Wiping his face with the corner of his arm, North stopped by the wooden-slatted bin. Fast food wrappers and plastic bags of dog faeces running with water were piled up against the base. It was pouring with rain. If he ever bought that boat, he was mooring it someplace sunny and never getting wet again unless you count the tropical sea.
College days were over and he wouldn’t miss them. Roll on spring break. Tossing the empty folder and textbook, he turned, then stopped. Slumped on a wooden bench close by, a tramp watched with interest.
North reached back into the bin to lift out the textbook, weighing it momentarily in his hand. He wasn’t a moron-person like the kid said. He could use a book – even a book like this one. It might come in useful. The supermarket trolley loaded with plastic bags was parked up alongside the bench. North smiled in apology. The guy could salvage the file, but he was hanging on to Advanced Mathematics a while longer. He dropped it back into its plastic bag, folded it over and over, and carried on walking.