‘Closer,’ Marcy whispers, pushing her thighs into the mattress held in her hands, ‘put it closer.’ ‘Ssshhh.’ ‘Closer, put it next to yours.’ ‘I thought you said we shouldn’t share a bed?’ ‘We’re not. We’re sleeping next to each other,’ Marcy replies staring across the mattress held between her and Howie. ‘But…it just makes a double bed…like Paula and Roy.’ ‘No, Paula and Roy share a double blanket and we’ve got our own blankets.’ ‘So…’ ‘Just put the bloody thing down, Howie.’ ‘Okay, here?’ ‘Over a bit…move it over a bit…oh for fuck’s sake put it down I’ll push it in. There, see?’ ‘Just share a bloody bed,’ Clarence groans, his voice muffled from his face half pressed into his pillow. ‘Marcy said we can’t,’ Howie whispers. ‘Why not?’ Clarence asks. ‘It might be weird,’ Marcy says. ‘Weird,’ Clarence mutters, sitting up to stare at the two frozen in the act of moving the mattress, ‘Nothing is normal anymore.
