And now, lying on top of that boxcar, feeling the gentle rattle of the train as it crawled along the tracks, I remembered that very comment. It was then that I sat up and tried to get my bearings. I thought back to the town where I hopped aboard, trying to recall which direction I had been facing when the rattler came into view.
I lay back down and smiled, quietly confident that I was headed in the right direction. I felt a warm surge inside my mind and suddenly realized that it was Loui. He came forward the slightest bit, as if tapping me on the shoulder. He felt what I felt at that moment and I think he liked it. For him at least, there was work ahead. Satisfying work.
5.
The train rattled into Melbourne early the next morning. The sun hadn’t quite broken free over the horizon, but the sky had lit up considerably since I first sat up to see farm houses on either side of the tracks. I slipped beneath 2 carriages as the train slowed to a crawl. I’d never been to the city before, but would eventually learn that Toomey had moved back in with her mother somewhere in Kensington.
I wasn’t sure I’d be able to locate her but knew I wouldn’t give up without trying first. It wasn’t as if Loui was prepared to quit anyway. As long as he was lurking in the background, there was no escaping our eventual destination.
The streets were mostly deserted as I crept out from the trainyard. There were a couple of hobos doing the same, having escaped from their own boxcars. I watched as they slowly crept towards the roads, none of the rail workers bothering with them. Why would they? It wasn’t as if they needed chasing.
It was too early for any of the stores to open and the tram tracks sat empty in the middle of the street. I didn’t have a watch but figured the time was still shy of 6. With very little option, I wandered around aimlessly until something in my mind told me to head towards Kensington. The journey was only a few miles anyway and if I took my time, would reach the suburb just as the shops opened. My mother had mentioned Kensington as a place where a giant park sat, one she often visited with her mum whenever they visited the city.
6.
I spent the morning sitting in that very park, imagining my mum sitting on the grass with her parents. There were a couple of bums sleeping on the park benches, but the local constables made short work of them once the working class began to shuffle along the footpaths.
The sun began to climb higher into the sky and I was starting to doze off when I remembered the cheque. Kensington was quite an affluent suburb and I figured a bank mightn’t be such a bad idea. The Commonwealth Bank had branches all across the country, including Cider Hill and I figured it would probably be the better choice.
It turned out to be the wisest decision of the day. Along the way I found a small boarding house with a vacancy sign hanging from the ceiling of the porch. An old man in army attire was sitting in a rocking chair puffing a pipe as I stopped to read the sign. He looked to be monitoring me, probably deciding whether I would be a suitable tenant, although I figured it had more to do with my ability to pay than my demeanour.
“Lookin for a room, kid?” he finally asked. I wasn’t sure I wanted a room but knew I’d need one. I wasn’t planning on staying in Melbourne for the long hall. After I finished my only planned job here, I was hoping to take my sorry arse to more exciting places. There was no real destination in mind but I’d made up my mind that wherever I ended up, I would always return home to let Loui fulfill his own needs.
“Maybe. Can I come back in a bit? Just need to go to the bank first.” I replied. It didn’t appear to bother the man, continuing to puff his pipe intermittently.
“Plenty available. Take your time.” I nodded and continued up the street towards the hustle and bustle building further along. The morning was definitely picking up, the sun’s heat starting to build as it continued its climb.
7.
Depositing the cheque at the bank took far less time than I anticipated, although I did enjoy the surprised look the teller shot me as I handed it across, together with my birth certificate. She eyed me for a brief moment, then excused herself as she fetched someone to authorise the transaction.
Tanya returned a few moments later, a short dumpy-looking man following her. He was wearing a grin that beamed as bright as the sunshine streaming in through the window, obviously happy to win over my business.
When I stepped back out onto the footpath ten minutes later, I had opened both a chequing account and a savings account, as well as having a book of 50 cheques on order. The cheques would take a few days to arrive but I was happy to wait, offering to pick them up the following week. After a ferociously enthusiastic handshake, the bank manager allowed me to leave with an even 10 Pound in my pocket.
I returned back to the boarding house where the old man was still puffing away, this time stepping through the gate and shaking his hand. He introduced himself as Irvin Baker, the owner of the building and after struggling from his rocker, beckoned me through the front door.
8.
It took 3 days for me to find the bitch that had insulted my mum all those years before. There was a total of 12 listings for Toomey in the phone book, 3 of which lived right there in Kensington. 2 had the
