Every month, the window models are changed. This morning is a change day. Pretty women and men with white hair are taking out old models and putting in new ones. The new ones have no heads. I wait to see them put heads on the models, on top of the summer clothes, but they do not. One day, perhaps, I will understand.
I change into my suit and I go home. Today, I walk because it is nice and I save some money. It is warm. I walk on the sunny sides. It is not a time to worry. I eat and I go to bed for a time. The room is empty. My three friends are gone, at their works. Sometimes I sleep. Sometimes the bad dreams do not come. Most times I lie awake. There is always some noise. I do not mind. I am never alone in this house. I do not know how many people live here.
I get up in the afternoon and I watch our television. I like the programmes in which American men and women shout at each other and the audience shouts at them. It is grand. I also like MTV, when there are girls and good music. They are also grand. Today, I watch pictures of people, happy in Baghdad. A man hits a picture of Saddam with his shoe. He does this many times.
I get dressed for my second job. I do not wear my suit. I do not like my second job but it is there that my story starts.
2
My second job takes me to the place called Temple Bar. I walk because the bus is too slow, when other people are going home from work. The streets are busy but I am safe. It is early and, now, it is spring and daylight.
Temple Bar is famous. It is the centre of culture in Dublin and Ireland. But many drunk people walk down the streets, shouting and singing with very bad voices. Men and even women lie on the pavements. I understand. These are stag and hen people, from England. Kevin, my Irish friend, explained. One of these people will soon be married, so they come to Temple Bar to fall on the street and urinate in their trousers or show their big breasts to each other and laugh. Kevin told me that they are English people but I do not think that this is right. I think that many of them are Irish. Alright, bud? What are you fucking looking at? But Kevin wants me to believe that these drunk people are English. I do not know why, but Kevin is my friend, so I do not tell him that, in my opinion, many of them are Irish.
Here, I am a baby. I am only three months old. My life started when I arrived. My boss shows me the plug. He holds it up.
—Plug, he says.
He puts the plug into the plug-hole. He takes it out and he puts it in again.
—Understand? he says.
I understand. He turns on the hot water.
—Hot.
He turns on the cold water.
—Cold. Understand?
I understand. He points at some pots and trays. He points at me.
—Clean.
I understand. He smiles. He pats my shoulder.
All night, I clean. I am in a corner of the big kitchen, behind a white wall. There is a radio which I can listen to when the restaurant is not very noisy. This night, the chefs joke about the man in Belfast called Stakeknife. The door to the alley is open, always, but I am very hot.
—How come you get all the easy jobs?
I look up. It is Kevin, my friend.
—Fuck that, I say.
He laughs.
Food is a good thing about this job. It is not the food that is left on the plates. It is real, new food. I stop work for a half-hour and I sit at a table and eat with other people who work here. This is how I met Kevin. He is a waiter.
—It's not fair, he says, this night, when he sees my wet and dirty T-shirt. —You should be a waiter instead of having to scrub those fucking pots and pans.
I shrug. I do not speak. I do not want to be a waiter, but I do not want to hurt his feelings, because he is a waiter. Also, I cannot work in public. All my work must be in secret, because I am not supposed to work. Kevin knows this. This is why he says it is not fair. I think.
The door to the alley is near my corner, and it is always open. Fresh air comes through the open door but I would like to perspire and lock the door, always. But, even then, it must be opened sometimes. I must take out the bags of rubbish, old chicken wings and French fries and wet napkins. I must take them out to the skip.
And, really, this is the start of my story. This night, I carry a bag outside to the alley. I lift the lid of the skip, I drop in the bag, I turn to go back.
—There you are.
He is in front of me, and the door is behind him.
—Hello, I say.
—Polite, he says.
I understand. This is sarcasm.
—Did you think about that thing we were talking about? he says.
—Yes, I say.
—Good. And?
—Please, I say, —I do not wish to do it.
He sighs. He hits me before he speaks.
—Not so good.
I am on the ground, against the skip. He kicks me.
I must explain. The story starts two weeks before, when this man first grabbed my shoulder as I dropped a bag into the skip. He spoke before I could see his face.
—Gotcha, gotcha.
He told me my name, he told me my address, he told me that I had no right to work here and that I would be deported. I turned. He was not a policeman.
—But, he said. —I think I can help you.
He went. Three times since, he has spoken to me.
Now, this night, I stand up. He hits me again. I understand. I cannot fight this man. I cannot defend myself.
3
I am alone again in the alley behind the restaurant. The man has gone. I check my clothes. I am no dirtier than I was before I came out here. I check my face. I take my hand away. There is no blood.
He will be back. Not here. But it will be tonight. I know exactly what this man is doing. I am not a stranger to his tactics. I go back into the restaurant. I work until there is no more work to do and it is time to go home. Every night, this is the time I do not like. Tonight, I know, it will be worse.
I walk with Kevin to the corner of Fleet Street and Westmoreland Street. He has his bicycle.
—Are you alright? he asks.
—Yes, I say.
—You're quiet.
—I am tired.
—Me too, knackered. Seeyeh.
—See you.
I will buy a bicycle. But, tonight, I must walk. It is later than midnight. There are no buses. I walk across the bridge. I walk along O'Connell Street. I do not look at people as they come towards me. I cross to the path that goes up the centre of the street. It is wider and quieter. And, I think, safer. But never safe. It is a very long, famous street. I do not like it. All corners are dangerous.
