1 the Driver Mr Tahsin Cilekbileckli
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F.html 07/12/2009 11:44 1 the driver Mr Tahsin Cilekbileckli Outward appearance Like Antonio Banderas in Interview with the Vampire, down to the long black hair. Neatly pressed London Underground uniform, except for the jacket, which is slung over the back of his chair. Unshaven, baggy-eyed. His Hush Puppy shoes are worn along one edge. Inside information A qualified [[136]] Turkish political scientist living in Britain with a British wife. He walks splay footedly because his feet were beaten while he was in prison. His name means Perfection With Steel Wrists. Turkish surnames are new this century, added under the rule of Ataturk -- Father Turk. Such names sound beautiful to them. What he is doing or thinking The train pulls out, Tahsin sighs with despair and exhaustion. Last night he argued with his two best friends about Islamic fundamentalism. Tunc teaches at the [[ftnt1]] School of Oriental and African Studies and is from an old Ottoman family. "There are only a million modern Turks, but we have all the power," Tunc said, heavy lidded with superiority. Tahsin's other friend Umut is a failed actor, drinking himself to death. "There would be no more wine," Umut complained. "Umut" means Hope. Tahsin lost his temper with both of them. Tahsin is from Marash, a town famous only for its rubbery ice cream. His mother and father are illiterate and faithful. "My modern son," sighs his father on the phone with pride when told Tahsin is writing a book on a computer. After all the other isms, Islam at least feels native. His jacket is being crushed. Sleepily, Tahsin hangs it on an available peg -- [[end1]] the Dead Man's Handle. file:///Users/lac/ryman/F.html Page 2 of 255 F.html 07/12/2009 11:44 2 Mrs Valerie Tuck Outward appearance Neat page-boy hair cut, green wool poncho over layers of olive and brown. An old-fashioned reporter's notebook on her lap. She chews her pencil. Inside information Edits the in-house journal of [[124]] Otto Beetlehide Ltd, an international shipping company. Valerie's job usually involves buying in freelance journalists to work for branch offices in Cyprus, Denmark, Ipswich. What he is doing or thinking Writing an article herself. After a [[63]] second theft of computer chips, employees in the London office were issued with photo passes. They were sat in front of a camera operated by postroom staff. The results were unflattering blue photographs on badges held by choice of clip or chain. The article is called What the Well Dressed Beetlehide Employee is Wearing. Val advises how to wear the badge stylishly. "Try hanging it down your back from its chain. This is simple, elegant, and less nerdish than clipping it to your front pocket." She captions the article's only photograph. "Bruce Clipping, staff designer, models the mixed approach." Her raffish assistant wears it clipped to his belt while still held by its chain from a waistcoat pocket. Val recommends spraying the badges lightly with gold nail polish, "to neutralise the ice-blue, just-arrested look. Younger staff members into punk may wish to clip badges to ears or run the chains through nasal piercings." Val sketches elongated people holding the badges like handbags or fans. Like the drawings she did in school, back when she thought she was going to work in fashion. She smiles as if at her younger self. The article will be fun. [[1]] The driver file:///Users/lac/ryman/F.html Page 3 of 255 F.html 07/12/2009 11:44 s 3 Mrs Deborah Payne Outward appearance Young, effective [[36]] businesswoman. Red crepe blouse peeking out of heavy black coat. Simple but expensive gold earrings. A new leather briefcase crouches like a pet panther at her feet. In job interviews, her face always fits. It is now slightly fragile, lost in thought. Inside information Unattached publicity executive for [[25]] Mosstains, the construction company. Inspired by the suicide of her younger brother, she works nights for the Samaritans. What she is doing or thinking She has done a terrible thing: last night her [[123]] boss rang Samaritans. They were short staffed, and she took the call. She has never had much respect for her boss. He is capricious, limelight hogging, sometimes generous, disorganized. He apparently thinks the same thing. "I want to get out, but I can't get out, I'm too old. And there's this woman. She's nice enough, but she disagrees with everything I say, and I just don't seem to be able to get through to her." Deborah has never thought