‘Maybe.’ Bunny smooched the cat, set her down. ‘Where’d you park?’
‘Why? Embarrassed?’
‘Nay. Jus’, if Dad finds out—’
Jesse pushed his tongue into her mouth. ‘I won’t let that happen, eh.’
He fucked her in her bedroom under Anastasia’s impassive gaze. After, he wandered around, looking at the photos on her shelf. ‘That your mum?’
‘Aye.’
‘Looks like you. How long since you saw her?’
‘Twelve years. I nay remember her, verly.’ Bunny turned onto her side, looking like a grown woman with the sheets draped around her naked curves. ‘How long since yours … ?’
“She died when I was three. Bad heart.’
‘Sorry, eh.’ Bunny’s eyelashes fluttered against her cheek. ‘You remember her?’
‘She wore big earrings, sometimes.’ Jesse put the photo down. ‘I remember her screaming at me for pulling on her earring.’
‘I remember my mum screaming in Russian.’
‘Your dad ever scream?’
‘Nay. He just goes quiet when he’s angry.’
‘He gets angry?’
Bunny looked away. ‘Nay with me.’
‘With Rita?’
‘Nay.’
‘Paulina?’
‘… Nay.’
‘Verly?’ Jesse raised his eyebrows. ‘She could be pretty annoying, eh.’
‘Aye.’ Bunny bit her lip. ‘Mean, too. Always called me fat.’
‘You’re nay fat. Your body’s perfect.’
‘So’s yours.’ She gazed at him adoringly. ‘I could look at you all day.’
He took up a photo of her at an archery competition.
‘I was fat, then,’ Bunny admitted. ‘I was so lame when I was a kid.’
Jesse put the photo down. ‘You’re still a kid.’
Then he found his Camels, stuck one between his lips.
‘Bes’ you don’t smoke in here, eh,’ Bunny fretted. ‘Dad’ll kill me if he smells it.’
‘Like he killed Paulina?’
Bunny’s face froze in a tight, nervous grimace. ‘That’s funny.’
‘I’m nay laughing.’
Jesse took his Camels out of the room; roamed around till he found a bigger bedroom, with windows that looked over Cookies.
He opened the window, smoked and stared out at the glistening green hills.
Finishing his ciggie, he flicked the butt on the floor. Nipped to the bathroom and took a steaming piss, left the toilet seat aloft. He didn’t flush.
‘Jess?’ Bunny found him in the hall. ‘Did I do something wrong?’
She’d put her pyjama shirt back on, but not her shorts. Seeing her bare legs and fraught face, his cock immediately stirred.
‘Nay.’ He pulled her into the room. ‘You’re perfect.’
‘Rita knows,’ Bunny called him in tears the next night. ‘She says I bes’ lyme you or she’ll tell Dad!’
‘Lyme me, then,’ Jesse said, and hung up.
The phone rang on and on; he didn’t answer. He was drawing with his headphones on when she showed up at his front door, face messy and wet.
‘What the fuck.’ He let her in. ‘How’d you get here?’
She fell into his arms, sobbing. ‘Are we broken up?’
‘Jesus.’ Jesse extricated himself. ‘Calm down.’
As he fetched her a beer, she bawled into the couch cushions. ‘Please don’t make me lyme you, Jess! Please — I love you!’
She’d never said that before.
‘Okay, okay.’ Jesse passed her the beer. ‘You don’t have to lyme me, okay?’
She drank greedily and said it again. ‘I love you, Jess.’
‘Yeah. Okay.’
He kissed her, to shut her up.
‘I love you.’ Bunny reached for his crotch. ‘Can I sleep over?’
Jesse stayed her hands. ‘I’m out of condoms.’
‘I don’t mind.’ She nuzzled him. ‘You don’t have to use one.’
‘You think I wanna get a teenager pregnant?’ Jesse pushed her away.
She started crying again. Jesse put his headphones back on, went back to his drawing.
After a while, thankfully, she shut up and drank her beer. Jesse snuck a glance at her damp eyelashes, rosy lips. Took off his headphones.
‘Can I see your drawings?’ Bunny asked meekly.
‘Aye.’
She crawled over to him, looked through the sketchpad. ‘You’re verly talented, eh.’
Jesse shrugged.
‘Are they tattoo designs?’
‘Could be.’
