7The Colours of the Week
It was getting late and Hutch couldn't help yawning as he sipped on his fourth beer. He leaned back on the sofa and thought about calling it a night.
"Hutch?"
"Mmm?"
"Do you think days have colours?" Starsky asked.
Hutch regarded his friend quizzically. "Where'd that idea come from?"
Starsky sat up a bit straighter on the sofa, explaining, "I was reading something in the paper the other day about an artist. She told the interviewer that she always thought of Fridays in the colour pink. Do you think Fridays are pink?"
Hutch shrugged. "Never thought about it, buddy."
"Well, let's do it. We got nothing better to do. 'Sides it'd be interesting to see if we agree."
Hutch yawned again but set his bottle down on the table and gave his friend his full attention. "We never agree on anything but all right."
Starsky beamed at him. "Okay, let's start with a Saturday. What colour does that make you think of?"
Hutch considered the question then said, "Green."
"Why green?"
"We-ell, it's a relaxing colour and it makes me think of my plants and on Saturdays I get time to look after them."
Starsky nodded. "Okay, fair enough."
"What colour would you go for?" Hutch asked, intrigued despite himself.
"Orange," Starsky said in a very definite voice. "Saturday's a fun day and orange is a fun colour."
Hutch smiled. "Yeah, I like your thinking, but my Saturday is still green. What about Sunday. You go first this time."
"Yellow. Sunday's a good day, a bright day, sunny, so I think it's yellow. What d'ya think?" He looked at his partner expectantly.
"Yeah, I was going to say yellow too," Hutch confirmed. "What about Mondays?"
Starsky wrinkled up his nose in thought. "It's blue but a neutral kinda blue. Nothing special just an ordinary day. What do you think?"
"Yeah, I guess blue's the right colour."
"What about Tuesday? I think it's blue too," Starsky said.
Before Hutch could stop it, the word "black" slipped out between his lips. A second later, he wished he hadn't spoken.
Starsky's radar was on full and he fixed his partner with a look that said he wanted to know what his friend was thinking and was unlikely to let it go till he was satisfied with the answer. "Black? Why black?"
Hutch picked up his beer and took a couple of swigs. "If you'd asked me less than a year ago, I'd have said blue but now it's black."
"Why?"
Hutch sighed. "I know it's stupid but I hate Tuesdays now. Ever since that Tuesday."
"You mean the day I got shot?"
"Yeah…Now I just hate Tuesdays."
Starsky looked perturbed. "Poor old Tuesdays. I kinda feel sorry for them."
Hutch snorted. Only his partner could feel sorry for a day of the week.
"Tell you what, Hutch, how about next Tuesday, we go bowling. Maybe we could see if Kiko and Molly are free. Have a bowling tournament and a bit of fun. Maybe we can improve Tuesdays to a dark blue for you."
Hutch couldn't help but smile at his irrepressible friend. "Sounds like a great idea, Starsk."
"Great!" Starsk said as he reached for the phone.
Hutch grabbed it out of his hand.
"Starsk! It's midnight! You'll have to ring them in the morning."
"Oh," Starsky said sheepishly, "So it is. But first thing tomorrow, I'm going ring them, okay?" He settled back onto the sofa with his beer and looked at Hutch for confirmation.
"Yeah, that'll be fine." Hutch looked at his friend fondly. "Starsk?"
"Mmm?"
"What about Fridays? Today's a Friday? What colour is today?"
Starsk looked up at the ceiling for inspiration. "I guess Friday mornings are blue and orange 'cause you're headed to the weekend. Know what I mean."
"Yeah, definitely. "
"And Friday nights are red."
"Red?! Why on earth are they red?"
"'Cause my favourite colour's red and Friday nights are my favourite time of the week."
"What even if you're only here with me and not painting the town red?"
Starsky just looked at him.
Hutch blinked back tears and took another swig of beer.
"So what colour are your Fridays?" Starsky asked.
"I think they just became red."
