Mrs. S by K Patrick

Author:K Patrick
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Europa Editions
Published: 2023-04-04T00:00:00+00:00

A hangover. Acute. The nail through the forehead. Nausea moving in hiccups. I lie on her floor, one cushion from her sofa under my head. The rug from her sofa is pulled over my body. I register my surroundings one by one. Her snores pass gently through the wall. No, the door, the door to her bedroom is open. Sunday, now it is Sunday. Her snores, tidal, released in waves. The annexe is even smaller than mine. Each section of life squashed into the next. The sofa close to the kitchen, a television close to the window already pumping sun, close to the bedroom which is windowless entirely. Where is the bathroom? There is no bathroom. There is a bathroom, of course, almost inside the kitchen.

Shower pressed against the toilet. I lean my head on the cool edge of the sink. Hopeful that a cool edge will help. I splash water on my face. This will be the cure. Her toothbrush, a little heartbreak, the worn bristles, the man’s blue colour. I’m desperate to brush my teeth. This will be the cure, clean teeth. Her toothpaste is the whitening kind, more heartbreak. These improvements we secretly want to make. At the last moment I can’t do it and put the toothbrush back in its place. We are not lovers, we have not yet been close enough to each other’s tongues. Instead I wipe a minted finger across my teeth. Maybe I will vomit. No, no I won’t. I can hold on.

That you up? The snoring has stopped. Her voice already confident. Yes. I sit, defeated, on the floor of the bathroom. She comes to find me. Oh Jesus, ha, you lightweight. Somehow she is fresh. Feeling rough? I nod. Each plate of my skull rubs against its neighbour. She disappears into the kitchen. I can offer two cures, hair of the dog, or hair of the dog. In each hand is a green bottle of beer. What have I got to lose? That’s the spirit. You’re young, you’ll survive. She stands with her back to the window. A warm silhouette. The two green beer bottles come alive. Too alive, the light flung into my eyes, thudding into the hollow behind. You too? Me what? I point weakly at the beer. You’ll drink too? She enjoys forcing me to talk. One of those. I slump and lie entirely on the lino in a half-hearted foetal position. Yes, why not, nowhere to be, The Girls aren’t here, we’re free to fuck about. She leaves me on the floor and returns again with her ring of keys. She uses the largest, oldest one to pop open each bottle. It doesn’t happen easily. The serrated lid leaves a cut at the base of her thumb. She doesn’t seem to notice. Here, drink.

The first few mouthfuls are almost a disaster. The beer curdles with toothpaste. Come on drink it like you mean it. She sits on the sofa, talking to me as I sip preciously, still lying down, propped up on my elbow.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.