Pitching In

Donnie, Herb, and Alexander spent the entire day moving their stuff into their new apartment and sprucing up the place. They started with their own rooms and decorated it according to their individual tastes. Donnie decorated his room in rich purple and deep greens. He hung faux vines all along the top and sides of his mahogany four poster bed. He made sure to create a tranquil oasis amidst the noise and chaos of the bustling city.

Herb’s décor choice showcased his love of traveling. Above his platform bed was a giant world map with red, white, black, green, yellow, and blue push pins indicating places he’d already been to. His nightstands were made of antique suitcases stacked on top of each other. In place of the usual digital clock radio, Herb had a silver mantel clock in the shape of the Eiffel Tower. Instead of playing a song from the radio every morning to wake him up, the beautiful clock chimed out a music box version of La Marseillaise, the French national anthem. His lampshades were made of the top halves of globes. On his bed was a decorative lumbar pillow with the word “Manila” and the coordinates 14.5995° N, 120.9842° E. His bookshelf was not filled with books but rather with model trains.

Alexander’s bedroom was the brightest. Unlike Herb and Donnie who had curtains and shades on their windows, Alexander opted to have no shades, blinds, or curtains. He wanted his room to be as bright and sunny as possible. His bedsheet, blanket, and pillowcases came in combinations of white and yellow. Just above the headboard was a sun shaped mirror. On the wall opposite his bed hung his electric guitars and fedoras. On his dresser was an antique record player from the 1950s and stacks upon stacks of classic records—The Beatles, Elvis Presley, Frank Sinatra, Doris Day, Tom Jones, The Kingston Trio, and so much more. There was also an amplifier and electric organ in the righthand corner of the room. His rug was made of cowhide—brown and white in color.

The living room’s red brick wall was lined with framed Broadway playbills and posters. There was Rent, Les Misérables, The Phantom of the Opera, Wicked, and Hadestown to name a few. Donnie and Herb carried the couch and set it down against the brick wall underneath the playbills. Next was the coffee table, loveseat, rich red and gold carpet, and armchair. Alexander set the end tables down on each end of the three-sitter sofa and placed the table lamps on top of them. The last items to be brought in were the entertainment unit, the TV, and two dog beds.

“Where do you want these?” Herb asked Alexander, carrying the dog beds in his hands.

“In the corner of the kitchen,” Alexander said. “Thanks.”

“You got it,” Herb said, proceeding to place the dog beds in the kitchen.

It was almost dinner time when the three friends finally finished up moving in. Donnie and Alexander plopped down on the sofa while Herb sat in the wingback armchair with both legs over the chair’s right arm. Alexander’s two hounds, Luke and Leia, lay down at his feet.

“Ah, finally,” Alexander said with a contented sigh. “All moved in.”

“Now we can talk about house rules,” Herb suggested.

“Do we really need house rules?” Donnie asked with a smirk. “What is this? A dorm?”

“At least let’s set a rule that limits the number of women we can take home each week,” Herb said with a laugh, looking pointedly at Alexander.

“What?” Alexander said defensively. “I don’t take home that many women. I’ve only had a few girlfriends.”

“Yeah, right,” Donnie said with a laugh. “I think that’s the best joke I’ve ever heard!”

“Uh-huh,” Herb said. “There’s Callie, Claire, Erin, and then there was this girl, Eunice…”

“Melanie, Polly, Teri,” Donnie added. “You were quite the ladies’ man back in college, if I recall correctly.”

“College?” Herb said with a laugh. “You should’ve seen him in high school! He was practically a teenage James Bond. Oh, and then there was Tanya too.”

“And then there’s also Una,” Donnie said.

“Alright, alright, I get it!” Alexander said with a laugh. “A limit on the number of female visitors. Gotcha. What about a house rule that says no wild parties except on the weekends, hmm? Oh, and no spilling wine, Don. As you can see, this couch is white. It’s gonna be so hard to clean.”

Herb laughed at Alexander’s diss.

“Haha, very funny. I do remember you getting rejected by two girls. What were their names again? Cassie and Dinah? Joking about relationships and alcoholism aside,” Donnie said. “I’m glad we all moved in together. Rent in New York is getting ridiculous these days. Landlords and landladies are getting greedy. I don’t see how we can afford anything in this city now, unless we pitch in and help each other out, of course.”

“Tell me about it,” Herb said. “It’s a good thing we found a $2700 apartment we could split among us. At least $900 each is doable.”

“Plus they allow pets?” Donnie said. “We totally lucked out. This was a really good bargain.”

“It sure is. I am glad we moved in together, too,” Alexander said, offering his two dearest friends a fond smile. “Thank you for that, by the way.”

“For what?” Donnie asked.

“For…that,” Alexander said, moving his arms in a sweeping motion to indicate the whole apartment. “For all of this. For moving in with me and agreeing to split the rent among us.”

“No need to thank us,” Herb said. “As they say, a friend in need is a friend indeed. We’re all friends here. I mean, we’ve been best friends since what? Since we were babies in diapers?”

“Yeah, but that only happened after you gave me your toy guitar because you felt bad for stealing my stuffed cows, you little klepto,” Alexander said.

“Ouch,” Herb said, putting his hands over his chest in an overdramatic fashion. “You wound me, friend. That’s fair, though. I did steal your stupid stuffed cows.”

“Hey, they weren’t stupid,” Alexander said.

“Yeah, whatever,” Herb said with a dismissive wave of his hand. “It was a long time ago. Let’s not rehash things.”

“And as for us, we’ve been friends and roommates since college, remember?” Donnie reminded Alexander. “You’ve been there for us, now it’s time for us to be here for you.”

“That’s sweet of you to say,” Alexander said, feeling touched. “I appreciate that. Seriously.”

“Now, who wants pizza?” Herb asked.

“Me!” Alexander said.

“Me too!” Donnie said, raising his hand. “Oh, and this deserves a celebratory drink.”

“Alright, fine,” Alexander said with a sigh. “Just…please…try not to spill any wine on the couch.”

“Actually, I was thinking more along the lines of a celebratory beer,” Donnie retorted. “I mean, you can have wine with pizza in classy Italian restaurants that serve gourmet pizzas. But if it’s Papa John’s, Little Caesar’s, Dominoes, or Pizza Hut? Nah! Beers pair better with those.”

“Alrighty then,” Herb said. “Pizza and beer it is!”