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Chapter Four made me nervous and unsure. I didn't know who was going to shout at me and who was going to smile. Too often I'd been laughed at as if what I said was a big joke. Heading around the big building in front of the hotel, Lucy and I appeared on the side of a very wide road. Dirty cars zoomed up and down, honking loudly, spewing awful gases up into the air. I could see the pollution pouring out, polluting my precious lungs that had been preserved so well by my Prime Minister since birth. Had I just undone seventeen years worth of hard work by one weeklong trip to the States? I coughed as we walked down the street and Lucy gave me a sideways glance. There was a playful smile on her lips. She wasn't in a mood anymore, I thought. "It's boiling, isn't it?" she asked. "Sure is," I answered, pretending even to myself that I would give her a taste of her own medicine and be moody back. I knew I'd fail. The road ended by a set of lights. Neither of us felt brave enough to cross it and so, looking discreetly at the map I had stuffed into the back pocket of my jeans before leaving the hotel, I pointed to a Metro station that was nearby. I thought it might be on the path to our right and so we followed it. After walking for fifteen minutes I realised I was wrong and that we'd have to backtrack and actually cross at the traffic lights. Holding each others hands, Lucy and I raced across the roads, very aware that the blinking Walk and Don't Walk signs were very fast. Being raised in a country where no-such buttons even still existed, I knew that Lucy felt as guilty as I did when we held the button down for a long time - even having to stop in the centre of the road to press again. Once safely across, and only just narrowly missing an open-top car, Lucy and I made our way down a long stretch of pavement that blurred against the dizzying horizon. I couldn't see its end and that suited me fine. If I had to walk all day I'd be happy. At least if we were walking I didn't have to worry about Lucy dragging me off somewhere else. |
The path led us past some very old buildings, one of which housed a man who leaned out to wolf-whistle at Lucy. The pavement became uneven in places - at one point it crumbled completely and a three-foot square patch of sandy earth was all that was left. Lucy pulled out her camera and, laughing uncontrollably, made me stand in the hole to wave back at her. A rusty chain-link fence cushioned our left side for nearly a mile and Lucy lunged herself at it, thrusting her camera into my hand. We laughed hard and in the blistering heat I felt a headache coming on. I'd forgotten to wear my sunglasses. The road continued on for another two miles. Lucy and I walked side by side, trying to ignore the heat of the sun, the thickness of the air and the noisy traffic that ran along our right hand side. Across another dangerous set of traffic lights, we found the Metro station. The ticket booth was cushioned beneath the cooling blocks of the freeway, which ran above our heads. Sighing with relief, Lucy and I hurried up to the ticket booth to price the tickets. Suddenly I wanted to go exploring. Not today, I thought, but maybe tomorrow. How easy it is to make plans for tomorrow when you're living today. A young man approached us, eyeing the ticket booth and then Lucy. He smiled at her and she smiled back. To my complete surprise the man offered his hand to Lucy. His name, he said, was Bert. His chocolate brown skin wasn't burning in the sun like mine was and his clothes fitted him snugly, showing off the muscles of his arms and chest. Bert was very attractive. He explained to Lucy that a friend of his was DJ'ing at a party on Friday night and that if she wanted to he could take her. Startled by his seemingly innocent offer, Lucy stammered that she really couldn't go because she couldn't leave me unattended. I felt like a fool. Standing there in my baggy clothes, my skinny arms and face going pink in the sun, my face drenched in sweat. Bert looked me over and then nodded his head. "Hey, no problem," he said. "Look, I've got to catch a train." He pointed up at the station above. "It was nice talking to you guys." "You too," I said weakly, although he hadn't spoken a single word to me. |