by Mark Brandi
‘Yep.’
As Fab pushed off down the driveway, Ben looked back to the house and saw the curtains of the front window shake for just a second, and then close.
* * *
When Ben finished the front, Ronnie came out and stood on the porch, surveying the yard. He’d changed his clothes and was wearing green shorts and a clean white singlet. He looked clean too, like he’d just had a shower, his shiny black hair neatly combed to one side.
‘Ready to do the back then?’
‘Yep.’ Ben pushed the mower onto the cement driveway. He could feel the heat through the thin rubber soles of his runners. They were Dunlop KT-26’s his mum had bought for him; they were pretty shit and cheap as. It would be great to get the Nikes, especially before Shane or anyone else got them. He knew Fab would never get them. The Morressis couldn’t afford stuff like that.
‘I’ll get ya a drink and meet ya round the rear.’ Ronnie smiled and disappeared back inside.
* * *
The backyard was smaller than he had imagined, with a tin shed in one corner. The galvanised steel clothesline was in the middle, at the end of a narrow strip of concrete that led from the back step. The rest of it was grass, same length as the front.
Ben was determined not to get spooked. He turned and concentrated on the house, looking closely at the weatherboard, the guttering, and the back door. He tried not to think about her. Then Ronnie appeared behind the flywire and swung it open with a tinny screech.
‘You all right mate? You look a bit pale.’ He handed Ben a can of Mello Yello. It was really cold, like it had been in the freezer.
‘Yep, just a bit hot.’ Ben cracked the can, closed his eyes and let the sweet lemon wash down his throat. He winced as it gave him brain freeze.
‘It’s hot all right.’ Ronnie looked up at the clear sky, then went quiet for a second. ‘You can take off your top if ya want. No one will see ya out here.’ Ronnie smiled and looked at Ben right in the eyes. Then he frowned a little, like he was concentrating.
‘Nah,’ Ben shook his head, ‘I’ll be right.’ He had a bit of a belly, so he didn’t like taking his top off, even when he was yabbying just with Fab.
‘Up to you, mate. I might though, pretty warm.’ Ronnie stepped down onto the grass, peeled off his white singlet, and sat down on the step. Ben noticed how his stomach rippled and his chest was big and wide, with thin veins running through it, like it was all muscle and no fat. A bit like Arnold Schwarzenegger in The Terminator, but not as big. Ronnie’s skin was lighter where the singlet was, but still browner than a normal person’s.
Ben drank deeply from the can, right to the bottom.
‘Jeez, mate, you were thirsty.’ Ronnie reached out for the empty. His long, thick fingers were cool against Ben’s hot hands.
‘Thanks,’ Ben said, his gaze returning to the mower.
‘Good to be outside, isn’t it?’
‘Yeah.’
Ronnie looked up at the sky. ‘I’m down that bloody mine most of the time. Just drilling all day long. Mud, rock and a bunch of sweaty blokes. Good to get a bit of sun now and again.’ He shielded his eyes. ‘Gets pretty lonely down there too.’ He looked at Ben and smiled. ‘Nice to have some company, isn’t it?’
Ben nodded. ‘I spose.’
‘Don’t get me wrong, but. The boys down the mine are all right.’ He squashed the can in his hands and got a big smile on his face. ‘They’re just a bit wild. Who knows? Maybe you’ll meet em sometime.’
Ben nodded. ‘Yep.’
‘How was cricket anyway?’
‘Good, we won.’
‘Nice one! Ya mum tells me you’re a pretty flash bowler.’ Ronnie smiled.
Ben was surprised his mum had mentioned it, but he felt a wave of pride flow through him. ‘I’m all right.’
‘Nah, mate, she said you’re very good. Bet the girls are impressed.’
‘I dunno.’ Ben smiled and shook his head. Ronnie bounced the crushed can from one hand to the other.
‘Yeah, I reckon they would be impressed. Good lookin boy like you.’
‘I dunno.’ Ben felt his face go hot and he stared at the lawn-mower, quietly willing it back to life.
Ronnie stopped bouncing the can. ‘You like girls, don’t ya?’ he said, more softly.
‘Yeah, I spose.’
‘You spose?’ Ronnie laughed. ‘Well, I’ve got some mags I can give ya next time, kinda like a bonus.’ Ben looked at him and Ronnie winked. ‘Just don’t tell ya mum. Our secret, yeah?’
