Chapter 5: December 25th
I don’t register Owen almost at all. He seems nice, I think. He says he’s from Birmingham originally. We drink coffee, and he tells me about the best gay club in London, which I will never go to. When we say goodbye, I start walking away and five minutes later don’t remember whether I promised to call, and whether we made another date.
It’s 4:00 P.M., and I realise that what I have been thinking about for the past hour is the route from my current location to Phoenix Garden. Not directly. I go to a few stores first. I’m nervous about it. There’s a queasy feeling in my stomach—that’s how I know I’m doing something stupid that will probably bite me in the ass later. I don’t care, I do it anyway. It’s Christmas, after all.
When I arrive at Phoenix Garden, the waite
