“Hold on,” says Grem.
I hold the line. I listen to the receiver. Dead air.
“Right,” says Grem, “You stay right where you are. I’m coming down to get you. Took the afternoon off. Family emergency. Want to go and get baked on Hampstead Heath?”
“Yeah,” I say, sniffing. “Yeah, I’d like that. Thanks, Grem.”
“Or we can hang out by the river or something. Whatever you want.”
“That sounds good, too.”
“Okay. Right. Get yourself a fancy coffee or something. Stay cool, okay? See you soon.”
Grem cuts the call.
I take a deep breath. My clothes are still sticky with last night’s sweat. It’ll wash away. Sex. Sweat. Hair. Skin. Wants versus needs. It all washes away.
I go into the coffee shop on the corner of Upper Street and order a latte from a white girl with an angular haircut and a tattoo that says “Made in China.”
The Number Of The Beast is playing on the speakers.
Grem’s right. It really is quite relaxing.
About the Author
Laurie Penny is a contributing editor and columnist for the New Statesman and a frequent writer on social justice, pop culture, gender issues, and digital politics for the Guardian, the New Inquiry, Salon, the Nation, Vice, the New York Times, and many other publications. Her blog Penny Red was shortlisted for the Orwell Prize in 2010. In 2012, Britain’s Tatler magazine described as one of the top “100 people who matter.” Her most recent nonfiction book is Unspeakable Things: Sex, Lies, and Revolution (Bloomsbury, 2014). You can sign up for email updates here.
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Copyright
Copyright © 2016 by Laurie Penny
Art copyright © 2016 by Yuko Shimizu