Summer

by Michelle Zoetemeyer

“And don’t tell your mother. She thinks I’m broke.”

  I left Dad to whatever he was doing and went inside to see what Mum was cooking for tea.

  Yuk, corned beef and white sauce. I wondered what we’d have for lunch tomorrow. It still seemed like ages away.

  I couldn’t wait.

  Chapter 21

  Wednesday, 19 December 1979

  I thought today would never get here. I was so excited last night about going to the movies that I couldn’t get to sleep. I even went to bed early so the day would get here sooner, but it didn’t help. It just made the night last longer. Normally, I fall asleep straight away, but since the other day, I haven’t been able to. No matter how much I try not to think about the Dumbrells, I lie awake for ages thinking about what happened. My tummy’s much better, but I mostly think about the other things they did.

  I’m so glad they moved out, because now they won’t be able to brag to everyone about it. They’d probably lie about it anyway and tell everyone that I wanted them to do what they did. That’d be so much worse. I’m pretty sure no one would want to be friends with me if they thought I was like that. At least this way, I’m the only one that knows about it. I just hope they move to the back of Bourke or somewhere just as far. Then, I’d never have to see them again, and could pretend it never happened.

  Last night I mostly thought about going to the pictures with Tom today instead of the stupid Dumbrells for a change. It was the first thing I thought of when I woke up this morning, too. As soon as I was up, I put on my new dress and got ready to go. I didn’t even think about the Dumbrells once. Mum said I could wear my JCs now that school was finished. I’m not usually allowed to wear them when it’s not a school day, but because school’s over I can. I get a new pair every year anyway. I even plaited my hair so that it wouldn’t look scruffy. I put the money Dad gave me into my purse and put it on my bed until it was time to go.

  “Jenny, Tom’s here!” Tracy yelled.

  When I got to the front door, Tom and his brother Jim were standing there. I let them into the house while I went to say goodbye to Mum. Dad had already left for work. Jim said that we might be going to the beach and suggested I get some swimmers and a towel, which I did. I quickly shoved them into a bag with my purse and slung it over my shoulder. I walked back to where Tom and Jim where waiting.

  “Hello.” Mum joined us in the lounge room. “Make sure she doesn’t go in past her waist, won’t you Jim? She’s not used to the beach, so I don’t want her taking any chances.”

  “No worries, Mrs Dawson, she’ll be right.”

  Mum smiled. She thought Jim was a nice boy. I heard her say so to Mrs O’Reilly. “You be a good girl and listen to what Jim says, okay?”

  “Yes Mum.” I rolled my eyes at Tom who tried not to giggle.

  Mum turned to Jim. “What time can I expect her home?”

  “We should be home in time for dinner,” Jim informed her.

  Tops! That meant we were staying out all day.

  “Drive carefully,” she called after us as I climbed into the back of the Undertaker’s car with Tom. Jim said his dad has owned it ever since Tom was a baby, but he hardly ever drives it anymore. Except to church, that is. Jim started the car and pulled out of the driveway. Mum stood at the front door waving goodbye. Tom and I waved back. Jim said that he had to pick a friend up on the way. Tom asked him which friend.

  “Lisa Pritchard.”

  Lisa’s brother Kenny is in our class at school, so we knew who she was. Jim reckons he used to go with her before he joined the Army, but everyone called him a cradle snatcher, so he dropped her.

  “Is she your girlfriend again?” Tom asked his brother.

  “No she’s not, Mr Busy Body. We’re just good friends, that’s all.”

  Tom smiled at me knowingly. Jim turned off at the end of our street and drove the short distance to Lisa’s place. We waited in the car while Jim went inside to get her. “Did you hear that the Dumbrells are moving out?” I asked.

  “Who told you that?”

  “Jason Morley told Trevor he saw them packing their things into their Ute, but they wouldn’t say where they were going.”

  “Good riddance.”

  “That’s what we said.”

  “I hope they still cop it for what they did to Shortie,” he added, “no matter where they go.”

  It’s been almost three days since Shortie got bashed up and he’s still in the hospital having a check-up. I was so excited about going to the movies today, I forgot to ask Mum how much longer he’d be there.

