He and Tom rolled it up while I went for two black plastic sacks to put over the ends so they would be able to carry it without getting urine on their clothes. On my way back to the room I noticed the window on the stairs was open. 'I hope you're not intending to put it out through there.'

'No, of course we're not. We wanted some fresh air.'

They slid the bags into place and began to manoeuvre the carpet down the first flight of steps, Tom going first, having to walk down backwards. Darren followed him looking as though he might collapse under the weight. Seeing him struggle I tried to help by supporting the middle. When Tom reached the open window he said: 'Right, one, two, three, now!'

He heaved his end up and out, while Darren ran towards me shouting, 'Look out Mark.' Tom energetically shoved the carpet through the window until the force of gravity took over and it plummeted out of sight, hitting the ground with a loud thud. I looked down at the two of them in exasperation as they leaned out to see how it had landed.

'Yeah, wow!'

Tom turned to look at me. 'Wonder how that happened,' he said in mock innocence.

'What if it hit something, or someone, on the way down?'

'I made sure the area was clear before we let it go. If we pushed hard enough it was bound to fall clear of the house. It's flattened a bit of grass on the lawn, that's all.'

Darren ran off down the stairs, and we watched him unroll the carpet onto the concrete outside the kitchen. He uncoiled the garden hose and began drenching it thoroughly. In the room Tom showed me where he had glued together the split wood of the door frame, explaining that he had used longer screws than before to make sure the hinges would hold. Then he tested the door to show that it would open and close properly. 'You try it,' he suggested.

I stepped forward, turned the handle, opened the door wide, then gently shut it again, letting my hand rest on the handle. 'Seems to be okay.' He was standing directly behind me, very close, smelling faintly of aftershave or cologne. He reached forward and put his hand over mine, pressing downwards until the latch clicked; in concert we opened and closed the door again. Our shoulders touched, and the side of his chin brushed against my cheek as he leaned against me. I turned round in his arms to see that his face, like mine, was full of smiles. There was something we could do together to purge the room of the desecration it had suffered. We locked the door in case Darren came upstairs looking for us.




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