Can I take your call? (2004)

[VinnyMcQ†]

Trevor smiled to himself as he did up his coat. The sky was a shapeless grey that suggested rain, so he quickened his step. He'd just been to see 'The Day After Tomorrow' and the skyline's similarities to the movie were not lost on him. All he needed now was a massive wall of water to crush the cinema and he was good to go.

That would never happen though, would it? He asked himself. While he believed Global Warming was real it seemed too unreal that the consequences would be so sudden. All that stuff should have happened over thousands of years, not in a New York minute. The feeling of vibration coming from his left pocket moved him away from thoughts of the weather. He dug deep, and fished out a worn old Nokia. The green screen was illuminated with the words 'Trina calling'. Trevor never called his parents mum or variants thereof because it was simply too confusing when they both replied. Instead they both went by their first names.

Thumbing the answer button, Trevor held the grey brick to his ear. It really was past its prime by now, but he resisted the idea of becoming one of those kids who bought a new mobile every six months. If it could take calls and text, then it was good enough for him till it broke. Trevor listened Trina asked him about the movie, and told him to hurry back because they were ordering a takeaway. I hope its Chinese thought Trevor, because in all honesty he'd become sick of getting a curry every Friday night.

Trevor had just hung up when a strong hand grabbed him by the left wrist and twisted it painfully behind his back. He let out a sharp cry and struggled in vain. He felt a hand reach into his pocket and pull out his phone, along with his small amount of cash. He heard his assailant mutter '...waste of my time...' before he was released. Unprepared for the sudden freedom of movement, Trevor fell forward and landed on his chest hard. His eyes burned as he looked around for his attacker, but no one was to be seen. Trevor began the long walk home, unable to call for a lift or ride the bus. To cap it all, it started to rain.

[Tagabasa†]

It was raining after he left the theater, which normally wouldn't bother Simon that much. He had an umbrella in his messenger bag, not because he was prepared for rain all the time but simply because he never bothered to take it out, and the sound of drops hitting the rooftops and sidewalks was strangely calming. Today, however, he had to walk home, as he forgot to ask one of his parents for a ride.

I can't wait until I'm old enough to drive a car already. The walk to his house wasn't that long, really, so Simon figured a little water couldn't hurt him. The most it could do was make him slightly cold and wet, which was about the same thing that happened to him in the shower every day. He stopped on the sidewalk suddenly and wiped his slightly misted glasses on his shirt.

There appeared to be very few people walking along the street. He saw an older couple, engaged in some sort of heated discussion, a young businessman in a full suit talking on his cell phone while trying to ignore the rain, and a student walking through the rain. Simon squinted at the figure, trying to see if he knew who it was. The student was a boy about his age with close shaven brown hair. The most recognizable thing about the boy was, however, was the black coat he wore. Simon didn't think he knew that many other kids with dark duffle coats.

"Hey Trevor!" Simon wasn't one hundred percent sure why he ran up to the other student, or even if his name really was Trevor. The guy was in his Lit class, but it wasn't like they had ever held a conversation that was longer then four sentences or didn't have to do with the usage of dualism in A Tale of Two Cities. "Um, you okay?" The other boy looked positively soaked, for one thing.

[VinnyMcQ†]

'Hey Trevor!'

Trevor turned at the sound of the voice and saw a classmate of his run over, his feet sending splashes of water from the now sodden ground. It was Simon, a guy he knew from his Lit class, with very interesting ideas concerning the techniques used in 'A Tale of Two Cities'.

'Um, you okay?'

Trevor sighed and laughed weakly. In truth, he was still shaken and he stuffed his hands in his pockets so Simon wouldn't see how badly they were shaking. I'm such a bloody wuss, how could I let someone walk all over me like that he thought.

'Yeah I'm cool. Well nah not really. Just got mugged actually. Bastard got my phone and everything, so I'm kinda stuck with a walk. Plus, you know, the rain.'

Trevor kicked at a can and groaned with frustration, running his hands over his head. The rain clung to it like dew; Trevor brushed it off as best he could. With the downpour, it was a futile attempt.

