BAZA ZNANJA

Kurs: -- English - Upper-Intermediate

Modul: Reported Speech

Autor: prof. Gordana Matorkić

Naziv jedinice: Moving

“That's that?”

Robert nodded, and Max the removal man turned back to the van, gave a wave to his driver and went to the back to seal up the contents of Robert's previous life.

Robert was surprised at Max's efficiency. Removal men are usually burly, beer-bellied and with greasy hair. You can always expect chipped cups, splintered furniture, mashed boxes, lost boxes. Delays. Traffic jams. Stuff stored in the wrong rooms, inefficiency, damage and loss. But that was not the case with Max.

Robert wanted the removal men to simply forget to arrive; he wanted the estate agent to lose the contracts shortly before the exchange takes place; he wanted the utility companies to forget to switch.

Robert wished his wife hadn't left him.

Max put the padlock on the back of the van, nodded in Robert's direction and walked round to climb into the passenger seat. The diesel engine fired up and the driver wasted no time in crunching it into gear and thrusting it out amongst the blaring horns of midday traffic. Some of what was in the van was coming with Robert to his new home, but a lot more was to be dropped off at the auction house later. The way Robert felt at that moment, it could have all been taken direct to a landfill.

Robert told himself that that was not what he had hoped for, as he slipped the door keys into an envelope, sealed it and pinned the envelope to the wall just inside the front door. Then, Robert took one last look along the hall, to the kitchen, where he had had breakfast every morning for years, first with his wife, and then with wife and child, and lately, as father and son. He saw the picture of the happy family in his head, felt the anguish of what he'd never have again, and then, having faced his grief, it faded. Quietly, almost reverentially, he closed the door and, taking a deep breath, he walked back along and out through the front door, turned and slammed it shut.

Robert walked down the steps and across the road to the car, to where David was sitting absorbed in his book. He opened the door and got in; 'Ready for an adventure?' he asked David, fastening the seat belt and adjusting the rear-view mirror. He turned the ignition key.

He nodded, still looking at his book, "Sure", he said.

"I like adventures", David said.

He drove north and the traffic was lighter than usual.
David looked up and wondered where they were.

Ten minutes later Robert turned into a dead-end street that contained a row of large but fairly dilapidated houses. The apartment was in the basement of the house with the removal van parked outside. Robert pulled behind the van.

David climbed out and went for a look round while Robert went to unlock the door for Max and his assistant.

"Don't go too far", Robert shouted.
When David returned, Robert asked him what he thought about the neighbourhood.
David looked at him, his eyes glittering, and said: "Scary…"
Then he ran off to explore some more.

Vocabulary

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