"There’s a lanky man in his mid twenties folded up behind the table with his hands over his ears, watching Dio with a worried expression. He’s in a very rumpled pair of beige linen slacks and a buff coloured checked shirt. Guy’s the same washed out shade of yellow as the quinces, with big brown eyes and a mop of mousy brown hair cut short and fluffy.
“What you doing back here?” I ask.
He stares up at me, agog. I’ve rarely seen anyone who qualifies for ‘agog’, but this dude absolutely does. There’s a fair measure of flabbergast in there, too.
“Not much,” says Dio. “He just saw me and freaked out in a very gentle, slow motion kind of way. Almost peaceful.”
“Peaceful, you say.”
“You can hear him?” asks the guy, in the same frightened little voice.
“So can you,” I reply, breaking into a huge grin. “You’re a rare breed, my friend.”"
Chapter Five of River City Bones is now available for paid members!
A friendly phone call from a favoured client has our girl Amber out at the Annerley strip in full table-rapping regalia. It's just as well, as the trip brings her into contact with the most valuable of treasures - someone who knows exactly what she's going through, because he's going through it too. Featuring pubs, philosophy textbooks and as many quinces as you can carry. Content warning: Smoking, drinking, swearing (usual quantities), mentions of death, blood, elderly pharmaceuticals, extinct community book shops.