Caryl Phillips - A Distant Shore

“Gabriel? What are you doing here?”

Gabriel does not know what to say. Katherine is not being particularly friendly, which only deepens his embarrassment.

“I’m sorry,” he stammers. “I should not be disturbing you like this, but I have no money. I have been robbed.”

Katherine looks alarmed, and then the door opens wider and a much older man with grey hair appears at Katherine’s shoulder. Katherine turns to him.

“Leonard, this is Gabriel. The man I was telling you about from the coast. The one whose case was dismissed.”

Leonard speaks to Katherine without taking his eyes from Gabriel. “Yes, of course I remember him. What’s he doing here?”

Katherine is now visibly angry. “Leonard!” she snaps, but the man just turns from Gabriel and disappears inside. Katherine sighs deeply, and then she looks again at the stranger on her doorstep.

“Just give me a minute, Gabriel.” Katherine pushes the door closed, and she leaves Gabriel by himself.

Gabriel hears raised voices and it is clear that both people are angry, but the louder the man shouts, the more Katherine seems to be able to match him in volume and intensity. As Gabriel listens he wonders if he should just leave now, for clearly he is the cause of this conflict. As he thinks about whether to turn and walk away, Katherine reappears at the door with her coat on.

“Come on, Gabriel.” Katherine slams the door behind her and marches down the garden path, leaving Gabriel in her wake. “Trust me, Gabriel, you don’t want to stay here.” Katherine opens the door to a small blue car and then climbs in. She leans over and pushes open the passenger door for Gabriel. “Get in, get in.”

Gabriel folds himself into the small car and he sits next to Katherine.

“Seat belt.” Gabriel looks blankly at her. “Put on your seat belt.” Katherine leans over and somewhat impatiently straps him into place. Gabriel feels embarrassed, for although he knows what seat belts are, he is not used to seeing people use them. Katherine lights a cigarette, and then she starts the engine. She holds the packet of cigarettes out to Gabriel, but he shakes his head. Katherine pushes them back into her bag, and then she engages the gear and swings the car out into the street and screeches away. Katherine drives for some minutes before she speaks.

“Gabriel, I’m sorry about that. Leonard knows about the case and, like everybody else, he thinks that there’s probably something to it.”

Gabriel says nothing and Katherine shoots him a quick glance.

“I’m talking about the girl, Gabriel. I told him, and he also read about it in the papers.”

Gabriel nods so that Katherine will know that he understands what she is talking about. Katherine continues to drive, and Gabriel stares out of the window, where the rain seems to be getting heavier.

“Gabriel, I’m taking you to the motorway so that you can hitch a ride. Just ask to be put out somewhere in the north. Lorry drivers love having people to talk to, especially at night.” They stop now at a traffic light, and Katherine reaches into her bag and pulls out a single note. “You weren’t hurt when you were robbed, were you?”

Gabriel shakes his head.

“No, it was one of my own people. He tricked me.”

Katherine laughs. “Welcome to England. Look, tuck this away for emergencies.” She pushes the note into Gabriel’s hand, then changes gear and pulls away from the traffic light. “It might help with food or something. I’m sure you’ll find some kind of work in the north, and you really should become somebody else, Gabriel. I know you don’t want to do this, but it will really help.” She pauses. “Unfortunately, there’s plenty of Leonards in the world.”

Gabriel does not know what to say in reply to this, so he simply looks out of the window as they drive on in silence through the seemingly endless streets of London. Katherine turns on the radio, but the pop music only seems to deepen the sense of embarrassment that Gabriel feels. It is shameful to have placed himself at the mercy of this woman, and to have troubled her life in this manner. However, as hard as he tries, he can think of nothing he might say that would repair the damage between them. As he once more turns to look out of the window, he feels Katherine beginning to slow the car down, and then she pulls over to the left-hand side of the road.

“I’m going to let you out here, Gabriel.” She pauses. “Not much I can do about the rain, I’m afraid.” She points now to where the road divides. “I’m going to the right, but you should just walk around the corner to the left and you’ll soon get a lift, if you start to hitch. You know, put out your thumb, like this.” Katherine demonstrates. “Just remember you want to go north.” Gabriel nods. “Gabriel, I’m sorry I can’t do more for you than this, but as you can see I’ve got things to sort out at home.”

Gabriel prepares to open the door to the car. Although he knows that Katherine is dismissing him, he is not angry.

“Thank you, Katherine.”

She smiles at Gabriel. “I’m sorry, love.” Katherine points to the copies of Jimmy’s magazine. “You can leave them. You won’t be needing them where you’re going.”

Gabriel takes them from his pocket, hands them to Katherine, and then he climbs out of the car and into the rain.

“Good luck.” Katherine tosses the magazines onto the now empty passenger seat, then she leans over and blows Gabriel a kiss. “I feel bad putting you out in this weather, but don’t you worry, somebody will soon take pity.” Katherine pulls in the car door. Gabriel stands and watches as Katherine indicates, then moves out and into the traffic. He stares at her small blue car until it disappears around the corner and out of sight.

Gabriel walks towards the point where the road divides. There are no other people in sight, only cars and lorries that roar past him at high speed. Gabriel sees a figure in the windswept, sodden gloom with a thumb turned up in the manner that Katherine demonstrated. This makes Gabriel feel somewhat better as he has no desire to be alone in this desolate place. However, as he moves closer he can see that his fellow hitch-hiker is a young woman, and as she notices Gabriel moving towards her, the alarm in her eyes is unmistakable. Her mouth half-opens, as though a cry is being stifled somewhere at the back of her throat, but Gabriel has little choice but to lower his eyes and continue to walk towards her.

The girl points again to the plastic bag that Gabriel is holding on his lap.

“Well, go on then. Have some more food. What’s the matter with you?”

Gabriel shakes his head, then he shields his eyes from the light that is spilling in through the cracked windows.

“No, thank you. I am fine.”

He bristles with anger at the way this girl is speaking to him, but he tries hard to control these feelings and to recognise that the girl has been generous for, as promised, she has returned with food. However, he finds her manner irritating, and her appearance, with her dirty, unwashed blonde hair, and her skirt riding up her thigh, is unacceptable.

“You’re not hungry any more, is that it?” Now she seems child-like, and almost hurt.

Gabriel puts the bag on the floor and looks at the girl.

“Do you have parents? And please, do they know that you are not at school?”

She laughs and tosses her head as though to indicate the stupidity of the question.

“I already told you, my dad’s unemployed and my mum left ages ago. I don’t know where she is. Got no idea.”

“But does your father not want you to go to school?”

“He doesn’t care, does he? I sometimes work at McDonald’s and he likes that because it means if he fancies a Big Mac and fries, he doesn’t have to pay for it. He spends nearly all his giro on booze. Why should he care if I go to school or not?”