Of All People (Part 2)

**Munaqaba08** Sat Mar 28, 2009 8:13 pm

Here is part two (part one is here: https://easelandink.forumotion.com/sisters-short-stories-poems-essays-f10/of-all-people-part-1-t400.htm insha'Allah)

There was a guy, with what Basil judged to be, a huge beard, a black rain coat with a long white, Basil couldn’t quiet guess what the name of it was, under his coat. But that wasn’t what suspended Basil’s movement. It was the guy in the car behind him who had moments ago hit him. The guy had obviously said something offensive to the man in the raincoat who had been cutting through the cars to get across the street out of the rain because the man in the raincoat had stopped and approached the car with the offending man in it. Basil stared at the man who was far too large to be crammed into such a small car, sitting with his jaw slack, looking chagrinned. It didn’t take an engineer to guess that the man hadn’t expected the target of his verbal attack to confront him. Although it was raining and a frigid chill was pressing down on the city, Basil could see beads of sweat running down the big man’s forehead. As he approached the car, Basil caught snatches of the conversation the two men were having.

“…Do you speak out so boldly against those things?” the man in the raincoat was asking.
Silence.
The big man, dumbstruck, was scratching his head and Basil couldn’t help but remember the BBC documentary on primates he had watched a few months earlier. Finally, the big man stopped scratching his head and responded.
“Uhh…what do I care what they do? It’s their business right mate?”
“But you care so much about what I’m wearing that you had no problem mentioning that. “
Intrigued, Basil stopped and with genuine curiosity, he watched the two men have a row in the middle of rush hour traffic.
The man in the raincoat continued responding to the man whom Basil was now mentally referring to as ‘Spelter’. It was a non-scientific name used for Zinc but pewter was often called spelter. Basil chose that name almost unconsciously because as it became obvious that this little rush hour row wouldn’t be short, the big man’s pallor had become a dull silver-grey that reminded Basil of his great Aunt’s old heavily tarnished pewter vase that collected dust in her basement. As the man in the raincoat continued talking, Basil decided he would call him ‘The Professor’. He had a distinctly scholarly look about him.
“So let me get this straight”, The Professor was saying, “child abuse, oppression, violence against women, none of these things concern you? It’s not, as you said, your business, but what I’m wearing is? And an article of clothing is more important than the humane treatment of people? Do I understand you correctly?”
“Listen mate, I was just doing you a favour telling you that in London only women wear dresses. I mean, you should probably thank me. Shouldn’t you?” Spelter asked, a little unsure of himself.
Moron. That was the word that flashed through Basil’s mind when he understood that Spelter had called the garment under The Professor’s raincoat a dress. These people where all over London and Basil had seen the garment the men wore. It bore no resemblance to a woman’s dress. “It’s people like Spelter who make me ashamed to be English”, Basil mumbled to himself.
Basil had had enough. He approached the two men with the intention of getting Spelter’s insurance information and then he’d head home.
“Excuse me. I hate to interrupt this…curious exchange…but you just rear-ended me.”
Spelter looked positively stupefied. “Huh? I did? When?” Then Spelter did the unimaginable.

to be continued Inshallah...