and had to simply find her way to a bus station where she was bent to board a bus. It was past twelve and she knew if all went well she had to be at home by one to welcome Erica. She was stressed out and wore a face mask to cover up the bruises on her face. Ten minutes later, the thirty sitter bus wasn’t even half filled and no one seemed to care. All passengers were at liber to just press their phones as they waited for others to com in. ” My goodness.” She sighed and threw her head out of the window to see if she could get a better bus to take her home but only one bus was going her way and she was already in it.
” Mam. You seem to have forgotten something perhaps.” Said a fat woman who sat beside her with a baby in her hands. She wondered why the woman had chose to sit beside her.
” No not at all. I’m just wondering why the bus hasn’t moved yet. Is this customary?” She asked as she brought her head back into the bus and gazed around her. Some people had entered but it was still scanty.
” I’m afraid that you may be new to the system. Normally it takes about an hour or two for the bus to get fully occupied. Until driver has the money if the last person, the damn bus don’t go nowhere.” Said the fat woman of African decent.
” Damn it! Is this so. No one told me about it. I would have gotten a cab.” She enunciated, feeling irritated and scared by the notions in her heart. She wanted to take a hot bath as she could now afford it and she wanted to cook something good for her daughter as well.
” A cab? Where would you get a cab that’s going to Texacana. Sister you must be new here.” Fathomed the fat lady whose baby looked very much white.
” I can’t get one? I got one when I was coming today. She charged a two hundred.” Said Marilyn as she gazed at the contrasting skin of the toddler.
” Two hundred you say! That’s one hell of a fortune. It’s twenty dollars on this bus. Mam you really are rich.” Implied the fat woman, provoking her to gaze further at the grooming of her seat mate. Surprisingly she couldn’t see anything so abstract from the ordinary. Perhaps just the perfume and the khaki jackets and then the mild orange stain between the jacket.
” Well it’s just me so she would need to make up for cost. Thirty times twenty Is a lot more. I don’t want to do the math but I know…”
” Six hundred. But then it’s a big car and takes more diesel than a taxi, probably five times more diesel than it.” Said a voice of reason, from the back of their seat. Marilyn turned to see who it was and found an old man wearing a cowboy heart and hard a jeans shirt on. He had been listening to the ladies talk and had spoken when he felt it was right to speak with his old voice that was croaky and coarse.
” Good day sir.” She stammered In skeptical tone and faced her front.
” Well sister I do not know how you earn but paying a two hundred for a twenty dollar ride is so unadvisable. The country is in shambles and no one should really be throwing money around.” Adviced the fat woman and mumbled almost angrily.
“Okay. Thank you.” Intoned Marilyn.
” Hey. Sometimes there’s a reason why people make such journeys you know. Not for a cruise like most people would think. So about some fifty years ago when I was a plumber in Newark. I did some work for RJ Johnson of blessed Memory. It was at his home there in Newark and I stayed at Boulevard, Some kilometers from there.” Said the old man sighed softly and continued.
” Before I was done. He had to leave for an important business meeting and left in his chopper.” He added and kept mum. He didn’t say a thing for about thirty seconds till Marilyn had to turn and check that he was still alive. She came headfirst with his piercing gaze and quickly turned back to the bus wondering what sort of strange man he was.
” Don’t worry. It’s only you on this bus that doesn’t know Papa Cass. He has dementia and forgets quite too often. I bet you he will tell you the rest of the story when he is done recalling.” Stated the fat woman in a whisper.
” Oh really? Is that some sort of sickness or something of that nature? It’s so strange.” She inquired and quickly stared at the old man again to be sure she saw him breathing. The manner he had went silent was synonymous with dying.
” It’s gotten mostly in old age. Papa Cass smokes the remainder of his life away. Had we not confronted him, he would have still be smoking in the bus till now.” Said the fat woman and made a funny face in play for her baby.
” Yes that’s it ! Newark in Newark. So he left In a chopper and when I was done with the plumbing works. I called him up immediately. I said Hello sir, I’m done. The pipes work as good as new.” ” How much?” He said and I said two thousand. Well the truth be told, the service didn’t even worth a thousand, but when you deal with the big boys of the state, you have to charge big. Johnson didn’t even say a thing. He said come over to eagle town to get it. The kent ridge estates. Flat two.” He instructed me and boy did I jump in joy for the extra money I had made.” Said PaPa Cass and cackled softly like a hyena while Marilyn kept wondering how the story had anything to do with her present discuss.
” Oh you mischievous old man. So you ripped of the good billionaire.” Said the Fat lady in a humorous tenor.
