| About the author: | Drew Gummerson was born in 1971 and lives in Leicester. In 2002 his first novel 'The Lodger' was published. It was a finalist in the Lambda Awards in the States. Drew's next novel 'Darts' was a finalist in the UKA/PABD Great Read Novel Competition and is due to be published in the future by ENC Press. |
Some say you can choose your friends and lose your family. In my experience this is not the case, not with Rodney living next door. The first I know about Rodney moving in is when I am woken up 5am one Tuesday by these loud footsteps going across the floorboards of my bedroom. I open my eyes and there he is, this six foot goofball with a rucksack on his back. "I'm Rodney," he says, rocking backwards on his heels. "I've rented the flat next to yours. Sanjay said you wouldn't mind." Sanjay and I have this understanding whereby I live above his shop rent free in return for helping him unload stock every Saturday and Sunday. As far as I'm concerned, this is a cushy number and I don't want to rock the boat whatever kind of goofball comes along. "Fine," I mumble, pulling the bedclothes over my head. Then I ask a question that I feel is pertinent. "But tell me, what are you doing in my bedroom at the crack of?" "A little problem," says Rodney. "Baked beans stacked high to God in the storeroom. Access to the annex flat is only through your bedroom. Don't worry, Sanjay says he'll sort it soon." I hear the connecting door in my bedroom being unlocked, I hear Rodney making himself at home, I hear the door reclose. I am on the point of falling back to the land of pushcarts and play zones when I feel someone sit down heavily on the side of my bed. I open my eyes and there is Rodney. -------------------------------------------------------------- Drew's short story won the 2005 award. | 