'You walking as well? I could use the company, you know, that is if you don't mind.' Trevor asked this in the most jovial voice he could manage, but wasn't really expecting to fool him. Honestly, it'd be nice to get to know the guy, and he needed to take his mind off what had happened.

[Tagabasa†]

Trevor turned around to face Simon, and laughed weakly. The boy looked a little shaken, but appeared to be holding it together really well.

"Yeah I'm cool. Well nah not really. Just got mugged actually. Bastard got my phone and everything, so I'm kinda stuck with a walk. Plus, you know, the rain."

Simon blinked. Mugged? It wasn't like he thought that violence and thievery didn't happen in the city they lived in, but he had never experienced something like that. Maybe he was living life in a sort of bubble; the boy hadn't really went off on his own until last year. It wasn't that he didn't go places; it was just that his parents offered to drive him back and forth and Simon didn't really see any problem with that. It sure beat walking most of the time, and he didn't have to spend his money on bus fares.

Trevor kicked a can nearby before Simon had fully snapped out of his thoughts. It brought him back to earth with a somewhat muffled clank. The other student looked even more wet then he had before. "You walking as well?" He asked. "I could use the company, you know, that is if you don't mind." His voice sounded upbeat, but there was a bit of an edge to it that Simon could not place.

Simon nodded. "Hey, the company's appreciated. I have a bit of a walk home." He smiled back. Now that a new year of schooling had started, it was time to stop worrying about his grades all the time and start living life a little more. And meeting people seemed like a pretty good part of that. Trevor seemed to be a decent guy, always helpful, and it was high time he knew more than three people in his class.

"Oh, wait." Simon stuck out the arm with his umbrella in it. "You should probably take this." Despite both his parents being in the medical profession, he didn't exactly know the specifics of pneumonia and other such diseases, but Simon was pretty sure standing in the rain for prolonged periods of time was bad for you.

[VinnyMcQ†]

Simon nodded. "Hey, the company's appreciated. I have a bit of a walk home."

Confirming they were at least walking in the same direction, Trevor made to start walking, anxious to get out of the rain.

"Oh, wait." Simon stuck out the arm with his umbrella in it. "You should probably take this."

There was a wet slapping sound as Trevor walked right into Simon's outstretched umbrella. 'You,' began Trevor, 'are a lifesaver.' Trevor turned briefly away from Simon to open the umbrella lest he poke his new friend in the eye. It looked a little compact for the both of them, but he tried his best to get them both under its protection. Simon took the trouble to lend it so he wasn't going to leave him out in the cold, so to speak.

'So have you just come from the movies too or what?' Trevor asked. He hadn't seen Simon inside, but they could easily have seen separate shows. Trevor swore to himself not to let this incident put him off the movies, truth be told he didn't go enough. Every time the trailers came up he made a note to go and see the latest blockbuster but only ever managed about one out of five.

As the boys walked, Trevor heard the wailing of sirens, and looked over his shoulder to see two fire trucks speeding down the semi filled road. The trailing truck hit a puddle, sending a large splash of water at the two boys. Trevor was closer to the road, and threw up the umbrella as a shield, hoping Simon wasn't jutting out from the edges and was right behind him.

[Tagabasa†]

Though the umbrella obscured what was happening right in front of him, Simon hard a faint slapping noise. Did I just hit him in the face? 'Guess that's one way to make a first impression. I might as well be thankful I didn't poke him in the eye with the damn thing.

"You," began Trevor, "are a lifesaver." He opened the umbrella away from Simon, and held it over there heads. It was slightly tight, but also dry. The umbrella seemed to shield them both from the rain comfortably. Why do I have such a big umbrella anyway?

"So have you just come from the movies too or what?" Trevor asked. Simon turned toward him, being careful not to knock the guy down as he did so. Simon shock his head.

"I was at the bookstore, actually." He pointed to his bag, which was a bit more full then usual. "It's not far away from the theater, though." Simon figured that Trevor had probably gone out to see one of the newer movies. There was the one with the fashion designer, another comedy about a hip-hop plane or something, and a movie about a new ice age caused by extreme climate change. The last one seemed most likely; it was doing pretty well in the box office, and it seemed more up the other boy's ally then the first two. Simon didn't know much more about it or, for that matter, most other movies. The last time he had been to one was the Lord of the Rings movie last December. It wasn't like he hated films; he just never got around to seeing them most of the time and hardly ever heard things about them from other students at his school.

