3.

The room flickered with light for a moment before returning to dark, the cycle repeating over and over. I fell out of bed, opened the blinds and stood at the window, looking up at the patchy, overcast sky and down at the town. The only two cars within sight almost collided at the intersection, a hand gesture of mutual apology following from both drivers. Rush hour in Kane.

A woman walking on the footpath below happened to look up at me. She did a double take then picked up her pace. ‘Strange town,’ I thought, before putting my underpants on and getting dressed. My sunburn had gone down, already turning brown. I’d been told the sun was gentler here than back home, but now I was convinced.

I walked down to the reception, pressed the buzzer, once, and played the same waiting game as the night before. The door opened and an old man emerged.

‘You after a room?’ he asked, words dripping from him.

‘Yes, I already have the one upstairs; I was hoping to stay another night. Your … colleague said it might not be available.’

‘That would be my wife.’

‘Alright,’ I said, waiting. ‘Okay, well, your wife said it might not be available.’

‘Let me check,’ he said, licking his finger and turning the pages of the registry. ‘That room is vacant, thirty dollars,’ he added after a few more finger licks and pages turned backwards and forwards.

I handed him a fifty and lapped up the déjà vu while waiting for him to source change from the metal container. Some people just find their soulmate, I suppose.

I wandered the town. Only a few streets had traffic and businesses. A shopkeeper selling electronics seemed fascinated to meet an Australian.

‘What the heck are you doing in the icebox of Pennsylvania?’ he asked me.

‘I’m asking myself the same question.’

‘It’s not much, but here, take this,’ he said, handing me a hat proudly proclaiming the town’s name on the front.

I put it on and asked if anywhere did a decent breakfast. He said I could get a good, hot meal down on Field. There I ordered and inhaled pancakes, syrup and bacon and downed two cups of coffee. A sign on the wall read: ‘Serving Kane for four generations – and counting!’ I queried one of the waitresses about how long the place had been there. ‘Real long,’ she replied, topping off my coffee. A man approached when I asked if I could speak to one of the owners.

‘Well, there are a few home builders in town. Not sure I recall a Rodney though,’ he said, rubbing his moustache.

‘It was a while ago. Quite a while ago.’

‘Hey, Joey!’ the man yelled to another who was halfway through serving a table. ‘You remember a guy who used to build houses ’round here a while back? Name’s Rodney or something.’

‘Hmm, yeah, actually. Yeah, I do. Was a friend of Pops’. Rodney Barlow, I think,’ Joey supplied. ‘Yo, Pops!’

A leather-faced man came out from the kitchen to join the other two.

‘Rodney Barlow, he was a buddy of yours, right? A builder in town?’

‘Yeah, he was. Jeez, I haven’t heard that name in a while,’ Pops replied, flustered.

‘Would you happen to know if he still lives in the area?’ I asked.

‘No, Rod’s … unfortunately, Rodney’s no longer with us.’

‘Ah, I’m sorry to hear that. That’s a real shame.’

‘Yeah, was a real shame for him – caught his wife with some hired help that rocked into town one day. Some fuckin’ kangaroo that was lucky to make it out of here alive if you ask me. The whole town knew. Rod and the missus split the sheets not long after; he sold up and headed for Buffalo. I hear from him sometimes, but, eh.’

I took a sip of my coffee and missed my mouth.

‘Oh, jeez, here, let me get that for you,’ said Pops, as he and his sons jerked napkins from the dispenser and cleaned me up. I smiled, toasted the coffee to them and finished it. Pops looked out the window of the diner, his smile fading as he looked back to me. I quickly stood and thanked them for their hospitality, tipping excessively.

‘Hey, son, I didn’t catch your name,’ he added.

‘Oh, it’s Mark,’ I said, forcing neutrality in my pronunciation.

‘I haven’t seen you here before, Mark. You new in town?’

‘No, just passing through and heard this was the best hot breakfast around.’

‘Right, right. Just seems strange, is all, that you’d be passing through here and bringing up a name I haven’t heard said in this town in almost twenty years,’ he said, his comment rousing suspicion in his sons, who also took a sudden, keen interest in me.

‘A, ah, friend of my uncle’s, came through here yonks ago. Told me if I ever found myself in Pennsylvania, I should get a beer with his mate Rodney in Kane.’

‘I see,’ Pops paused. ‘Well that’s nice. Rodney did love to make new friends.’ He seemed placated, which meant the sons did too.

‘He sure did,’ I said, getting up and moving towards the door. ‘Well, thanks for breakfast.’

‘Yeah, you’re welcome.’

I pushed the door open but before I was through it, Pops addressed me again.

‘Hey, Mark, I didn’t catch it. Where’d you say you were visiting from again?’

‘I didn’t,’ I said, walking out into the brisk air and back to the motel.

I collected my things, placed the room key on the counter, pressed the bell and left. If there were answers out there, I was beginning to wonder if I even wanted to find them. The fog was gone now. I eased out of the town.