  Jim came back out with Lisa in tow. She was wearing a skimpy little skirt and a red tank top. I could see her boobs bounce up and down as she walked towards the car. The high-heeled shoes she wore made her almost as tall as Jim. With her long brown hair blowing out behind her, she looked like a movie star.

  Tom whistled, “Holy Dooley.”

  I shook my head in disgust. “Perve.”

  Mum would’ve said she looked like a tart. I would’ve agreed. I couldn’t wait until I had boobs like that. So far, there was no sign of anything though, but I was hopeful there would be by the time I started high school in another year. Kate and Tracy were sixteen and they’d had boobs for ages.

  Jim and Lisa climbed in the front. Lisa turned around to say hello. Even though she must be at least twenty, she still sounds like a little girl. She giggles a lot too. We heard her giggling at Jim walking down the driveway. “Hi kids, how are you?”

  “Good.”

  She turned towards Jim and smiled. She had that dreamy look on her face that Kate and Tracy get when they look at their stupid magazines. “I’ve really missed you Jimmy,” she purred.

  Tom and I rolled our eyes and looked at each other in disgust. I sure hope we don’t have to put up with that all day. Even Jim looked embarrassed by her confession. “What do ya wanna do first kids?” he asked. “Catch a movie or go to the beach?”

  “Catch a movie,” we both said at the same time.

  “I hope it’s not a scary one,” pouted Lisa.

  “Baby, where have you been?” asked Jim. “We’re going to see Star Trek, surely you’ve heard of that.”

  “Of course I have, I just wanted to check that it wasn’t scary, that’s all.”

  Tom looked like he wanted to puke.

  We drove the rest of the way trying not to listen to Jim and Lisa. I told Tom about Dianne’s asthma attack and how her mum couldn’t fit through the fence. “Serves her right, the fat bitch,” he said.

  I could always count on Tom to take my side in things.

  ***

  It took us almost an hour to drive to Newcastle. We parked the car in David Jones’ car park and walked to the movies from there. Jim said it was okay to leave the car there all day and walk to the beach as well. Jim and Lisa walked ahead of us holding hands. From behind, her short skirt flicked up with every step. It sure attracted a lot of looks from passers-by. Anyone would’ve thought they’d never seen a girl before.

  I waited with Tom while Jim bought our tickets. After a few minutes he came back carrying a large carton of popcorn, a box of Jaffas and a drink. Lisa carried another carton of popcorn and a drink. “Here you go, Champ.” Jim handed Tom the popcorn and lollies and gave me the drink.

  “Gee, thanks.”

  “Yeah, thanks a lot,” I repeated.

  We had a while to wait for the movie to start so we sat in the foyer and watched people pour out from a previous session. You could tell it was school holidays, there were kids everywhere. I was having a great time with Tom just watching people walk by. Whenever we saw anyone that was dressed funny or looked strange we tried to think of a name for them. Mum reckons that if you haven’t got anything nice to say, you shouldn’t say anything at all, but we didn’t necessarily agree with her.

  A fat man with a droopy face was the first person to be named. He was Yogi Bear. Barney Rubble and Betty Boo followed not long after. “Ladies and gentlemen, for
your listening pleasure, may I introduce,” Tom pretended to do a drum roll with the popcorn perched between his knees, “Elvis Presley!”

  A heavy-set man wearing tight white slacks and a white jacket walked towards us. His hair was slicked back and he wore a pair of dark sunglasses.

  Tom gave me a comical look. “What’s with the sunnies? It’s dark in here.”

  I shrugged. “All he’s missing is the blue suede shoes.” We both giggled like a pair of pre-schoolers.

  Lisa tore herself away from Jim and looked over. “What are you kiddies laughing about?”

  “Kiddies?” Tom repeated under his breath, causing me to laugh some more. “Nothing,” he said innocently.

  Jim smiled and winked at us. “They’re just having a good time, aren’t you, Champ?”

  “Yep,” confirmed Tom.

  We went straight back to naming people. “Hey, check this guy out,” I said. Spock was walking straight towards us. A man with cropped dark hair and a high-necked grey jumper walked past. His ears even looked pointy. We cracked up again.

  “Far out! He must be hot in that jumper,” said Tom.

  Jim must have worked out what we were up to because he leaned across and said to Tom, “Beam me up, Scotty.”