The shrill wail of a fire truck's siren pierced the air, causing Simon to jump up a bit. It sped past the two students, sending a large puddle of water their way. Trevor quickly turned the umbrella sideways, catching the blast, before Simon had time to react further.

"So," Simon tried to think of something to say. He always held that he wasn't anti-social-just bad at conversation. It probably stemmed from the fact that he seemed to be out of the loop of most fads. Hadn't Trevor mentioned a movie? That seemed like it could work. "how was the movie?"

[VinnyMcQ†]

Simon mentioned he'd been to the bookstore, and motioned to his full bag. Trevor knew which store he meant, he used to go often to buy books. Recently he'd gotten into acting in a big way, and had switched from reading novels to reading plays. His prized possession was a battered old copy of the complete works of Shakespeare. All the plays and the poems, which he was steering clear of for the moment. It wasn't that he didn't like poetry, just that he found it more difficult to analyse and even enjoy when compared to a play. He made a mental note to ask Simon what he liked to read sometime.

'So how was the movie?' Asked Simon. Trevor wasn't sure whether he was the movie going type, and tried to fill him in on the plot without spoiling it in case he went to see it.

'It was good; you should have seen the special effects during the disaster bits! I've never seen anything like it. Tell you what though, when you see the CGI wolves, oh man they were terrible.'

As they walked down the street the rain got worse. Trevor spotted a payphone coming up. He gestured at Simon, and then the worsening weather. 'Come on we can't walk through this. You got change for the phone? I can call home for a lift and get you dropped off on the way.'

[Tagabasa†]

"It was good; you should have seen the special effects during the disaster bits! I've never seen anything like it. Tell you what though, when you see the CGI wolves, oh man they were terrible." Trevor responded.

Simon nodded, trying to keep himself under the umbrella. The rain seemed to be getting heavier, and the sky was darkening. It looked like the weather was only going to get worse. He seriously had to start taking the bus or at least making sure he had a ride when he left the house. Of course, the first time he had went to the bookstore without a ride home prepared, it started pouring. Which law was that again? It wasn't Sturgeon's; that was that ninety percent of everything was crud. Godwin's was the one about the Nazis. It was Murphy's then. That was right, Murphy's Law: everything that can go wrong will.

"Come on we can't walk through this. You got change for the phone? I can call home for a lift and get you dropped off on the way." Trevor pointed toward a nearby payphone.

"That is a damn good idea!" Simon ran up towards him. He had just realized that he hadn't worn a coat today, and was pretty much freezing. He opened his bag and pulled out a handful of change that had managed to collect at the bottom and some nickels and dimes from his purchases. He handed them to Trevor, then stuck his hands in his front pockets. At least today he had worn his pair of black pants that had them.

[VinnyMcQ†]

Simon handed him the change and Trevor keyed in the number for home, enjoying the heavy, mechanical nature of the phone booth's numbers. Trevor waited anxiously as he heard the phone ring on the other end. Come on come on pick up we're freezing out here!

Trevor heard the receiver being picked up on the other end as a funny noise indicated connection. He put his hand to his ear to better hear over the storm. 'Hey Trina, its Trevor' Trevor's brow furrowed and he covered the mouthpiece with his hand as he turned to Simon

'She's been trying to call me. I can't tell her what happened now she'll freak. Don't mention it when she picks us up.'

Trevor resumed the phone call. Please let her have the car. If I have to walk anymore in this I think my fingers will drop off. 'Trina can you come pick us up. Me and Simon. He's from school. I met him on the way back. You will? Great thanks! How long will you be? Great, see you in a minute.'

There was a metallic clank as Trevor slammed the receiver down in triumph. A wide grin broke out on his face. The warmth of home and dry clothes loomed. He would have to tell her what had happened earlier on though, or find some plausible excuse for why he had no phone anymore. He had better experience with mothers than most, and knew that if they all shared one trait; it was a trait of overreaction.

