Right Now Or Never Again

Chapter 2-3

“It wasn’t in the foyer closet, but in the bathroom,” Eeli said as he put the bucket on the floor near the couch.

“I forgot,” Leo mumbled. “I puked in it before I left for the hospital.”

“I noticed. I washed it with a detergent, so it should be okay.”

On the side table stood the water pitcher and glass Eeli had brought from the kitchen. The sleeper couch had been unfolded when they came in, and Leo slumped on it with his boots still on. Eeli hesitated a second before he started removing the left one from Leo’s foot. Leo was mumbling something. Eeli had opened the bootlace almost halfway until he noticed the boot had a zipper on the side. Not the stupid footwear as he had first thought.

“Don’t take my coat,” Leo said. “I’ll be cold anyway. My socks…”

Eeli found wool socks on the armchair. He gave them to Leo who indicated he could put them on himself. Eeli retied the bootlace and took the boots to the foyer. Then he had time to take his first good look around. The place seemed to be one of those IKEA miracles you see in their promo videos. The couch, chairs, a dresser, a closet, shelves, and tables were locked together neatly and functionally, like pieces in a puzzle. There were pillows and carpets and even window curtains. Cozy. Maybe you needed things like that when you were sick. And talking about sick…

“Need something more? Your pills? Some juice to give you sugar? If you’re really going to puke again.”

Leo took the bucket and moved it next to his bed. “This is good, thanks.”

It seemed some of his pallor had disappeared, and he actually looked like a living being. Or maybe it was because his dark beanie was gone. As expected, chemo had already taken care of his hair, but his eyes were light, almost gray. The ethereal look was diminished by his lips, which were again turning into a taunting smile.

Eeli suspected this would be similar to the school yard. He would soon find himself as the butt end of a confusing joke.

“When we were in the elevator,” Leo mused. “You were sniffing me.”

Yes, Eeli sighed in his mind. The butt end, your name is Eeli.

This time he really had done something. Or maybe it had been the reek of pee which seemed to be stuck to the elevator walls. It had made his nose inch.

“Your nose was almost in my neck,” Leo protested after hearing his explanations. “It was like you were sniffing me.”

“I…maybe. You smelled strange. Some sweet…”

Leo nodded. “You mean my lube.”

Eeli got a bizarre mental image before Leo explained: “It’s that gooey gel they use for ultrasound. The doctor was looking at my carotid arteries today.”

So it really was the other end they were talking about. “What’s wrong with those?”

“I get a little lightheaded sometimes. But don’t change the subject. The Mansions are famous for their, let’s say, original residents. Are you on a run from somewhere, Broom Man?”

Eeli had carried his broom with him into Leo’s foyer. He no longer had a vacuum cleaner, and he had bought the broom from a vendor at the market, not because it was hand-made and organic, but because it had been cheap. If it gets stolen, as Eeli had unintentionally mentioned to Patrik, it would only serve his friend as a reminder of the location, location, location.

Eeli had to admit he sometimes acted oddly. Socially awkward, they probably called it. He wouldn’t be an engineer if he were more comfortable with people than all kinds of inanimate things.

“It was just some,” Eeli tried. “I don’t know. It was silly.” He sent Leo a sly look. “If I try to explain, you’ll think I’ve forgotten to take my meds.”

“I already do. Go on.”

Eeli shrugged his shoulders. “It’s like you sometimes get this warm feeling inside by seeing or hearing or tasting something…Look, I know it sounds crazy,” he said, frustrated. “But it’s like…A while ago I bought some hologram postcards. I didn’t need to send them to anyone, and their pictures had these bright and ugly colors, but…As a child I got one of those cards, and the sound it makes when you scrape your nails on its plastic surface…It makes me feel that cozy and warm thing.”

The assessing look Leo sent his way wasn’t anything new to Eeli. The nod of approval was unusual. “Now that you mention it. I remember that feeling, too. Not the postcards. They don’t do anything particular for me. But this smell you noticed, too, this darn lube, it had bothered me from the very beginning. I thought it was ‘cause it’s so overly sweet, and strong smells make me want to heave. Maybe it is just that I know that smell from my childhood or somewhere, and can’t locate it.”

“Yeah, I was thinking…It reminded me of a dental office. But that can’t be right. There are no cozy feelings in those places.”

“But you’re f*****g right.” For a brief moment Leo looked enthusiastic, as in ready to jump up and do a winner’s dance. Then he seemed to remember it wouldn’t be such a good idea. “It was that fluoride thing they rubbed all over our teeth after inspection. It had this strange industrial strawberry flavor.”

“That isn’t a nice memory.”

“Is, too,” Leo argued. “There were always cool stickers or toys afterward. And the trip and the inspection and those show-and-tells of how to take care of your teeth, they took time. If you had a dentist appointment there were no lessons for the rest of the day.”

Leo was right. Eeli remembered now. It had been like a mini celebration, a private field trip day. Not like it was as an adult, when the dentist meant only expenses and not being able to work wasn’t fun. Not fun, indeed. His existence had fallen into the weird intermediate state where there was no life, only endless waiting for a call or an e-mail.

“What’s with the long face,” Leo noticed. “What did you remember? They didn’t drill a nerve, did they?”

“Listen,” Eeli huffed. “This has been…maybe we can use the word ‘entertaining’, but I really should go back. Are you gonna be alright?”

What a stupid question, Eeli realized. Like saying you’ll see to a blind person.

“You were so refreshingly blunt,” Leo ruefully smiled at him. “Please, don’t start that nally-tallying now. I’m as well as I can be after my usual poison cocktail. I knew beforehand I wouldn’t sleep tonight, that damn cortisone keeps my brains giddy for hours, but I’m gonna rest. I usually feel better the next day. Thanks again,” he said. Then he waved his hand in a dismissive way. “See you around.”

“Yeah. Bye.”

Eeli and the broom let themselves out. The corridor was still quiet as he bent to inspect the door. Above the letter drop there should have been a name tag of the resident. He hadn’t asked Leo’s last name, but there wasn’t a tag either; only broken pieces of plastic.