She leaned against his shoulder. ‘I love your tattoos.’
‘Want one?’
‘Dad’ll kill me.’
‘Not if he never sees it.’ Jesse put his hand inside her shirt, tickled the small of her back.
‘That’s slutty!’
‘It’s sexy, eh.’ Jesse kept stroking. ‘Howabout my initials? “J.C.”. You can tell Rita it stands for ‘Jesus Christ’.’
‘Nay!’
‘Nay?’ Smiling, Jesse turned a new page of his sketchpad. ‘Custom design, then.’
‘How’s Elena?’ Jesse asked when Rita came into Camilleri’s to order a bunch of meat for Rabbit’s sixtieth birthday barbecue that weekend.
Rita glowered. ‘You should be in jail.’
‘You’ve got me confused with your husband. Told him yet?’
She handed over her card. ‘I’m nay giving you the satisfaction.’
Jesse swiped it. ‘I’m getting plenty of satisfaction, eh.’
When he got home that evening, Bunny was in the yard between his cottage and the main house, hula-hooping with his nieces. ‘Yorana!’ She smiled at him, swirling her hips.
Jesse stalked inside, slamming the door.
‘Sorry.’ Bunny’s cheeks were pink from exercise, when she followed him in. ‘They wanted me to teach them.’
‘I don’t want you teaching my nieces that shit.’
‘Sorry. Want a beer?’
‘What do you think.’
As Bunny scurried to the fridge, he turned on the PlayStation, sprawled on the couch. She returned with a can of Pine Brew, sat at his feet and watched the screen intently as the anti-piracy messages flashed across it in English, Spanish, Russian.
‘It’s not a movie,’ Jesse grumbled.
Bunny squeaked a laugh. ‘I like seeing all the languages. Want your bong?’
‘What do you think.’
She got up again, prepared his bong. Even after inhaling, though, he still felt a skin-crawling irritation, seeing her fidgeting at his feet, scratching the bunny on her back.
‘Stop itching. Jesus.’
‘Sorry.’ She stopped itching. ‘It’s hard to rub the cream in without help.’
‘Bes’ get Grandy to help you, then.’
‘Grandy?’ Bunny laughed incredulously. ‘Why Grandy?’
‘You think I didn’t notice you flirting with him at Great-O’s the other day?’
‘Jess! I was just asking for extra tartare sauce, like you told me to.’ Her eyes watered. ‘I would never flirt with another guy. I love you.’
‘Yeah?’ He drank. ‘Feeling’s nay mutual, eh.’
‘Jess. Why—’
‘Good question. Why’re you here? You think I wanna fuck a dumb kid every night?’
Tears streamed down her face. ‘You’re verly mean today, Jess!’
‘Take a hint, then.’ He jerked his head at the door. ‘Get lost. You’re lymed.’
Bunny gaped at him, lip quivering. Then something broke inside her.
‘Kuka plana!’ she screamed, unplugging his controller and flinging it at the wall.
She’d never reminded him of Paulina until that moment.
‘Any talent?’ Jesse joined the guys for a beer after ditching Janey and the girls in the waiting lounge.
Grandy snorted. ‘Yeah. Your sister.’
When Bunny arrived with her dad and Rita, she looked straight at him from across the terminal and looked ready to cry again. The guys hooted with laughter.
‘What’d you do to her?’ Kristian questioned him.
‘Lymed her.’ Jesse shrugged. ‘Young vinis get too attached.’
‘Should’ve told me, eh. I’d go sloppy seconds.’
‘You break her in?’ Grandy asked.
‘Aye. She ruined my sheets.’
That got a big laugh. Then they all watched Bunny approach the check-in counter.
‘Sweet arse.’ Kristian whistled. ‘You break her arse?’
‘Better.’ Jesse rubbed his tattooed arm. ‘I branded her.’
‘Bullshit.’
‘Tramp stamp. Cute little bunny rabbit.’
The guys sniggered so loud, Bunny flinched. Rita shot them a look. Rabbit’s grip was tight on Bunny’s suitcase.
‘You don’t have the gools, Camilleri.’
‘You think I’m scared of her old man? I did her in his bed one time. She loved it.’
Bunny looked at him, eyes brimming.
‘She’s looking, brudda.’ Kristian laughed. ‘Must’ve verly given her a taste for it, eh.’
