of bleach overwhelmed his senses. Adam opened the kitchen window and door to let the cold air in and the peroxide stench out.
Adam couldn’t get Joey to do domestics at the best of times, so he quickly became suspicious when he found Joey cleaning away. He wondered secretly to himself what the catch was. But Joey soldiered on, looking really interested and focused on his cleaning. Adam couldn’t resist any longer and asked Joey outright what he was doing, and why he was cleaning that time of the morning–and a Saturday morning of all mornings!
“I couldn’t sleep in, so got up early and thought I’d clean up,” Joey responded casually as if this was a common thing that he did, when in fact it wasn’t. Adam recalled many arguments and shouting matches over the years regarding Joey pulling his weight around the house. The first thing Adam thought about was that Joey was being a model flatmate so that Adam would agree to visit Tom, but then again, Joey didn’t normally do things in a roundabout way. Joey used other methods to get Adam to do things for him, like continually nag. He would also say things that Adam wanted to hear in terms of him furthering his education and trying to do the right thing in the world.
Adam decided to ignore him for a while and see what developed later. He returned to his room and started reviewing some old work he had taken into his room from his office, which was another room down the hall. Occasionally, he would see Joey walk pass his door, spying on Adam as he carried a bucket on his way through to the laundry, sighing loudly, so Adam could hear and see him working very hard. Eventually, Adam left his room and went into the kitchen to grab something to eat. By this time, young Joey had completed his morning chores, and sat suspiciously quiet, tinkering away on his laptop on the corner lounge seat. He had the view of the entire lounge, kitchen and hallway. Joey seemed quite guarded about something, as he kept observing Adam’s facial expression from time to time. That morning, Joey was on his best behaviour for some very strange reason.
Adam finally asked Joey what was going on as he couldn’t find the coffee and sugar jars. It turned out that Joey had dropped Adam’s delicious left over lasagne from the night before on the floor when he grabbed something to eat earlier. He had accidentally tripped after knocking his lower leg against the unseen opened dishwasher door. And as he tried to balance himself from falling, he grabbed onto the bench top for support, knocking over the sugar, coffee, tea and other items as he fell clumsily to the ground. Joey and everything on the bench top fell on the slippery floor in a messy heap, joining the already spilt lasagne. It seemed like poor Joey had a big morning and now sat exhausted in the corner, nursing a sore leg, waiting to see if Adam was going to get upset over tonight’s dinner being no more.
Just then, the telephone rang loudly, making Joey jump in fright. He was already feeling guilty and knew that it would only be a matter of time before Adam realised that there was no coffee, tea or sugar in the house. Joey often heard Adam’s repeated story about lasagne tasting better the next day after all the tasty ingredients settled for twenty- four hours and became more flavoursome. He remembered Adam telling him the night before that he was not going to eat too much of the lasagne, but save it until the following evening, which was today, to really enjoy and appreciate the cheesy pasta dish. It was only a matter of time before Adam found out that his lovingly home-cooked lasagne that stood for 24 hours was in the bin outside.
It was Carol on the phone. She initially apologised for calling Adam at home, but she often did in what she considered emergencies, and this was one of those calls. After dialling into the office to retrieve messages, as it was the weekend, she received a strange call from Evelyn.
“Evelyn?” Adam cleared his voice.
“Yes. Very strange call, Adam,” Carol continued. “I am even getting goose bumps just telling you.”
“What did she say?” Adam asked, looking more alert now.
“She sounded distressed. She said that she wants to thank you for your support, and she respects you a lot, and that you have helped her with her demons and she is very
grateful,” Carol paused and then continued, “and that she was ringing to say goodbye.”
“Goodbye?”
“Yes!” Carol seemed to become more distraught as she recited the message to Adam over the phone. She then let out a faint sigh, as if relieved.
“Is that all she said?” Adam asked as he began to pace about, still holding the receiver to his ear.
“Yes. It was very peculiar. She seemed like old Evelyn, but… it’s just odd. What do you think she means by saying goodbye?”
“I don’t know, Carol. Look, thanks for letting me know. We can’t really do anything now, as we haven’t got any contact details. Leave it with me. Thanks Carol.” Adam hung up the phone and looked a little pale in the face.
Evelyn was not under the care of Adam and only visited occasionally to touch base. The last known address was a tiny rented apartment that she had moved out of over five years ago. There was no way of contacting Evelyn. Adam and Carol had tried over the years to get at least a contact number, but Evelyn always reported that she had no phone. They only had her mailing address, the post office box, but now that has been cancelled as well, after her quarrel with the manager there.
Joey could see Adam’s distress as Adam paced around looking deep in thought. Adam was thinking along the lines of suicide. Usually when people say their goodbyes and are in a poor state of mind, it means that they may be considering self-harm. Joey asked if everything was okay. Adam briefly updated Joey with Evelyn’s news.
“I don’t think so,” Joey remarked as he played around with his laptop.
“You sound confident,” Adam responded, looking curious.
“I just feel that she is not going to kill herself. It’s something else, mate. Maybe it’s to do with a friend or someone. Has she got any animals, pets; you know how loopy she is. She probably saw her cat catch a bird and is now freaking out.” Joey would make these remarks from time to time, but the astonishing thing about his spontaneous comments was that they were often proved correct. Adam felt a little relieved, as Joey seemed so sure of himself. Additionally, Evelyn sometimes reacted like this, being very dramatic and mysterious, but this was new somehow, as she never left messages on the answer machine before, only leaving long silent pauses before hanging up.
Adam was now perplexed. Evelyn was strange to say the least, but she had never done anything like this before. She was a very secretive person and did take off for months at a time. She just disappeared and then popped up again. That was her. When Evelyn did embark on her disappearing acts, she did not feel it necessary to advise Adam beforehand, so why now?
Joey pulled up in front of the secluded property. After speaking on the intercom, he drove up a slate road towards the mansion. The beautiful lawns and gardens were still looking exquisite. His car came to a stop under the extended roof. His car was now shaded from the morning sun. The flowers tangling around the two pillars holding up the outer roof blocked out most of the glare, shading the entrance to the house. In contrast, the living greenery facing the sun looked happy with its purple and white flowers, which appeared to consume the fresh morning sun. Little birds and finches darted around on the nearby lawn and they made soft chirping noises as they rummaged for juicy tit bits to swallow.
An old man came out to meet Joey as he got out of his car.
Tom was surprised to see Joey and enquired about Adam’s whereabouts. Joey thought that he would take the opportunity to see if Tom was available, as he was in the area and took a chance to see if Tom was at home. Tom smiled and invited Joey in, reassuring him he did the right thing and that he was