'We're in business Sime; she'll be about 10 minutes. We can't wait here in the open though; we'll need a Doctor then not a ride. Can you see any shelter?'

[Tagabasa†]

The phone rang, a clicking mechanical sound that caught Simon off-guard. He couldn't help feeling a little annoyed with the tedious pace of its' connection. He was pretty sure if the demon-possessed thing didn't hurry up and worry already, the both of them would drown.

"Hey Trina, its Trevor" Trevor's brow furrowed and he covered the mouthpiece with his hand as he turned to Simon. "She's been trying to call me. I can't tell her what happened now she'll freak. Don't mention it when she picks us up."

Simon wondered for a second who Trina was. Probably an aunt or sister of something. She could be Trevor's mother, possibly, but he didn't know anybody who called their parents by their first names. "No worries. I won't mention it. You can just say you dropped the phone in a puddle or something." He made the last comment on the assumption that this Trina was Trevor's sister.

Trevor continued on the phone, explaining where they were and who he was with. Trina apparently was able to pick the two of them up, and was definitely older then Trevor. Simon took back his first assumption; she was probably Trevor's mother after all. He suppressed a slight urge to pump his fists up into the air; they were on their way back home to a heated room and hot food.

"We're in business Sime; she'll be about 10 minutes. We can't wait here in the open though; we'll need a Doctor then not a ride. Can you see any shelter?" Trevor's voice was cheerful and upbeat know that they were going to get a ride back to their houses.

Simon looked around. The street was paved with a few small shops, a few of which looked like they were actually open and non-deserted. He pointed to a small cafe a few doors away. "There's a coffee shop at 12 o'clock. On the count of four, run for it! One! Two! Three! Four! Yi, er, san, si! Uno, dos, tres, cuatro! Etcetera, etcetera!" He yelled before bolting off towards the cafe.

[VinnyMcQ†]

Trevor followed Simon as they made a mad dash through the rain to a small coffee shop, where they would wait for a ride home from Trevor's mother, Trina. He stood in the doorway and did his best to shake off the rain, reminding himself of a dog who had just escaped from the horrors of bath time and was telling his owner just how he felt about said bath time.

The coffee shop was a horrible place, and Trevor saw that its emptiness now was no reflection on the weather. He and Simon were probably the first people to grace the doors other than the manager for weeks, and he hadn't even planned on buying anything. The walls were covered in cracked and peeling lime green wallpaper, the floor was grimy and a very bored looking teenager only a couple of years older than them manned the till. His oily face and acne were obscured by a large mop of hair that covered his face for the most part.

Trevor sat down in the window seat and tried in vain to wipe the window with his sleeve so he could see out. Both the storm and the filth of the coffee shop told him this was fruitless, so he sank back in his chair and tried to enjoy the feeling of relative warmth the shop provided.

'Of all the coffee shops in all the towns in all the world, you had to pick this one to be our shelter eh?' Trevor shamelessly ripped off the classics when the time was right.

[Tagabasa†]

This coffee shop, Simon decided, was only marginally better then the rain. It was almost deserted, dirty, and it smelled rather like what he imagined a corpse would. On the other hand, it was dry and Trevor's mother would probably come to pick them up soon. Hopefully. Simon sat down across from Trevor, glancing at the teen first. He kind of wanted to buy something here, to at least make up for the fact that they only bolted into the shop to escape the rain, but he was around twenty percent sure that anything the place served would kill him.

"Of all the coffee shops in all the towns in all the world, you had to pick this one to be our shelter eh?'" Trevor stated, giving up on rubbing the filth away from the shop.

Simon nodded. "Really. It just figures the first place I happen to see is this." He glanced over at the window, and plucked a spider off of it, placing it outside the coffee shop before running back. "Tell me that was not a health hazard. I mean, I know insects-and arachnids-get into buildings, but they could at least try!"

He sat back down, brushing off his pants. Simon's clothing was slowly but surely drying, which at least was one good thing about this place. He stared out of the window for a few seconds, searching for the car that was coming, before snapping his fingers.

"Casablanca, right? How'd I miss that one; I only saw that movie a few weeks ago." Allow Simon hadn't been to the theater in awhile, he had seen movies on the television, and occasionally his parents would rent something and they would all watch it together. Simon assumed that his father just wanted Jessica to grow up with some traditions.