  The three of us burst out laughing. Lisa gave us a filthy look. People were starting to file into the theatre, so we got up and waited our turn to hand over our tickets. Tom and I raced to the back row leaving a trail of popcorn behind us. Being the first ones back there, we sat right in the middle, looking down on everyone. “This is choice,” Tom said, offering me the popcorn.

  Jim and Lisa sat five rows in front of us. “Look,” Tom pointed at them, “they’ve only just got here and Lisa’s all over him like a rash already.” We could hear her girlish giggle all the way up the back.

  “Eek,” I said.

  “Yuk,” agreed Tom.

  The movie started. We settled back and made ourselves comfortable. I kicked my shoes off and put my feet up on the seat in front of me. Tom did the same. I could see the criss-cross suntan marks from my JC sandals on the tops of my feet. By the time the holidays are over, they will have been replaced with thong marks.

  ***

  The theatre was reasonably full, but there were still empty seats around. There were a number of people sitting in the back row, but the chairs to either side of us were vacant, so we could talk quietly without annoying anyone. Tom was pretty absorbed in the movie. I was enjoying myself more than I should have been, considering I thought the movie was dumb. It had been on for almost an hour and I still couldn’t follow what was happening. Spock had just fixed the USS Enterprise so it could travel at warp speed, whatever the hell that was. I could see Lisa and Jim sitting in front of us, still pashing off. “Check ‘em out,” I whispered. “She looks like she’s sucking his tonsils out.”

  Tom laughed. “I bet his face is all wet from her slobber.”

  I thought about Tom kissing me the other day and wondered what it’d be like to kiss like Lisa and Jim. Apart from kissing my parents and relatives, Tom was the only person I’d ever kissed. Even though I counted it as a real kiss, it was nothing like the one I could see going on in front of me. I looked across at Tom to see if he was watching them as well. “What do you reckon it feels like?”

  “How should I know, probably all wet and slimy.”

  “Wanna try?” I asked, before I could chicken out and change my mind.

  Chapter 22

  Saturday, 30 November 1968

  The closest parking space Peter could find was almost a block away, so he dropped Maggie and Stephen off out the front of the Warner’s place and went to park the car. Stephen surveyed the cars parked up and down the street. “Looks like a full house.”

  “Well if it’s not already, it soon will be,” Maggie commented.

  The Warners were famous for their Christmas parties. Half the engineering faculty usually received an invite, as did most of the neighbourhood. From what Peter had told her, Maggie knew that tonight was going to be as big a night as any.

  Despite arriving on time, the party looked like it was already in full swing. A couple of empty beer cans had been inconsiderately tossed into the garden and someone had drawn crazy looking faces on the bunch of balloons that had been tied to the pink flamingos to indicate to first timers that they were at the right house.

  As he caught up with Maggie and Stephen, Peter took Maggie’s hand and guided her along the side of the house, towards the backyard. Stephen followed, carrying the Esky. Emerging from the pathway and into the crowded backyard, they were greeted by the unmistakable jingle of Sadie the Cleaning Lady. How Maggie hated that song. She offered up a silent prayer that it would be the last she would have to hear of it again that night, but just as someone yelled, “play it again Sam,” she knew that just like so many of her prayers, it would remain unanswered.

  Shutting the syrupy-sweet voice of Johnny Farnham from her mind, Maggie focused on her most frequently uttered prayer. It was beginning to look as though it might finally come true. She was eight days late with her period. The latest she had ever been until now was four days. She knew that it was madness to be getting her hopes up so soon, and that the more hopeful she became the more disappointed she stood to become, but nothing she could tell herself could dampen her optimism.

  Yet, despite the almost impossible task of not saying anything, she was not about to mention it to Peter just yet. For the moment it would remain her secret. Peter knew how desperately she wanted a baby and she didn’t think she could cope with the well intentioned – but nonetheless annoying – mollycoddling that was certain to follow once she shared her suspicions with him.

  “Hey Thomo, don’t leave that pretty wife of yours standing all the way over there, come and have a beer with us, mate.”

  Peter gave Barry a nod before turning to Maggie and Stephen. “You remember Baz, don’t you?” he asked them both. Maggie nodded. Stephen shook his head.

  Peter explained, “Barry Leeman. He’s an associate professor in my faculty. We share an office.”

