Big Dump

El Greco
Part 4 (continued)

I was standing on the street in the early morning, the buildings still wet from the night’s drizzle, listening to the crows on the trees. The buzz in my head was slowly subsiding to a gentle hum, and the scrunched thoughts started to run smoothly.

“Hello there, comrade!”

Someone shouted and I opened my eyes. In front of me stood a truck and a man was sitting on the trunk, staring at me with a wide smile, his longs legs dangling in the air.

“They tol’ me t’ look fer a small fella,” he said with a forced Southern American accent, “And look what I’ve found,” he added, changing his accent back.

I laughed, rubbing my forehead.

“I think there’s a mix-up,” I said, “I did not sign up with the Communists.”

It was his turn to laugh.

“Neither did I. But you have to admit,” he said, jumping off the truck and standing in front of me, tall and statuesque, “All these secret organizations start out the same. Who knows what this will end up as,” he winked, “So, let’s get some work done. This truck has to be back in three hours. Got a lot of stuff?”

“Erm,” I glanced back at the club, “A bit. I need some help with the equipment.”

We entered and I glanced at his face curiously, noticing a fleeting moment of astonishment. It was erased quickly, however, and soon we were struggling with the DJ table. He clicked his tongue at the boxes of records and looked through a few of them.

“You’ll have to play these for me some day,” he said, flashing me a smile, “A musician, are you?”

“Something like that,” I answered, shrugging.

He nodded, picking up another box, “Toby used to play a piano. Do you know what always stupefies me? We’ve got all those artists in this, all those great outsiders of the society, all those gracious ascetic wrecks who don’t know how to deal with people, but who propose a different social…organization.”

I laughed and he glanced at me, smiling, “No, really, mate, look, all those revolutionary leaders are freaks, why can’t a simple John or Mary stand up and protest? No, they wait around for some Toby to show up. Toby! The bloke’s borderline psychopath, and yet he is very loved and very much appreciated.”

“He’s confident.”

“Ah. I bet he is quite dangerous, given power.”

We moved on to my small room and I cowered a little while he looked around it. “You won’t need that,” he said, pointing to my makeshift bed and we settled on carrying out my clothes and guitar. The books I packed with the records.

Driving in the truck, he explained that I could work in the shop with Colin and that there was a room upstairs I could take.

“How many others are in this organization?” I asked, “Everyone seems to know everyone.”

“I don’t know,” he answered, “Seven, eight people perhaps. I assume Toby is recruiting actively, and I’m afraid to think for what purpose.”

“So you are the quiet one, as well?”

“No, I’m the bloke who drives the truck and moves the boxes,” he winked at me.

…::…

We arrived to the shop in a short time and it was still closed. Colin was standing outside, leaning against the wall and waiting for us. He watched us park and greeted me with a smile, then turned to my companion, who was coming around the truck.

“Hello, Ed.”

“Hello, Colin,” he beamed, raising his eyebrows, “I burnt all the books I borrowed from you.”

“I cut the strings on your guitar,” Colin gazed curiously at the trunk, “’s there a lot?”

“Yes. I think we’ll need to throw out the letterpress to fit it in.”

“I’ll shave your head at night and sign you up for Hitler Youth if you’ll touch it,” Colin sniffed, coming closer to me and touching my wrist slightly, “Come on, Thomas, I’ll show you your room while he unloads.”

“Someday I’ll get promoted and become a personal body-guard,” Ed sighed behind us, “I’ll start saving up for the suit.”

Colin laughed breathlessly and led me into the shop and then up the stairs. On top there was a cozy room, with a bed and a small desk. The window opened to a street and I saw Ed unloading the boxes from the truck.

“I used to sleep here sometimes when I was working late,” Colin said, sitting on the bed, “It might be a little noisy during the day because of the printing, you must excuse us for that. You’ll have your own key and no one will bother you. Toby said that you could help me with publishing?” he looked at me inquisitively and I nodded, “Lovely. There’s always work to go around. Will you be returning to your previous…situation?”

“No,” I shook my head and he gave me a little smile before continuing.

“Don’t worry about the rent. My father used to own this building and now that my mother is deceased it belongs to my brother and me. I’ll pay you for work, of course. With that, Thom, you are a publishing house employee. It does not bind you to Toby’s activities.”

He waited for me to meet his eyes and smiled after a moment. Ed shouted something from outside and he joined me at the window, chuckling.

“I suppose we should help him,” Colin said, taking off his suit jacket and hanging it accurately on the back of the chair.