Nick Holdstock
The False River
Number of this bus: the 6838, which starts in L.A. and runs to Sacramento.
Number of passengers: 33, which is less than two-thirds full.
Number of black people: 20.
Number of white people: 8.
Number of people whose ethnicity cannot be determined without closer
inspection: 5.
Number of men: 22.
Number of women: 11, 3 of whom are elderly. Judging from their
expressions—please-don’t-rob-or-kill-me —they have never taken the bus
before.
Number of the remaining 8 who are more than averagely pretty: 4. All but
one are with a man who is unlikely to be a friend, cousin or brother, judging
by the acts they’ve performed: a slow kiss; a slap on the ass; making her sit on