Camp Echo - Chapter 6

second edition

 

“Are you going to see Aeriol?” Nadia was wondering just how much Mayaan liked him. She was also curious about what happened at the apartment when the police came round. Alex had come home, but hadn’t said much, despite her trying to wheedle information out of him.

“I think I might.” Mayaan glanced at Nadia, batting her eyelids coquettishly. 

“If you two are going over there you can send Max here.” Alex looked from his sister to Mayaan. “Tell him I don’t fancy hanging out at his place with all the drugs.”

“What d’you mean? All the drugs?” Nadia looked cross.

“I told you all that already, Nads.” Mayaan looked at her.

“Uh, no. I think you forget the bit about, all the drugs.”

“Yeah, well, it doesn’t make any difference they've nearly always got stuff there.” May confirmed. “Nads, let’s go and see. We can get the whole story. Leave your prissy brother here.”

“Okay, but if you start coming on to Aeriol, then I’m not hanging around. I might just have to come back with Max.”

“It's better if you didn't,” Alex grinned at his sister.

“Sure it is,” Nadia left the room to get her coat.

Mayaan followed, smiling to herself about all the intertwined relations going on. Alex was left by himself. He chose that, the girls wouldn't have objected, May wondered why the drugs were suddenly such a big thing.

 

 

“Reuben, hello. It’s Max.”

“What can I do for you Max?”

“It’s a bit long to explain everything, but I wanted to get in contact with Davy.”

“But...”

“I know what you’re gonna say,” Max interrupted. “That I hardly know him.”

“Well yeah. That, and if he didn’t give you his phone and address, then...”

“I forgot to ask.”

“Alright, but I’m not giving you his number. Maybe he doesn’t want to see you. Why would he?”

“Don’t be a spoil sport. What’s it to you anyway?”

Reuben had a lot of things to be getting on with and he didn’t feel like debating all this over the phone.

“I’ll give Davy your number. Then if he wants to, he can call you.”

“Thanks a lot,” Max replied a little sarcastically. 

He hung up, then went to join Aeriol and Jules in the front room.

 

“You’ve practically moved in,” Max smiled at Jules.

“It’s a home form home.” Jules passed a big fat reefer to Max.

It sputtered and crackled as he drew on it.

“It's not bad for home grown,” Jules winked.

“It's fucking ace,” Aeriol took the joint from Max.

Max thought any dope would be ace for Aeriol. His weed consumption knew no bounds, and the drying plants in the attic filled a void in supplies that he was quick to take advantage of. You might say it was business as usual, despite the fact that they’d been raided.

“I’m not sure about ace, but it’s okay.” Max looked at Jules.

“Anyhow it’s all there is.” Aeriol added. “Nobody's got any stuff since the raid and Gavin’s arrest.”

“What’s happening with Gavin?” Max asked just as the doorbell sounded.

“Stash the weed! Stash the weed!” Jules laughed.

“You're stoned. Idiot." Aeriol told him. "Max can you go answer that?”

 

Max made his way downstairs. It was obvious Aeriol and Jules were not about to move. He opened the door and greeted Nadia and Mayaan.

“They're in the lounge. Jules and Aeriol.” He followed the girls upstairs.

“Nads, has Alex said anything to you?”

Nadia turned and waited for Max, Mayaan went straight into the front room.

“He told me to tell you to come over.” Nadia smiled, then turned. “I might just come back with you if May starts doing her number on Aeriol.”

“Not much chance there, I think. He’s pretty stoned.”

 

It was a large front room with huge bay windows, an old but perfectly good sofa and matching armchair, but the lack of heat output from the fire left everyone on the floor in front of it. The furniture was in the cold wasteland of the empty side of the room. Dark red velvet curtains, a little faded, adorned the huge windows. The thickness and colour of the drapes gave only a semblance of cosiness and did nothing very much to keep the room warm.

Max found himself drifting, wondering if he could make the effort to go round to Nad's and see Alex. Did he even want to see him? Aeriol would have told him he did, and he was probably right. It occurred to him that it might actually be warm there, if he pushed himself up and made the effort. So he did.

“Later guys!” He said to no one in particular, and nobody responded, other than Jules, who managed a nod.

“What happened with the PO...leece?” Mayaan’s exaggerated tone sounded like a silky voiced prostitute. Or was Aeriol simply having depraved thoughts? Nadia definitely got the hump, but didn't after all, follow Max home. Jules was flopped out on his favourite bean bag with an imbecilic grin plastered across his face.

 

 

Alex hadn’t expected that Max would show up, but was more than pleasantly surprised when he did. Opening the front door he grabbed the boy around the waist and pulled him inside.

“Oh wow, I see someone's pleased to see me,” Max returned the smile.

“Nad's gave you my message then?”

“Of course. I’m here aren’t I?”

“You stoned?”

“Maybe, just a little.”

 

They were in Alex’s room, and looking around it was so much better than the flat. Warm too. Alex sat down on the bed and shuffled up to lean against the headboard. Max looked at him a moment, then joined him. They were laying side by side.

“I like your room,” Max took in the nicely decorated walls, window blinds, desk, large TV. Everything reminded him of living at home in his parents house. He missed the home comforts.

“Yeah, it’s a nice place. That’s because our aunt owns the house and she gave us the ground floor apartment.

“Gave you?”

“I know, it sounds too good and all that, but she did. Nad’s and me pay the bills of course.”

“Of course!” Max exclaimed like it was only to be expected.

“Yeah, yeah. Okay, don’t get all jealous. We’re lucky, so what. It happens.” Alex leaned half over and stared straight into Max’s eyes. “How does Aeriol put up with you?”

