HP Podcroft.com.

There was trouble aboard the Washington Boulevard bus.

Rye had expected trouble sooner or later in her journey.

She had put off going until loneliness and hopelessness drove her out.

She believed she might have one group of relatives left alive.

A brother and his two children 20 miles away in Pasadena.

That was a day's journey one way if she were lucky.

The unexpected arrival of the bus as she left her Virginia road home had seemed to be a piece of luck

until the trouble began. Two young men were involved in a disagreement of some kind,

or, more likely, a misunderstanding.

They stood in the aisle, grunting and gesturing at each other, each in his own uncertain T stands as the bus lurched over the potholes.

The driver seemed to be putting some effort into keeping them off balance.

Still, their gestures stopped. some effort into keeping them off balance.

Still, their gestures stopped just short of contact.

Mock punches, hand games of intimidation to replace lost curses.

People watched the pair, then looked at one another and made small anxious sounds.

Two children whimpered. Sounds like a typical bus trip in LA to me man. I gotta say it's a lot different Yorkshire

riding a bus. Lots of smiles maybe a tip of the cap, no you're in.

There are some things about LA I do not miss.

So you're Doc Hollywood now, huh?

You've left the big bad city

to go live among the good-hearted small town people always smiling and tipping caps.

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