DAY 11
Francis notices Bernie has been quiet during story time before bed each of the past few nights. They finish The Twits and she manages only a heavy smile and turns to face the other way in bed. Francis asks her if she’s OK. She says yeah, just feeling a little gloomy, a word she learned only last week from another book. This breaks some small part of Francis, a shedding of some part of his beloved daughter’s innocence at the age of 6. In the midst of holding everything together during COVID-19, he didn’t stop to think that the children are subject to mental health challenges too.
Ulrich watches another passer by arc so far around him that one of their feet slips off the kerb and they almost fall into the bike lane. It is as if the homeless people, like him, were the virus itself. What people don’t understand is that Ulrich was a self-employed builder until mid-way through the 1st UK lockdown. He worked hard to get his job and excelled, had bigger ambitions to start his own construction company. Then several unforeseen things happened, left him short and now… he is degraded in many ways, each day, mentally and physically. The thing with Ulrich is, despite the raft of adversity in his life, his inability to shower at the refuge because of the government’s advice during another lockdown, he remembers to laugh. Always laugh, even though some days, it takes an iron will to raise the corners of his cracked lips. A professional looking woman in a sharp pencil skirt, hugging a folder, tuts and speeds up as she passes him. In response to her arrogance, Ulrich stands, holds out his arms so his hands dangle, turns his collapsing shoes inwards and moans like a zombie, rolling his eyes. She breaks into a full run and he turns away, laughing, shaking his head before fear reclaims him.
(Day 6 continued) The trio are startled when a police siren sounds down below. They enter the 2nd, dense forest on the brow of the hill overlooking the care home as quickly as they can. Errol reminds the now twitchy Ayanna that they can just blame him, or act senile. He doesn’t care. Dusk begins to pull in. It seems none of them have thought this far ahead, but Bruce seems to think he is 17 and ready for the challenge of preserving three escaped pensioners. He does not offer up details of his proposed methods and Ayanna starts to shout at him as they navigate thorns, bogs, foxes and bold squirrels.
By 7pm it is pitch black darkness and Ayanna is crying, approaching total hysteria when the group stumble upon a small, derelict lodge type building, It is overgrown with ivy and surrounded by many trees. Bruce acts like he knew they were heading here, but to his credit, reveals a cooker clicker lighter he pocketed from the care home kitchen.
With a small fire blazing in the lodge, several rats scatter, but it appears nobody else has been here for some time. Errol pulls some cheap sausage rolls and 500ml of water from one of his 7-layers and says this is their entire ration, but they can sort that in the morning. They won’t go hungry tonight. To her surprise, Ayanna enjoys herself more than she has at any time during her captivity. At 1am, less than 2 hours after attempting sleep, huddled under a grubby tarpaulin, the three are suddenly woken and see there is a light dancing outside. Ayanna screams.