Beyond Repair

Chapter 9 - Max

Shopping with her couldn't be described as anything other than an experience. It appeared that she didn't care what anyone thought about her, ever. Which just confused me because when we met, she had clearly cared what I thought. She had been a bumbling mess and nothing like the real her at all. I wondered if it was because she really needed the job. Either way, it didn't matter, but out in the world she was happy to bare her whole crazy ass self.

I was heading down the aisles trying to concentrate on what I needed and she was gliding up and down on the trolley like a stroppy, bored teenager. Every so often she would take a little run up then extend her arms leaving her legs dangling as the trolley flew down the hard shiny floor. "Can you stop that?"

"So, it's okay for you to use wheels to get around, but not me. How is that fair?" Then she was gone again leaving me looking after her with my mouth wide open. I didn't think anyone had been quite so brazen about my wheel chair before and it was shocking, but also quite refreshing. I ended up with a selection of veggies stuck on my knee before she finally floated back to my side grinning from ear to ear. "What are they for?"

"Snacks."

"Dude it’s a get together not a training session. You can't feed them nothing but that crap."

"It wasn't just going to be veg, proteins important too."

"You are not their mama, nor their manager or their nutritionist. You're their friend, be a good friend and provide them naughty food and lots of booze." Before I could argue she took the veg and dumped it back in a heap in a box containing oranges. Pushing me past the trolley and dragging it behind her to stop me from retrieving the healthy stuff.

"Hey, will you let go? Fine. I will buy unhealthy crap, are you happy?"

"Yep." The smile she flashed me was worth its weight in gold. It was then that I found myself smiling back at her. As she did her little run, I leap into action and pushed the wheels as fast as I could. The two of us racing down the aisle and getting lots of disapproving looks as we did. She was rubbing off on me and I couldn't care less. She stopped at the sweets section and grabbed chocolate covered peanuts and raisins. "That's the healthy crap covered." Then she started shovelling in anything and everything she laid her hands on without much thought involved at all.

"You are crazy."

"So, I have been told. Behave or I will make you give me a ride the rest of the way." I couldn't stop the laugh that bubbled up, it was such a strange sensation that it made me realise that I didn't know the last time I had laughed. The further around the store we got the clearer it became that I might as well have sent her alone because she was the one in charge of what we were buying. When I dared complain, she told me with a straight face that in the match five years ago, I had pressed an unfair advantage and so would she. It was becoming clear she wasn't just a fan but a hard core one. I made a mental note to put the theory to the test.

She must have put just about every alcoholic beverage she could lay her hands on into the trolley. Going on about how she was going to make a massive cocktail. I was a little confused when she stopped and got a gigantic clear tub and chucked that in too. "Just trust me will you, I used to do it all the time at uni."

"If I have to."

"You do." She plucked the most awful pair of green sunglasses from a spinning display case at the end of an aisle and forced them on my face. Grabbing a pink pair for herself and practically climbed on my lap. Holding her phone up with us both filling the screen. I wanted nothing more but to scowl for the shot, but I couldn't. Giggling like a schoolboy as she threw out the peace sign like she was some boho chick from the 60s. Her head was so close to mine and when I saw her tongue sliding out, I was sure I was going to feel its warm moisture on my cheek. Almost a little disappointed when I didn't. "That's going on my socials."

"It is not."

"Just try to stop me." She raced off like a lightning bolt to the tills before I could get hold of her. By the time I caught up she was bent over the edge of the trolley, dragging out the items from the very bottom. I couldn't help but stare. It was less about her backside and more about the cute little leg flick she did each time she bent over the side. As I waited to pay, I couldn't help but think it had been the most fun I'd had in years and all while doing shopping of all things.

I didn't know what it was about Clara, but she was addictive. The view she had on life, the way she lived it, it made me want to join her on the crazy ride she was on. I had spent years flying around the world, playing in front of uncountable crowds and yet just watching her in the supermarket seemed like more of a thrill. I couldn't put my finger on what it was. If she could bottle that zest she had she would be worth a hell of a lot more than me.

On the ride back to the house, I tried to concentrate on the road ahead. It was hard, even without the bright yellow clothes she had worn on the first day we met, she seemed to shine so bright. She turned the volume up when Avril Lavine came on and started dancing around in her seat. Finally, I had found something seriously wrong with her, she couldn't sing to save her life. Not that she cared she just kept pelting out note after note bobbing her head around as she did. "Will you sit still?"

"Nope. I would if I could, but I can't really stop myself." All I could think was how she would look bouncing on my c**k. Each time the dirty thoughts crept in I felt so ashamed of myself. Although oddly, it was rarely because of Terri. It was more feeling like I was taking advantage of Clara just by thinking about her like that. It was stupid. "Do you mind if we make a pit stop?"

"Sure, where?"

"My place, but you have to promise to stay in the car."

"OK. Where are we heading?" She reeled off the address, but I had already decided I had no intention of staying in the car. The second she asked me to, I was interested to find out what she was hiding. "I thought you were living with me now, as part of the job I mean?"

"I am but I didn't bring all my things. I wasn't sure I would be staying. Just need to pop in and get a few bits for the next few days. To tide me over till I can get the rest of it." There was a slight twang of insult as she said it. Did she expect me to be so objectionable that she didn't think she could cope? Not that I could argue with the idea and the past carers I had would certainly concur with the assessment.

She didn't actually live far from me which was surprising, but the area seemed to be a world apart from what I was used to. Even my childhood in East London had been in less squalor. There seemed to be people just sat out in the street and I guessed they were high by the way they were slumped over. The street seemed to be filled with rubbish and that wasn't even me being dramatic, there were heaps of it in nearly every yard in the street. Used mattresses, sofas with their guts out, one house even had a burnt-out car. It amazed me how it had been on fire so close to the house and not took the pitiful-looking terrace with it.

I pulled up where she told me and wasn't any more impressed with her abode. I got out as quickly as I could, which granted wasn't quick at all. Following her around the corner of the house and seeing the door open where she must have gone into the building. The room was little more than a broom closet. There wasn't even an actual bed.

The tattered orange armchair in the corner was clearly where she slept given the duvet on the top of it. I could just imagine her curled up on it, but it must have been so uncomfortable. It was a good job she was so tiny. In the corner was a set of drawers, set on top was a microwave. There was a door next to it which I hoped was some sort of bathroom. Even the small space looked bare because she had so little furniture. "MAX! You promised."

"I did no such thing. How? Just how?"

"I will not be ashamed of where I live. It's cheap and I am trying not to spend too much."

"Clearly."

"Max!"

"Don't Max me. You can't live like this. Collect everything that means anything and leave the rest, you won't be coming back."

"You can't tell me what to do."

"Watch me. You have five minutes, any longer and I will hire someone to come and empty the place." I wouldn't normally have been so forthright with her, but it was no place for a young woman to be living. As I headed towards the truck, I noticed the door. It didn't even have a proper lock just a bolt. No doubt no one bothered robbing her because there was nothing worth taking. She was still shouting after me as I left. Shouting about how she was independent and didn't need anyone looking after her not even me. I didn't really know what that meant, but I didn't care. It turned out me and Clara were more similar than I had realised. She was just as stubborn as me and would happily screw herself over rather than ask for help.