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He swore to himself that he would not stoop so low, not again but being a begpacker only got you so much. The beach was full of tourists with many an unattended bag and purse. He only needed a little, just to see him through to the morning…Tomorrow he’ll figure out what to do next.
The setting sun slanted across the sand, casting a long deep shadow behind him as Bob sat on a lounger and watched a group of kids playing in the surf. Their mother, sun burnt and not a little drunk sat next to a sandcastle. Bob, always inconspicuous and easily missed, reached for the wallet sticking out of a wicker beach bag when someone tutted behind him.
“Naughty – naughty,” a voice said and Bob sat back smoothly and turned with a look of confusion.
“What? Oh don't worry I’m with them,” he motioned to the family and the man smiled, holding up his hands. His palms were smooth. He sported a dark beard and long dark hair, tied up in a bun.
“My mistake,” The man rolled up black pants to the ankle and placed a pair of dress shoes next to his bare feet. White shirt sleeves were also rolled up and he tugged on a pair of suspenders. He looked like he had come from a wedding. Or a funeral.
“No problem,” Bob said and would have gotten up, turned away but he couldn’t move. If he ever got caught, he always had an excuse and being part of a nearby family was always a good go to.
“Wouldn’t have done you any good anyways. Only gummies, Tesco receipts and paracetamol in there, mate.” The man’s accent had sounded oddly transatlantic but now landed on a solid Cockney. Bob frowned at him.
“Are you a cop?”
“Nah, just a concerned tourist.”
“I wasn’t gonna - ”
“Cause not,” the man leaned forward and smiled. He patted his chest, “Name’s Mr Toph.”
“Okay…” Bob had to bite his lip from telling this strange man his name. What was wrong with him?
“Got a monkey on your back ain’t you?” he said in a soft tone and Bob stiffened. “Started off as a help didn’t it? With the pain but now it’s got ya dancing.” He eyed the needle marks between Bob’s toes. He buried them in the sand.
Bob, who was on another great come down in more ways than one, finally turned away. The drugs had initially been for back pain he had suffered with since childhood. Now he needed it to just get up in the morning. He had great plans, a fresh start in a new country with a girl he had met online. She had left along with all his money and drugs. That had been two weeks ago. Stupid, stupid Bobby…
“This – this isn’t who I am, who I wanna be,” he started and the man – Mr Toph – nodded vigorously.
“I know mate. Believe me I know that better than anyone. We all go into things with the best intentions but well…life’s a piece of shit, when you look at it,” he singsong-ed and Bob brightened.
“Life's a laugh and death's the joke, it's true,” he sang back, voice soft and they shared a smile. Bob tilted his head. “Who are you?”
“I told ya. Anyway who I am doesn’t matter. You do,” he said and leaned forward, gaze intent. Bob scoffed.
“Sure.”
“We are all God’s little children.”
Oh geeze, Bob thought, one of those. As if he had read his mind Mr Toph laughed.
“Delinquent kids with an absent dad,” he corrected and then sighed “Nah, I’m atheist. Well, more neo pagan…Crowley had an idea.”
Bob, confused, shook his head. “What do you want?”
“To offer a helping hand,” he answered with a shrug and Bob’s stomach clenched.
“I don’t have anything to offer. And I’m not into dudes,” he added and the man’s eye glinted in mischief. Not the first time he'd been propositioned.
“Ah I know your preference: short, deadly and with a bleedin heart. A White Russian, if you will.”
“The drink?” Bob had no idea what he was talking about.
Mr Toph shook his head. "Actually, I don’t want anything from you, which is not my usual MO, granted. No, I just want to help a fellow neighbour in the darkness. Just a little nudge in the right direction.”
“How?” Bob asked and with a flourish a card appeared between the man’s fingers. Bemused, Bob took it. It was embossed with an address. Kuala Lumpur. “What’s there?”
“A medical study,” Mr Toph answered and it was the last thing Bob expected him to say.
“Drugs?”
“Ah, but this is different. This is unprecedented, cutting edge in human development. If they find the right person, someone willing to take the risk, well…the worlds will never be the same. You won’t be the same.”
“I’d be…better?”
“Shiny and clean mate. That monkey on your pack will be gone for starters. No pain. Physical anyway,” he added and Bob looked back out to sea. He was only half aware that the family on the sand had not moved for minutes. In fact it was completely silent. He was lost in the possibility. He knew he was made for more but had never gotten the chance to prove it. Could this be his moment?
“I don’t have anything else to lose.”
“That’s the spirit. There are risks, of course but well…beats being dead don’t it? Or in Florida, what a shithole,” he complained and Bob had a blinding flash of clarity that if he had not spoken to this man, if he had run, he would be dead by morning, overdose. Hope filling him up like gas it was tinged with unease as the man got to his feet.
“You’re not like the devil are you?”
“See any hooves?” he asked, pointing at his feet and Bob shook his head, smiling in embarrassment.
“You sure you don’t want anything in return?”
“…all right, tell you what, if we do happen to bump into each other again you can buy me a drink.”
“A White Russian?”
“Nah, she’s all yours. I'm more of a Silver Breeze man,” he winked and then turned on his heel. Bob looked back at the sea and suddenly the roar of the ocean swept over him. The kids screamed as a wave destroyed their sandcastle and Bob stood, renewed with a sense of purpose. If he left now he would be at the address by morning.
He went to thank the man but Mr Toph and his dress shoes were gone.