Stories of the Street - Thirty five

Jamie stands up and runs through his mental list. He must remember everything he needs for the day. It is coming up to seven thirty and he will be out of here by seven forty and he won’t get back in until at least seven this evening.

He has his day sack with bottles of water, his note pad, an extra sweatshirt and various other bits and bobs. His ‘phone is in his hand and his wallet is in the middle compartment of the bag. He picks up the letters and some other vital papers including his passport, bank statements and various key documents. He asks himself what else he needs and surveys the room.

He has put the sleeping bag and other bits behind the sofa and his other bag has been stowed away there too. An empty cup that had contained coffee was on the occasional table alongside the plate with the crumbs from his morning roll. He will put them in the kitchen and brush his teeth quickly before going to the loo. He just has to wait for Gerry to vacate the loo first and tell him he will just be a minute. Then they will leave.

Picking up the dishes he goes into the kitchen and rinses them, leaving them on the dish drainer by the sink. His phone rings and he answers it immediately. It is Amanda, asking him if he will see her at lunchtime. He agrees to ‘phone her after the interview and will see her at twelve thirty by the entrance to her office. He puts the ‘phone down to pick up the dishtowel and starts drying the dishes.

Gerry flushes the toilet and calls out that he has to hurry. Jamie picks up the day sack and dashes to the loo, thinking he will have to brush his teeth later. He relieves himself then does a perfunctory hand wash before leaving the loo. Gerry is already at the door feigning impatience so Jamie catches up with him and they leave the flat.

At the outside door, Gerry locks up and as an aside says he will be back about eleven as there will be a thing at his office he forgot about, he then turns and marches down the road leaving Jamie at the door more than a little annoyed but powerless to do anything about it. He realises that he will have to start looking for someone else to help him out, he had received more than a few hints and signals that his stay was becoming an unwelcome intrusion. Next will come direct hints that it is time to leave.

Jamie knows the signs; he has been “sofa surfing” now for about eight months. In the first couple of months he stayed in one friend’s house with several bags of his belongings. By the fourth month he was staying for a few weeks at a time in other places. By the sixth he was down to two bags and shorter stays with more obscure friends. Most of his possessions gone, no control over even the simple things like when to come and go in a place of his own, his own key, the choice of when to eat or wash or sleep. It had ground him down to this.

He hoped that today’s interview would get him a job and he could start to build his life again. Amanda was not going to be with him for much longer – he could see that she was worrying he was going to ask to stay at her place but that was something he didn’t want. Well at least something he could not think about at the moment.

As he runs through the things he needs to do before going to the interview he puts his hands in his pocket and panics. Where is his ‘phone?

Damn! Its in the kitchen and he will not get back to it until at least eleven tonight!

Life is shit sometimes…