Daisy Arrives/ Freckles and Her Gentlemen Callers/The Rise and Fall of Timetables

Daisy is the newest addition to the morning routine. She’s an old woman who walks with a stooped back. Her hair is gray, neatly pulled into a tight bun which sits on the top of her head. She always wears a sleeveless, flower patterned dress and sensible shoes. On cooler mornings she may wear a sweater over the dress to keep her thin shoulders warm. In one hand she carries a purse. In the other, her bus pass. Daisy only travels one block each morning. She boards the bus through the front door on one corner and exits the bus through the back door exactly one block away. I suspect she then walks back to the starting point and waits for the next bus.

Twice in the past few days I’ve seen people in public burst into spontaneous song, oblivious of the curious looks of bystanders.

While I normally don’t eavesdrop on conversations, this one was impossible not to hear. Fantasia (actual name) told it so loudly that everyone on the bus heard it. It’s all about a black car.

“I keep having these dreams of a black car. A black car. Don’t know why. But every night I see the black car. It bugs the crap out of me. There’s no one in it. No one driving. Just a black car. I’m thinking what is this black car all about? What could it mean? I asked all my friends what could it mean. They don’t know. There’s no black cars in their dreams. So one day I’m driving and I get a flat tire. I almost have an accident. So now I know. The dreams about the black car must have been a warning.”

Just witnessed a young man’s failed attempt to pick up a young lady. His opener was “Do you like to sail? I’m a member of the Boston Yacht Club and I have a really big boat.” I felt like telling him “Dude, you never lead with the big boat. Everyone knows men who brag about big boats usually have a little dinghy.

Finally! A man who isn’t too proud to stop and ask for directions. In this case, the new bus driver who was brand new to the route and had no idea which way to go.

A few new characters at the bus stop today. Freckles is a middle aged woman with red hair, huge breasts, and lots of freckles. The breasts are significant to this narrative only in the context of her typical after work attire. She appears to wear only a thin nylon jacket above the waist, unzipped as far as law will allow. The men on the bus trip over themselves to sit next to her, including Scruffy Insurance Guy who stopped speaking to me weeks ago. The other newcomer is Timetables.. He’s a professional looking guy who carries a briefcase and a British style umbrella with a carved wooden handle. I suppose he wears galoshes over his shoes in the winter. Timetables is obsessed with the bus schedule and gets upset when it runs a few minutes late. He seems to be a buttoned up, everything in its place kind of guy.

It’s surprising what you see from the bus when window vantage point. I just saw a man drive by with a full grown white Bengal tiger sitting next to him in the front seat. The tiger was wearing a seatbelt.

The good news is that the creepy derelict guy who I encountered yesterday morning at the bus stop is not here today. “There will be no bus for you today, sir” is what he whispered in his best penny dreadful voice.

The afternoon bus stop is starting to resemble a prehistoric singles bar. There’s the plexiglass shelter which no one uses because it’s too hot inside. People sit instead on small boulders that are arranged in a lazy half circle on the property adjacent to the shelter. Each man or woman picks a boulder and perches there to wait for the bus. The others gather round the boulder which contains a person of interest. Freckles has the most admirers, one of whom is Scruffy Insurance Guy.

Unfortunately, I don’t think his interest will be reciprocated. I heard her tell him today “Can’t you take a hint? I changed rocks to avoid you.

Timetables, who has the sex appeal of a calculator, has now started courting Freckles. He snagged a seat next to her on the bus tonight.

Timetables attempted to start a conversation by showing her his bus schedule and commenting that the bus has not arrived exactly on time within the past few weeks. To help illustrate his point, he referred to his notes (written neatly in the margins of the schedule) which cite specific arrival and departure times. She nodded politely but excused herself to make a call. The call was to a man whom she referred to as Dude. She told Dude that she was on her way home and would see him soon. Timetables responded by pulling out his cell phone and pretending to make a call too.

Scout must have a fascination with “The Avengers” series. He has just announced in a loud, confident voice that he will protect us all from Loki and the evil army. It is unclear which Avenger he most identifies with. Given his propensity to jump in front of buses, I’m thinking Ironman.

The coolest girl on the bus carries an Edgar Allan Poe lunch box. She wears a wireless head set and always keeps to herself. She dresses in black and has dark hair, cut short and pulled back into a ponytail. She has a quiet energy that precedes her onto the bus and lingers a bit when she gets off. In homage to Poe, I’ve named her Annabel Lee.

Timetables is not making any friends at the bus stop. There are a lot of rumors going around about him.

“He’s a drunk.”

“He smells like whiskey.”

“He’s a mean one, I can tell.”

“If I were married to him, I’d find myself a full time job.”

Not sure what was meant by the last one. It came from Freckles who was a little weirded out over his failed attempt to show her his bus schedule.

It’s gotten so out of control that no one will sit next to him on the bus. People would rather stand.