Madferit: The Novel

Chapter 149

            The alarm clock blared straight into my ear when it went off bright and early. Actually, it wasn't even bright yet. There were still a few hours left before the sun started to rise.

"Addie, turn it off!" Noel ordered burrowing into me, the pillows, and blankets trying to escape the noise. "Addie, turn it the fuck off! Addie-"

"I'm trying!" I exclaimed reaching over and pressing the button as fast as I could.

Finally, the alarm stopped and the room fell quiet.

"It's dark still." Noel pointed out. "Addie, I told yer we shouldn't be up before the fuckin' sun is. We should be kippin' 'til at least ten. Not gettin' up at- is that really what fuckin' time it is?" He stared at the red numbers on the clock.

"Yep." I confirmed.

"Oh, fuck right off!" He yanked the covers up over himself and rolled away from me laying back down. "I ain't gettin' up at fuckin' three o'clock in the fuckin' mornin'!"

"That's fine. Me and John'll just go-"

"You'll what?"

I sighed. "Noel, we've been over this a hundred thousand frickin' times. It takes four and a half hours to get to Hawes so we need to leave as early as we can in case there's traffic." I got out of bed.

"I've married a mad woman!" He quipped. "The maddest of the fuckin' mad women!"

"Yeah? Well, you were the mad man who was mad enough to marry her let alone buy her sheep!" I shot back as I gathered my clothes then headed in the bathroom.

I set my clothes out on the counter by the sink then got the shower ready. Once the water was warm enough, I got in, and began wetting my hair. I had it all wet when the bathroom door swung open.

"I'm surprised yer didn't lock me out this time!" Noel remarked as he stepped into the bathroom. "And I reckon if you want us to save so much time to get us goin' this mornin', we should probably have a wash together." He gazed through the glass at me. "Adds?"

"Yep!" I agreed in acquiesce.

He grinned. "I'm just so fuckin' smart!" He walked towards the entrance of the shower.

"You're somethin'!" I began rinsing my hair again.

He opened the door, stepped inside the shower, and came right over to where I stood under the showerhead.

"No funny business!" I warned him.

"There ain't gonna be a need for any funny business so long as you share this water with us." He returned. "Unless you mean funny business in the sense of-"

"None of it!"

He sighed. "Fair enough. It's not like we've even got the time for it anyway. Although, we could make some time for it if we really wanted to."

"We don't!" I told him. "Or I don't want to anyway."

"And why is that, eh? I can respect it but I'd still like to know what it is."

"You know enough." I squeezed a blob of shampoo into my palm.

"No, I don't." He shook his head. "I don't know anythin' about why you're...if we go to Hawes today and show the sheep, I hope it's gonna be a good day for us. 'Cuz it ain't gonna go too well if we're rowin' while we're tryin' to walk them sheep 'round that showring."