When I woke the next morning I was still wearing the clothes from the night before. This included one of my shoes. The other was nowhere to be seen. The window of my room was held open with a beer jug half full of puke. It was 6am. My hand hurt, but not nearly as much as my head.
I needed to take some more pills but I didn't have any water and the sink was down the hall. I had a brief look for my other shoe. Chances were it was under the bed, but I really didn't want to bend over. I considered removing the other shoe but that would have involved bending over as well. I sat on the edge of the bed mulling over my predicament and waiting for my head to explode.
I got up. I removed the pitcher of puke from the window. It closed very fast and very loudly. The noise made me sit down on the bed again. I got up and walked down the hall to the bathroom. I still had only one shoe on and the rhythm was oddly soothing. It gave me something to focus on. I put the jug on top of the toilet tank. I swallowed a couple of percocet and washed them down with water from the tap. Then I poured the contents of the pitcher down the toilet. I pissed into the resulting mess and flushed. I rinsed the jug out in the sink as best I could. Then I wiped it out with toilet paper and rinsed it again. When I was sure it was clean, or at least when I couldn't bring myself to clean it any more, I filled it with water. I took a good long drink, topped it up and clomped my way back to my room.
I sat on the bed and drank from the pitcher. Laying down made my head hurt worse. After a while, I got the courage to reach under the bed. Sure enough I found my other shoe. I sat on the bed a while longer and drank some water. I put my shoe on. I changed my shirt, and I left the room. I needed some fresh air and since I was up anyway I thought there was a chance I could catch Lucy before she left camp for the day.
I went downstairs. There was a payphone in the lobby. I dialled the operator and told her I wanted to make a calling card call to a radio phone. "It's Walford Mountain Tower, N166008."
Cassandra picked up on the other end, "This is N 166008. Go ahead."
"Cass, It's Kent," I said. "How are things?"
"Wet. All this water keeps falling from the sky. I don't understand how it gets up there. How's life in the city? Did they give you a new hand?" There was a click as she let go of the talk button on the mike.
"No such luck. But I'm bionic now. My hand is held together with meccano. You should see my x-rays -- very cool. Is Lucy still there?"
"She's coming. You should bring the x-rays when you come back to camp. See any movies yet?"
"No, I went to the bar last night, though. My head hurts worse than my hand."
"You poor baby. Here's Lucy." There was a double click as she handed the mike over.
"Kent! How are you doing?" said Lucy.
"Not bad. It will be a while before I'm planting again, but not bad, considering. I hear you had some rain," I said.
"Had, are having, and will have some more, by the looks of it," she said. "I'd rather be in town."
"Well, I'd rather be out there. At least then I wouldn't be hungover."
"We could switch."
"Yes, but then we'd still be apart," I said.
"Yes, but I'd be dry," she said. "Listen, I better get going. Do you know what you're doing yet? Do you want me to do anything with your stuff?"
"I don't know yet. When is the next camp move?" I asked. I listened to dead air while Lucy asked Cassie.
"Cassie says Joe says about eight more planting days with a day off in the middle somewhere."
"Thanks," I said. "Just leave it all set up for now. I'll talk to the office and see what I can sort out."
"No worries," she said. "I'm sleeping in your tent now anyway. You've got a nicer thermarest than me."
"Now I really wish I was up there," I said.
"Me too. Listen, I've got to go. Ciao, Bello," she said.
"Ciao, Bella," I said.
I heard Cassie's voice say "clear" to end the call. I hung up. I rested my forehead against the cold glass beside the phone. I bought a couple of chocolate bars from a vending machine and went back up to my room to get some sleep.
Leave a comment