Ben looked back at the mower. ‘Yep.’
‘I’ll get that thing going for ya, mate.’ Ronnie put his hand on Ben’s shoulder, then softly brushed Ben’s cheek with his fingertips, before leaning down for the starter cord. As he came in close, Ben could smell his breath and it was funny and sweet.
The mower roared back to life and Ronnie stood there grinning, with his hands on his hips.
And Ben had forgotten all about Daisy and the clothesline.
Nine
Fab disappeared at lunchtime.
They’d been playing bat tennis with Johnno and Shane. It was doubles, so without Fab it was pretty useless. He said he was going to get a drink, but he’d been gone ages.
Ben wouldn’t normally have been worried, but there was Pokey to consider. He knew as long as Fab stuck with him, nothing would happen. Pokey was dumb as dog shit, but smart enough to know that Ben would beat him in a fight.
Fab was wiry and strong, but he was short and didn’t have much reach. He could handle himself against some kids, but Pokey was a lot bigger. Plus, Pokey had friends and Fab didn’t. Well, he had one, but that didn’t count for much if Ben wasn’t there.
Pokey had one other thing that Fab didn’t have – a pocketknife. He carried it everywhere, a fold-up one with a bone-coloured handle. He reckoned his dad, who lived in Geelong, gave it to him. When Ben asked his dad if he could have one too, he said that Pokey’s dad was in jail and that should tell him everything he needed to know about knives.
Ben dropped his bat on the asphalt. ‘I better go look for him.’
‘So Pokey’s right,’ Johnno said. ‘You are his boyfriend.’
Ben glared. ‘You’re such an in-bred, Johnno.’
‘What?’
‘Hasn’t your mum told ya? What are you gonna call your brother? Dad or Daddy?’
Johnno raised his bat like he was gonna throw it, but Ben gave him a look.
Shane jumped the net to Ben’s end of the court. ‘Go on then. We’ll play singles til ya get back.’
* * *
Ben checked the toilets first, but there was just a couple of nervous grade ones taking a piss at either end of the urinal. No one was using the cubicles.
He ran down to the edge of the oval, climbed up the fort, and looked across the school. Pokey was out on the oval. He was wrestling with Kevin Hester, an enormous farm boy who was his best friend. Kevin Hester was a Jehovah’s Witness. Ben didn’t know exactly what that was, but Fab said it meant his family didn’t have a telly and were into religious shit. He reckoned they were like the people in that Witness movie with Harrison Ford.
Kevin Hester was kind of scary. He had to leave the class when they had religious instruction. So did the Hickey twins, who were Jehovah’s as well, but they were both pretty good looking. Ben sometimes wondered what the Hickeys did when they had to leave the class, but was too shy to ask.
Once he’d climbed back down the fort, Fab tapped him on the shoulder.
‘Hey, are we still playing bat tennis, or what?’ He was puffing like he’d been running.
‘Where’d you go?’
‘Nowhere. Just getting a drink, like I said.’
‘Really?’
‘Yeah!’ He put his hands on his knees, leaned over for a few seconds and caught his breath. ‘C’mon, let’s get back. Lunchtime’s nearly over and I wanna beat Johnno.’
‘I was a bit worried.’
Fab laughed. ‘Jesus! Who are ya,
my mum? I can look after myself, y’know.’ He slapped him on the shoulder. They walked back toward the bat tennis court. ‘Did I tell ya I’m goin rabbiting after school?’
‘Whereabouts?’
‘Dunno. My father’s taking me.’
It was the first time Fab had mentioned his dad since the broken window. He looked at Ben, searching for a reaction. Ben met his gaze and forced a smile. ‘That’s good. Has everything been...’
‘Yeah, much better. Maybe you can come around again sometime. Mum said it’s okay.’
Ben couldn’t imagine anything worse. He’d quietly decided, though he’d never tell Fab, that he never wanted to see Mr Morressi ever again.
‘Yeah, maybe,’ he said.
* * *
It was the next day that Mr Burke told the class the news.
Kevin Hester wasn’t coming to school. Not for a long time. He was in hospital. He’d broken his shoulder.
Burke then launched into a long lecture about bike safety. It seemed like he’d finished, but then he started another boring story of a near miss he had with a truck ten years ago, out on Navarre Road.
