(part Three)
Travelling.
The alarm rang redundantly at five am precisely, JP had already jumped out of his bed at four thirtyfive and had shaved (not that he really needed to) and jumped into the shower turning it full on and enjoying the bathroom to himself for once,
"This is OK" he thought, no banging on the door by his Mum or sisters the water was hot and plentiful and the towels were still dry, on went the deodorant and the hair gel,
"I could get used to this"
Straight back into his bedroom, clothes already hanging on the back of the door he quickly dressed,
"Today is the day" he whispered to himself "the life changing day"
Down he went for breakfast the McQueen special breakfast, tea, toast and whatever was in the cupboard that morning, then back into his bedroom he put a chair against the doorknob to stop any surprise entrance by prying family and then quietly moved the bed away from the wall, pulling back the carpet from the skirting he reached under and retrieved the envelope hidden there for three weeks now with the contents enclosed and safe. Carefully putting back the carpet and bed as thought nothing had been there, on went his jacket, where should he put the envelope he thought? Jacket pocket, that would be safe, no he finally decided upon the leg pocket of his cargo pants, with two buttons was safest there, he checked for the umpteenth time, Passport, wallet, cash for the coach and something to eat when he got there, Passport, Medical card and the thing that was the hardest to find his Birth certificate, and the Envelope.
Back down the stairs he went, to the front door and took one glance round the McQueen home, quietly he opened the front door stepped out and closed it making sure the latch had dropped, he walked a few yards away, turned and looked at chez McQueen, one look! Glancing up the street he saw the Taxi he had booked the night before waiting engine running at the top, down went the drivers window,
"McQueen?" asked the driver
"That's me" said JP getting in,
"Where to?"
"Chester Coach station please" said JP and off they set,
"What bloody time do you call this for buying records" tutted Myra as she, Mercedes, Tina and Michaela all stood faces squashed up against the now steamed up front window watching the taxi containing JP drive off into the distance, the alarm may not have woken JP but it alerted the rest of the household.
Just a few minutes later the taxi arrived at the station and out stepped JP, he paid the driver and walked toward the early bird bus, looking at the destination board above the front window emblazoned with the destination
"MANCHESTER",
He had to tap on the the door, the driver glanced through the closed concertina door saw JP standing there and with the flick of a switch the door hissed open, JP went up the three steps asked for a day return to Manchester, paid and received his ticket and looked down the length of the bus, he was the only passenger on it, with only the slightest hint of sarcasm the driver quipped,
"Get a seat quick if I was you, you don't want to be standing all the way do you!"
Five minutes later he and the driver set off, sitting right at the back of the bus he had time to think, I.D OK, documents OK, envelope OK, he felt it in the pocket of his right leg, what seemed like a moment later he awoke with a start his head bumping on the back of the seat in front, the door at the front once again hissing open in the distance, glancing out of the windows was the familiar sight of Manchester, as he got level with the driver the question on his lips was,
"Can you tell me where the Leeds bus goes from!"
"Here son"
"What after you have gone?" enquired a slightly confused JP
"No this bus" replied the driver
"But this is the Manchester bus!"
"No it was the Manchester bus till it got here now it's the Manchester to Leeds bus"
"I don't know what you mean" said an ever more confused JP
"It's simple son, it's the early bird Chester to Manchester, then it becomes the Manchester to Leeds bus, then the nice man in Leeds turns it round the other way and it becomes the Leeds to Manchester bus then when it Gets to Manchester its the Manchester to Chester bus! Simple ain't it!I suppose you want a return to Leeds now don't you?"
Feeling sheepish by now and looking at the growing queue waiting to get on the bus he just said yes, paid once more and quickly made his way to the back seats again keeping his head down.
"Bloody teenagers! They are all the same, come on my bus no idea what's going on or where they are going in life, clueless the lot of em going round with those e-pods stuck in their ears, what have they got to worry about, nothing!" mumbled the driver to himself,
This time the bus was completely full every seat taken, the typical mix of student types and pensioners, they made good time, although JP had never been to Leeds before he knew they were close when passengers started taking bags and backpacks off the luggage racks above the seats, through a tunnel under the railway station left round the grand looking grey stone Queens hotel and the short distance to Wellington coach station and stop, first the students piled off then it was Pensioner unloading time, wheelie baskets and string bags,
"Where do they get all those string bags from?" he said under his breath,
Then he was off, avoiding the withering stare of the driver, he walked the short distance down Wellington street to the destination down another street just off it.