Page 30 of The Second Chance Bus Stop
‘Tell me. If I had a choice to go anywhere in this city, I wouldn’t come to this very place every day. Why do you?’
‘Not everything we do is by choice. Some things are for survival. It’s become the one place I’m myself. Where memories don’t float around, they’re more organised when I’m here, I can hold onto my thoughts better. And it’s the only place I can possibly hope to find him in.’
‘Oh.’
‘Eliza,’ I say and glance at her cup again, worried the name will once again slip my mind. ‘Would you happen to know how I can put a phone on Silent mode?’
‘Sure. Would you like vibrations on?’ she asks.
‘Depends on if they’re good vibrations. We all need good vibrations in our life.’
She laughs. I put the rest of the biscuit in my mouth and find it is far too sweet.
‘Keep them on then, I take it.’
I hand my phone over, and she works her magic in seconds.
‘No more loud signals. All fixed.’ It looks the same as a minute ago to me, but I trust her. I know that any more phone calls in front of Zara will lead to more questions of me or, worse, she’ll ask Blade. I can’t quite remember why I can’t answer this call, but I somehow know that if I do my world will fall apart.
‘Right. I have to get back to the office. At least it’s Thursday!’ I hadn’t noticed what day it was, but I nod knowingly. As if I know what regularly happens on a Thursday in Eliza’s life.
‘Please, let me.’ I take the two empty cups and carry themoff to the counter where I spot metal trays and a three-bin system for recycling.
‘Bye, Eliza,’ I say when we arrive back to my corner and she retreats back to her office building.
In my bag I touch that the thing I snuck out with me rather than putting it in the bin. I touch it now to know it’s there: my friend’s empty paper cup, so that I don’t forget her name.
I feel refreshed, like when you’ve come in from a cold walk or stepped out of the shower. Perhaps it’s the realisation that even the smallest, most rapidly shrinking world can still grow bigger and that there is always space for a new friend.
The walk to the bus stop takes six minutes rather than the usual nine. I think how I diverted from my daily route to include Starbucks and how that has now made my original route faster. I think that I can’tknowif this is my beginning, middle or end. The thought is quite liberating.
Blade
Eksjö
Three hours after we set off on the trip we arrive in Eksjö, which Sophia tells me with delight meansfairy lakeand is an hour from her childhood home. The market is set to take place on the main square the day after tomorrow, and I have looked up a route to take tomorrow to a retirement village an hour’s drive away. While not every location she needs to be is close to where I’m headed, at least it’s within the same county. We drive through the town centre, and with an hour until sunset the sky has gone a bruised purple. A small crowd are getting mid-week-level rowdy outside the single bar on the high street and there’s a line winding up to a Thai food truck. Everything is clean: Even at dusk, the absence of random rubbish and lack of peeling paint, broken railings and tipped over bins stands out to me. There is none of the chaos that you get in a city with ten million people.
‘I googled a campsite a reasonable drive from here. I think that’s where we should head for the night,’ I say as we leave town behind. We both ate on our last stop, and there is no real reason to dwell here. It’s awkward enough sitting next to each other in the car.
‘Did you not know that we have right of passage in Sweden? You can camp anywhere if it’s just for a couple of nights.’
‘Anywhere?’
‘Well, anywhere where you’re not in the way or in someone’s actual garden. In a forest, next to the beach if there’s a suitable road.’
‘I don’t have to pay to set a tent up?’ This opens up a whole new world. Rather than finding campsites, we can stay anywhere we want.
‘No need to pay, no. We can plan our stops more intentionally, then. No need to factor in campsites. I need to stay three to four nights in our next location but that’s the longest we’ll ever stay in one spot. So this will work perfectly,’ she replies.
‘Where should we go, then? Do you know the area?’
‘Not really. I know where the hockey rink is. I waited in the car outside it every other weekend when my brothers played. I wouldn’t want to sleep there, though. The car would always get really cold, so I’d have to sit on my hands.’
I try to process what she just said. But I need more information.
‘Why did you wait in the car?’
‘I couldn’tbehaveinside.’ I look at her, a little confused still. ‘In the car it didn’t matter if I rocked back and forth, but inside Dad had lots of friends and my brothers had lots of friends who’d all look at me, I guess.Inside someone might see you, Sophia,my dad would tell me. As if me being seen would be a catastrophe.’
