Rent

©2003 Sheryl K. Lindsay
All rights reserved.

Her ears buzzed, a vacuum of white noise left behind as her blood trickled into the dented saucepan.

"Are you OK, Kerry?" Frazer cradled her thin body closer to his chest as her head lolled to one side.

"I'm fine. Is it still bleeding?"

He swallowed and nodded.

"There's nearly enough. Do you want me to do that last bit?"

She roughly shook her head. "No way. You did it last time."

"But, Kerry." He stared in dismay at the pan with its deep pool of thick dark liquid. "It's too much."

She clenched her teeth through the pain. "We've been through this. We have no other choice."

Frazer looked around the damp kitchen unhappily, knowing that she was right. He could feel the scrutiny of tiny insect eyes as they waited to reclaim the kitchen and lap up any of the blood that had been spilt. He was sure he saw movement beneath the ancient fridge; hard bodies concealed in the shadows and hidden by the perpetual stink of rotten milk and leaked chemicals that seeped from the appliance. He wished, for the umpteenth time, that they had spent a little more time flat-hunting before the summer vacation and a little less time partying. This flat was a dump, but cheap and the last thing available. The rent had been reasonable too, until their landlord had insisted on raising it for the sake of his ex-wife's alimony and to provide for his children.

But there was nothing they could do now, and well they knew it. The university had no rooms to spare and their friends had too many troubles of their own to take in the pair of waifs.

"I think that's enough now," Frazer said, his voice holding a tremor of alarm and worry that the loss of blood would make her ill.

"OK."

She rolled onto her side on the peeling lino and let Frazer bandage the deep cut on her arm. The fine white flesh on the insides of both their arms showed the scars of previous months. "He'll be here soon," she said softly. "Him and his children."

Frazer shuddered with dread and helped Kerry sit up. As if seeking comfort from the implications of her statement, he wrapped his arms about her and buried his face against her neck.

She remembered a time when they weren't so affectionate. They had been friends, study-buddies and uneasy flatmates, but never lovers. She supposed that witnessing the monthly shedding of one another's blood gave them a closer bond, somehow.

As one they froze when they heard heavy footfalls on the concrete steps leading up to the flat. Strange shrieking noises followed the slow thud of the footsteps. Kerry and Frazer shuffled a little closer together, exchanging dismayed glances. The door-knocker was struck, the sharp, repeating sound reverberating throughout the sparse apartment.

Together they stood. Kerry picked up the saucepan of blood while Frazer supported her arm, and they made their way to the door.

Frazer unhooked the chain and opened the door, stepping back beside Kerry in the dimly lit hallway. The door swung open, sending the smudged bare bulb swinging, casting crazed shadows about the drab, yellowing wallpaper. Kerry and Frazer involuntarily huddled closer to each other as their landlord entered the flat.

The light bulb dimmed, and shadows swept in along the walls.

He was a great, tall man with wild hair of faded red. Despite being in his fifties, his body was stocky and strong, as if he could still break rocks if he wanted. Blue swallow tattoos showed faintly beneath the coating of wiry hair on his enormous hands. He carried a worn leather satchel over one shoulder.

His face was creased and careworn, his eyes a sad, limpid blue. His voice was gruff but held a hint of a whine as he said, "I hope you have your rent money ready."

"Any word on when the fridge is getting fixed?" asked Frazer, bolstered by Kerry's close proximity.

The massive shoulders slumped.

"I've been so busy. I've had to work extra hours. My wife demands all my extra money and I have to support my kids."

It was a familiar tale, but it still didn't get the fridge fixed.

"Do you have it?" he asked. "Do you have your rent money ready?"

Frazer and Kerry exchanged glances before he produced an envelope containing the last scrapings of their overdrafts and she held out the saucepan. The landlord peered into the pan and quirked a bushy eyebrow.

"It'll do, I suppose."

"It's all we have." Kerry thrust the pan toward him, her lip curling a little with distaste.

The landlord took the saucepan of blood and Kerry stepped back into her safe huddle with Frazer.

"My kids are growing fast," he said conversationally as he lowered the satchel to the ground. In one of the bedrooms they heard the sound of a pile of study notes and textbooks falling over. "They grow more demanding by the day."

He produced a grimy plastic funnel and a thermos flask from the satchel. As he unscrewed the lid of the scratched blue thermos with a great sturdy hand, the lights dimmed in the living room and went out.

His hand shook a little as he poured the viscous liquid into the flask. He tapped the pan to make sure that all of the blood had been transferred and tossed the funnel into a crumpled Asda bag. After returning the lid onto the flask, he put the lot back into the satchel and handed the pan back to Frazer, making remonstrative sounds.

"It won't go far. Are you sure you don't have a little extra for me?"

"No." Frazer clutched Kerry defensively, not wanting to see more of her blood shed so soon.

The landlord shrugged.

"What can I say? My kids are growing fast. I can hardly keep up with them and the demands of my ex-wife."

Kerry and Frazer said nothing.

"I think I'll have to put the rent up next semester."

"You can't do that."

He shrugged again.

"This flat is still a bargain. I could get a whole lot more for it. See you later."

He called his children and turned, closing the ill-fitting door with a bang. They listened to the sound of his heavy footsteps scuffing down the concrete steps and the frenzied shrieks that accompanied him out of the building.

Frazer put the saucepan onto the floor and enveloped Kerry in his arms.

"We really ought to see if the university can find us a different place."

She nodded against his shoulder and wept.

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