#206
Close to dusk, along the river path, where the leaves have felt the cold of autumn and have turned shades of orange and yellow, an older man with a cane stops the dog and me and asks what the building is across the street.
Me: It’s a bank.
Him: A base? The military?
Me: No, a bank, where you get money.
I notice he has a plastic bag full of what appears to be his belongings. The skin around his eyes, red, his hearing, not great. He isn’t dressed for the cold evening ahead.
Me: Are you waiting for the bus?
Him: Isn’t this the bus stop?
Me: It is, yes.
Him: I’m going to Mexico. What town is this?
Me: Santa Fe.
Him: I thought so.
I feel I should tell him that there are no buses from here to Mexico, but I doubt it would matter. I think of the train.
Me: You can catch the train at the railyard and get as far as Albuquerque.
Him: Shit.
Me: It’s a bit closer.
Him: I’ll take a thousand buses before I do that.
Me: Well, you’ll probably need a few to get to Mexico.
Him: I know.
I give him $5 I had in my wallet and wish him good luck, and wonder if he’ll make it, or what he’ll do once he gets there. Jump in the ocean? Drink tequila? Find a past life? Meet a missus? The dog and I walked further down the path and turned towards the plaza for the Dia De Los Muertos celebration, and I realized that maybe he was a ghost, maybe he wasn’t really there. After all, the dog didn’t bark at him or seem to notice anyone was talking to me.
Later, after we hear some music and I look at the displays of passed loved ones and marvel at the amount of marigolds, we walk towards home, and pass a well-dressed couple trying to take their own photo.
Me: Can I help?
Them: Thanks, yeah. We just got married.
Me: Congratulations.
I take a few photos while the dog smells the grass nearby, and I tell them there is a celebration at the plaza, and they know.
Them: That’s where we’re headed.
Closer to home now, the dog and I cut through the park, and as we near our street, a bus passes, and the man from the bench with the cane waves, a spectre saluting someone on the only night they are allowed out.
