And here's another, earlier chapter.
***
At 5 in the morning she rolled over and draped her leg against his stomach, startling him from his sleep. Never before had he been with a girl who had hit him so many times in the balls.
“I’m going to end up like Heath Ledger,” she sighed into his ear.
“What do you mean?”
He wasn’t really awake.
“Have you seen the Black Curtain?” she whispered conspiratorially. There was urgency to her voice.
“What’s the black curtain?”
She squirmed and turned away.
“I AM going to end up like Heath Ledger!”
“No you’re not, don’t say that.”
He had woken up a little but still felt asleep.
“Have you ever seen the Black Curtain?”
“What’s the black curtain?”
“The Black Curtain is death!” she cried. “Have you… ever… seen the Black Curtain open?”
He thought about death. From the dark recesses of his memory he thought about when his Grandmother was dying from lung cancer. He paused for a long time.
“I think so.”
“Where have you seen it open?” her hands clung to his chest. “WHERE?”
He didn’t answer and wished for her to fall asleep or to change tack and talk about something else. He turned away from her and her body shifted closer to his.
“I think security cameras are watching me.”
“Of course they are,” he blurted out. “There’s at least one camera on every street. And a camera in front of every hotel and pub,” he added matter-of-fact.
“Oh,” she replied in surprise.
They lay in silence.
“I’m going to smash the next camera I see,” she said, completely earnest.
“Come on, get up. It’s 8.20.”
She stirred slowly. The sheets were stained with menstrual blood. He grimaced, as he thought about the security deposit on the apartment – excessive cleaning was a deduction on the bond.
“Can I borrow some underpants?”
“What?”
“I need underpants so I can wear pads.”
“Right.”
He looked through his collection of clean clothes.
“I don’t know if I have anything that would fit you.”
She yawned. He brought her a pair of dark blue, Bonds ‘action briefs.’
“Here, try these.”
“What day is it?” she mumbled.
“Thursday.”
She sat straight up in bed and rubbed her hands together in glee, grinning in excitement.
“I’m going shopping for jewellery!”
She pulled up the action briefs as high as possible, they hung loose around her hips, and then sat on the edge of the mattress, searching for her black, pipe cleaner jeans. She hooked a foot in its respective leg and, in one motion, jumped onto her feet as she pulled on the jeans. The jeans slid up and over thighs, and she bounced around the bed yanking on the fly to try and make the last inch. Sean remembered when he too once wore tight pants.
“Can I borrow your phone to ring a friend?”
“We have to go?”
“I’ll make it quick?”
He pointed at the mobile on the bedside table. She dialled a number from memory. He filled a water bottle in the kitchen sink.
“Hi Dylan! Are you doing anything today? Do you want to take me shopping? I’m going to get jewellery!”
Her voice was akin to fizzy bubbles, caught in the breeze and floating away in the air.
“I can meet you there. Um, eleven o’clock, I think! Bye Dylan.”
Sean checked the list. David he knew. Daniel was familiar. Dylan was a new name. Maybe they were all the same person? No, David and Daniel had different mobile numbers.
She rubbed her hands again.
“Can I borrow one hundred and twenty dollars?”
“Huh?”
She arched her eyebrows and flashed a smile, her eyes shining bright.
His face was a study in irritation.
“I need it for my heart medication.”
“Yeah right.”
“I have high blood pressure, I need my blood thinners.”
“I’m not going to give you money for your meds, that’s not my responsibility.”
She shrugged, indifferent. He agonised over whether to wear the Doc Martins or Ecco shoes. Rachel looked at his Nile ‘Annihilation of the Wicked’ t-shirt, hanging over the back of one of the chairs, as if noticing it for the first time. She pulled the shirt over her head.
“Don’t wear my shirt.”
She stood in front of the wardrobe mirror, smiling at herself. She did not wear a bra and her breasts were small and pert underneath the fabric.
“I’m serious, don’t wear that shirt. I have no clothes as it is.”
“But I have nothing to wear.”
“What’s that?”
He pointed at her long sleeved, green shirt, with gecko print, rolled into a ball next to the couch.
She grudgingly swapped his shirt for her own. He held open the door.
“Are we ready?”
“Can we get something to eat?”
“Yep, but make it quick.”
Rachel picked a jam doughnut, an Up N Go, and an Apple Slurpy. Sean selected the largest can of Red Bull he had ever seen. As an afterthought she remembered the Maxi-pads. She nibbled on her doughnut as he looked for his wallet. The attendant asked him if he wanted gum and then told him the price. He handed over a twenty-dollar note.
The doughnut slipped from her grip and hit Sean’s shoe, rolling under the counter.
“My doughnut!”
Sean stared dumbly at the ankle of his trouser leg. Jam was everywhere.
“Can I get another?”
“No, I haven’t got enough money for it.”
“I want my doughnut.”
She reached under the counter and felt around on the floor. He grabbed a handful of serviettes and tried to wipe up the jam. A line of people waited impatiently behind them.
“I think I can see it!”
The attendant looked over Sean’s shoulder at the next customer. Sean looked at Rachel.
“Mate, that doughnut’s long gone. I have to go.”
“Mate,” she repeated the word in disgust.
“I’m late!”
She gave up fossicking for the sweet. He stopped outside the sliding doors and looked down at his foot again, pulling at his trouser leg to get a better angle of view. He had done a good enough effort cleaning the shoe, but his leg was sticky and red and the jam was not going anywhere.
“It’s not good, I have to get changed.”
He checked the time on his phone. She squeezed the last remaining dregs of Up n Go from its box and binned the drink.
“Can I have some change for the bus?”
He distractedly gave her the last of the money from the twenty. “Ok, I’ll see you later?”
“Yep, bye.”
She stuck out her lips and he kissed her. She turned away and slinked off down the street, sipping her Slurpy, walking slowly, in no hurry to get to where she was headed. He rushed across the street and back up to the apartment. He removed his shoes, changed into the cleanest pair of pants he could find, swapped over his accoutrements, double checked that he had everything he needed, put his shoes back on and ran downstairs. He was disappointed that she wasn’t on the street when exited the foyer and walked double time to Oxford Street, with fifteen minutes left before he ‘officially’ started work. He drew a blank as he thought about the name Dylan.
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment