Down by the River
Sam Jordison
Smashwords Edition
Copyright 2012 Sam Jordison
www.baddollar.com
$1 stories - it could be worse
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Incredibly, it remained hot on Saturday. All week, Adam had been getting steadily more annoyed about the bright blue sky outside his office window. The blazing sunshine was in view, but out of reach, while he remained trapped in the sterile not-quite-cold of his office. He had been certain that its glory would be all burned out come the weekend. It was sod’s law – just about the only law that was still respected in this corrupt goddamned country…
…Except, it was still sunny. The heat had forced him out of bed by 7am. By 8am the tar was visibly melting on the streets and sticky under the wheels of the buggy. Before they’d even got going, Sarah had made them stop so she could put more sun cream on Rachel’s little white arms and legs.
“Didn’t you do that before we left?”
“I didn’t put enough on. Not for this kind of heat.”
“Does it make a difference?”
“It might.”
He didn’t want to argue the point. Not if putting more cream on made Sarah happy. Even so, the delay made him antsy. It was the first time they’d gone to the river all year and he wanted to get there good and early so they could get the best spot, before the non-parents started waking up and crowding out the banks.
‘We need to be moving,” he said.
“No we don’t,” said Sarah. “Can’t you relax?”
She pushed Rachel’s floral sunbonnet further over her curly hair and squidged her nose. She put her little green sunglasses on. She kissed her cheek. Finally, she straightened up and Adam felt some of the tension leave him. Not least because, for the first time in weeks, Sarah was smiling.
“I know you want to get there, love. But a few minutes won’t make any difference.”
“You’re right,” he said. “As usual. Did I tell you I love you?”
Sarah bulged out her cheeks, as if they’d just filled with sick.
“You too.”
She pretended to vomit on the pavement.
Adam had deserved it. But she slipped her hand into his and gave it a squeeze.
“Calm down,” she said. “You aren’t there now. Try just to have fun.”
She was right. There was no work today. And there was no hurry. A small delay really didn’t make that much difference. It was a hot day. But Adam was cool. He had time on his hands. To prove the point, he decided to step into Mal’s store to buy a paper. And when the woman in front of him, began scrabbling around in her purse, muttering under her breath and slowly piling coins onto the counter, he just smiled indulgently. It was only when Mal told the woman that she was a dollar short that Adam began to feel prickly. Even from behind he was getting the impression that this lady was a tricky customer. He couldn’t see her face – she was wearing a huge, dirty old woollen coat with its hood up, inside and on the hottest day of the year. That fact told him most of what he needed to know. She wasn’t right inside. Mal needed to get her out of the shop and fast or she’d probably spend the precious whole day rearranging her candy bars, deciding which one to put back on the shelves, counting out her money… He had an idea.
“I’ve got a dollar,” he said, hurrying the bill out of his wallet. “There you go Mal. Okay ma’am you’re all paid up. I’ll have this paper too, Mal.”