But it wasn’t til recess that Ben got the proper story from Johnno.
‘I saw the whole thing!’ His eyes were wide and he bounced from one foot to the other. Ben had never seen him so excited. ‘He was riding Pokey’s new BMX, right? The Mongoose. The chrome one. Shit-hot bike, right? Pokey let him ride when he asked. I heard him ask. Pokey said no at first, but then Kevin was gonna hit him, right? So we all watched him ride it down the hill. He was flying. Then it happened.’
Ben shook his head. ‘What happened?’
‘Dontcha know?’
‘Nah.’
‘Didn’t Fab tell ya?’
‘Nah.’
‘The front wheel came clean off the bike!’
‘You’re joking.’
‘Nah, serious! And Hester just crashed into the road, head first! He was screaming! Blood everywhere. It was just un-be-lievable!’
Ten
The dry heat of summer had begun to ease and the southerly breezes brought relief from the airless nights. Sleep came more easily. Ben would lie awake in the mornings, before his parents woke, the air cool on his skin. His mum had given him an extra blanket and it smelled clean. She said it was a special one, an Onkaparinga with satin trim.
Onkaparinga.
Ben had no idea what it meant, but he liked the sound of the word and the feel of the satin trim on his cheek. He felt safe and warm underneath that blanket and he sometimes wished he could stay there forever.
A month passed before Ronnie wanted him again. He didn’t want Ben to mow the lawn this time. He wanted help with his shed.
He rang Ben’s mum on the Thursday to organise it for Sunday. Ben heard his mum on the phone, asking why he didn’t just drop over instead of wasting money on a phone call.
After she got off the phone, she told Ben’s dad that they should invite Ronnie for dinner sometime, seeing he was all on his own like that. Dad didn’t say anything. Not right away. He waited til the ads came on. Then he said that he reckoned Ronnie went out of town a bit, because the car wasn’t there much.
‘Might have a girlfriend,’ he said, ‘maybe in Ballarat or somewhere.’
Ben knew he didn’t have a girlfriend, but didn’t say anything.
* * *
When Ben got there on Sunday, Ronnie wasn’t outside. Ben knocked at the front door and part of him hoped Ronnie wouldn’t answer. That he’d had a change of plans. That he’d done the job himself.
The ten bucks was good, but the weekends felt too short, especially since Mr Burke definitely hadn’t got cancer or AIDS and definitely hadn’t died.
He decided to wait for another ten seconds. He counted them under his breath – four... five... six – and got faster as he went.
He got to eight when he heard the footsteps inside.
The door swung open.
‘G’day mate,’ Ronnie said.
He was in his mining gear and he looked out past Ben and into the street. He stepped out to the porch and looked up and down the road, almost like he was expecting someone else, then stepped back inside.
‘Jeez, warm again isn’t it?’ he said.
Ben thought it wasn’t really. ‘Yeah, I spose.’
Ronnie held the door open and stood to one side, motioning Ben to pass under his arm. ‘Come on then.’
He walked past Ronnie and into the lounge room. He’d been in there once before, when Daisy’s family still lived there. Joe had invited him over to watch cartoons, but it turned out they were just the Channel Two ones, which were pretty crap: Danger Mouse, The Rocky and Bullwinkle Show and Roger Ramjet. He didn’t go round there again after that.
This time it was darker inside and the curtains were closed. The telly was on in the corner, but paused on some close-up he couldn’t make out, the static lines slowly cascading down the screen. It looked like someone’s leg bent over the edge of a bed, or maybe on a towel. There were empty beer bottles on the coffee table and the smell of smoke was really strong.
‘We’ll go through to the back.’ Ronnie’s voice sounded rougher than normal. He brushed past Ben and led the way. Ben followed him down a short passage to the back door. In the passage, both bedroom doors were wide open.
In the first bedroom, there was gym equipment – a bench and dumbbells – set up in front of a big mirror. It was a York bench press set – Ben had seen it in Sportspower and it was expensive. Two hundred and ninety-nine bucks. That first bedroom used to be Daisy and Joe’s room. They had to share a bunk.
In the other room, he saw the end of a double bed with a purple blanket crumpled at the bottom. That was Mr and Mrs Wolfe’s old room, though he’d never seen inside it before. Clothes were all over the floor – socks, undies and everything. It was a real mess and it kind of stunk as he passed, a bit like Vicks Vaporub, but stronger.
