Big Man

flash non-fiction Account of an incident on a bus going from Corozal Town to Belize City. Description, dialogue, and narrative all taken from notes made when the bus reached the Belize City terminal.

The man was angry and ready to fight. The conductor was calm, but determined. The bus was crowded and we were all squashed together, hot and sweaty.

The conductor explained again. 'They are your children. You are responsible for their fares. I need two dollars for each. That's six more dollars, please.

'I'm a big man. You don't need to talk to me like I'm a little boy.'

'I'm only doing my job, sir,' said the conductor.

The aisle was filled with standing passengers. The conductor was close by my left side and any altercation involving him would involve me, like it or not.

What Big Man did not see was the Police Constable standing close by my right side.

'I'll teach you your job,' said Big Man as he stood and faced the conductor. He was a big man for real. He stood tall, topping my six feet by four or five inches, with the well-developed shoulders and arms of a construction worker. As he raised a clenched fist in the conductor's face, the PC leaned over, reached around me, and tapped Big Man on his shoulder.

Big Man pivoted from the conductor toward this source of unwanted interference. He had to look down. The PC must have barely met the height requirement to get into the Police Training School. He came only to my shoulder, but there before the eyes of Big Man were the peaked cap, the crown-emblazoned khaki shirt, and the badge of authority.

Big Man sat, pulled out his wallet, paid the conductor, and rode the rest of the way to Belize City looking out the window at the passing scenery.

Author's Note

I use Oxford dictionary spelling and Hart's Rules guide for quotation marks. (Thus ' for first quote and '' for quote inside a quote.)

Reviews

[b.platte]

HAHAHA. That was entertaining. Very nice job. I love your description of how you saw this man and you knew there was a PC next to you. Like internally you were laughing at this man knowing he was about to get caught.

[Forever Hidden]

I like it! Please write more :)