Because I Hear the Voices

Chapter 4

“Hey, pretty boy!  Do you think you can tear yourself away from that mirror long enough to help take these damn boxes in?” 

I turned away from the bathroom mirror that I had just been polishing in my attempt to clean up this dump we had decided would be home, before we began to clutter it with the junk we had managed to collect over the years.  In fact I never realised how much stuff I owned until I began sorting through it all for this move.

“You wouldn’t need any help, s**t-head, if you hadn’t decided to pack up every goddamn thing you owned.  I bet you didn’t bother going through this stuff and chucking out what you didn’t need,” I retorted after tossing the used paper towel I’d been cleaning with into the waste basket, and rushing over to help him lift the box he was carrying through his bedroom door.

 “Oh sure, this from the guy who not only brought with him junk he already owned, but had the audacity to go out and buy more just yesterday,” Devlin returned.

 “And if I hadn’t we wouldn’t have a fridge or a washing machine, besides they were second hand and for $50 bucks a pop, a damn good bargain in my opinion,” I answered shoving the box we were carrying at him, causing him to stumble predictably.

 We set down the box with a satisfying thump and both grimaced at the sound of breaking glass from inside its depths.

 “Oh yeah, and what about the prissy shower curtain, towels, sheets, mats and wall unit you also managed to cart in here,” Devlin asked as he headed back outside to his utility to finish carting his stuff inside.

 “We needed towels, or were you going to air dry yourself after a shower?  And sheets, surprise, surprise are pretty necessary on a bed.  As for the mats, the one for the bathroom is so you don’t slip and break that hard head of yours after you get out of the shower, and the front door mat, was, may I remind you, your purchase,” I said defending my actions as I followed him outside.

 “Yeah, but Sean did you have to buy shower curtains with flowers on them?  It’s enough to give me nightmares,” Devlin shuddered as he hefted up a box that was so full it couldn’t be shut properly.

 “You know since I landed bathroom detail when we were organising our agendas, I figured a shower curtain is at least going to save me 15 minutes cleaning time a week, so it was, in my opinion a necessary buy!”

 We began to squeeze the box through the front door, with me almost tripping over a mat that begged potential visitors to go far, far away.

 “But flowers?”

 “Would you have preferred the pretty pink fairies or the red love hearts instead?  You were with me they didn’t have anything else!”

 “We could have gone to another store,” Devlin reasoned with me.

 “And paid 15 bucks for something we picked up for $1?  We are on a budget here Dev.  Besides, all we have to do is say it came with the house.  Next payday I promise to go and find a nice manly one with decapitated heads on it just for you,” I tried appeasing him as we manoeuvred our way from the hall into the bedroom once again.

“Or perhaps Astroboy,” he said as he burst out laughing and fled to the nearest exit with me close on his heels.

 When I caught up with him at his car, I gave him an elbow in the ribs, which was both a satisfying and expected retaliation.  He simply grinned and placed another heavy load in my arms and reached in for one of his own to cart inside.

 “What about the wall unit?” he asked, innocently throwing me off guard.

 “The what?”

 “The wall unit.  Why did you have to go and buy something worth $400, and then complain about spending more than one miserly buck on a shower curtain?”

 “Because it was the only unit that could fit all that junk you bought.  Why you had to go and spend almost our entire savings on that wide-screen television, DVD, surround sound and jukebox stereo system anyway is beyond me!”

“Well they are all necessary equipment for two young men expanding their horizons and wanting to give outlandish parties, where they can meet chicks and get lucky.  A small price to pay, besides you have to admit, they go so well in that wall unit,” Devlin grinned cheekily; easily sidestepping the kick I aimed at his calf.

 Devlin went outside to bring in his last box while I went into the living room to survey our impressive equipment that literally took up the entire far wall.  Since that morning we had already moved what seemed like decades worth of dust from the tacky brown carpeted floor, cleaned the grime off the windows, the mould and mildew from the bathroom and most of the stains from the green counter top in the kitchen, all we had to do now was put everything away.  I reached down to open up the packet that had our new beanbags in it.  As we couldn’t yet afford couches, we had to make do with several beanbags that we would scatter around the room, which would be otherwise devoid of furniture.

The lounge room opened onto a tiny dining room, just big enough for the two blue camping chairs and old aluminum card table that we had placed in it.  The kitchen ran directly off the dining area, small and cramped with none of the comforts of home, like a dishwasher or microwave, but our new fridge, with its peeling white paint, fitted so well with the décor, it appeared to have been made for the kitchen.  The three rooms ranged side by side across the rear of the house, and were accessed by a short narrow hallway, which effectively split the house in two.  On either side of the front door were two rooms, one slightly larger than the other, with the bathroom situated on the right hand side of the hallway between the lounge and Devlin’s bedroom.  The laundry was in a cramped corner of the car garage, built onto the side of the house.  The whole house had been painted a sickly yellow colour, which together with the brown linoleum and carpet had made our parents wonder what was wrong with us, that we would choose to live in such a house.  Actually it had been the enormous yard and two words on the rental contract (pets allowed) that had sealed the deal for Devlin and myself after looking at everything from brand new townhouses to dumps far worse than this one.  Our fathers’ had bet that neither of us would do anything towards the upkeep of the yard, but what they didn’t realise was that the yard would be used for outdoor parties, and being so huge, would give us more chances at loud gatherings than if we had a neighbour only 2 meters away as was the case in those fancy townhouses they had preferred.  Yep this house was definitely our idea of home.

