“Too long,” she said, wiping her mouth with a paper napkin.
“I’m not here to grill you about that. It’s none of my business.”
“I had a house and a job and a husband.”
“I’m sorry.”
“Me too. Surprised me how fast it all went to hell. No job, no house, no husband. Nothing but bills I can’t pay. I mean, you hear about it happening, but you never think it’ll happen to you.”
Robie said nothing.
Jordison continued, “He’s probably homeless too for all I know. My ex, I mean. Well, I call him my ex. He never even bothered to file for divorce. He just up and left. And it wasn’t like I could afford a lawyer to get it done.” She paused and added, “I went to college. Got my degree.”
“It’s been really bad times the last few years,” said Robie.
“Worked hard, did all the right things. The American dream. Right.”
Robie was afraid she might start crying.
She took a quick sip of coffee. “What do you want to know?”
“The night the bus blew up? What can you tell me?”
She nodded. “I’ve been sleeping behind a Dumpster the last couple of weeks. Nights haven’t gotten too cold yet. Last winter was a bitch. Didn’t think I was going to make it. January was my first month on the street.”
“That’s rough.”
“I thought something or someone would come through. Half my friends are like me. The other half will have nothing to do with me.”
“Family?”
“None that are in a position to help anymore. It’s just me now.”
“Where did you work before?”
“Admin support for a construction company. Like the worst possible job to have in this economy. I was just an expense item, generated no revenue. I was one of the first to go even though I’d been there twelve years. No severance, no health care, nothing. Salary stopped but the bills sure didn’t. Then my unemployment benefits ran out. I fought to keep my home for a year. Then my husband got sick. That sucked what little savings we had and left a whole ton of bills. Then he gets better and off he goes. For better pastures, he told me. Can you believe that shit? What happened to the marriage vows for better or worse?”
She glanced up at him, looking ashamed. “I know you don’t need to hear this.”
“I can understand how you might need to get it off your chest.”
“I’ve already vented plenty, thanks.” She finished her breakfast and pushed the plate away.
She took a few moments to collect her thoughts. “I saw the bus come down the street. It was really noisy so it woke me up. I don’t sleep well on the street. Concrete isn’t too comfortable. And it’s just not… well, safe. I get scared.”
“I can see that.”
“And then the bus stopped, right there in the middle of the street. I remember sitting up and leaning around the Dumpster and wondering why it had stopped. I’ve been over to that bus terminal going through the trash cans. It wasn’t a city bus. It goes up to New York. Leaves same time every night. Seen it before. Sometimes I wish I were on it.”
Not that night you don’t, thought Robie.
“What side of the street were you on? Side facing the bus door or the other side?”
“The door was on the other side.”
“Okay, go on.”
“Well, it just blew up. Scared the hell out of me. Saw stuff flying everywhere. Seats, body parts, tires. It was horrible. I thought I was in the middle of a war zone.”
“Did you see anything that might have caused the bus to explode?”
“I just assumed it was a bomb on the bus. You mean it wasn’t?”
“We’re still trying to figure it out,” said Robie. “But if you saw something, anything impact the bus, that could be important. A shot fired into the gas tank, maybe? Did you see or hear anything like that?”
Jordison shook her head slowly. “I know I didn’t hear a shot.”
“Did you see anyone?”
Robie stared directly at her but hid the tension he was feeling.
“After the bus blew up, I saw two people on the other side of the street. Before the bus was blocking my view. But then there wasn’t any more bus. A man and what looked to be a girl, maybe a teenager.”
Robie sat back but kept staring at her. “Can you describe them?”
Better it come out now, he thought.
“The girl was short, wearing a hooded coat, so I didn’t see her face.”