Part 23
As Darcy scraped the last of her cash together, she realised that these next few nights would be her last in a comfortable bed. So unless she was really lucky, she would have to sleep in her car if she wanted to eat.
She paid for two more nights and then spent yet another morning in the cafe, eking out a solitary cup of coffee and scanning the jobs pages in every local paper they had.
Pennies wither to a pittance
Hopes of flight are brought to ground
Nowhere in this humbling city
Can a fledgling’s perch be found
Facing failure, homelessness
Needs skills that she does not possess
The papers offered nothing new and her coffee was finished. Darcy wandered back into the street and an icy hand clutched her stomach as she watched a scruffy old man begging on the corner. Was this what she had to look forward to?
As she passed the bar, she peeped in through the window. There were a couple of familiar faces and there was a barmaid she had not seen previously. She went inside.
Asking if anyone knew of anything by way of employment, Darcy was met with much head shaking and shrugging, No one, it seemed, was any better off than she was.
She tried the paper-shop, the bakery, and any other little shops she passed, but all gave her the same response.
Feeling full of trepidation
Wondering where on earth to turn
Worry draws its own conclusion
No way out can she discern
Streets are full of tramps and vagrants
Bearing their nomadic fragrance
Saddened eye sees neon lights
Give way to dirt and shabby truth
Street folk crammed in unused doorway
Cardboard box or telephone booth
Self belief has gone amiss
Wonders how she came to this
Darcy had not rung Chris for weeks. She wouldn’t want him to think she was asking for anything. She thought of her old job with Mrs Judd, her evenings at the Cavendish and her round for the meat plant. Darcy sighed sadly. She would have been far better off staying where she was and sleeping in her car from the beginning.
She wandered into the park and found herself a bench. She needed to work this out, somehow.
