There’s a bit you can dance to (sort of) and they try to dance to it. A golden, airy sound and a definite beat though it skips about and you miss it.

*

Back on the number 36 again. Or is it the number 12. One of them will get them there, one of them won’t and they’ll have to remember to get off. Leave it to Ria. She’s the one who lives here. She knows where she lives.

*

She throws the chips at him, the whole bag hitting him hot in the face and falling to the ground, scattered over the pavement – like wood shavings, like petals. He would have eaten those.

Ria screams and screams.

A stocky man passing by slows and looks at them and Ollie puts his hands up – It’s alright, he says. It’s alright.

*

Ollie sits on the floor. She comes back into the room in her dressing gown. She pours out her methadone, concentrating hard not to spill it, and knocks it back. She breaks a vitamin capsule into a cold-cream pot, scoops out a handful and smears it thickly over her face, a white mask. Like Noh theatre. She rubs Bach Rescue Remedy into her temples, making a circular motion.

The flat is burning with candles, worse than ever: he can feel the heat off them, smell the wax mixed in with the smell of cold cream and essential oils. Ria is singing now, a Kirsty MacColl song – she resembles her a little – performing as if on a stage, fag in hand. She would fare quite well on a TV talent show. He wonders that she’s never thought of it. He would phone in and vote for her. She lifts up her hands.

The angel cards are scattered at their feet. The one next to Ollie’s toe reads:

HEALING THE PAST

This card comes to you because there’s a recurring pattern that stems from hurt feelings in your past. It’s time for you to change this pattern by facing and healing old emotional pain. You may feel tired of revisiting the same issues yet believe that there’s no other way.

He is tired of it. Really tired. What would happen if he knocked over one of these candles now? Or the methadone: how much would be a good dose? If he drank it, would they replace it for her? They wouldn’t leave her high and dry, would they? Surely? It must happen a lot.

Another card lies face down. He hesitates a moment, turns it over:

RELEASE AND SURRENDER

We shower you with blessings of our radiant love. Open your arms, and release the challenges that you’ve held tightly gripped within your hands. Open your hands, arms and heart to our love and assistance.

‌Backgammon