Wildfire ~ George Harrison

Chapter 1: The new tenants

'It's guys!' Kathleen exclaimed as she moved further out of the open window, so she could see what was happening downstairs. For a second I was afraid she might fall out of it, but Kath made sure to keep the majority of her weight inside.

'Who is?' I asked, not really shifting my attention away from the book I was reading. It was early in the afternoon on a Sunday, not too late in September for the weather to have turned cold yet. It had been a long week of hard work and I had intended to do absolutely nothing but reading this entire day.

'The new tenants. You know, after the Wilson's moved out,' my flatmate said. 'I see a lot of boys down there. They must be our age!'

This sparked some interest in me. I moved my book to the side and joined her at the window. From here, if you leaned just the right amount outside, you could see the street below you. But you would have to be careful, or you would plummet four stories down to the ground. Quite a suboptimal dead, if you'd ask me.

'I didn't know they were moving in today' I commented. Our landlord had said something about new renters, but not when they would be moving in. 'It's about time, though. You can smell the mould when you walk past their door. What has it been, two months?'

'Something like that,' Kath said absently. She craned her neck a bit more, one hand gripping the window frame tightly, just so she could get a better look at the crowd of people on the street. 'There's a whole bunch of them down there. How many do you think are moving in?'

'Well, the flat only has three bedrooms, doesn't it? So I reckon three of them,' I answered, trying to see down as well. I couldn't, though, not with her in the way. Which is why I moved away from the window and went back to my lovely spot on the couch. If I couldn't see anything, why would I even try? Especially since it didn't seem like she was going to leave that any time soon.

We had actually been able to have a look in the flat before the landlord put it up for rent, last month. He had offered the flat to us if we wanted to move within the building, but ultimately Kath and I had turned it down. This flat on Green Street had been our little home since we moved in together, after finishing school last year. It felt wrong to leave it, even if it was for a slightly bigger flat. It was home.

'I guess that makes sense,' she hummed. 'Well, I hope they're nice. It's about time some more people our aged moved in. All these old people are certainly bringing the mood down.'

'Is that so?' I grinned. 'And here I was thinking we should invite Mrs Goldberg with us next time we go hit the town.' Mrs Goldberg was a lovely lady who lived on the ground floor. She was always nice to us. In spite of what other tenants would say about us youngsters. The only thing that kept us from being friends, was the fact that she had crossed the age of eighty a good couple of years ago.

'Shut up!' Kath said, but she laughed too. She turned around and leaned against the window sill. 'We should invite them out, once they're settled in. Do you think they are from London? Let's hope not, or they might not even want to go out with us!'

The slightly panicked look on Kath's face when she realised this possibility made me crack up. 'Don't be so dramatic. If they are our age, I'm sure they won't mind tagging along on one of our nights out,' I promised her, picking up my book again.

'You're right. Of course you are right, you're always right. We do need more people to go out with. Now that Aggie got married too, she and Eliza barely want to come with us anymore and it's getting boring!' she rattled on and then she seemed to realise yet another thing. 'Do you think we should help them move in? These stars are quite tricky,' she rattled on. What was up with her?

'Kath! Fuck me, don't be so obsessed!' I told her sternly as I put my book down again. I hadn't even read a full line! 'I'm sure they'll manage on the stairs and if they need a helping hand, they'll ask for one. Can you please sit down. You're making me nervous.'

She nodded and then sat down on the window sill, immediately directing her sight towards the scene downstairs again. Well, that wasn't what I meant. At least now I could read my book again.

A while later, a large bang with a musical undertone sounded, much closer than I had expected, followed by shouting. 'Oi! Careful with that one, Neil! That's me favourite right there!' a deep voice shouted from the other side of our front door.

Kath and I both looked up and locked eyes. Her eyebrows shot up. That accent certainly wasn't from London. No, it was sharp and brash, with a Northern tinge to it. Northerners often weren't as civilised as us people down in the South, but more suited for working in factories and mills. I had nothing against Northerners and had always valued our maids who had been from the North, growing up, but it was certainly refreshing to see them move into a neighbourhood like this. Moreover, if this was their usual volume talking to each other, then we had acquired some noisy neighbours and I didn't know what to feel about that.

'Oh, don't get yer knickers up, John. It's fine!' someone, presumable Neil, yelled back. 'You know I'm always careful with yer instruments!'

'Sure you are. I'll remember to tell you that, next time you bang one of my guitars!' the first voice – John? – countered, very dryly. 'One of these days...'

'Less talking, please. If we follow your speed, we'll never get to move in,' a third voice chirped in.

'Great idea. I don't want to live here anyways. Why Eppy ever chose it, is beyond me. Who lived on the fourth floor when there isn't a lift?' John complained and I couldn't say he was wrong there. Moving in last year had been an absolute pain. It was quite high up and some things, like the piano, had been impossible to lift.

A chorus of laughter followed and when that died down, a fourth voice, this one much calmer and heavier on the accent, started talking. 'And for that, you can have the couch this week. Don't hurt the flat. It's always better than the hotel,' he said and another wave of cheers and laughter was his response. Apparently the group of men agreed with him.

Kath let out another nervous chuckle. 'How many are there? They don't all move in, right?' she asked, somewhat scared. I was with her. If all these boys were moving in and they always talked this loud, we were never going to get any rest.

'We know they aren't,' I told her, though I wasn't so sure anymore. 'We will see. I'm sure they will come by once they're settled to introduce themselves. Or maybe they'll knock to ask for a hand. Then we'll know how many there are.'

'You're probably right. Until then, we can enjoy the sound of them moving in,' she noted, after which she left her seat on the window sill. 'Do you want some tea?'

I nodded and focussed back on my book. I only looked up to get the cup of tea from my best friend, after which I was finally able to get a few pages in. The rest of the day, we were shaken up by loud bangs and crashes every now and then, but I accepted the fact that it was something that went with getting new neighbours. But with every sound, my focus wavered as I expected a knock on the door. A knock that never came.