Free The Outback by David Clarkson Page B

girl.
     
    ***
     
    Colin was feeling
troubled. During the morning break he received some unsettling news from
Stephen and Niall. They had both spent the morning working alongside the gaffer
and in doing so picked up some interesting information relating to the man in
charge of them. He hoped that the concern they had shown was not warranted. To
try and take his mind off it he attempted to strike up a conversation with
Hiro. Success was proving elusive.
    ‘Jeez, you’re a tough
nut to crack, aren’t you? I’d pay a hundred dollars to know what was going
through that head of yours right now.’
    The Japanese man merely
smiled and bowed his head. It was a gesture that Colin was receiving with
frustrating regularity. He knew Hiro possessed basic English skills, so there
had to be some way to get through to him.
    ‘You can hardly blame
him for his lack of comprehension,’ said Rose, who had been amused from afar by
Colin’s failed attempts at bridging the lingual divide.
    ‘What’s that supposed to
mean?’ Colin asked.
    ‘Well, your accent can
be a little strong. Even Jenny and I have trouble understanding you sometimes.’
    ‘That’s right,’ added
her sister. ‘A lot of the time I can only guess at what you are saying.’
    Colin may have walked
all too easily into their ambush, but he was not about to let two private
school girls tell him how he should or should not be speaking English. There
was nothing incomprehensible about his accent. If anything, he thought that
their airs and graces made them the ones that were difficult to understand.
    ‘I’ll have you know that
the Gaelic accent is considered to be one of the most down to Earth and
friendly accents spoken anywhere in the world,’ he said. ‘Everyone loves the
Irish.’
    ‘Well, you cannot really
hold a grudge with someone if you do not know what they are saying,’ replied
Rose, who was clearly in the mood for some flirtatious teasing.
    ‘Is that why you find me
so irresistible, because you cannot understand a word that I say to you?’ he
asked.
    ‘I have no idea what you
just said, but it makes me feel hot.’
    She had a stick in her
hands and she began to suggestively run it through her fingers.
    ‘Oh please!’ exclaimed
Jenny, snatching the phallic branch away from her sister. ‘Will you two get a
room. You are not only embarrassing each other, but also Hiro and myself.’
    ‘A minute ago he
couldn’t understand us and now he’s getting embarrassed,’ said Colin. ‘Make
your mind up.’
    ‘I only said that he
could not understand you. I imagine he has no difficulty whatsoever with what
my sister has to say.’
    ‘Well, let’s ask him,
shall we?’ He turned to face Hiro. ‘Who is the easier to understand; me or the
girls?’
    ‘Ah...’ the Asian began,
before turning towards Rose and Jenny for guidance.
    ‘Hiro, do we speak
clearly enough for you?’ asked Rose.
    ‘Yes. Is hard for me,
but okay,’ he replied.
    She offered Colin a
satisfied smile before turning back to Hiro.
    ‘What about Colin; can
you understand him?’
    ‘No, no, no,’ he
replied, whilst shaking his head with a greater than required enthusiasm.
‘Ingreesh difficult, but Irish - impossible.’
    The girls laughed.
    ‘They’re both the same
language,’ protested Colin.
    Hiro again looked to the
girls.
    ‘He says that English
and Irish are the same,’ said Rose.
    Hiro laughed.
    ‘Ree-ry?’
    ‘Colin speaks English
too,’ confirmed Jenny.
    The Japanese man looked
genuinely surprised.
    ‘My Ingreesh not good,
but his terrible.’
    ‘In that case, I will
keep quiet from now,’ said Colin. ‘It’s not like anyone understands me anyway.’
    ‘Can you say that again
when Niall is around?’ asked Rose. ‘Communication would be made much simpler by
an interpreter.’
    ‘I’m not saying anything
to you ever again,’ he sulked.
    ‘I hope you are not
planning on keeping this vow of silence on Saturday.’
    ‘What happens on
Saturday?’
    ‘It is