The Guard in the Big Jacket

Chidi stands in a glass shelter at a tram stop. It is seven in the morning. The street is quiet and the air is cold.

On the wall of the shelter there is a big map. It shows the lines in many colours. Chidi looks at it every day. The city is new to him. Three weeks is not long.

Today is a special day. It is his first day at a new job. He works as a guard at the city museum. His uniform is dark blue with a silver badge.

The uniform is also too big. The jacket falls past his hands. The trousers are long and wide. Chidi holds them up with a belt and some hope.

"One size fits all," the man at the office says. Chidi does not believe him. Now he believes him even less.

He is early. His shift starts at eight. He knows the way to the museum. He knows it well from this map. Take line six. Go four stops. Walk two streets past the fountain.

So he waits and he reads the map again. The colours help him calm down. Line six is green. The museum is a small square with a star.

Steps sound behind him. A woman runs into the shelter. She is out of breath. She wears a nice jacket. She holds a leather folder in one hand.

"Excuse me," she says. "Do you work here?"

"Here?" Chidi says. "At the tram stop?"

"I mean, do you know this city?" The woman looks at his uniform. "You look like a worker."

Chidi looks down at his sleeves. "This is a work jacket. It is just big."

The woman laughs, but it is a worried laugh. "I am Vanya. I am from a small town. I arrived last night. I have an exam at eight-thirty."

"What kind of exam?" Chidi asks.

"It is for a job at the city library. I must arrive on time. If I am late, I lose my place." Vanya takes out her phone. "My phone is dead. I cannot see the way."

Chidi feels a strange warm feeling in his chest. Every week, other people show him the way. A woman at the market. A boy at the station. A man with a dog. Now someone asks him.

"Show me your paper," he says.

Vanya opens the folder. The address of the library is at the top. It is on Maple Street.

Chidi turns to the map. He puts his finger on a blue line. His long sleeve hides his hand, so he rolls it back.

"Here is Maple Street," he says. "You take line two. It is the blue one. It comes in five minutes."

"How many stops?" Vanya asks.

"Six," says Chidi. "Count them. You get off at the stop with the clock."

"The stop with the clock," Vanya repeats. She nods many times. "Then what?"

"Then you turn left. You walk past a pharmacy and a shoe shop. The library is the stone building with two lions."

"Two lions," says Vanya. She looks at him with wide eyes. "How do you know all this?"

"I walk a lot," says Chidi. "Three weeks, three hundred streets. I like to know where I am."

Vanya lets out a long breath. She looks at the clock in the shelter. "Eight minutes past seven. I am not late yet."

"You are very early," says Chidi. "You have time."

"I am so nervous," says Vanya. "I studied all night. My head is full of dates and book names."

"My head is full of door numbers," says Chidi. "Today I learn forty doors."

"Forty?"

"Yes. Every door has a key. Every key has a name. I must remember them all."

Vanya smiles. This time the smile is real. "We are both new here," she says. "That is a good thing to know."

The blue tram comes round the corner. It is long and bright. It makes a soft noise. The doors open with a hiss, and the driver waits.

"This is yours," says Chidi. "Line two. Do not forget the clock."

Vanya steps toward the door. Then she stops. She turns back and looks at him closely.

"Is your job on line two?" she asks.

"No, I am on line six."

"The green one." Vanya nods. "Thank you, really."

"You are welcome," Chidi says. "Go. Pass your exam."

But Vanya does not go. She puts her leather folder under her arm. She takes his hands, and they disappear in his long sleeves. She shakes them with a serious face.

"Where do you work?" she asks.

"At the city museum. I am a guard."

"A guard!" Vanya laughs. "A guard in a uniform that is too big. Are you sure it is not your father's coat?"

"I am sure," says Chidi. "The man at the office says one size fits all."

"Then he is wrong," says Vanya. "It fits two."

Chidi laughs so hard that his belt slides. He grabs his trousers with both hands. The tram bell rings.

Vanya jumps into the tram. The doors begin to close. She waves from the window, and her face is bright. Chidi waves back with a sleeve that hangs down like a flag.

The tram goes away. The shelter is quiet again. Chidi looks at the map once more. He checks line six and the fountain. He finds the little square with the star.

Then he smiles. He is no longer alone in this city. Somewhere a woman sits down for her exam. She knows the stop with the clock. A small part of the map is his now.

Ten minutes later his own tram comes. It is green and almost empty. He gets on and sits by the window. He holds his badge in his hand. The silver shines in the early light.

He rolls up his sleeves again and again. They always fall down. At last he stops and lets them hang.

At the museum door, the head guard waits for him. She is tall and she has a kind voice. She looks at his jacket and does not say a word. Then she opens a drawer and gives him two safety pins.

"For the sleeves," she says. "And please, no running in the halls."

"No running," Chidi says. "Walking is hard enough."

He pins his sleeves up and stands straight. The jacket still hangs on him like a tent. He looks at her. "If I fall, call it art," he says.