The phone lit up and vibrated against the surface of the bedside table. He pushed his computer chair backwards and reached for the plastic body, pulling the charger out as he picked it up.
‘Hello?’ he said.
‘Hey,’ she said, drawing out the vowel. ‘So I got to the bus stop and the next one doesn’t come for another 50 minutes.’
‘Oh.’
‘Yeah…’
‘Are you going to walk back?’ he said.
‘I’m not walking back on my own.’
‘Do you not know the way?’
‘And it’s dark.’
‘I can show you.’
‘I know how to get back…’
‘Do you want a beer?’
‘What? Can I just come back to yours and wait for the next one?’
‘I don’t mind walking with you.’
‘How long is it going to take you to get here?’
‘Well, how long did it take you to get there? I’m leaving now, did you want any beer? I think I’m going to get some on the way.’
‘No. Why are you getting beer? Where are you getting it from?’
‘Mulberry’s. You walked past it.’
‘What? Where?’
‘It was like, right on the corner at the end ofmy road.’
‘You’re weird. How long are you going to be?’
‘Like, 5 minutes?’
‘Okay, I’ll see you in 5 minutes then.’
‘Okay.’
‘Hurry up.’
‘I can’t believe you bought beer,’ she said as he approached.
She was waiting underneath a streetlamp that had a bus stop sign and timetable attached to it.
‘Are you sure you don’t want one?’
‘Yeah. I don’t really like it. I think it’slike, a guy thing maybe. I prefer Southern Comfort when getting drunk.’
They began walking up a road that rose at asteady incline.
‘I have seen many girls drink beer. I’m not drinking to get drunk.’
‘Really? I thought I could take advantage of you.’
‘It might have the opposite effect.’
‘On what?’
‘On my penis.’
‘Oh. Oh yeah. Does that happen to you?’
‘I don’t know. Not really, I don’t think.’
‘I don’t think it’s happened when I’ve beenwith a guy. I was drunk once, giving a blow job and I threw up on the bed… He still waved his dick in my face.’
He laughed.
‘Did you carry on?’
‘Yeah. Twice.’
‘Was that with your ex?’
‘No. It was that guy I cheated on him with. Itold you about it.’
They passed houses, terraced continually, never seeming to have sides. Family houses.
‘So have you found anywhere for next year yet?’
‘No,’ she said. ‘Have you?’
‘No… I have a friend who might have a spareroom. I don’t know.’
‘I know somewhere you can live.’
‘Where?’
‘In my pants.’
‘Oh yeah? How much is rent?’
‘£50… No, wait, free. I’m not a whore.’
‘Okay, sounds good. Do you have gas?’ he said.‘Do you have running water?’
‘Shut up!’ she laughed.
‘That was a Samuel Beckett joke,’ he said.
He looked across at her. She seemed to not be listening to what he was saying and was looking across the road or in it’s direction at something, or nothing.
‘Well, the first one. I made up the runningwater bit.’
Their route started to descend and they walked a narrow path that ran through the middle of an allotment site.
‘Is this what you were talking about before?’
‘With the lights, yeah.’
‘“Like a tangled ball of Christmas treelights.”’
‘What?’
‘It’s nice along here.’
‘You can see more in the daylight. Obviously.’
‘Are you going to walk back?’
‘I think so. I can finish this beer then.’
He held up the carrier bag that contained thesecond beer.
‘You can stay over if you want. Did you notbring any condoms?’
‘No. Sorry.’
‘Okay.’ She sighed.
‘Can I use your toilet when we get there?’