“Oh yeah, good one,” Max pushed him off. “How does he put up with me? You got that the wrong way round.”

Alex settled back on his side of the bed. “What is it between you and him?”

There was a silence before Max replied. Like he was thinking about how to provide an answer, or maybe trying to decide if he knew. “It’s all a long story. Probably boring.”

“You mean you don’t want to say,” Alex looked sideways at Max, who was lying stretched out with his hands behind his head. It looked like he was staring at some ill defined spot somewhere on the ceiling. “I’d like to know.”

 

Max let out a sigh. “Okay, I’ll try to make it short. Stop me if you get bored.” 

Alex simply smiled, but said nothing. 

“We go back some way, like we were in high school together.” Max shifted himself to look at Alex. He was trying to see whether this story was truly interesting or just a pass time. It was always a major problem for Max, a question of trust, could he be confident in Alex?

“You want a beer maybe? Or something else?” Alex sat up, ready to go and get whatever they had in the kitchen. They definitely had some beer, and fruit juice, maybe even a bottle of vodka, if May hadn’t drunk it all. “I know how it is,” Alex stood up. “Like with me and Nad's, you just kind of fall into things. So I’m guessing that’s what happened with you guys?”

“You got anything other than beer?”

“Maybe some vodka. Is that good?”

“Great. With some juice?”

 

Alex went in search of the vodka and Max sat up, taking everything in. There was a bookcase with some large volumes on the bottom shelf and a row of various sized paperbacks on the top. He wondered what great literary works Alex might read, but he felt too comfortable to get up and look.

“Vodka and orange,” Alex announced, handing a glass to Max, then closing the door and sitting back down next to him.

Max studied the glass, looking at Alex, and deciding to continue the story. Or, at least a part of it.

“Aeriol lived at home with his older brother. Actually, that’s a bit wrong. He shared a bedroom with his older brother. He’s got three brothers, two younger, and a sister.” Max took a long sip of the vodka orange. Almost immediately he felt better. The burn of the alcohol seemed to relax him. 

 

“I went round his house a couple of times. I was blown away by their bedroom. I don’t mean it was big or anything, just that, well. They’d painted this wardrobe in bright primary colours and covering both doors was a huge psychedelic mushroom. Straight out of Alice in Wonderland. A red top with white spots. I mean, you know right, that Alice in Wonderland is not some fairy tale story?” He glanced across at Alex, sipped the vodka, and continued. “It’s all about drugs. You know, it’s a trip. Magic mushrooms, potions, getting small, shrinking, the Mad Hatter. Yeah, it’s one wild trip. Well, that’s got nothing to do with what I was telling you.”

Alex smiled and spoke for the first time in ages, “Except for the mushroom.”

“Yeah, the fucking mushroom.” He finished his vodka and turned away to rest the empty glass on the bedside table. “I couldn’t believe his parents would let them paint that on the cupboard. But Jake, that’s Aeriol’s brother, said they could do what they liked with their room and their parents never came in there. Jeez, I could never have done that in my house. They used to get stoned in there too. With the window open.”

“Hold on a minute, I’m just...” Alex interrupted him. 

“It's getting boring?” He asked.

“No way. I’m just gonna fetch the vodka and orange.”

“Okay,” Max smiled at that.

 

Alex didn’t take long to come back with the bottle and refill their glasses.

“Aeriol’s dad is Polish. This is another little... deviation,” Max chuckled to himself. “But it has a bearing on what happened. I wouldn't be stupid enough to say all Polish dads are like Aeriol's, but I had another friend, Keith, who lived with his brother and they were Polish. And, well, Keith’s dad was pretty fucking similar to Aeriol’s. What that means is when Aeriol was young, not just him, all the brothers, their dad whacked them. Just exactly the same as Keith, they both told me all this.”

“It’s not so unusual,” Alex looked over the top of his glass of vodka orange. “I could tell you a story too. But finish yours first.” Alex flicked a switch turning on one of the bedside lights. It was getting dark.

 

“Maybe, I don’t know. My parents never hit me. Back to what happened. A big argument that’s what. About drugs, mainly. Something happened, I’m not sure exactly, but Aeriol’s old man was not so well, Aeriol was much bigger now, and getting a beating wasn’t on the cards. I suppose that was why they kicked him out.”

“Wait...” Alex had a serious frown on his forehead. “You’re telling me Aeriol got kicked out of home?”

“Yeah.”

“And this was when? He was how old?”

“A couple of years back. He was sixteen I guess. Still at school. We were in the same year, but he’s almost a year younger than me.”

“So what happened?”

“He found a squat to live in. Not on his own. Aeriol can’t ever be on his own. No, he had Billy with him, they shared a large room on the first floor of this old deserted building that people were squatting. At the beginning, they had gas and water. It was an unbelievable old place, there were actually gas lights either side of the entrance hall. At least until someone ripped them down, probably sold them as antiques.”

 

“You hung out there?”

“It’s a bit sad to admit Alex, but I never had any friends. Yes I hung out with Aeriol and Billy.”

“You said you had this friend called Keith.”

“Um, yeah. I meant I never had any friends at school. The only guys I knew were through Aeriol. Keith I knew through my best friend from when I was young. You see, everybody I knew was through other people. Or at least anyone I spent time hanging out with.”

“And your best friend from when you were young?”

“He’s dead.”

Suddenly the room took on the reflection of the night outside the window. Alex thought he might have asked one too many questions. Looking at Max, it appeared like he’d become unwound and at the same time deflated. He got up off the bed and walked over to the window, closing the blinds.

“How about we get something to eat?”

That seemed to lighten the atmosphere. Max was hungry.