On the Train

by Christine Brand

  ~#~

  "This is Godalming, this train is for London Waterloo, the next station is Farncombe."

  As the train pulls out I see a tall man with a large suitcase on wheels greet the young girl and pick her up, swinging her round in a full circle before placing her back down and kissing the woman on the cheek. I wonder how long they have been apart.

  Three people boarded the train at Godalming; two young men and another teenage girl with long black hair in a plait. Although she is wearing a different colour school uniform, she is a friend of Peacock and Mouse. The new girl dumps her bag on the seat next to Mouse.

  "Oh my God! You will not believe who I have just seen!"

  She throws herself down next to Peacock, propping her feet up on the seat opposite where her bag rests. I notice she is also wearing DMs, burgundy coloured and scuffed on the toecaps. The new girl I struggle to place, although I am sure I have seen her before. She is strikingly pretty and looks taller than the others.

  Peacock closes the game and tucks the tablet into her satchel. "Marlon Brando?"

  "What? Who?"

  "Just tell us," Mouse interrupts, looking interested.

  "No, guess"

  "You said we'd never guess."

  "No, I said you'd never believe who I have just seen!"

  "Either way, who was it?" Peacock asks snappily.

  "You know Danny, in Sarah's class?"

  "Yeah," both girls chorus.

  "Danny's brother!"

  The new girl crosses her arms and grins. Peacock looks confused, and her and Mouse make no reply; the new girl rolls her eyes. I remember who she is now, Doris Day, last time I saw her she had blonde hair, and was definitely not in school uniform. I had guessed her age to be about 19!

  "Mike," Doris says with a flourish, "you know, he plays guitar in Electric Purple."

  Mouse gasps, "O, M, G! Times one hundred!"

  "He was with some tramp."

  "Who?"

  "I think it's his girlfriend," Doris sighs, "I was too nervous to talk to him, he is so awesome!"

  "Where was he?"

  "Outside by the taxi rank, on his phone."

  Peacock looks a bit put out that she doesn't recognise the band's name and takes out her tablet again. "There's never any signal on the train," she mutters sulkily.

  Mouse is very interested in Mike. "What does his girlfriend look like?" She asks Doris.

  "Like a tramp, who cares?"

  Peacock joins in again; "if he has a girlfriend, who cares, he's out of bounds," she said, sarcastically.

  "Not really, they weren't touching or anything, she might be his sister."

  "Danny doesn't have a sister," Mouse puts in, "so Mike can't have one either."

  "Oh, I don't know! Electric Purple are playing at a pub in Guildford next Saturday, you want to come?"

  "We're not old enough, remember?" Mouse wags a finger at Doris.

  "I can fix you up," Doris gestures towards Peacock, "she's got ID, and if you come round mine in the afternoon, we'll have plenty of time to get ready."

  Peacock looks interested now, "that sounds like a plan. Can we stay over though? I'll have to be home by eleven otherwise."

  I smile at the easy was the girls share their plans with anyone listening, but want to keep it a secret from their parents. Luckily I don't know the parents!

  "The next station is Farncombe."

  The two young men that embarked at Godalming are sitting opposite each other; I do not think they are together. I recognise the more smartly dressed of the two; he wears large, full size headphones. They must be good quality as I can hear nothing despite him bobbing about and occasionally playing air guitar and head banging when the train is emptier. That was my first impression of him, so I call him Wayne. Sometimes he looks like he is holding back, and will leap up and burst into song at any moment. Sometimes I wish he would.

  The other chap is new. He looks unhappy, tired. He has opened one of the free newspapers, but is not reading it. He has a smartphone in his other hand but is not looking at that either. He has a backpack and is dressed in jeans and trainers, wearing a waterproof jacket. I think he may be a student, I can't decide what subject though.

  Suddenly he closes the newspaper, and folding it, he flings in onto the seat opposite. He crosses his arms, and then uncrossing them again, he touches the screen on his smartphone a few times and raises it to his ear. After a few seconds he frowns and hangs up. He pushes the phone into his jeans pocket and raises his hand to his mouth, biting the nail on his thumb. After a few moments he pulls the phone back out and looks at the screen, then he stands up and walks restlessly across to the door. He leans his forehead against the window and closes his eyes. He looks sad.

  I feel like I would like to help this young man, but I don't know how, and I guess he would not appreciate the interference.

  The train stops and this time the doors remain closed.

  ~#~

  "This is Farncombe, this train is for London Waterloo, the next station is Guildford."

  The train pulls away with a small jolt, Student of Sad steps back from the window, I wonder if he has problems at home, or maybe girlfriend trouble. He checks the screen on his phone again. I guess he has no signal.

  "Any unchecked tickets, please, tickets from Haslemere, Godalming, Farncombe, thank you, thank you."

  I hold up my season ticket for inspection.

  "Thank you sir," the guard walks on and checks the rest of the carriage, then stops by the doors.

  After walking to and fro a couple of times, Student of Sad sits down and takes a large notebook from his bag, rapidly flicking through the well-thumbed pages, he stops about two thirds of the way through and pulls a chewed ball point from the front of his bag. Sucking on the end of his pen, he stares out the window.

  "The next station is Guildford, change here for Redhill, London Gatwick Airport, Epsom, Ascot and Aldershot."

  With a sigh Student of Sad doodles on the margin of the page. He looks up as Doris stands and stretches. The girls gather their belongings and stand close together by the doors. I wait for the train to come to a complete standstill before walking over to the next door down.

  "This is Guildford. Please ensure you take all your belongings with you when leaving the train at Guildford, thank you."

  Knitting Nancy and the Bickers will not get off here, but Student of Sad crams his notebook back in his bag and stands next to me looking at his phone again. I can't resist a peek, but the screen is at the wrong angle to see anything. The button lights up and Student of Sad presses it quickly. He steps off the train before the doors are fully open, and disappears into the underpass.

  ~#~

  I step down and walk towards the stairs. The three girls are blocking the platform, but I am in no rush and slow to their pace. When we reach the top of the stairs the girls stop, Doris and Mouse are heading out the back exit and they are finalising their plans before Peacock leaves them. I walk past and continue to Platform Two, and the station exit. Stopping to buy a strong cup of tea from one of the kiosks, I see Student of Sad talking on his mobile. He is smiling, and I am pleased. He walks through the barrier next to me, and as I retrieve my ticket I over hear part of his conversation.

  "Great news, no more treatment?" "…She'll be home on Thursday then?"

  ~#~