‘You want a boose!’ ‘A bus?’ I said in surprise. ‘How far am I then?’ ‘I say you want a boose!’ he repeated, but more vehemently. ‘I understand that. But which way is it exactly?’ He jabbed me with a bony finger in a tender spot just below the shoulder. It hurt. ‘It’s a boose you’re wanting!’ ‘I understand that.’ You tedious deaf old fart. I raised my voice to match his and bellowed near his ear: ‘I need to know which way to go!’ He looked at me as if I were unsustainably stupid. ‘A bloody boose! You want a bloody boose!’ And then he shuffled off, working his jaw wordlessly. ‘Thank you. Die
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