‘Aye. She likes the taste.’ Jesse sipped his beer. ‘Young vinis, though. Nay technique.’
They cracked up, louder than ever. Crumpling, Bunny fled to the bathroom.
Rabbit’s face drained of colour.
‘You’ve done it now, brudda.’ Grandy nudged him. ‘Daddy’s on the warpath.’
Rita grabbed Rabbit’s arm, held him back. Jesse drained his glass, stood up — only to double over in pain.
‘What the hell’s wrong with you?’ Janey twisted his earlobe. ‘She’s a kid!’
‘Jesus, Janey!’ He winced. ‘Cut it out!’
Dragging him to the waiting lounge, Janey hissed, ‘You’re lucky it’s jus’ your ear.’
Before Jesse could say anything to defend himself, she’d dumped him in the waiting lounge with his nieces and gone after Bunny.
‘Sorry,’ Jesse stammered as the girls stared at him wide-eyed. ‘Let’s go see the plane, eh?’
It seemed like a long time before Janey and Bunny emerged from the bathroom. Even longer, keeping his distance from Rabbit as they waited for boarding time.
‘Sorry,’ he repeated to his sister. ‘I’m verly sorry. I’m a fuckwit.’
Janey gave him the silent treatment till the plane was ready. When he kissed her goodbye, her cheek was stiff.
‘You think Mum would be proud of you? Eh?’
‘Nay,’ Jesse mumbled, shamefaced.
‘It’s not that girl’s fault your girlfriend’s dead.’
‘Nay.’
‘Kiss your nieces goodbye.’
Jesse did what she said.
He stuck around on the tarmac for take-off. So did Rabbit. White-knuckled, they pretended not to see each other until the plane was in the air. After, though, Rabbit walked right up to him.
‘Camel.’
‘Yorana, Rabbit.’ Jesse’s heart quickened. ‘You good?’
Rabbit nodded. His lips were pale. His eyes. His whole face. So pale he looked half-dead. He’d just turned sixty. Old.
Dutifully, Rabbit punched him in the face.
Jesse punched him too, naturally. It was what he wanted, more than he’d ever wanted Bunny; he wanted that old man’s blood on his hands. For a few ringing seconds, he was sure he’d beat him to death, or be beaten dead — it didn’t really matter what. But the moment passed, and airport security broke it up.
It was the talk of the island for maybe a month: the two leading suspects in Paulina’s murder, brawling on the tarmac. But by late March, nobody was talking about it anymore.
They were all talking about the white Camry that’d been towed from the vacant block near Fergal’s Farm.
KINGDOM BY THE SEA
‘Morning, ladies!’ Paulina greeted the first lot of olds, who shambled into the Mutes’ bistro at seven on the dot. ‘How’d ya sleep?’
‘Like the dead!’ Rosie sighed contentedly. ‘It’s so quiet without the hubby snoring.’
‘Too right. My boyfriend snores like a pig.’ Paulina pulled out their chairs. ‘I need a nap already.’
‘Not us.’ Iris sat. ‘We’re all booked out: horse-and-buggy ride, then the Fairfolk farmers’ tour, then this evening we’ve got the—’
‘Ghost tour!’ Rosie supplied.
‘Geez, I don’t know how youse do it.’ Paulina set down their menus. ‘Just don’t knock yourselves out before Mutiny Day. That’s a big one.’
‘Tomorrow’s my shopping day.’ Rosie smiled. ‘I’ve been jealous of Iris’s bracelet ever since she bought it.’
Paulina’s skin prickled as Iris showed off her paua-and-pearl bracelet. ‘This “Tabitha King” designs them all herself — you know her?’
‘Yeah.’ Paulina faked a smile. ‘We go way back.’
After her breakfast shift, Paulina rolled out her cleaning cart and did her rounds of the cabins. After, she drove her shiny blue Mazda back to Tenderloin Road, changed into her exercise clothes, and checked her answering machine.
Hi, darling. It’s Mum here. Just seeing how you are. I guess you’re busy again … ?
‘Ugh!’ Paulina deleted the message. ‘Get a life.’
She went for her usual walk, down Klee Welkin Road and up to King’s Lookout. Traced her fingers over the K-I-N-G on the sign. Then she walked into town, strutted into Tabby’s Treasures. Car’s wife was busy with another customer, but she tracked Paulina with her light-green eyes as she lingered, breathed on the cabinets.
