Sleepers on trains continued

It would have been quite obvious to anyone what was going on, but the nasty aggressive bit of the barely formed social secretaries department of Jason’s brain was still slightly imbued with the effects of the Stella abuse and so it just came out. Andrew momentarily froze with fear at the sound of the voice and chose not to answer lest he inflame the man. Being the professional he was and equipped now with the only tools he felt adept enough to operate against the younger man, Anthony completed the trick in silence. More expert shuffling was accompanied by the sound of Jason starting to sit up as the fug of his drink-induced slumber started to clear, and his eyes were able to focus on what was happening in front of him.
“Hey, that’s really cool mate – where d’you learn that?”
“It’s my job,” replied Andrew as he continued to cut and reshuffle the cards. “Take one,” he instructed as he held out the perfect fan towards Jason. “Look at it, remember it and put it back anywhere you like – but don’t, of course, show me.” Jason obediently did as he was told
and, after looking at it, re-inserted his chosen card in the pack. He stared intently at the cards as the card he had chosen rose up and made itself known to Andrew.
“Un-fuckin-believeable – that’s just so fuckin’ cool. Do it again.”

Andrew had now tamed the beast that had so rudely abused him earlier and displayed his full set of skills to the oaf. Once he decided that everything would be OK he said that he was tired and could not play anymore.
“So where do you live then? – sorry, but you didn’t say your name,” Andrew asked.
“Me name’s Jason Weston mate an’ I live in Farnham – why are we stopped for so long anyway – shouldn’t we be there by now?”
“Oh? ..Mr Weston, there’s a short delay – the others have gone to find out what has happened and they should be back in a minute.”
“Oh right. Yeah, I live in Farnham – bought the gaff for me girlfriend last year – she likes it down this way ‘cos her Muvver lives near. I don’t mind but it is a bit of a commute – know what I mean?”
“Yes, I think I understand what you mean. So whereabouts in Farnham?” Andrew had decided that keeping the man talking was probably the best thing to do and he could think of nothing else to ask. He did think, however, that Jason’s name was somewhat familiar.
“Oh, it’s a bungalow in Castle Street – had a right to do buying it though. The estate agent wanted me to pull out ‘cos some old geezer wanted it for his Mum. I told ‘im to piss off and offered more money which the vendor was always goin’ to take.”

Jason didn’t see the change in Andrew’s face or, in fact, his very demeanour at the reference to the bungalow in Castle Street. He didn’t see the tightening of Andrew’s cheek muscles and the silent gritting of his teeth. He didn’t see the unblinking eyes or the tightening of the grip of Andrew’s hand on the side of the seat. He didn’t see any of these things because he was still mostly drunk.
“So when the fuck is this train goin’ to move – where are we anyway?” Andrew didn’t say anything as Jason stood up and pulled down the window. Once again it only came down a foot or so. He put his head out.
“Fuck me,” he said as he pulled it back into the carriage, “we’re only a couple of hundred yards from the station – we might as well walk.” With that he put his arm out of the window with it’s customarily abused schoolboy warning ‘Do not clean soot off the window’ that had originally read ‘Do not lean out of the window’, and tried to open the door which, like many slam-door carriages, could only be opened by using the handle on the outside of the door. The stuck window, however, meant he could not reach the handle and cursing he pulled his arm back in. With a sigh of annoyance he started across the carriage to the other side.
“Don’t you think we ought to wait just a minute ‘til the others come back, Jason? – We could be moving off very shortly.” Andrew hadn’t really wanted to speak to Mr Weston again but he didn’t think that he should be letting him leave the train. Before Jason answered, Andrew heard a faint but familiar sound in the distance. In the seconds that passed as Jason crossed the carriage and forced the window down on the opposite window, Andrew recognised what the sound was and knew what he was going to do.

Jason threw open the door and turned, slightly unsteadily, towards Andrew.
“Well, are you comin’ or not?” Andrew shook his head with his eyes looking towards the floor as Jason prepared to jump from the stationary train onto the track below. At the moment that he had released his hands fro the sides of the doorway and was about to launch himself forward, Andrew leaned forward and grabbed Jason’s right ankle. The effect on the drunken lurch was to completely unsettle the still dubious balancing skills of Jason’s inner ears and cause him to fall forwards into the blackness. He landed with a thump on the railway line laying adjacent to that which the train he had jumped from was sitting. He’d struck the track furthest away with his forearms which did a good job of preventing his head from smashing into the hard metal track, and his legs, which followed his ascent, landed with the shins directly on the track nearest the stationary train. They both snapped on impact and the pain caused an immediate whimper followed by a few seconds of unconsciousness. Andrew, by now was standing in the open doorway and leaning out to close the wide open door. As he quietly shut it and started to close the window, Jason called out weakly.
“ Help me, me legs is broken.” Andrew pushed the window to the top and sat back in his seat.