This night no one stares or spits at me. No words are thrown at my back. No one pushes against me. Once or twice, I look behind. I expect to see the man. He is not there. This, too, I expect. It is his plan. Then I think that I will not go home. I will hide. But this is a decision that he would expect of me. He is watching. I keep walking. I do not look behind.
The last streets to my house are narrow and dark. Cars pass one at a time, and sometimes none at all, as I walk to my street. I walk towards a parked car. It is a jeep, made by Honda.
A cigarette lands on the footpath.
—I'm giving them up.
He is alone.
—D'you smoke, yourself?
—No.
—Four years I was off them. Can you believe that?
But he is not alone. Two more men are behind me and beside me. They hold my arms.
—In you get.
A hand pushes my head down, and protects my head as I am pushed into the back seat. I am in the middle, packed between these two big men. They are not very young.
The driver does not drive. We go to nowhere.
—Have you had a rethink? he says.
—Excuse me? I say, although I understand his words.
—Have you thought about what I said?
—Yes.
He does not look back and he does not look in the rear-view mirror.
—And?
br /> —Please, I say. —Please, tell me more about my duties.
The men beside me laugh. They do not hit me.
—Duties? says the driver. —Fair enough. That's easily done. You go to another place, here in Ireland, sometimes just Dublin. You deliver a package, or pick one up. You come back without the package, or with it. Now and again. How's that?
I cannot shrug. There is not room. I do not ask what the packages will contain. The question, I think, might result in violence. And I do not intend delivering the packages.
—Do you have a driver's licence? he says.
—No.
—Doesn't matter. You'll be getting the train.
The men laugh.
—All pals, says the driver. —We'll take you home.
It is a very short distance. The men at my sides talk to each other.
—So the doctor, says one man, —the specialist. He said, Put your fuckin' finger on that.
—Were you not out?
—Out where?
—Knocked out.
—No.
The driver turns the last corner and stops at my house. He opens his door and gets out.
—There's a 99 per cent success rate, says the man at my left.
—Well, the wife's brother died on the table last year.
—But he was probably bad before he went in.
—That's true.
The big man at my left gets out. I follow him. The driver hits me before I straighten, as I get out. The other man is right behind me. He also hits me. The driver tries to grab my hair but it is too short. He pulls my shoulder.
—None of this is racially motivated. Understand?
I nod. I understand.
—Grateful?
I nod.
—Good man. And, come here. There'll be a few euros in it for you.
—Thank you.
—No problem, he says. —And, by the way, I know your days off.
There are no more blows. I am alone on the footpath. I watch the jeep turn the corner.
4
My next day off is Sunday. But I know that, in fact, the man in the jeep will decide. My next day off will be any day he wants it to be. I must wait. I must decide.
It rains this morning. I do not like the rain but I like what it does. It makes people rush; it makes them concentrate on their feet. It is a good time for walking.
I must think.
I can run.
I can run again.
I am very tired. The buffer controls me this morning. I follow it across the floor.
I will not run. I decided that I would not run again when I came to Ireland, and I will not change my mind. I ran away from my home and my country. I ran away from London. Now, I will not run.
It still rains.
But what will I do? What is my plan?
I stand at the service entrance behind the department store. The lane is one puddle.
I wait for the plan to unfold in my mind. I look, but the lane is empty. Perhaps the man in the jeep does not know about my early-day life. I do not believe this. The plan stays folded and hidden.
—God, what a country.
The supervisor has opened the door. She stands beside me. She looks at the water. She judges its depth.
—What made you come to this feckin' place?
Then she looks at me.
—Sorry.
I understand: she sees famine, flies, drought, huge, starving bellies.
—I like this, I say.
—You don't.
—Please, I say. —I do.
—Why? she asks.
I do not want to make her uncomfortable. But I tell her.
—It is safer when it rains.
—Oh.
I have not told the men who share my room. They have their own stories, and I do not want to bring trouble to them. I do not know what to tell them.
She has not moved yet. She looks at the rain.
—Busy? she says.
—Excuse me?
—Are you busy these days?
I shrug. I do not wish to tell her about my other work.
—Have you time for a coffee? she says.
I am stupid this morning. At first, I do not understand. Then I look at her.
—Please, I say. —With you?
Her face is very red. She is not beautiful. She laughs.
—Well, yes, she says. —If it's not too much bloody trouble.
She is, I think, ten years older than me.
—Forget it, she says.
—No, I say. —I mean. Yes.
—You're sure?
—Yes.
—Come on.
She tries to run through the rain but her legs are very stiff and her shoes are not for running. She stops after a few steps and walks instead. I walk beside her. We go down a lane and then it is Grafton Street. I look behind me; I see no one. We enter the cafe called Bewley's.
She will not allow me to hold the tray. Nor will she allow me to pay for two cups of coffee and one doughnut. She chooses the table. People stare, others look quickly away. I stand until she sits. She takes the cups off the tray. I sit.
—Thank you.
She puts the doughnut in front of me. I feel foolish. Does she think I am her son? I did not ask for this doughnut. But I am hungry.
—People smell when it's been raining. Did you ever notice?
—Yes, I say.
Again, I feel foolish. Is she referring to me?
She lifts her cup. She smiles.
—Well. Cheers.
—Yes, I say.
I lift my cup but I do not smile. The coffee is good but I wish I was outside, under the rain. I think she is trying to be kind – I am not sure – but I wish I was outside, going home. It would be simpler.
—Any regrets? she says.