Pizza Delivery

I closed the door, the light in the room was bright, the pizza I ordered was now waiting for me, I was not hungry anymore though, I just felt this sickly feeling in my guts that prevented me to do anything. I was shaking slightly, in a sort of fever, I felt exhausted yet apprehensive. Did this really happen? A couple of hours he said. Will he come? I went to sit on the sofa to resume watching tv, within minutes I was asleep, deep sleep.

I woke up, the air was palpable, very very close, warm and overwhelming like it can sometimes be in London at this time of the year. I was sweating, drips of perspiration, like salty tears were running down my forehead and chest. I stood up, heading towards the bathroom for a shower, when I heard a commotion at the front door. The bell rang. Shit, is it already 2 hours? He is really coming. Fuck. Only then what happened earlier this evening became clearer and urgent. Again, the nauseating feeling of anxiety overpowered me. Still sleepy, hesitantly and like in a dream, I went to open the door with trepidation, still dressed in my boxers and my open shirt.

I open the door, to find my uncle, drunk, inebriated beyond repairs, struggling to stand up, bouncing back and thro towards the wall, with a grin on his face, unable to say a single word, only basic stuttering, grunts and gestures. I could not believe it, he was supposed to be away for the whole weekend. Damn.

I grabbed one of his thick strong arms, and struggled to put it over my shoulder with a view to help and guide him towards his bed. He of course felt differently and as he is much stronger than I am, he managed to push me away from him without effort. He then, in an almost comical stance, staggered towards the sofa, grabbing the pizza box on the way, almost falling a couple of times and seemingly apologising to each item he bumped into on the way. He sat, opened the pizza box, then within seconds, his whole mass of weight fell on the sofa and he started to sleep soundly, letting the box drop on the floor. I walked towards him, picked up the box, turned the tv off, and then started to undo his trousers, so as to make him more comfortable and get him ready for sleep.

The voice surprised me, it was unexpected, I did not hear anyone arriving.

“Sorry mate, did not mean to intrude, the door was open, and…” I could see that he was baffled by what I was doing.