Chapter 27 · Month 15 · The First Real Fight

The Repair

A small repair that is really an apology

Oldest line first — the newest line is at the bottom.

      
            Algy
            designer
            06:57
          
That hinge on your wardrobe had been squealing since the boiler man trod on it, so I took the toolbox to it — three screws, and it's silent now. Don't look at me like that, it was forty minutes and it's done.

            Penny
            teacher
            06:58
          
You fixed the hinge instead of saying sorry — and that's not nothing, it's just not the invoice either. Why this, why today?

            Algy
            designer
            06:59
          
I've been thinking about the last month, and mostly it's me saying "soon" with my hand on a screwdriver. Four times my mum said the next place would be lovely — I did the hinge because I could finish it before nine.

            Penny
            teacher
            07:00
          
Out comes the drawer — the quote from the ninth, $417, and your car door listed as “small.” Tell me why it got filed under small.

            Algy
            designer
            07:01
          
Why do I always file the things about me under small? Sorry — that's a question answering a question, I heard it as it left. The car door's small because if it's big I'm a man who can't fix his own door.

            Penny
            teacher
            07:02
          
Because if everything's huge we're having this every Tuesday, and you go quiet, and I do the maths alone. The door being $200 isn't what scares me — the "don't look at me" is.

            Algy
            designer
            07:04
          
You're right — the quiet does more damage than the $200 ever could, and I do it because being looked at feels like being assessed. So one thing we keep: Tuesday, nine o'clock, the invoice on the table, both of us doing the maths out loud.

            Penny
            teacher
            07:05
          
Then one thing we stop: me keeping a silent running total. Mine's $340 on the plasterer's deposit, and I've been carrying it like a grade. I'll say it Tuesday, not save it up.

            Algy
            designer
            07:06
          
Then it's agreed: Tuesday, nine, both totals on the table — and we stop the silent maths. And this drawer's staying open, because I'm not shutting a $417 quote on your birthday.

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