” Yes he deserved it.” He affirmed in his croaky old tone and kept on talking.
” You see so I took my bag and headed to the park. I had to go to eagles villa which was a town quite far from Newark. I didn’t care cause I had made an extra grand from doing nothing. Truth be told my services didn’t even worth two hundred and there I was going to pick up a two thousand. Hehehe.”
” Damn it Old man. You have no chill. I love that you ripped those bagger cold out.” Hyped a man from the seat after the old man’s own.
” Yeah yes thank you. Thank you very much.” He said and raised his thin hands into the air in appreciation before keeping on with his story.
” You see I had just four dollars on me and the fare to the Villa was six dollars. I got into the bus and the car drove us there. When it was time to pay. I went in front of the conductor and began to shove my hands in all my pockets and almost shoved it into my arse in search for the money I didn’t have. I said _damn it man I had a twenty-four dollars on me and I can’t find my twenty. Someone had must have taken it. I said to the cabman with so much vexation and hurried to the exit of the door and stood there.” Purred Papa Cass and laughed weakly again while all the men in the bus joined him to laugh.
” You really were a pain in the arse in your days old man. What trick did you pull?” Said the fat woman and turned to catch a first hand narrative of the true story. Even Marilyn had became invested in the old mans narratives.
” The bus driver who had thought I was trying to run off with his money was very shocked to see me pause at the exit and began to gaze at his customers with a hunting eye. I was contemplating on making a scene by asking to search every single passenger but I realized that such a setting was bad for my reputation so I breathed deeply and headed back to the cabman who was somewhat convinced I was mentally deranged even though I had aborted my mission. Before I could even say a word. He stretched his hands forward and asked for the four dollars. ” Said papa Cass.
” Damn you Papa Cass. Even I your biggest fan is disappointed with you. I mean don’t you just regret not giving those losers the show of a lifetime. You ought to have made that claim and I’m sure you would have kept your damn four dollars and some change on top.” Countered the young man who sat behind Papa Cass.
” Well I do regret not having some more. It wasn’t about the money. It’s about the dramatic memories I failed to make in the bus that afternoon. I alighted the bus and had no dime on me. The estate was still kilometers away and I couldn’t even think of trekking even though I was just twenty then. I had to get a cab.” Said Papa Cass and chuckled mischievously before continuing with his story.
” Damn you old man. I’m feeling this one. Hope you ripped him clear of his life savings.” Said the young dude who was intoxicated by the dark discuss of PaPa Cass.
” Well … well .. well” the old man said and blanked once again.
” Damn it old man. At this point of the story even death can’t hold me back from reaching the end of this matter.” Exclaimed the young dude as he rushed his head forward to set the old man on track.
Marilyn had been so invested in the narrative of the old man that didn’t even know when the bus got filled up, alas there was another entrance at the rear of the car and she didn’t even notice it.
” There he goes again. It goes on in series, dropping us off at discusses when the stories pay the most. Sometimes I think he does this on purpose.” Said the Fat lady whose baby had just began to cry due to the movement of the car.
” My God Erica, I’m so sorry.” Said Marilyn as she gazed at her watch closely. It was some minutes to one and the little girl would already have been dropped off by her mother’s closed door. She was still sulking in her sadness when Papa cass was quick to come to the rescue.
” I was saying something about dropping at the station and getting a cab cause Young Cass was no crab. I hated to treck.”
” And welcome back to transmission. Tell us more.” Said the Man and balanced on his seat.
” The cabman gave his bill and I said don’t worry let’s go. I knew money was coming and didn’t care to beat down the bill. It was charter and I had money to pay. Or should I say I had earned money to pay. Soon, the cabman had sped me straight to the estate and you know back then there were no calls. I told him to wait on me cause I had to get my funds from the big man in flat two. He said okay cause he knew he over charged. I rushed to flat two knocked on the door and some man came out telling me Johnson had left here about ten minutes ago. Damn it. Put him on the phone I said to the man and he did. Johnson said he never told me to come to estate. He said I should meet at Chicken George golf club which was some crazy kilometers away. I went back to the cab man and said. Lets go to the chicken George Golf course. How much in all.” I asked with so much confidence. I was sure the billionaire was going to tip me for my troubles. He told me the bill and we zoomed away. Man it was about twenty minutes drive so hell long. It was a charter like you know cost so much.” Said the old man and paused for a while causing everyone to believe he may have taken an impromptu break as usual.
