I had some “important” business to do with my bike somewhere far away from home. The place where I had to be was in a big city, but the reception of my mobile was clunky at best. So it was difficult to communicate with my family back home.
I spent a whole day dealing with this business but that was not quite enough, so I needed to stay for at least one more day – and the night in between.
I lost all chance to stay in people’s houses so I decided to set up “bed” on a bench on the main street to sleep.
I had also been trying to communicate with my family the whole day after I had learned that one of them had just had a stroke, with little success. All I had managed to learn was that Antoine was under observation in hospital, with doctors trying to decide whether to operate now or wait.
There was plenty of light on the high street and a corner shop open next to the bench. With a thick blanket I managed to have a nap amidst all the light and noise.
I woke up at one point in the middle of the night. The street was quieter now, but there were still a bunch of party goers around. One of the groups of dressed-up people was familiar. I could recognise some of the voices. They recognised me as well. One of them suggested to come to the bench where I was laying down to talk to me. Antoine answered: ‘It does not look like this may be the best moment.’ They walked down the street and I kind of agreed with Antoine. It would have been weird for a bunch of dressed-up people to come and talk to some one sleeping rough.
Then I remembered that it was difficult to contact Antoine and I called out – this was a rare opportunity to talk to him.
The whole group stopped and some walked towards me. Antoine had a white suit on, with white shoes to match. He was properly dressed up for a fine party. I said something like, ‘but hey, you have just had a stroke, you should be in observation! You should be in hospital, not here?’ He responded that he felt fine and he was not in pain at all, although he did get his hand to his heart.
The next day I got on a bus to finish off the business I had come to town for. On one of the stops, Nathan and Antoine got on. Great, I thought. It was another opportunity to talk to the family that I really needed to seize.
We sat on those sits where four people can face each other and we talked. Nathan put some of his things under his seat to talk more comfortably. At one point the bus stopped and there may have been some announcement that there would be some delay, because Nathan and Antoine got off to buy something quickly, leaving me with Nathan’s things in the bus.
It may have taken them longer than expected or the delay may have been shorter than announced. The bus set off again as they were coming out of the shop. Nathan looked especially distressed. He put his hand on his nose looking at me with his eyes wide open, as the bus put more and more distance between them, standing on the pavement, and me, sitting in the bus.
I looked under the seat where Nathan had been. There it was, his inhalator, a few more things, and his phone. So there was not even any point in phoning him to arrange giving these things back to him.
I thought it would be easier to cancel or delay the appointment to which I was heading, get off the bus, and try to catch them on the high street. I gathered my things and Nathan’s and requested the next stop. The bus took a few turns before letting me out, and I tried to remember all of them so I could go back to where those two were. I hoped that they would have stopped where they were or at least not walked too far away.
As I walked back the streets the bus had taken me, I thought how happy they would be to see me back with the inhalator.