Competition Twenty-Four Shortlisted: Chalma by Tim Cameron Long
Tyres and metal fixings fill every inch of the repair shop. The walls were once painted a toothpaste blue but decades of grease have turned it black. The front opens to the street; a chorus of horns sound as cars and scooters inch past the street sellers. Scattered across the floor are engine parts, steel rods and oil cans. In the centre, sat in a wicker chair is Chalma. A flower patterned shawl wrapped around her shoulders, her pleated skirt an inch from the filth of the floor.
From the other side of the street Kimmi and her friends call her Nani Statue. From the minute the shutters go up until the end of the day she is always there. They play a game, trying to be the first to see her move.
Chalma’s husband started the tyre repair shop decades earlier. She still remembers the day they opened, the pride on his face. Even after all these years she misses him. The last time they spoke, as he was whisked away, he pleaded with her to look after the shop. Staring into his wide eyes, she said she would. And as her mother would always say; a promise is a promise.
Next week she will be seventy-six. She doesn’t want the party organised by her grandson’s wife. Chalma has waited long enough, watched the street slowly change into something she doesn’t recognise.
At first light, the sky drained of colour, Kimmi takes the empty buckets down for her uncle. Turning the corner onto the main street, she stops, the buckets loose in hands. She doesn’t move, eyes fixed on the empty wicker chair, suddenly looking out of place amongst the grease. The street around her continues as normal, a horn sounds, a dog barks, Chalma’s wait is over.
Born in Essex, Tim spent his younger years scribbling down poems and daydreaming. He went on to study Sociology at Brunel University. His writing is strongly influenced by the people he has met in his travels across the globe. In 2020 he published the novel Where Hope Goes. He currently lives in Devon with his wife and two daughters.
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