Read Online Gurriers by Kevin Brennan - Free Book Online

judgemental with these people, just as others had been judgemental with me because of my chosen form of transport. I made a mental note to investigate the statement as the Gizzard picked his signature book off the table and headed for the hatch to be allocated his first run of the afternoon, leaving just me and Vinno in an awkward moment’s silence. It was Vinno that broke this silence, naturally, since I didn’t know what to say.
    “That CB’s yours, yeah?”
    “Yeah.”
    “Nice bike, meant to be grea’ for the job.”
    “What job?” I mentally scolded myself upon saying this. Oh, you gobshite! What a stupid fucking thing to say , Sean. Cop on!
    He looked at me in a sort of bewildered way for a second before answering.
    “Window cleanin’! I believe the CB is the favourite bike among window cleaners these days, meant to be grea’ for carryin’ ladders an’ buckets an’ all tha’ shi’e’.”
    I could feel my face burning up with the embarrassment of being the brunt of such a well-earned smart comment, but I was laughing at the comedy of it.
    “I’m sorry. I, er, wasn’t quite with you there. This is my first day.”
    “First day here?”
    “First day as a courier.”
    “Wha’ d’ye think of it so far?”
    “There, um, isn’t really much so far! I haven’t done any work yet.”
    “Bran’ spankin’ new, eh?”
    “Yep.”
    “Wha’ did ye do before?”
    “Program computers.”
    “Wha’ the fuck are ye doin’ here so?”
    “Well I-er-lost my job and . . .”
    As my voice trailed away, I realised that in the time since I had entered the base, I had been so distracted by all of the activity around me and the antics of these wild creatures that I hadn’t been moping over Saoirse anywhere near as much as was customary these days. She had been on my mind but I had been concentrating on what was going on around me so much that I hadn’t been dwelling on my misery. I had not been the sorrowful, miserable wretch that she had turned me into for a whole 75 minutes! That was amazing, and I was delighted about it, but, of course, thinking about it had turned me back into the aforementioned wretch and my heart sank back to the depths that being around these couriers had lifted it out of.
    The customary wave of depression washed over me as my eyes glazed over and my throat developed that sickly lump once more, oblivious to the fact that I had been in mid-sentence until reminded.
    “And wha’?”
    “And my,” I found it difficult to speak. “My girlfriend.” Before I had thought about it, I had blurted out what was on my mind. That could have been a bad mistake – especially in this company.
    “Oh, Jaysus! A broken heart! Say no more. I suppose ye didn’t have the boa’ fare to France for to join the Foreign Legion, so ye came here to forget, eh?”
    I could really feel my eyes water as I smiled at him. He had actually hit the nail right bang on the head, although I hadn’t realised it until he mentioned it. I was here because I wanted to get away from my previous life, which was nothing but unbearable heartache to me now. I felt like bursting into tears on the spot. Vinno picked up on my pain. His voice was gentle and genuine as he continued.
    “Well, don’t worry abou’ i’. Ye’ve a lo’ of learnin’ to do an’ when it’s busy ye don’t ge’ a second to yerself, so ye won’t be gettin’ too much time to brood. The bitch’ll be ou’ of yer system in no time. D’ye know the city well?”
    “Er, well enough.” This was the standard answer that I gave.
    “Where’s Herbert Street’?”
    “Er, um,” I’d never heard of Herbert Street.
    “Have ye go’ a map?”
    “Not yet.”
    “The sooner ye ge’ one the better. Fatso there,” he said, jerking a thumb in the direction of the hatch, “fuckin’ hates being hassled for directions.”
    “Yeah, he said so himself.”
    “The way i’ goes in courier companies is that the base controller has power. He decides how much