Page 28 of Rhymes with Metaphor
Joel was quiet until Reg reached the end of the book.
“What do you think?”said Reg.
“I think there’s an entry in the DSM for people like Nigel Molesworth.”
“Do you know what?”said Reg.“I don’t believe you’ve ever had a moment’s fun in your life.”
The look on Joel’s face made Reg feel like he’d just authored a book calledKicking Puppies for Fun and Profit.
Reg went back to his desk.Joel was accommodatingly silent while Reg attempted to work—pointlessly, as it happened.He felt uninspired.He stared out the window across the lake.
“Thanks,” said Joel.
“For what?”said Reg warily.
“For bringing me out of the rain when I was sick.For letting me sleep at your place.”
“I didn’t have any plans for that day anyway, apart from attempting to write deathless verse.”
“Did I thank you before?”
“No.Don’t you remember?”
“I don’t remember much after I wrote my last exam,” said Joel.
“Whatdoyou remember?”
“The smell of coffee in your car...graffiti on a brick wall.A drawing of a hand with a snake bracelet.Did I hallucinate that?”
“No.”
The silence stretched out, and Reg wrote a draft of a poem called, “Haunted by a Hand,” not knowing if it was about him or Joel.Or Flip.By the time he’d finished, Joel had fallen asleep.
Martin and Juliet returned from their excursion an hour later, looking flushed.While Juliet went upstairs to change for dinner, Martin stayed in the kitchen, drinking rum and Coke with Reg.
“I snogged her,” he told Reg conspiratorially.
“I’m glad your afternoon was so productive,” said Reg.
“Did New Bug behave himself?”
“Do you remember that lizard I rescued from a car park last December?And you said how nice and calm it was, lying there quietly in my hand?And the vet said that was because it was too cold to do anything but sit there?”
“Then it thawed out and bit you and hid behind your fridge,” said Martin.“What’s that got to do with Joel?”
“I think that New Bug has thawed.”
“That’s what happens when you warm to someone,” said Martin.
“Carry that metaphor any further, and you could return it for a refund,” said Reg.
They sipped their drinks in silence.
“Still,” said Reg.“He’s a bit of a dark horse.”
“I don’t follow,” said Martin.
“He must have contracted mono from someone.Any ideas?”
