Pulpy and Midge

by Jessica Westhead

  She patted his mattress. ‘I saw it.’

  ‘It’s pretty comfortable. I can sleep on the couch.’

  ‘You don’t have to. It’s your bed. We could sleep in it together.’

  ‘Well, all right, then,’ he said.

  ‘Do you have anything I could wear? For sleeping?’

  ‘Yes, I think so.’ He opened a dresser drawer and pulled out a sweater.

  ‘No, I think that might be too hot.’

  ‘Oh. How about a big T-shirt, then?’

  ‘A big T-shirt would be perfect.’

  He opened a different dresser drawer and pulled out his favourite T-shirt, with the empty music staff on it. He handed it to her and stood up. ‘So I’ll just let you –’

  She smiled, and he backed out of the room and closed the door.

  ‘Do you like candles?’ she called to him through the wood.

  ‘I love them,’ he said.

  ‘I’m glad to hear that! Candles are my passion.’

  He laid a hand on his door. ‘I’m applying for a new job tomorrow. Cross your fingers for me, because I think this might be the career break I’ve been waiting for.’

  ‘They’re crossed!’ she called. ‘Now come back in.’

  ‘Oh,’ he said when he saw her. ‘My T-shirt looks nice on you.’

  ‘Thank you. I like all the horizontal stripes.’

  ‘Thank you. Well, I should –’ He went back to his drawer and pulled out another T-shirt and a pair of boxer shorts. ‘I’ll be right back.’

  ‘I’ll be here,’ she said.

  ‘That’s good.’

  And she was.

  ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

  Many thanks to my family (especially Mom, Dad, Cameron, Marcella, Grandma ‘Matriarch’ Westhead and Kate) and my friends for all of their love and encouragement, always.

  Thanks to Mike Stokes for magic and plastic cockroaches.

  Thank you to Jim Munroe and the Hoity Toities, as well as the Humber Gals, Lit Crit and Critty for inspirational workshop action, and many thanks to Toronto’s wonderfully nurturing small-press community. Thanks also to Fred Stenson and the Banff Wired Writing Program for giving me a huge boost when I needed it most.

  Thanks to Lynn Coady for her incredible insight and Pulpster pep talks.

  Thanks to Sam Hiyate for having faith in this story and in me.

  Thank you to Sarah Selecky, literary light, for endless support and understanding.

  Thanks to the Ontario Arts Council for generously helping to fund this project.

  I’m grateful to everyone who read Pulpy and Midge at various stages and gave me their invaluable feedback: Ryan Bigge, Eva Blank, Beckie Calder, Jeff Chapman, Dad, Gary Flanagan, Jasmine Macaulay, Laura McCurdy, Jim Munroe, Jen Noble, Renee North, Aaron Peck, Susan Purtell, Emily Rossini, Carol Sakamoto, Steve Sakamoto, Sarah Selecky, Gene Shannon, Dana Snell, Ken Sparling, Craig Taylor and Sherwin Tjia (thanks also to Sherwin for his lovely drawings).

  Thank you to Alana Wilcox for knowing what made Pulpy tick right from the start, and for taking such good care of him and Midge with her fantastic edits. I’m also grateful for Stuart Ross’s keen proofreading eyes. Thanks to Evan Munday, Christina Palassio and the rest of the Coach House folks for all of their hard work and their excitement about this book.

  And, most of all, thank you to my husband, Derek Wuenschirs, for (among so many other good things) listening.

  ABOUT THE AUTHOR

  Jessica Westhead is a Toronto writer who has published stories in litmags such as the Antigonish Review, Matrix, THIS Magazine, Geist, Taddle Creek, Forget magazine, Word and Kiss Machine. Her fiction was also included in the anthology Desire, Doom & Vice: A Canadian Collection, and her short-story chapbook, Those Girls, was published by Greenboathouse Books in summer 2006. Pulpy and Midge is her first novel.

  Typeset in Legacy, American Typewriter and Linoscript

  Printed and bound at the Coach House on bpNichol Lane

  Edited and designed by Alana Wilcox

  Drawings by Sherwin Tjia

  Goldfish photo by Derek Wuenschirs

  Author photo by Derek Wuenschirs

  Coach House Books

  401 Huron Street on bpNichol Lane

  Toronto, Ontario M5S 2G5

  416 979 2217

  800 367 6360

  mail@chbooks.com

  www.chbooks.com