long straight corridors were perfectly suited to a speeding wheelchair. Jimmy had to run at full pelt just to keep up. Scoop finally ushered him into a suite on the eighth floor. There was no bed or cupboards or mini bar, instead almost the entire floor space was covered by large cardboard boxes.
'OK,' said Scoop, 'here's the story. Our passengers want to wake up in the morning and have a newspaper waiting outside their door, just like at home. So that's what I do — I write, edit, design and print a daily newspaper. It's a mix of news from the countries the passengers come from — mostly America — and stories about the ship, interesting passengers, profiles of the crew, that kind of thing. It's only small — eight, twelve, sometimes sixteen pages — but it's important; helps people feel that they're not entirely cut off from the outside world.'
'Can't they just switch the telly on?'
'We're in the middle of the ocean, there's no signal. The telly plays tapes we bring with us, mostly old TV shows, and documentaries about the islands the cruise visits. If they want news, it comes from me. Been doing it on different Stanford cruise ships for twenty-five years, son. Ever since I lost these.' He tapped his — well, no legs.
'It wasn't Pedroza, then.'
'I lost them in the first Gulf War. Do you remember that?'
'Before my time.'
'The
Daily Express
managed to get me a place on an aircraft carrier. It was to be my first time as a war correspondent. I was so excited when they told me, I was planning to run all the way home to tell my wife. Except I got knocked down by a taxi on the way. It smashed my legs up so badly I had to have them amputated.'
Jimmy didn't know what to say to
that.
He was actually struggling not to laugh. Sometimes you just can't help yourself. He tried to cover it by nodding at the boxes and saying, 'So what's the deal with this lot?'
'You know anything about computers?'
'Some.'
'Used a screwdriver before?'
'Now and again.'
'Ever wired a plug?'
'Sure.'
'All right then! I need these boxes opened and everything set up. It's a pain in the arse trying to do it from a chair. So you can start by sorting this lot out for me.'
Jimmy looked at the boxes, then back to Scoop. 'I'm not some kind of unpaid slave, you know.'
Scoop thought about that for a moment, and then said, 'Yes you are.'
***
Jimmy was disruptive, unruly and disrespectful. He didn't like being told what to do. But if he was interested in something, he gave it everything. He was also good with his hands — had to be, really, as there was never much money around at home. So if he wanted something, he built it himself. He'd created a motorcycle out of parts other people had thrown away and he'd built a tree house that was more like a fortress, complete with electric lights and a fridge. He could do things if you left him alone to get on with them and didn't breathe down his neck, particularly if he saw some value in it. Working for Scoop in exchange for a free cruise made sense to him.
Scoop himself wasn't entirely convinced, so he positioned himself at the end of the corridor to make sure Jimmy didn't slip out and lose himself in the depths of the ship again. But the office door remained closed, and when he re-entered after an hour he was genuinely surprised to find that all the work had been completed. Two desks were up, each with a computer and scanner on top, both switched on and apparently fully functioning; the printer was set up, there was a column of printer paper sitting beside it; a filing cabinet was screwed to the wall; and all of the packaging had been folded and neatly stacked in one corner, awaiting removal. Jimmy was sitting at one of the computers, installing a program.
'I didn't think you'd even have the boxes open,' said Scoop. Jimmy shrugged. 'This is
fantastic.'
'So what now?' Jimmy asked.'There's no passengers on board yet, so do you just sit on your arse until we arrive in Miami?' He said it without really
'OK,' said Scoop, 'here's the story. Our passengers want to wake up in the morning and have a newspaper waiting outside their door, just like at home. So that's what I do — I write, edit, design and print a daily newspaper. It's a mix of news from the countries the passengers come from — mostly America — and stories about the ship, interesting passengers, profiles of the crew, that kind of thing. It's only small — eight, twelve, sometimes sixteen pages — but it's important; helps people feel that they're not entirely cut off from the outside world.'
'Can't they just switch the telly on?'
'We're in the middle of the ocean, there's no signal. The telly plays tapes we bring with us, mostly old TV shows, and documentaries about the islands the cruise visits. If they want news, it comes from me. Been doing it on different Stanford cruise ships for twenty-five years, son. Ever since I lost these.' He tapped his — well, no legs.
'It wasn't Pedroza, then.'
'I lost them in the first Gulf War. Do you remember that?'
'Before my time.'
'The
Daily Express
managed to get me a place on an aircraft carrier. It was to be my first time as a war correspondent. I was so excited when they told me, I was planning to run all the way home to tell my wife. Except I got knocked down by a taxi on the way. It smashed my legs up so badly I had to have them amputated.'
Jimmy didn't know what to say to
that.
He was actually struggling not to laugh. Sometimes you just can't help yourself. He tried to cover it by nodding at the boxes and saying, 'So what's the deal with this lot?'
'You know anything about computers?'
'Some.'
'Used a screwdriver before?'
'Now and again.'
'Ever wired a plug?'
'Sure.'
'All right then! I need these boxes opened and everything set up. It's a pain in the arse trying to do it from a chair. So you can start by sorting this lot out for me.'
Jimmy looked at the boxes, then back to Scoop. 'I'm not some kind of unpaid slave, you know.'
Scoop thought about that for a moment, and then said, 'Yes you are.'
***
Jimmy was disruptive, unruly and disrespectful. He didn't like being told what to do. But if he was interested in something, he gave it everything. He was also good with his hands — had to be, really, as there was never much money around at home. So if he wanted something, he built it himself. He'd created a motorcycle out of parts other people had thrown away and he'd built a tree house that was more like a fortress, complete with electric lights and a fridge. He could do things if you left him alone to get on with them and didn't breathe down his neck, particularly if he saw some value in it. Working for Scoop in exchange for a free cruise made sense to him.
Scoop himself wasn't entirely convinced, so he positioned himself at the end of the corridor to make sure Jimmy didn't slip out and lose himself in the depths of the ship again. But the office door remained closed, and when he re-entered after an hour he was genuinely surprised to find that all the work had been completed. Two desks were up, each with a computer and scanner on top, both switched on and apparently fully functioning; the printer was set up, there was a column of printer paper sitting beside it; a filing cabinet was screwed to the wall; and all of the packaging had been folded and neatly stacked in one corner, awaiting removal. Jimmy was sitting at one of the computers, installing a program.
'I didn't think you'd even have the boxes open,' said Scoop. Jimmy shrugged. 'This is
fantastic.'
'So what now?' Jimmy asked.'There's no passengers on board yet, so do you just sit on your arse until we arrive in Miami?' He said it without really
Similar Books
Lizzie Borden
Elizabeth Engstrom
Death of an Artist
Kate Wilhelm
Call of Kythshire (Keepers of the Wellsprings Book 1)
Missy Sheldrake
Against the Odds
Brenda Kennedy
Amanda McCabe
The Rules of Love
A Closed Eye
Anita Brookner
THE LYIN’ KING
Vertell Reno'Diva Simato
BindMeTight
Unknown, Nell Henderson
The Gilder
Kathryn Kay
