I noticed the creeper up the side of my place was hanging down off the wall, when I came home from my bike ride, so I went and got the long handled clippers and gave it a prune. It is a constant job that creeper, it grows like a mad man’s pubic bush. As a little kid, my mother used to always look a little anxious at the mention of creepers, I never understood why.
Jackson came out and chatted while I was cleaning up. He’d just got back from getting some pot. He tapped his pocket, and then the side of his nose when I asked him what he’d been up to. He has big those eyes and that devilish grin
“My drug dealer just died, actually,” said Jackson. “He was a year older than me which makes him, ah…” Jackson smiled, “sixty…five.” (Actually, I thought Jackson was younger than that, but the sly look indicated he was lowering his age)
“I wouldn’t know how to find a new drug dealer now a days, if I had to,” I said. Don’t worry, Guido is still around, even if I haven’t been calling on his services, of late. (It’s been 12 months next month, but who is counting. Oh, er, Sam doesn’t like it, and he doesn’t like me being stoned, so what the hell…)
“Oh, you just have to ask around,” he said. “It would surprise you who has a drug dealer.” We both nodded sage like as if that was a universal truth.
“Bad luck about your guy.”
“Well, worst luck for him, than me.” Jackson laughs.
I laugh. “Well, yes.”
“He’d been my drug dealer for years,” said Jackson. “But, I have a new one, obviously, although the new one doesn’t deliver, which is a damn shame.”
“Saves a lot of time if they deliver,” I said. “And, in the past, I’d get to see their cars. Drug dealers always have new cars.”
“Yes, they always seem to have a nice car,” said Jackson.
“Yes,” I said. “It is those cash purchases.”
“The kinds of things this idiot Liberal Government thinks it will eradicate if it gets rid of cash,” said Jackson
“So many idiot things this Morrison Liberal Government thinks,” I said.
We both laughed.
“I miss it, getting home delivery,” said Jackson. “I have to go and pick up from the new guy, but it isn’t all that far.”
“I want to try those new up to date services where you order online and a courier delivers it to you in no time.”
“My new guy only has two customers, he tells me he has to get more customers because he is smoking all the merchandise.”
We laughed. “Oh, we’ve all been there.”
“This guy’s not young, either,” said Jackson. “I thought that was a twenty year old dealers way of business, smoking all the hooch.”
“It is always better to get a dealer who isn’t using all the stock.”
“Much more reliable,” we both said in unison. We both laughed again.
“Anyway.” Jackson tapped his pocket again. “I’ve got to see a man about a… er.” He looked down at Buddy who was sniffing about around our feet. “A, horse.” He tapped the side of his nose, and made big eyes and grinned his devilish grin.
I half filled the bin with creeper cuttings, which seemed like bad timing since the bin had only been emptied this morning. Still, it is good to trim the creeper, as it is a never fucking ending requirement.
I think Jackson has never offered to roll me a spliff? In all the years we have been neighbours, not once. I pondered on that for a moment, as I picked up the next piece of pruned creeper cutting it into pieces each falling into the bin after I had cut them. It is probably best, I think upon reflection, best not start now, all things considered. Probably best to keep the relationship just neighbourly. It’s not the sort of relationship you want to complicate. No really, happy relationships with neighbours are like gold.
But, isn’t that how you make relationships? I’m not sure the whole friendship paradigm is as simple as it sounds. I’ve made lots of friends over the years, it’s keeping them which I have never really been all that good at.
As Miranda Priestly would say, “They all seem to disappoint me in the end.”
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