A Wall Between

Chapter 33

Cooper had been laying with his eyes shut for about an hour now, but occasionally he'd shift around or nuzzle in against Sasha's shoulder, so Sasha wasn't sure if he was actually asleep.

There was a knock on the door and Cooper lifted his head and called out, "Yeah?"

"Are you busy?" Abra asked through the door.

Cooper looked at Sasha, lifting his eyebrows in question.

Sasha shut his laptop, cutting off the video that had been playing, and nodded towards the door. Cooper got up to open it.

"Sorry," Abra said when Cooper let him in. "I thought I should talk to you before we head back. Both of you, actually."

Sasha patted his bed and the two of them joined him on it.

"So, I've been a man of many deals today," Abra said. "The first deal I made is that, in exchange for walking their dog every day and keeping the lawns mown, George and Joy are going to give us a hundred dollars a week off our rent."

Cooper opened his mouth wide in surprise. "A hundred dollars?"

"Yes, and that's a good deal for them. That comes out at less than fifteen dollars a walk, and you're not walking. You're running. They won't get those kinds of rates anywhere else. This would be a bad deal for us if it wasn't for the fact that you love it and you'd do it without being paid."

"This is why I need you to make the deals. So that I don't end up paying them to let me walk their dog."

"The second deal was with your parents, Sasha. Cooper already talked to them and they agreed to pay for a fridge for the house, because none of us own one, but that will probably take a week or so to arrive. In the meantime, they're going to pay for groceries and we're going to use their kitchen, and in return I'll make enough for them as well so they can have a week off cooking. Assuming that won't be weird for you, of course, Sasha."

"Why would it be weird for me?" Sasha asked. "They're my parents."

"I'm glad it won't be," Abra said. "Cooper, do you have work tomorrow?"

"Uhh..." Cooper pulled his phone out and checked something. "I do not, no."

"Ellie and I do, so we'll take the car back with us today if you don't mind, which will also save you the drive. After work, we're going to go shopping for beds with Sasha's parents. Sasha, you can come too if you want, or we can pick something out for you. Your parents are going to buy you a new bed because they want you to still have your old one here."

"Oh," Sasha said as his brain struggled to take in everything Abra had just said. New bed so he could keep his old bed here. That was good. Did he want to pick the new one out himself? "Uhh..."

"You can think about it. Just let us know. Anyway, this brings us to another deal I made with another neighbour. She's lending us her son's ute while he's away for a week so that we can bring the beds back after we buy them and also move. Most of the stuff can just go in the car, but Sasha, you actually own your own washer and dryer, don't you?"

Sasha nodded.

"In return for lending us the ute we have a complex series of deals. George and Joy and Sasha's parents have agreed to go halves on a skip, and in return we'll help them clear out all the old junk they have in their garages. That's also what the ute lady is getting in return for the loan. Her junk thrown out. We're getting a big one, so Joy's going to spread the word around and see what other deals we can come up with in exchange for our services. Joy thinks some people might have some good furniture and appliances they're not using that they'd be willing to give us. She said they have an old microwave we can have."