of herself as a powerful person. She appears to be driving her boss to suicide. That is not her chosen role in life. The whole tumult of his character rolls over her, and she feels horror for him. At Waterloo, she steps out onto the platform and recognizes him from behind. There are rules against this, but rules are for when you do not know what to do. "John!" she calls out and runs after him. She takes his arm. "John, you can leave Mosstains, you don't need to die!" His mouth hangs open in fear, loathing, surprise, rage. file:///Users/lac/ryman/F.html Page 4 of 255 F.html 07/12/2009 11:44 4 Mr Donald Varda Outward appearance Ebullient, 30, blond, plump, in a tight grey suit fashionable a decade ago. He sits in the last empty seat and [[5]] the man next to him shifts. Donald grins, fixedly. Inside information A financial advisor at the [[184]] Kennington Building Society. Its deposit accounts offer the highest interest rates in Britain. What he is doing or thinking Donald is re-imagining the ending to [[ftnt4]] An American Werewolf in London. The hero, Harold, realizes only Jenny Agutter can kill him and set him free. He tries to make her take the gun, singing "It Has to be You". She weeps for him. Then, he begins to change. The werewolf chases her through her flat, just as the white haired expert arrives... Cut to a children's cartoon on television. It features Wile E Coyote and is followed by a commercial for the American Lycanthropy Society. It shows Harold at work, in a bank. "We are pleased and proud to have Harold as part of our clerical team," says the manager. Drugged up to the eyeballs, Harold shakes his hand. His grin is fixed, desperate. "Werewolves can lead normal, productive lives," says the expert. "I should know. I am a werewolf." The camera pulls back from the TV. Harold is being made to eat breakfast by his wife. She is not Jenny Agutter. The soundtrack plays "It Had to Be You." All Harold's victims surround him, and in their midst is Jenny Agutter. He killed her too. She looks on and weeps. Where did I get that from? Donald wonders. Then he remembers. He works in a bank. file:///Users/lac/ryman/F.html Page 5 of 255 F.html 07/12/2009 11:44 5 Mr Brian Latham Outward appearance Pretty and old -- blonde hair, cornflower blue eyes. Sits bunched up and turned away from everyone until Donald Varda sits next to him. He then twists back around and segues through a series of extraordinary postures -- from Rodin's The Thinker, to simply shielding his eyes. Upper lip is sucked into a thin frown, lower lip thrust forward. Wears a blue corduroy suit. No winter coat or briefcase. Inside information A broadcaster and cookery correspondent out of work since LBC folded. He now caters for and guests at dinner parties for a fee. Returning to his expensively mortgaged Georgian home near [[7]] Elephant and Castle. What he is doing or thinking Last night he cooked dinner for a bullying ex-colleague who has always terrified him. As a "friend" he was paid to stay overnight and clean up in the morning after they left. Brian knows nothing about cleaning. The poodle left a turd on the carpet. He tried to hoover it up. The vacuum cleaner jammed. He tried washing the hoover in the sink. The vacuum cleaner shorted when he tried to use it again. The kitchen sink was still muddy with shit. He experienced a blinding rage, and walked out, sink, carpet, cleaner all thick with proliferating turd. He is now appreciating how that will look to his client. Brian perceives himself to be an essentially tragic figure. You don't like being a servant, he tells himself, but you are a servant. That's what you've become. He pushes himself to his feet at Waterloo, and gets out, to return to [[ftnt5]] Kensington and duty. file:///Users/lac/ryman/F.html Page 6 of 255 F.html 07/12/2009 11:44 6 Mrs Maria Reventos Outward appearance 25, heavy black coat, [[30]] black ski pants strapped under her instep, generous grey scarf. Obviously partnered to the [[7]] next passenger. She is reading aloud in Spanish from The London Underground Handbook. Inside information A train fan from Guadalajara, Mexico. Her husband became enamoured of the old rolling stock in Guadalajara. She became enamoured of him. In the early days of their marriage, she was winsome, naughty, headstrong. He was good, pained, slow. To make up for it, she has come with him on a train- lover's holiday. What she is doing or thinking She is fully occupied translating this passage: "A unique feature of the D78 stock is that it has tube stock sized wheels.