月台的等待 Detour To Romance(第1页)
月台的等待DetourToRomance
佚名Anonymous
LotheinUnionStationasIam,Iseeeverybodythatesupthestairs。
Harryalittleoverthreeyearsagoaheheadofthestairsforthepassehe9:05train。
IrememberseeingHarrythatfirstevemuchmorethanathin,anxiouskidthen。HewasalldressedupandIkinghisgirlandthattheywouldbemarriedtweershearrived。
&hepassengersdIhadtogetbusy。Ididntlooktowardthestairsagaiimeforthe9:18andIwasverysurprisedtoseethattheyoungfellowwasstillthere。
&eoher,noronthe9:40,ahepassehe10:02hadallarriveda,Harrywaslookiydesperate。PrettysooomywindowsoIcalledoutandaskedhimwhatshelookedlike。
“Shessmallanddark,”hesaid,“aeenyearsoldahewayshewalks。Shehasaface,”hesaid,thinkingamihaslotsofspirit。Imeamadbutsheaysmadf,andhereyebrowsetoalittlepointinthemiddle。She’sgotabrownfur,butmaybesheis。”
Iemberseeinganybodylikethat。
Heshowedmethetelegramhedreceived:ARRIVETHURSDAY。MEETMESTATION。LOVELOVELOVELOVE。MAY。ItwasfromOmaha,Nebraska。
“Well,”Ifinallysaid,“whydon’tyouphooyourhome?She’sprobablycalledthereifshegotinaheadofyou。”
Hegavemeasicklook。“I’veooeweregoihendrivedownSotajob。Shehasntanyaddressforme。”Hetouchedthetelegram。
Wheythedayhewasstillthereandcameoverassoonashesawme。
“Didsheworkany>
Henodded。“Sheist。Itelegraphedherformerboss。Alltheyknowisthatsheleftherjobtogetmarried。”
Harrymeteverytraihreeorfourdays。Ofcourse,therailroadliinedthepolicelookedinobodywasanyrealhelp。IcouldseethattheyallfiguredthatMayhadsimplyplayedatri。ButIhat,somehow。
&erabouttwoweeks,HarryaalkingandItoldhimaboutmytheory。“Ifyoulljustwaitlongenough,”Isaid,“youllseeheringupthosestairssomeday。”Heturnedahestairsasthoughhehadhembefore。
&daywheowork,HarrywasbehierofTongsmagaziand。Helookedatmerathersheepishlyandsaid,“Well,Ihadtogetajobsomewhere,didntI?”
&oworkasaclerkforTony。WeneverspokeofMayaherofusevermeheory。ButIHarryalersohestairs。
Towardtheeonywaskilledi,andTonyswidowleftHarryieagaziamarriedagaier,Harryboughtthestandfromher。Heborrowedmoneyandinstalledasodafountaiysoonhehadaverylebusiness。
Theerday。Iheardadalotofthingsfalling。ThecrywasfromHarryahingsfalliofdollsahingswhichhehadupsetwhileheiheter。Heranadgrabbedagirlfrommyassmallanddarkandhereyebrowscametoalittlepointinthemiddle。
Forawhiletheyjusthuoeachanddsayingthingswithoutmeaning。Shedsayafewwordslike,“Itwasthebusstatio-”andhedkissherspeedtellherthemanythingshehaddoofiapparentlyhadhappehreeyearsbeforewasthatMayhadebybus,notbytrain,aelegramshemeant“busstation”,not“railroadstatioedatthebusstationfordaysaallhermtofindHarry。Fiajobtyping。
“What?”saidHarry。“Haveyoubeenwintowime?”
Shenodded。
“Well,heavens。Didntyoueveredowhestatioedaagaziahereallthetime。Iowchedeverybodythatcameupthestairs。”
&olookalittlepale。Prettysoonshelookedoveratthestairsandsaidinaweakvoievercameupthestairsbefore。Yousee,Iwentoutoftowerdayonashortbusirip。Oh,Harry!”Thehrewherarmsaroundhisnedreallybegantocry。
&eshebackedaoiifflytowardthehestation。“Harry,forthreeyears,forthreesolidyears,Ivebeenrightrightiion,typing,intheofficeofthestationmaster。”
我在联合车站的行李寄存处工作,由于工作地点的关系,可以看见走上楼梯的每一个人。
3年前哈里曾来过这儿,站在楼梯口接乘坐9点05分到站的旅客。
我依然记得第一晚见到他时的情景。那时的他无异于一个身材削瘦,眼中透着焦虑的孩子。他穿戴整齐,我知道他是在等他的女友,并且在她到后20分钟,他们将举行婚礼。
好了,旅客们来了,我得去忙了。直到9点18分我才又有时间往楼梯那边看,令我吃惊的是那年轻人还在那儿。
她既没乘9点18的车,也没乘9点40的车到。等10点02的那次车的旅客都出站后,哈里看起来很失望。不一会儿,他走近我的窗口,我招呼他,问他,她长什么样。
“她矮小的个子,黝黑的皮肤,”他说,“19岁。走起路来干脆利落。她的脸嘛,”他想了一会说,“蕴含着丰富的表情,我是说她会生气,但从不会持续太久。她眉心有颗小痣。她有件棕色毛皮大衣,但也有可能没穿。”
我似乎没见过这样的人。
他拿出电报给我看:“周四到。车站接我。爱爱爱爱。——梅。”电报是从内布拉斯加州的奥马哈市发来的。
“噢,”最后,我说,“你怎么不往家里打个电话?如果她比你先到这儿,她可能已经给你家打电话了。”
他忧郁地看着我,“我才来城里两天。我们约定见面后开车去南方,我工作的那个地方。她根本没有我的地址。”他摆弄着电报。