Jamaicarunnings Serial- "the Girl from the Lane"

The Girl from the Lane - 16th Installment

“Something really has to be done about these bus drivers,” Latoya complained to her friend Camile as they walked from the round-about to their respective homes.
“All they do is race each other on the roadways to stuff the buses with passengers, and will never ever complete their routes,” Camile chided.
The journey from the Bridgeport round-about to the normal bus stop where they should have disembarked was just over a mile and a half. On most occasions though, and especially when there were mostly ‘schoolers’ on the bus, the drivers terminated at the round-about, despite collecting full fares from all the passengers.
Both girls continued their chatter as they walked, facing the oncoming early evening traffic. They were approaching the CXC Examinations period and had stayed at school for extra classes. Both were intent on going to Sixth Form and were well aware that good grades required extra output.
As they approached the cluster of bars and shops at the Naggos Head community, Camile nudged Latoya as she spoke.
“There is the man that tried to accost us last week.”
“Where?” Asked Latoya.
“He is at the door of the bar on the left,” Camile responded, nodding her head in the direction where the man stood.
Latoya even without looking knew who this man was. On two previous occasions he had accosted her. Camile was with her on the last occasion when he had grabbed her arm, wrestling with her in front of the same bar in an effort to fondle her. Although there were other men present, they saw the event as funny rather than attempting to intervene.
Almost on cue, both girls held their bags and broke into a brisk run towards home. The man rushed across the street in pursuit, but the girls had had a good start, and soon disappeared into the maze of walkways and pathways that was the Braeton community. Latyoya decided that this was clearly a threat to her continued safety. She had not informed her mother of the two previous episodes. This time she would.

Sheila tried conceal her anger as she listened to her daughter recount the different encounters she had had with this man. She asked Latoya for a description of him and was very quiet as her daughter provided the information inclusive of the colour clothing that the man wore that afternoon. She fussed around the house for a quarter of an hour before announing to her children that she needed to pick something up at the pharmacy. Within a few minutes she was cruising by the piazza of the cluster of shops and looking for her daughter’s attacker. He stumbled out of the bar and onto the roadway and into the path of her car. The car was barely moving, so she needed very little effort to brake. He appeared annoyed that she should have been in his way and gesticulated his displeasure as he stared at her. It took a great deal of self control for her not to run him over with the Honda Civic.
“That would not be a very smart thing too do,” she thought. At least she could now confirm what he looked like. Continuing in the same direction, Sheila sped away, driving around the Portmore community for more than an hour, while she gathered her thoughts.