PB hots up

(In the real world I have 14 pieces to complete. It is going well, moving a little slower as I draw nearer to the end and do not easily want to leave this place that is called Port Brokeferry.)

BERLIE’S OPENS

The music started early and all the light were on, though it wasn’t yet dark. Kelso and Lynn were on the street handing out flyers that said Berlie’s was now open, just in case the music hadn’t alerted people to the fact.

One or two of the kids from school had followed the music and stood at the edge of the green waiting for something to happen. Wallace came out to them and said the first ride on the Waltzer was free so long as they had money to pay for a second. He handed out free whistles too, enough that it made good business. No more than a handful.

Evelyn saw Kelso moving along the street. Christine Cuts Hair had just closed and Morag had locked up. They both heard the thump thump of the music from the green and the shrill scream of whistles blowing. Then Evelyn saw the blond woman handing out leaflets. She looked like she had slept rough and was not really smiling when she smiled. Kelso was on the opposite side of the street. He was stopping to talk to the people he met. When Evelyn saw him, he was in conversation with Callum from the bakery.

Morag was saying something about Christine and Lachlan, and she was suddenly aware that Evelyn wasn’t listening. She looked up and followed where Evelyn was staring. She saw Kelso and decided she shouldn’t be there when they met.

‘I’ll maybe catch up with you later,’ Morag said and she turned down beside Mhairi’s Port Brokeferry Giftshop.

Evelyn waited until Callum had finished his cigarette. He nodded his head at the boy, Kelso, and disappeared into his shop. Then Evelyn began walking towards him.

At first Kelso didn’t recognise her. He held out a leaflet for her to take, just as though she was any other customer in the street. She did not take it but stood there waiting for him to really see who she was. When he did, his smile slipped and he was lost for words.

‘It’s Evelyn,’ she said.

‘Of course it is, Evelyn.’ He looked over his shoulder as if he was afraid he might be seen. ‘So, how are you doing?’

‘Is that all,’ she said. ‘A year away and that’s it?’

Kelso shrugged and looked at his feet.

‘I thought we had something a little more than ‘how are you doing’ between us.’

‘It’s been a year,’ he said. ‘I thought you’d have forgotten by now.’

‘How the bloody hell could I do that?’ she said. She pulled the sleeve of her blouse up, high enough so that he could see the letters of his name tattooed on her arm. He’d done it himself, with a needle and some Indian ink. They were drunk at the time. Drunk and naked in his trailer. The letters looked like something a child would have written. ‘How the hell could I forget that?’ she said.

He shrugged again.

Already there was a smell of meat cooking hanging in the air, thick and sweet. And underneath the burning oil of the generators. People were beginning to notice and were making their way to where Berlie’s was. Kelso thrust a leaflet into Evelyn’s hand and said he’d see her later.

‘Doesn’t it mean something?’ she said.

He shrugged once more.