set up - first day on site (stuff for the ceilings)All along they'd known where I lived - I knew it, and they knew I knew it. For months I'd known they would come calling some day. But then it seemed they never would. They'd kept me waiting for so long, to the point where I'd probably never know the day, the hour, certainly not the exact moment, when they'd come into my life, trample all over my home, and kick up the dust that was my very existence, in my very bread and butter.
Not that I hadn't been keeping lookout, steeling myself for the fateful day. There had been the short winter days, when it was only dark shadows lingering around my driveway. Then wet Spring days, when only the weeds crept around the trees that bordered the house. So many false alarms, false starts.
Now, early summer, I was laid back, focused on seeding the rear lawn, and my readiness born of anticipation had morphed into uncertainty - a 'whatever' and 'whenever' attitude that lingered around my conversation like the morning-after smell of a badly-rinsed ashtray.
It was mid-morning, 8th of June, a full three-and-a-half weeks since the last time I'd had any inclination that they might show. The waiting was the worst of it, but they never showed.
Now they were at my front door. They knew where I lived, and they knew I was home.
Two of them had come. Nothing fancy - just two heavies in an unmarked van, much the same as any other van you'd see in the M25 rush hour. As it cruised along, there was nothing to suggest who they were, what they were up to, where they were headed. For the heavies, I was just another contract job. The big boss had set it up - he wanted to make a killing.
They were tooled up, and easily could have taken my front door off its hinges. But that wasn't part of the plan. Everything was to be handled professionally. I was wide open. So they came straight in, and got stuck in, with no messing about. What a racket. Anything that was in their way was cut up, smashed up, taken out - whatever it took. These guys were switched on, committing batteries then charging all over the place.
Okay, maybe they weren't actually wrecking the joint, or tearing anyone limb from limb, but they were literally pulling nails out, and asking questions as they went along. Then just when I thought I was turning a corner, the floorboards were rising up to meet me, and the lights went out; but not for long. Were there no depths they weren't prepared to go to?
I was backed into my desk and couldn't get close to the kettle. So I hid behind the cover of my laptop as best I could, waiting for a lull in the action. Turned out that I'd have to wait a long time. But eventually things quietened down. They seemed to have got what they wanted from their visit.
The big guy squared up to me. He told me they hadn't finished with me yet, and they'd be back - but he was the strong silent type, short on facts, so didn't tell me when. Anyway, I was merely the name on the contract at the end of the day; a mere detail to be dealt with at their leisure.
Once they'd left, I surveyed the scene. To my surprise, when I looked up I couldn't see the rafters or roof tiles anymore - there were ceiling-boards where for six months there had been empty space and stars up above.
at last... ceiling!
...and more ceiling!
...and another, different ceiling!I wasn't about to complain. Maybe there was more to their racket than I'd thought. Maybe I'd get more out of this if I played along with them next time. I'd have to think this through.
So I clicked my kettle into action, filled my teapot with Georgian green tea (loose, one heaped teaspoon, of course), prepared some rough oatcakes topped with garlic Boursin, and lined up two ginger nuts for afters - I had to get my act together before their return, and this seemed a good way to start.
At last, everything was coming up roses; or maybe I was just deceiving myself...
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