by Simon Lewis
‘How do you say ‘Goodbye’ in English?’
Ding Ming told him, and he gave it a go.
Jian laid the parka around Wei Wei’s shoulders and hurried her into Black Fort’s eye-catching car. He supposed it was his own body that had made that dink on the passenger door. Bright yellow, with a flame decal, sooty and peppered with shot – the thing was hardly inconspicuous. At least the windows were intact.
‘I’m sorry, Dad, I’m so sorry—’
‘You got that credit card I gave you?’
‘Huh? Uh, yes. It’s in—’ A flutter of birdsong. Her ease with English had always impressed him, and that sudden eruption reminded him of his pride. She was a bright girl, she’d do okay.
He unzipped his money belt, prised out a filthy, sodden passport, and put it on the dashboard to dry out.
‘Where’s yours?’
‘That’s there, too.’
‘First we pick up your card and passport. Then we have to get to an airport.’
‘Why?’
‘Why do you think? We’re going home.’
The seats were reclined quite far back, but he was getting used to that now. He turned the ignition and slid the car into first gear and it shot forward with surprising force. He supposed it had been souped up.
‘Do you smoke?’
‘Yes.’
‘Here.’ He tossed cigarettes and lighter into her lap. ‘And light one for me.’
He turned the car out of the lane and put his foot down. Driving towards the sunrise, he laid his hands high on the wheel. Another long journey was beginning – he could not rest yet. Gesturing at the glove compartment he said, ‘Is there a map in there?’
Copyright
THANKS
For help and inspiration, thanks to: Mark and Nat, Mum and Rog, Dad and Janet, Noe, Shen Ye, Du Yingnan, Joyce Sun, Xiao Song, Dan, Ed and Fran, Ya Ou, Gareth, Ling Ling and the Mingtownsfolk, Charles, the Readys, Kat, Yen, Chris T. and the Dali people, Matt, Nick, Daren, Kate, and all at Rough Guides.
BAD TRAFFIC
Copyright © Simon Lewis 2008
First published by Sort Of Books, 2008, and as an eBook in 2011
No part of this book may be reproduced in any form without permission from the publisher except for the quotation of brief passages in reviews.
Sort Of Books, PO Box 18678, London NW3 2FL
Typeset in Melior and Frutiger to a design by Henry Iles
375pp
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
Print ISBN 978–0–9548995–5–4
eBook ISBN 978–1–8476571–5–2
This work was supported by a grant from the Arts Council, England