In The Close

Drip. Drip.1

It was damp and cold in the close. Tom crouched down in the meagre shelter of the staircase. Through the doorless opening, he could see the back green, inviting even in the wet, but he'd been well warned what would happen if he went outside in his good clothes. Instead, he watched the drops from the doorway, forming their own puddle on the floor.2

Drip. Drip.3

The MacNabs lived upstairs, and they were fighting again. Maybe Billy would come out to get away from it: he did, sometimes. The voices echoed strangely in the concrete stairway until Tom could hardly tell who was saying what. Billy's da was a drinker, everyone knew that. His kids lived in fear of the nights when he came home drunk and their ma and pa would fight. Annie, Billy's sister, would watch the wee-est ones. Billy would come to see Tom.4

"Tommy!"5

"Whit is it, ma?"6

"You're no out in that rain, are you?"7

"Naw! I'm playin' in the close!"8

"You stay out of trouble and don't get they clothes dirty, OK?"9

"Right, ma!"10

The door slammed.11

The close was always quieter in the rain. No one wanted out to play with the kids next door. No one swept the stairs or took their washing out the back. At his back, Ally's bike was digging into to him. He shifted uncomfortably. If he moved, he could sit on the stair, but then he couldn't see out the back.12

There was only one flat on the ground floor, and it was a wee one. Tom had never been in it. It belonged to Mary and her man who worked in the bank. They had no kids at all. Tom had asked his ma about that, and his ma had said they would have some soon. That had been half a year ago, but there were still no kids.13

Bored, Tom found a spider in a dark corner. He trapped it carefully in his hands. The tiny legs were ticklish, but he kept very still as the spider ran over his hands. It was a big one. His sister, Julie, was scared of spiders, but Tom wasn't. They were only wee, after all.14

Upstairs, a door opened and closed quietly, and small footsteps echoed on the stairwell.15

"Haw, Billy, is that you?" called Tom.16

"Aye. Where are you?"17

"Down here."18

Billy came down. He'd been crying, but that happened sometimes, and Tom knew not to see.19

"What are you doing?" His voice was all stuffy and odd, and higher than usual.20

"Nothing. Ma said to stay out of her hair while she cleans up for granny coming this afternoon. But I cannae go out in these clothes. So I'm just sitting."21

"Oh. What've you got?"22

"S'a spider. D'you want to see?"23

"Is it a big one?" Billy didn't like spiders either.24

"Naw. They're all wee, here. You only get great big spiders in the jungle. Everyone knows that."25

Two boys in a damp close can have loads more fun than just one. There are games to be played with the spiders, and who-can-jump-off-the-highest-stair. There's ringing the door and running away, although they had to give that one up because they couldn't hide outside. There's swapping the doormats, and sliding down the bannister and all sorts of games. Billy forgot that his ma and da were fighting again, and that his da had given his ma a black eye the night before.26

"Tommy! Is that you making that racket?"27

"Naw, I'm just talking to Billy!"28

"Well get in here, your gran'll be here in a minute!"29

"Aw, ma, do I have to?"30

Heavy footsteps came down the stairs. "Tom! You'll come right this minute or I'll tan your hide!"31

Tom's ma approached the two boys, then stopped and gasped in horror.32

"I told you not to go outside! What have you done to your good new shirt?! You're filthy!" She took a good grip on Tom's ear, ignoring his protests. "It took me hours to get you clean! That'd better not be oil on the back of that shirt! You promised me you would stay inside! I swear you could get filthy in an empty room!" The voice got fainter.33

"I'll see you later, Tom!" called Billy quietly. Tom didn't answer.34

Billy crouched in the close under the stairs, listening to the dripping rain on the concrete, trying not to hear the echoes of shouting.35

Drip. Drip.36