                                     *                                  *                                  *

 The day that they announced the OP results had Devlin waiting at 8am outside the house on the footpath beside the letterbox.  I had to be there with him because he whined that he would have become bored if I hadn’t come, but in all seriousness, I really didn’t care too much for finding out my result.

 When the postman finally arrived, at around eleven o’clock, I could barely keep my eyes open, but Devlin raced excitedly over towards the postie, hands held out in earnest.

 “What do you mean I have to read it?”  I asked bewildered.

 “I just don’t think I can,” Devlin whined, “Please Sean.”

 “f*****g i***t,” I mumbled bad temperedly, before snatching the envelopes from his hand.  I carefully slit open the side, drawing out the letter, before trailing my eyes down the page.

 “OP 9,” I stated clearly.

 “WHAT?” Devlin screamed before reaching across to tear the letter from my hands. 

  “Oh god that’s terrible!  What am I going to do?  What am I going to do?”

 “Actually I thought I did really well.  I was expecting at least a 12.”

 Devlin froze as he registered what I had just said.  “You?  That’s your result!” he asked through gritted teeth.

 “What, did you want me to look at yours too?” I asked innocently.  He flew at me then, throwing punches at my head, shoulders and stomach.

 “ARE YOU INSANE!” he screeched!

 “Ok, ok, I’ll open yours too,” I said through my laughter and whimpers of pain.

 We fought then for the possession of the envelope, with Devlin only letting go when we heard the unmistakable sound of paper tearing.  I quickly peeled open the envelope took in the first sentence, before turning to him, my face beaming with pride.

 “Summers comma D.  OP 1.”

 “Holy s**t,” Devlin mumbled softly before his eyes rolled into the back of his head and he fainted.

                                     *                                  *                                  *

 In the many years that I have known Devlin, he has always wanted to decorate his house for Christmas.  While my parent’s brought out their plastic tree to decorate and set up their nativity set with care, Devlin’s parents had always paid for the tree, as well as all the other decorations, to be put up by a professional decorator.  Ever since I went to school my parents had dropped me off at Devlin’s house on Christmas day so they could spend the day with their friends.  This had suited Devlin’s parents as well, because if I were there to entertain Devlin, he wouldn’t come and interrupt their own party.  Consequently Christmas to both Devlin and myself was never seen as a family occasion, as it is to other people.  All that was going to change however, because for the first time since I’d met Devlin, he was actually looking forward to the seasonal holiday.

 We had gone out two weeks before Christmas and had raided all the cheap junk stores until we had enough Christmas decorations to decorate the street.  Devlin had bought a live tree and stuck it in the living room and had spent hours decorating it with candy canes, balls, bells, plastic Santa’s and all manner of bits and pieces.   On top of the tree was a gold star that had to be secured with a rubber band because the tree leaned dangerously to the left, and at the bottom of the tree were our hurriedly wrapped presents.

 Along the hallway where banners proclaiming ‘A Merry Christmas’ as well as miles and miles of tinsel held up with sticky tape, which I had objected to, but Devlin had simply stated that the paint was shoddy anyway so it hardly mattered.

 All through the house were plastic blow up reindeers and Santa Claus’ and to make matters worse the outside of our house managed to look like a beacon for an airport with the 11,200 fairy lights that Devlin had strung across the eves, around the window sills and door frame, and even in the shrubs underneath his bedroom window!  Some of these lights even flickered on and off, or went around and around, so that when someone looked at them for a long time they began to feel quite queasy in the stomach.

 And the preparations hadn’t stopped there.  Devlin had gone to visit his parent’s housekeeper Mrs. Jacobs for Christmas recipes, and had put together a roast turkey, roast pork, roast vegetables and a Christmas pudding with extra custard, for the special day.  And to top it all off he woke me up at five o’clock Christmas morning.

 “Santa’s been!” he announced joyfully throwing his pillow down on top of my sleeping form.

 “What time is it?” I managed to reply after several failed mumbling attempts.

 “Five AM,” he declared delightedly as he went to my window and threw open the curtain to let in the already brilliant light of a new day.

 “f**k off!” I stated heatedly before burying my head under my pillow to block out the Christmas carols that I could hear blasting out of his stereo system in the lounge.

 “Come on Sean, Santa’s been!” he laughed delightedly and threw a plastic bag on my bed before skipping out of the room.

 Curiosity of course, managed to get the better of me, so by the time he had gotten back with a tray and two bowls of breakfast cereal I was sitting up in bed with a smile on my face, trying to free my remote control car from its box.

 Devlin put the tray on the floor and hopped on the foot of my bed.

 “I see you like your toy,” Devlin smirked.

 “You know this idea of yours to put kid stuff in the stockings was pretty neat, now I come to think of it,” I laughed as I finally managed to release the car from its confines.

 “Breakfast?” Devlin asked as he scooped up the heaped plate and held it out to me.

 “How come I get breakfast in bed?” I questioned quite astonished, because this was the first time I had ever received breakfast in bed.

“I woke up this morning and found several of my favourite films that I loved when I was a kid, in my stocking, so I figure it's time for a celebration.”

 “Yeah well after breakfast I think we should open up our presents, race the car and then spend the day watching some old favourites, what do you think?” 

 “I think, that I should be the one that drives the car first,” Devlin replied smiling wickedly at me.

 “Hell no!”