the old man looked up at maria as she approached the ticket counter. he had a disapproving look on his face, but maria had the impression the look was permanent.
maria smiled at him but did not receive a smile in return. “how much is a ticket to pittsburgh?” she asked.
“three dollars and ten cents one way. five dollars and ninety cents round trip,” the old man replied in a stern, definitely “preacher” voice, looking maria directly in the eye.
“i will take a one-way ticket, please.”
“awful late to be deciding you want to go to pittsburgh, one way.”
“be that as it may, sir, that is the ticket i wish to buy,” maria replied.
the “preacher” stared harder at her. “i don’t know… you sure you are not running from the law, missy? i would hate to sell you your one-way ticket to pittsburgh and get a visit from the sheriff or the state police and have to tell them you slipped through my fingers.”
“oh, no sir, nothing like that. it’s a family emergency that brings me here in this hasty manner.”
“you do not say so.”
“yes, sir, you see my old pappy is a preacher in pittsburgh, and he has commanded me to go to pittsburgh, even as jonah was commanded to go to nineveh. for what, i can not say. but i obey, not wishing to suffer the fate of jonah.”
“oh, ho! know your bible, do you, missy?”
“i hope so , sir.”
“then you must know the whole story of jonah, as set forth in the book of judges.”
“oh sir, you must be funning me now. everybody knows that jonah’s story begins in the second book of kings and continues in the book of jonah.”
“ha ha, indeed they must.”
“i might as well not know that the story of david and goliath is in chapter 17 of the first book of samuel.”
“well, miss, i see you do know your bible. here is your ticket, i will only charge you two dollars and fifty cents for it, my own special discount on behalf of the lord.”
“why, thank you so much, sir. it is a blessing to know that in my travels i am surrounded by good christian folk.”
“you got any baggage?”
“oh - i left it with the driver before i came in here.”
the old man nodded. “yes, i saw you outside talking to him.”
maria smiled at the old man again. “i had better get going before the bus leaves.”
the preacher glanced at the clock behind him. “yes, you had better. god speed you, miss, and may we meet again. in this world or a better one.”
“god bless you, sir, and thank you.”
maria hurried back to the bus with the ticket in her hand.
but she was too late.
bill the driver was standing outside the bus, but he shook his head as she approached.
“sorry, babe, but you are too late. a lady with two kids got here before you and took the last seats. sorry.”
“but i bought the ticket, like you said. what do i do now?’
bill shrugged. “the ticket is still good. next bus to pittsburgh is in about six hours. at break of day.”
“six hours!”
“sorry.”
“this lady with two kids. maybe one could sit in her lap?”
“i don’t think so. they were pretty big kids. teenagers. if she wanted to do that, would she have bought them tickets?”
“no, i guess not. can i stand up? i could stand up.”
“against regulations.”
maria sighed. “all right. but i need my bag back.”
“oh yeah, sure.” bill started to open the door of the luggage bay. as he did, billy and rainey came out of the coffee shop and approached the bus.
maria gave them a brief version of her sad story, which they found quite amusing.
“maybe we could still get together if you ever make it to new york,” rainey said.
“maybe,” maria agreed. “where might i find you?”
“hotel randolph, on 47th street,” rainey answered.
“or you might try the horn and hardart on 49th street,” billy added. “near 10th avenue. everybody knows us there.”
“all right, fellows. good luck.”
rainey and billy climbed back on the bus. bill the driver put a bag at maria’s feet, tipped his cap to her and got back on himself.
now what? maria thought. she wondered if her new friend the preacher might help her out. or at least give her her two fifty back.
she decided it would probably cause more complications than it was worth, and she would be better off just starting to hitch to new york.
she picked up the bag.
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