Weekend

I carry Eve
through the fog
she munches
a crunchy pear

Boy/Girl

i

Wednesday in maths Miss Rolfe has it boy/girl
Boy spies glued to Girl's folder
Youki Kudoh and Masatoshi Nagase
from MYSTERY TRAIN
and he says - This plum from Japan
and she's all hey! and wow!
and he says quiet - Your dreads are incredible-looking
her long red dreads
and she she smiles
Irked, Miss Rolfe sighs loud
they zip it

ii

They shoulder their bags
she says - Thanks for saying about my dreads
     You live up The Frying Pan, right?
he says - Uh-huh
     I see you coming from The Hill
-It's me all right
     not easily mistaken for some other girl


iii

Next lesson after the bell
he says - If you want you can stop in
     do homework and such
She's keen
They work in the kitchen
a warm breeze in the foolscap
eraser shreds and water rings

iv

Next morning
she waits for him
He nods
she nods
that is that
no hand holding

v

One Saturday in May
Surya Namaskar
Supta Parivritasana
Sarvangasana
It's when she's in Shavasana
that he upside down kisses her
Her long fingers go through his hair
around his skull
Then his stuff her stuff
they play this
play that
a track
a side
CD
vinyl
hard drive
Hours and hours they up there
that one Saturday in May

vi

Then on the last ever day of school
a school tie bandana holds back her dreads
Where they can they walk in the shade
because she burns

He blows dust off vinyl
Jean Michel Jarre's REVOLUTIONS
folds up her uniform for her

He says something like
sometimes he wishes he could be her
She is still wet from her shower
wrapped in a towel
She takes the needle back to Tokyo Kid

They BBQ their school shit
the exercise books
homework records
and course work folders
Masatoshi Nagase and Youki Kudoh
and the school ties and all that's left is the bags
the dust and crumbs and staples in the bottom

Here is her mum and dad pulling up outside
in the Audi 8 just out of the car wash
she goes into her overnight bag
thrusts into his hand
Radiohead's OK COMPUTER blurting she knows he hates it but she wants him to have it and she knows he has things of hers which are things he likes but this is something she wants him to have which he doesn't like and she does not know why but it means more that way okay?
He says okay and she splits his lip
with a big smacker-oo

She puts her bag in the boot
slams it
slams her door getting in
waves out the back window
Then the bend in the road
He touches his lip and gets blood
goes in
goes upstairs
lies face down on his bed
and smells their smell

vii

Mum drops him for his four hours pushing trolleys
he clips on his clip on tie

He is urinating
when his supervisor finds him
puts her head around the door
and says can he get her out of a bind
and work four hours Wednesday 8 until 12?
He says okay because now he can
She says he has really got her out of a bind

The end of school forever
was just yesterday
He wonders does she want him
to actually listen to OK COMPUTER
or what?

viii

He strips off damp clothes
gets in a cool shower
He drops her CD into the tray
hits play and Airbag barges in
He lies on the bed and the room
fades out

He dreams movement
wakes up slowly
OK COMPUTER is over
and there is someone in the room
on him or moving around
and he is sure it's her in there with him
they have fallen asleep listening
and her head is on his arm
and his arm has gone to sleep
but he he is out again before he can make sense of it
before he can get his head around her being on her holidays

Late July

i

Kid and Clanger get in
suitcases by the door
all the golf and tennis stuff
and Clanger's old skateboard

Clanger gets fridge biscuits
they sprawl
with pens and pencils and paper

Up and down the landing
Charlotte wrapped in a towel
her hair up
wrapped in a towel
swearing into the phone

blow drier going
some shouting from downstairs

The suitcases go in the car
Clanger
Charlotte
their mum and their dad
go in the car
Charlotte waves
even if Clanger doesn't
and Kid alone thinks shit
left his drawings up there
in Clanger's room
and they were some of his best

ii

Fortnight later
Charlotte comes up The Drop
through the trees
and knocks on the kitchen door
says here are his drawings
which she thinks are awesome
Kid takes back the pages
goes through them
remembers them being different
better
Charlotte says, I am here to tell you
     that he went off
     my fuckwit brother
     with other boys. Undesireables
     if you want to know my feeling.
     Another feeling is that you are better off
     without him for a friend. Knock knock
Kids says, Who's there?
Charlotte says, It's me, Charlotte
     can I come in for a cup of tea
     or something?

He used to get her bone crushing hugs
no warning
Now she just scrapes a chair
and sits down
says, Ask me what
     if anything
     I am going to do now
He asks and she says, Dental nurse
     how about that?
Kid says, Pretty cool
and Charlotte says, Yeah, well
     What shape is your summer in?
Kid says, Well
     revisited The Rockford Files canon
     That has been my main activity
     of the summer so far
-Uh-huh
-Mm-hm. Thinking about The Alien Quadrology
Charlotte says, Oh yeah?
-Yeah
-Well, I am going to invite myself over for that
     When do you want to start?
So Kid puts on his trainers
Charlotte says shit
didn't take off her shoes in his house
and Kid says that they are pretty relaxed
about that sort of thing

iii

Under her breath
Charlotte coaxes her old Morris
into town
is all
come on baby
you can do it
it's you and me
I love you baby
don't you worry about them
you can do it
and so on
The banger gets them there
takes them under the ground
Escalator takes them up
into mall air

iv

From Charlotte's
they go up The Drop
through the trees
Kid sees the grass growing back now
on that patch of ground

They put together feta and bread
tomatoes and olives
Kid puts his room into midday dark
loads Alien
they settle
Charlotte sprawled on his bed
Kid in the beanbag says, This is my place
Charlotte says, I get it

Kane
Brett
Dallas
Ash
Lambert
Parker
all dead
They stretch
movie stiffness
and silently clear away plates

Cold Dr Pepper in cans
and Aliens
Charlotte requests 'theatrical'
and says, It is my preference
Kid shrugs
loads it
then
Ripley drifting in space
Ripley's nightmares
Ripley freaks out regarding the synthetic
and Charlotte says, I have to wee
Aliens paused
and the sound of her urinating
Aliens unpaused
Ripley takes over
and
that is that
The sun comes around
comes in through the curtains
things warm up in there
with the window shut
against the road

Kid cooks spaghetti
while Charlotte peruses his stuff

Alien3 reconstructed edition
no question
Ripley grieves
shaves her head
she drops into molten lead
the end
They are quiet
Charlotte says, Do you think
     she is stripped of her femininity
     in that one?
Kid says, Stripped. Not of that
     Skinny
     vulnerable, exhausted
     is how I would put it
     The most beautiful Ripley

Kid clears away
Charlotte follows him down to the kitchen
Kid says, Push through?
Charlotte says, It would be unwise to stop
     but I feel that an interlude is required
     to establish some distance
     and to exercise tired muscles
Kid says, Agreed. We could take the air
Charlotte says, Superb solution

They make a big loop
around the behind the school

Kid boils the kettle
makes instant coffee
then
Alien Resurrection
Charlotte shuffles around
gets out of her jeans
and under his duvet
they fall asleep
as the end crawl crawls

and then

it's Sunday
and birds are singing

v

Apples and bottled water
in his back pack
Kid at the end of the driveway
looks left
looks right
feels the pull
and goes right
into industrial estates
underpass
silent fair ground rides
and self-storage

that night dreams Charlotte
coming in through the open window
naked and wild
he comes inside her
and she jumps from the window
flies away
above the street lights
towards the refinery

Bunraku

i Ikizukai

The technique of moving the shoulders of a puppet up and down
to express heart-rending sorrow

ii Ushiroburi

The technique of making a female doll cry
with its back turned to the audience