[VinnyMcQ†]

Trevor nodded. In truth, he hadn't actually seen Casablanca, or many of the old classics. However with quotes like that, everyone got around to knowing them at some point. He'd only met one person who hadn't seen Star Wars and didn't recognise 'Luke I am your father' and had immediately but on a DVD box set of the original trilogy.

Simon removed a spider from the premises and Trevor scanned the room for any more. Simon was right it was a health hazard. Trevor didn't feel bad for the creature at all as he saw Simon toss it outside, but then immediately felt guilty for being so heartless. Normally he felt bad for animals, especially in films where they were acceptable fodder when the main protagonist needed some angst, but here he had felt nothing. He thought of the spider outside in the miserable cold, struggling through the heavy rain and freezing to death, cold and alone. He suddenly felt much worse.

The loud noise of a car horn interrupted his self afflicted pensive mood. He turned his head to the filthy window and peered through the grime. The outline of a familiar red car told him their ride had finally come. Grabbing his heavy coat and fastening it he got up and said to Simon 'let's go, the cavalry's here.' He made his way to the door, opened it and ran the short distance to the car.

The car was quite old, and had no central locking system; instead it had a manual lock-unlock mechanism which had to be undone from inside. This in mind, Trevor entered the car through the front passenger seat, and then twisted round to unlock the back for Simon.

[Tagabasa†]

A car horn sounded from outside the coffee shop, even making the apathic teenager posted at the cashier jump a bit. Simon turn to look outside the window with Trevor, even though he wouldn't be able to tell if the car outside was their ride or not. The car was red and Trevor seemed to recognize it, as he fastened his coat.

"Let's go, the cavalry's here." Trevor said, before running out of the door to the car. Simon nodded, and brushed his clothes off once again. He was sure a layer of dust had formed over them in the short time that he had spent at the coffee shop. Still, he looked over at the boy in charge again. He looked like he hadn't even noticed the two boys inside the shop at all. Simon pulled out a five dollar bill and left in on the counter, before running out of the building himself, before the guy noticed what he did.

When he got there, Trevor had finished unlocking the doors. Simon wasn't quite sure how he did it; the only cars he had ever been in only needed a person to pull the handle to open once the driver hit a button. The car was older then any one Simon had had, but it was warm and much cleaner then the place he had been last. It was a welcome reprise from pretty much everywhere he had been today after the book store.

Simon sat down in the back, feeling rather uncomfortable. He always sat shotgun in his own car, and when he sat in the back his parents would always make jokes about them not being chauffeurs. He turned to the woman in the front seat who he assumed to be Trina.

"Uh, thank you for picking me up. I'm Simon Fletcher, by the way." He held out his hand for the woman to shake.

[VinnyMcQ†]

Trina looked at the two slightly bedraggled boys as they got into the car. She'd seen the storm from the house, and had tried to call Trevor repeatedly. The boy who wasn't her son reached out a hand and introduced himself. Trina shook it warmly, put her driving glasses on and began to ease the reliable old car through the soaked streets. She turned to her son in the front seat and asked 'What happened to your phone son?'

Shit! 'Um I uh dropped it in a puddle. Stupid I know but it should be fine if I can stick it under a radiator or something. I'll be more careful in future.' Trevor would have eyed Simon to make sure he corroborated with the story, but he couldn't twist round without being obvious, and since he'd mentioned it before decided to trust him.

Trina raised her eyebrow at her son's butchered attempt at playing off the phone incident. He might be able to fool everyone else, but he could never fool her. Mothers just know. She looked in the rear mirror at his friend, who seemed to be very glad to be out of the cold. 'Where to son?' she asked, before braking sharply and throwing a rude gesture at the car that had cut them up, a huge Hummer that had no business being this deep in the city. 'Sorry boys, everything under control.'

Trevor tensed as the car braked sharply, and almost swore aloud, catching the word midway on its outward journey. Trina didn't like to hear him swear. Mothers thought Trevor, no doubt echoing the thoughts of generations of frustrated teens past and future. And I have to deal with two of them! Bad times