In My Life

Chapter 29:

Stu wandered into his tiny and filthy kitchen and quietly shuffled around, taking out a teacup from the cupboard. John was sleeping on his mattress on the living room floor, and he didn't want to wake him up, especially from the night he had last night.

The clanking of the dishes echoed throughout the room, bringing John to a stir. He tossed to his side as the sounds of Stu stirring in the kitchen made his head throb in pain. While his eyes were still closed, he quickly sat up, clenching a hand to the top of his head as he struggled to pry his eyes open.

While Stu sat at the little rectangular kitchen table sketching some drawings on a piece of paper, he saw John wake from the corner of his eye. He grabbed his teacup and took a sip, "Mornin' sunshine."

John forced his eyes open and groaned, unwillingly scooting to the edge of the mattress and rise to his feet, "Nothin' bloody good 'bout mornin's," he grumbled, wobbling his way over to Stu.

With his pencil, he scribbled a few markings on his drawing then glanced up at John, seeing him plop down onto the chair adjacent to him, "Well, I reckon it's reasonable compared to last night," he raised his eyebrows at John, forcing a small smirk.

He ran a hand over his eyes and up to the top of his head, scratching in a few places, "Ah, I don't remember anythin' 'bout last night."

Stu gave him a blank look and shook his head, "Nothing? You don't remember any bit of it?"

"Don't tell me I got us kicked out of the Jacaranda," he picked up an unused cigarette sitting on the table and plopped it in his mouth.

Stu snatched the box of matches sitting next to him and passed them to John, "Worse," he set the pencil down on top of his drawing and folded his arms together, leaning them on top of the table, "Ya know, I'm sorry I didn't believe you 'bout Liv."

John set the used match onto one of the many ashtrays sitting on the table and inhaled his cigarette. After repeating the words Stu had mentioned, he gave him a puzzled look, "Ah, it's fine ya know, it's.." he stopped mid-sentence and realised what he had just said, "Ah, fuck.. she was here last night, wasn't she?"

From the way John stared at him, he realised he was being honest and had no indication what occurred last night, "Yeah, she surprised ya and..," he laughed and sighed, "And you surprised her tellin' her how ya feel 'bout her gettin' married."

He winced and cursed at himself, "For Christ sakes, why do I have everythin' happen on the days I'm smashed?"

Finishing his tea, Stu wandered back to the kitchen, his attention still on John, "Perhaps you should start limiting your alcohol use to where ya can recollect things that happen the night before."

As Stu strolled back with a teacup and kettle in his hands, John scowled and threw him his middle finger, "I didn't say anythin' cruel, did I?"

"Well, I'll say that you're the first person in the world who'd call Miss Olivia Harris a minger," Stu poured John some tea then placed the kettle on the table.

"God, I'm just a piece of shite I am," his eyes focused onto the drawing Stu was messing around with, "So what happened after that?"

He continued sketching and used his fingertips to blend parts of the drawing, "Hmm, well.."

"Go 'ed now. I'm listenin'."

"She called ya out on being bevvied, and you cursed at her some more. She then asked why you were actin' and then..." he paused, lifting his head with a smile on his face, "You may have indicated she was dull as dishwater and how disappointed her parents would be. Then she stormed out of Jacaranda with Paul, Geo, and Dot chasin' after her."