‘The work shouldn’t take long today, mate.’ Ronnie pushed open the back door and Ben noticed how he didn’t look at him as much as he normally did, that he kept his eyes down.
* * *
It was nearly four o’clock when he finished loading the boot of Ronnie’s car. The shed was filled with bits of timber, corrugated iron and old bottles mostly. Ronnie stayed inside the whole time, he didn’t even ask him if he wanted a drink.
When he was done, Ben shut the boot and knocked on the back door.
‘Coming!’ He heard Ronnie’s voice from a long way inside.
Ben walked back across the yard to the shed. He figured if Ronnie saw his work was okay, he’d just pay him the tenner and he’d be able to leave down the driveway. There was no need to go back inside.
Ronnie unlocked the back door, then swung the flyscreen open. ‘Sorry, mate, was in the shower.’ He came out to the top step. His hair was flat and wet and he wore a red dressing-gown. ‘Just did a bit of a workout.’ Ben noticed how a thick, blue vein stuck out of his neck when he spoke.
‘I’m finished.’
Ronnie walked down the steps and across the yard. He inspected the shed, whistling a bit through his teeth, and then opened the boot of his car. He seemed happier than before and moved quickly, his thongs slapping the cement as he went.
‘Nice job, mate.’ He leaned with one hand on the shed and turned back to face him. It was then, in the fading sunlight, that Ben realised why his eyes looked weird – one was blue and one was grey. ‘Great to get rid of all that old crap.’
He came back to the middle of the yard, placed his right hand on the centre pole of the clothesline, then gently spun the top with his left. His eyes followed its slow revolution. ‘Be nice to get rid of this bloody thing too.’
Ben watched it spin and creak.
‘Make a bit of room, y’know? Have a barbecue or something. Owner won’t let me, but.’ He watched it go round just once, then caught it in his hand. ‘I asked em. But no chance.’ He spun it back the other way. ‘Be nice to have a barbecue out
here, dontcha reckon? Or maybe one of those tennis things. Toto tennis or whatever it’s called. They look like fun, dontcha think? Could have a game, me and you.’
Ben shrugged. It was totem tennis, not toto. ‘I spose. Yeah.’
Ronnie smiled as the clothesline creaked to a stop. ‘Ya know what happened out here, dontcha?’ He reached down and loosened the waistband of his dressing-gown.
Ben scratched his arm. ‘Um, I think so.’
Ronnie looked at Ben, laughed a little, and shook his head.
‘The silly bitch.’
Ben felt his chest go tight. He didn’t like Ronnie calling Daisy that. Maybe he should say something. Ronnie didn’t know her, not like he did.
‘Ya know why she did it?’ Ronnie put both his hands on one of the steel bars of the clothesline and bent his knees, letting it take his full weight. It moaned and heaved to one side.
‘Nah.’
Ben heard the squeal of brakes as a car pulled up out front. He looked down the driveway but couldn’t see anything. Maybe the Pickerings next door.
Ronnie’s gaze flicked over the fence, then back at Ben. He spoke more softly. ‘Do you wanna know why?’ And he got that funny smile again that stopped in the corner of his mouth.
‘I dunno...’ Ben wondered if Ronnie might know about the gob jobs too. He slowly stepped toward the driveway. ‘But I better—’
‘Nah, mate, where you goin?’ Ronnie let go of the clothesline and it sprung back up. His funny smile disappeared and he quickly tightened the waistband of his dressing-gown. ‘Come inside, mate, and have a drink.’ He walked to the steps. ‘Gotta pay ya anyway. And I’ll fill you in, y’know. About what happened and that.’
‘Um, it’s getting late and I—’
‘C’mon, mate, your mum won’t have dinner ready for a while yet. I could use the company.’ His lip twitched a little. ‘I don’t get much company, y’know? I told ya that.’
Ben didn’t feel like he could say no, even though he wanted to, pretty much more than anything in the world.
‘Okay,’ he said.
‘Good boy.’ Ronnie smiled, properly this time.
Ben looked at the house as he walked up the steps. It was ugly, with its steel windows and cracked, peeling weatherboard. Ben thought about Daisy and how that would have been the last thing she saw. He felt sharp stabs of pain in his chest and his belly.