Fully English

CHAPTER 35

On a whim, I am packing my stuff in an effort to leave. My tenancy is due to end soon anyway but I cannot be in this Godforsaken flat for a second longer but I can't go home just yet. So Reece, being the saint he is, has decided to help me take all my stuff over to his so I do not have to face my mother.

Heroically, he has shouldered my heaviest bags and is lugging my suitcase from my corridor to his car in the parking lot floors below. I, however, am sitting on the stripped mattress, saying goodbye to this place for good. This was my final year here and so this was goodbye forever: I needed to soak in the moment.

Everything that has happened in this room, in this building, creeps up on me as I recollect. The nights I spent alone and with company; the happy and sad times; the memories and flashbacks. They all stitched together in my mind to build this tapestry of thoughts and feelings of overwhelm. A tear wells in my eye but I brush it away, search the room for any remaining objects and lock the door.

Prudence, Willy and Hamid are all in the kitchen, ready to bid me farewell for my departure. Although we are great friends, we know there is a likely chance I will never see them again. Still, they have been great companions for the time being.

"You ready?" Reece creeps up on me just as I am hugging Prudence tightly for what I know may be the final time.

"Yes," I say.

"Do you have to go right now?" Willy asks.

"I do," I sigh.

"Like at this very second?" Prudence whines.

I nod. "Unfortunately so."

"We'll miss you," Hamid says quietly.

"I'll be back," I lie.

Never will I willingly set food in this building again, let alone this very flat. Not because of my housemates but because of the fucked up energy that existed here: everything about it reminded me of the Innocents and that made my skin crawl. Another second here would surely kill me.

"We look forward to it," Prudence comes over and patronisingly squeezes my cheeks. "And you mister!" I turn around to see she is pointing at Reece judgmentally. "You take care of our Karma."

"Of course," he rebuffs.

My eyes skirt to Hamid and I see that he is watching me disdainfully.

"Well I'm off," I announce, gesture to the door and turn my back on the three of them. Reece takes the lead as we leave the flat and I have to keep my knees from crumbling when we reach the stairwell.

"You okay?"

"Yeah," I breathe deeply, sling my travel bag over my shoulder only to have him remove it and carry it for me. "Just tired."

"Don't worry, you'll be okay."

When we are in his car, there is no conversation, just silence. Neither of us remark on my sudden absence last night and he doesn't even question my motivation for wanting to up and leave my flat without explanation. Like the patient boyfriend he is, he concedes my demands and supports me invariably. Almost as though he can tell that prying will make things worse before they make them better.

On the way to his flat, we stop by the McDonalds drive thru and snack on fries for the remainder of the journey. Still eating, Reece takes the reigns in lugging my heavy belongings to his apartment whilst I take the light ones. Exhausted from the morning's activities, we throw ourselves into bed as soon as all my property is in his flat and fall asleep side-by-side.

I wake up first and prepare a steaming hot meal for Reece when he wakes up: fried yam and plantain, assorted fish stew and avocado slices. My hope is that the smell of the food will wake him up naturally so I don't have to.