Chapter 1
Last Train Home
“But there’s still
tomorrow forget the sorrow and I can be on the last train home..”
The rain drummed on the window. Joe stared blankly ahead listening to his
music and regarding the blackened skies
outside. Trying in vain to get comfortable in the little space allowed in the
train carriages seats, a throb in his lower back promised of the pain that
would be there upon waking the next day.
Only two other passengers were on board the train carriage. An elderly gentleman sitting in a bent L
shape just opposite of Joe. It seemed to
Joe that he had a hungry look in his ruhmey and cataract scarred eyes. Like an old lion waiting to be fed. The other was a tall dishevelled looking man
with lank and greasy hair covering his face, his filthy clothes gave off a
horrible stench that smelt like a mixture of urine and rotting flesh. Joe thought that this was a homeless person (or
a crack head nowadays it was hard to tell) who had grabbed the last night
train, knowing that there weren’t many checks (if any, Joe always brought a
ticket but it was rarely checked between stations) Joe turned to the window countryside went
past the darkness seemed to stretch outwards from the train itself. The rain was coming heavier now the machine
gun like drops seemed to be falling in time with the drumbeat of music on Joe’s
headphones. As much as Joe hated leaving
Helena back in Manchester he still liked the train rides home, they gave him a
sense of peace. He could relax (well as
much as the space allowed someone of Joes lanky frame anyway) listen to his
music and think about her. Trips up to
see her had become less frequent as the months dragged on the need for her to
do uni work , Joe also had to work at the club and it seemed the later in the
year it got the busier it became. The tannoy with its broken speakers and tinny
sounding voice, burst into life to tell all passengers at Birmingham new street
will be the last stop on the journey and not to forget their belongings. Joe watched as the train began to pull into
the station. Joe closed the book he had been attempting to read during the
journey. Got up and put his book into his backpack. He made his way down the carriage to the
doors, noticing as he did so that the homeless man seems to be staring at the
old man with a strange look on his face.
He stepped off the train on to the platform, this late at night most of
the platforms were empty, he liked it like this as opposed to the furious
hustle and bustle that took place during the day. Joe was not fond of crowds, they made him feel
hemmed in and clumsy, always fearing he would bump someone. He started up the stairs towards the main entrance, glancing back he saw the old man shuffling
towards the escalator by the side of the stairs and just behind him the looming
shape of the homeless man (or crack head) walk slowly to the bottom of the
staircase. Joe continued upward and came out in the main corridor that linked
all the platforms. The bright fluorescent lighting gave the appearance of
daytime however the shops and eateries that would normally be serving over
priced under cooked foodstuffs and magazines were all closed
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