” Well I got to the golf course and asked around. They said Johnson just left some five minutes ago. Damn it this billionaires keep moving like crickets. They don’t have a single chill.” I said to those girls and begged them to put a call to him on my behalf. One did and I said. ” Boss where are you. I’m at the Chicken George at this very moment.” I said to him in a humble tone.
” Really? I just left there now. I’m headed to the Sheraton just minutes fly from here. Meet me there and take your two thousand dollars.” He said and shot the damn phone on me before I could say a word. I go back to the cabman and told him today is his lucky day. I said it with no smile on my face. He believed and kept towing me around the united states in the name of trying to get a pay check from Johnson. To cut short a long story, I went to the Sheraton and he was gone, I went to the Waukesha Casino and he was gone and finally at the big game, where the super bowl was about to get played I met him sitting relaxed with a champagne in his platter.
” Sorry I move so fast these days. I had so much to do and I wanted to really watch this match here in the V I P session.” He said to me and took out his wallet and handed to me two thousand dollars in exact. Old Johnson didn’t add me a dime on it and I said nothing about all the troubles he made me go through. I just thanked him and took the money. I had accumulated over eight hundred dollars in fare and it meant I was left with a thousand dollar or less when I paid the man and paid my fare back to Newark. I Wasn’t even out of his lounge when he had picked up another call. He said ” Oh Mister Governor it’s fine, I can never keep you waiting. I will be on my way immediately.” He said and quickly got up and walked so quickly till he even walked past me while I move slowly In marvel to what a billionaire had the work so hard for.” Said Papa Cass and smiled in reflection to his own narrative. It now became apparent to Marilyn, why had chipped in to speak.
” All these billionaires don’t sleep. They work hard and never have time to enjoy their money. If I had a billion dollar I would go a cruise in Dubai or Paris and live my dream life. No call can stop me from watching the super bowl.” Said another youth who was a keen listener of the discuss.
” It’s easier Said than done. I used to think this way but today I am old and the money don’t matter. Perhaps they never didn’t matter and where just an illusion of sins.” Said the old man and sighed softly in reflection. His last words had aged deeply on Marilyn who felt like he was addressing her directly. She was compelled to turn back to gaze at him and when she finally did, he was sunk backward, dozing away in a surprising slumber. She turned her head sullenly away from him. And rested it on the side of the window. When finally, the car came to a halt in the station it was already past three O clock and in as much as she tried, the sadness on her face didn’t go away. She couldn’t help but think of her daughter. She got a cab headed straight to the nearest mac Donald’s and got some dinner for the both of them before heading home. As the cab cut into her street, it became apparent to her, the levels of danger her baby could be. The risk of getting kidnapped or the risk of getting stranded in a pedophiles den. The piercing evening cold didn’t even come near in scaling the scary things that would have gone wrong with Erica. It gave her heart a sudden phobia and it began to beat as she had her eyes on lawn on her apartment. The cab finally came to a halt and finally she alighted to see the most shocking thing in her life. Lying on the cold slab, tired, hungry and lonely was her three years old daughter, who had cried her self to sleep. It shot out tears from Marilyn’s eyes as she hurried to raise the poor child from the chilly tiled slab.
” Baby. Wake up. I’m sorry I wasn’t home when you came back.” She chimed after bending down and quickly lifting the child off the floor even before she could awake fully from her sleep.
” Mum?” Erica asked In a vocally tired time as she tried to come back to her full awareness.
” Yes it’s me my love. Let’s go inside. I have food for us.” She said and hurried to door, took out her keys, opened it before going in.
” Mom where have you been. I thought you were never going to come back again. Like dad.” She said, feeling weak on the shoulder of her mother.
” Oh no ! I’m never going to leave you. Baby you know how had things are for us. I had to find is some food.” She said in a hurry and dropped of the little girl on the couch. Quickly she brought out pack of burger and handed it straight to Amelia.
” Baby here, eat up this burger. Eat as much as you can.” She intoned and handed to the child a bottle of coke. She quickly unboxed the second box pulled out her burger and bit it very quickly as she gazed at her daughter to make sure she was alright. She now had some money to offset some bills, but it was only going to last a couple of days. She had to make up her mind on weather or not she wanted to return to the tavern or not. The munchies had done Erica good and she could now see clearly. She felt warmer and her ease to assimilate. It was time to ask the question which she hadn’t been able to ask when she was so weak and tired to assimilate.
” Mummy, why do you have bruises on your face. Here. There’s blood on your dress.” Cautioned the little child in an innocent manner. ” What blood? She thought she had washed it off clear, she paused and gazed on her dress to see what the child had seen.