ONCE, TWICE, THREE TIMES

1
Seen him on Stokes Croft and given him money.
‘Er, excuse me,’ he said.
‘How much do you want?’
‘Well,’ he said opening his hand showing the coppers in the palm, ‘I need eighty-five pence for a drink.’
A quick look at what I had in way of change and I gave him enough for a drink.
‘Thank you,’ he said.

2
Down the left side of Stokes Croft on the way in to town a woman walked past me and said as she did, ‘excuse me, you got fifty pence...(slight pause)...a pound?’
I sighed and she heard.
‘Sorry,’ she said. ‘It’s embarrassing. Sorry.’
I gave her a pound coin and as she walked away I said, ‘don’t spend it all at once.’
She looked back and waved, ‘I won’t.’

3
A man came up to me as I was standing near Sebrights and said, ‘can I ask you as nicely as possible a favour of you...?’
His face was red, scab on his chin and another just above his left eyebrow.
‘I haven’t got any money,’ I said.
For a moment it seemed we were the only two people on Stokes Croft. Then he walked off and caught up with a woman, from the back, could’ve been the woman who’d tapped me for the pound earlier in the afternoon.