the bus sat outside the terminal, waiting to pull out on to the rain slicked highway
ali had been duly turned into a rabbit, and was resting more or less comfortably in the pocket of the magician, who was seated by the window in the furthest seat back in the bus
the bus was almost full. the magician had placed a large trunk on the seat beside himself thus preventing anyone else from sitting beside him
ali was able to poke her rabbit head out of the magician’s pocket and peer out the window.
the rain continued to fall, and the lights in the mist on the other side of the street had a soothing glow.
the driver closed the door of the bus.
then just as it appeared the bus was about to pull out, the driver opened the door again.
a man got on the bus. he was one of the biggest men ali had ever seen. he had a big brown hat on his head and the hat was wet because it was raining.
the big man in the brown hat strode purposefully down the aisle of the bus and confronted the magician.
what are you trying to pull, manny? he demanded. you can not just run out on the syndicate like that. and what is that rabbit doing in your pocket?
there is some misunderstanding here, the magician retorted acidly. my name is not manny, it is omar, and i must say i do not care for your attitude.
you better cone along with me, manny. the big guy is in no mood for your childish nonsense.
the other passengers on the bus were starting to get restless.
driver, can we get this show on the road?
somebody throw both these bums off the bus, and their rabbit with them.
*
with a weary sigh, the bus driver got up and walked down the aisle to the back of the bus to see what the commotion was about.
the big man with the brown hat turned around and saw the bus driver approaching him.
chester! the bus driver exclaimed. i did not expect to see you here, of all people.
it looks you got me, billy, the man in the brown hat replied sheepishly.
i guess i do, the driver said. you would not happen to have that sawbuck you have owed me for lo these many years, would you?
no, man, i am afraid i do not. you are going to have to give me a little more time on that.
fair enough, billy replied with another weary sigh. meanwhile would you mind getting off my bus so i can get these good people to their appointed destinations?
all right, billy, if you say so.
do we have to listen to this all night, a woman of ample girth with a blue flower in her hair, occupying the seat across from manny the magician, demanded. i for one have to get to cincinnati by ten o’clock tomorrow morning to peddle my wares, and i am incensed by this totally needless delay.
you see what i have to deal with, billy addressed chester. be a good fellow and get off the bus and make the whole world smile, all right.
all right, billy, i will make some people happy and do as you say . and i will get back to you with a tenner, i promise, as soon as it is reasonably feasible.
as he started back up the aisle, chester turned and glared balefully at manny. i’m not through with you, my man. do not think that for one minute.
move it! another voice from the depths of the bus shouted. let’s go!
a rather empty boast, manny sneered at chester.
chester jostled against the lady going to cincinnati with the blue flower in her hair, and she shoved him away and he landed across the aisle in the lap of a young woman with thick glasses reading a copy of pearl buck’s the good earth, and more hooting and laughter flowed through the bus.
ali saw her chance.
she jumped out of manny’s pocket and scurried under the seats up to the front of the bus and exited through chester’s legs when billy opened the door of the bus to let chester out.
the cool night air gave her a well-needed shot of adrenalin and she hopped down the street into the shadows of an abandoned warehouse.
free!
but after a moment of exultation, despair overwhelmed her.
she was a rabbit! how could she get to the good place if she was a rabbit!
and then another thought hammered her poor brain.
the envelope!
what had become of the envelope?
next
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