  Stephen nodded absent-mindedly. His attention was already lost to some other point of interest. Peter and Maggie both followed his gaze to see what had caught their son’s eye. On seeing the two attractive, but over-dressed, young ladies pouring themselves a drink from the makeshift bar by the back door and brazenly eying Stephen, Peter's heart went into overdrive. He was certain that anyone standing within a five-foot radius would be able to hear its frantic beat. Unable to take his eyes of the girls, Peter studied them intently. He was almost certain that the tall girl with the elaborately styled hair was Charlene Warner. Maggie stood between him and the girls, partially blocking Charlene’s face. If it was indeed Charlene, she had grown a good four or five inches since the last time he had seen her.

  Just as he was beginning to think he was wrong, the tall girl turned slightly and looked right at him, revealing a face that was so unmistakably like her dad’s that any doubt as to her identity was immediately quashed. While there was little doubt that Charlene had matured into an attractive – albeit a bit on the heavy side – young lady, it was her companion that had been responsible for causing Peter’s near coronary failure. Dressed in an elegant, long, black evening gown, hair piled tastefully atop her head, and looking more stunning than ever, was Jane. She stood looking back at him, burning him with her gaze. Peter instantly diverted his eyes, but not before he caught the look on her face that told him that she was abundantly aware of the effect she was having on him.

  “Hey Steve,” Peter tried unsuccessfully to get Stephen’s attention and demonstrate to Jane that he was unperturbed by her presence, “why don’t you go put the beers in the fridge, mate?”

  Maggie nudged Peter, “I think you’ve lost him babe,” she joked.

  Peter tapped him on the arm. “Steve? The Esky?”

  “Oh sorry, here you go.” Stephen handed Peter the Esky and headed straight for the bar.

 
Maggie laughed. “Well, he certainly doesn’t waste any time,” she observed. “Is that Charlene? I can’t believe how grown up she looks. Who’s that with her? Surely it’s not Katie?”

  “Nah, Katie’s older than Charlene. That’s Jane Lester. She’s a student in my class.” Peter hoped like hell that his voice wasn’t betraying the panic he felt as a result of Jane’s presence. “Well she was until recently. She finished this year.”

  “She’s very pretty, don’t you think? And she seems to be very interested in Stephen.”

  Stephen and Charlene had known each other for as long as Peter and Dave had worked together, so it didn’t take them long before they were chatting like old friends. Jane gave Stephen her full attention. She stood really close to him, nodding enthusiastically at his comments and laughing when it was appropriate to do so.

  Without answering Maggie’s question, Peter started towards the old laundry tub he’d noticed propped against the side fence, overflowing with ice and beer. “I’ll just go and put these drinks on ice,” he told her.

  Spying Pam Warner through the kitchen window, Maggie set off in the opposite direction. “And I’ll go let Pam and Dave know we’re here.”

  As Maggie approached the back door, Stephen caught her attention. “Hey Mum, got a sec? I just want you to meet someone.”

  Flattered that Stephen had wanted to introduce her to his new friend, she decided Pam could wait a little while longer.

  “You remember Charlie, don’t you?”

  “Well of course I do.” Maggie turned to Charlene. “Wow, look at you, you’re all grown up. You look lovely.”

  Charlene beamed. “Thanks Mrs Thompson, you look pretty good yourself.”

  “Please, call me Maggie, only my students call me Mrs Thompson.”

  Stephen could hardly wait a second longer to introduce the girl by his side. “Mum, this is Jane Lester. Apparently she’s in Dad’s class at uni.”

  “So I hear.” Maggie extended her hand towards Jane, “Nice to meet you, Jane.”

  “Likewise, Maggie.”

  Maggie was pleasantly surprised by Jane’s demeanour. She had expected to get the typical giggly response, but instead she was greeted by a confidence and directness that was uncommon in someone so young. Maggie was certain that what Jane lacked in stature, she more than compensated for in presence. She also suspected that Jane was not unaccustomed to getting what she wanted, and if Maggie was reading the body language properly, Stephen had made it to the top of her list in record time. For an instant, Maggie felt sorry for Stephen. No doubt he was in way out of his depth with someone like Jane, but then again, seeing the mature way he was behaving, Maggie was confronted with the realisation that her baby boy was more grown up than she had given him credit for.