I bumped into Tam on the way back to the
flat. He was selling women’s shoes off a barrow.
‘Standing in for
a mate,’ he said. ‘He went for a slash.’ He looked over his shoulder. ‘That was
twenty minutes ago, right enough.’
An elderly woman
stopped to browse his wares. She picked up one shoe after another and threw
each one down with disdain. She looked at Tam with an expression that betrayed
her anger at how he could dare try to punt such crap.
She shuffled off
along the pavement.
‘Bitch,’ Tam
muttered. ‘Fucking top quality gear, an’ all. Guaranteed plastic uppers.’ He
looked at me. ‘They might give ye blisters,’ he said, ‘but they’ll never wear
out.’
There was
nothing I could say.
‘The shine lasts
a lifetime!’ he added. Surely he wasn’t trying to sell me something?
‘Well, Tam,’ I
said. ‘I’m off. Early start tomorrow, eh?’
He checked his
wrist. Light freckles on pale skin. The watch strap was pink elastic. ‘Eh?’ he
said. ‘Oh, aye. What time are ye...’
‘Nine o’clock,’
I said. Didn’t he know?
He smiled
quietly to himself. ‘Well, ye’ve got the map,’ he said. ‘The, eh, secretary’ll
open up at half eight.’
‘Right,’ I said.
I turned to leave, but he tapped me on the elbow.
‘Ye’re no
looking for a pair of shoes, are ye?’ he said.
I glanced at
what was on display.
‘I’ll have
gents’ designs next week,’ he said. He sounded desperate.
‘Some other
time,’ I said, and started walking. ‘It was shirts I was looking for.’
‘I’ll do ye a
deal!’ he shouted.
I kept walking.
I wanted to get back to the flat to go over my lesson plan. The verb ‘to be’.
I was dying to
see Tam’s school.
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