‘Can I help you?’ Tabby asked once the customer left.
Paulina picked up a business card. ‘“Tabby.” What are you, a cat?’
‘Can I help you?’ Tabby repeated.
‘Oops.’ Paulina let the card fall from her fingers. ‘My bad.’
‘Can I help you?’
‘Ooo, that’s nice.’ She touched the glass. ‘So’s that. Oi, do you do engagement rings?’
‘Occasionally.’ Tabby blinked her sooty eyelashes. ‘I did a lovely custom design recently, for Rabbit and Rita.’
‘Nah, I’d want something nicer.’ Paulina smirked. ‘See ya.’
Rolling her eyes, Tabby fetched a bottle of bright-blue glass cleaner from under the counter and wiped away Paulina’s fingerprints.
‘Ohh, yeah.’ Car’s belly slapped against her arse. ‘Take it, mainie.’
‘Shit.’ She whimpered. ‘You piece of shit.’
‘Yeahh. Take it.’ Car’s voice got higher. ‘Dirty girl.’
‘Bastard. Oh, you bastard.’
Grunting, Car gave her hair a final, listless tug. Crushed his heavy body against hers. Then there was just his breath, the dark sea lapping.
‘Ohh, yeah.’ He kissed between her shoulder blades. ‘You liked that, eh.’
‘I dunno.’ She felt sore, mortified, and a melty-strangeness deep inside her that was almost sweet. ‘Maybe.’
It hurt like a ripped bandage when he peeled his sweaty skin from hers, pulled out. ‘Ow,’ Paulina winced, tears in her eyes.
He spanked her. ‘You’re leaking, sweetheart.’
She raised herself gingerly on her elbows. ‘Where’s the towel?’
Car found it, dropped it over her head, and spanked her again, laughing.
‘Arsehole.’ Shakily, she sat up, wiped herself off. ‘The things I do for you.’
Car rolled onto his back, the weight of him denting the mattr
ess. His chest heaved, labouring for breath.
‘Fuck, you’re a fat fuck.’ She looked at his coarse, flushed skin. ‘I’m surprised you don’t have a heart attack.’
‘I’m Polynesian. I’m all muscle.’
‘Yeah, and I’m a D-cup.’ She prodded his fat. ‘I’m surprised you haven’t squashed me to death.’
Car closed his eyes. ‘At least you won’t die a virgin, eh.’
‘Oi, don’t sleep.’ She prodded him again. ‘You’re literally a kuka plana right now.’
‘Lick me clean.’
‘I’m not your wife.’ She chucked the towel at his crotch. ‘I’m not cleaning up your shitty dick.’
Without opening his eyes, he lazily towelled off his groin. ‘Bes’ marry you instead.’
‘Yeah, alright.’ She fumbled past the lube on the bedside for her ciggies. ‘So long as you promise to have a heart attack and cark it on our wedding night.’
Car’s pale eyes opened. ‘Nay smoking below deck.’
‘It stinks down here.’ Paulina stuck a ciggie between her lips. ‘I need to smoke out the smell.’
‘My boat, my rules.’ He whipped her with the dirty towel. ‘Take it upstairs, mainie.’
‘Make me.’
Quick as a charging bull, he grabbed her by the ankles, threw her over his shoulder, and bore her kicking and screaming above deck.
‘Scream all you want, mainie.’ Car set her down with a smack on the bum. ‘Nobody’s listening.’
‘Arsehole.’ Shivering, she lit up. ‘It’s like the Titanic out here.’
‘Romantic, eh?’ Car nodded at the glittery blackness above.
‘Would be, if I wasn’t freezing my tits off.’ She stroked his nautical star tattoo. ‘Get me my clothes, babe.’
Car tweaked her nipple. ‘Nay. I like your frozen titties.’
‘C’mon, babe.’ She sucked on her ciggie. ‘Pretty please?’
He stole the ciggie from her fingertips. ‘I won’t let you go cold, sweetheart.’
‘Yeah?’ Breathing white, Paulina reached down. ‘You seem pretty cold yourself.’
Grabbing her arm mid-fondle, Car stubbed out the ciggie in the tender pit of her elbow. The pain zapped like lightning.
‘Fucker!’ Paulina yelped.
Car flicked the butt into the silvery-dark water. ‘Nay so cold now, eh.’
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