Liam cautiously pokes his head into the closet before staggering back. “Sweet Jesus. It’s a dead cat or something. Maybe a ferret or opossum. Whatever it is, it’s as rotten as hell.”
“Can you get rid of it?” I’m antsy now, unable to keep still. A sudden vision of Emma as a zombie dog flickers across my mind, a vivid memory flash of her running toward us with her brains hanging out of her skull and her entrails banging against her flanks.
Liam’s making gagging noises as he heads for the door. “We’ll go downtown. I’m not touching that with my bare hands. We need bags, gloves, bleach, disinfectant, a broom, a shovel….”
“Yeah.” I glance at the closet one last time before I follow him out of the room. “And maybe some waffles. I’m starving.”
Chapter Four
Downtown Gypsy Creek looks like the downtown of every other small town you ever saw. It probably looks a lot like Warren’s End, not that I remember too much of my hometown. The last time I physically saw Warren’s End I was only seven years’ old. When the KLR-39 TV van picked us up from the bottom of Cemetery Hill (I gave it that name because Dr. McIntyre thought it might help with the healing process), Mom refused to let them take us back to town and instead asked them to take us to the nearest airport. They gave us money for air tickets and in return, Mom gave them part of an interview in a bathroom stall (yeah, I know, but she was past being yucked out by anything by then) and a promise to give them the full story later. Seems the tale of our little family raised a lot of public interest at the time but people’s memories are short and it’s all yesterday’s news now.
Liam parks outside Sal’s Dollar Store and we grab a cart from beside the door. My stomach is cramping and rumbling but I know Liam won’t settle down to eat until we’ve bought all the cleaning stuff he wants. We’ve already agreed to stay in a hotel for the night – we’re not expecting that dead cat stink to disappear anytime soon – and tomorrow morning we can make a fresh start back at the house.
Liam is charging on ahead, grabbing everything he sees and throwing it into the cart, and I roll my eyes at the back of his head. He does this, he gets himself all frantic whenever there’s a task to be done, and I have to admit that I’m a mite worried about how he’ll cope with renovating the house. He’s a perfectionist and I’m not. I don’t know how comfortably an imperfectionist and a perfectionist can renovate a house together but I guess I’ll find out soon enough.
I stop to look at air fresheners, caught up in a little nostalgia over Grandma, and Liam turns into the next aisle. I chose one that’s supposed to smell like a day at the spa even though I still have no idea what that smells like and I’m about to go catch up with Liam when my phone rings. Mom.
“Hi, Mom!”
“Hey, Ellie.” She sounds breathy, as if she’s been running. She jogs a lot now. Says she likes to know that she’s always fit enough to outrun any predator which I guess is fair enough considering what we went through. “How’s the new house?”
“Oh, we’re not there at the moment. We came downtown to get some supplies. Something died in one of the closets and it’s not too pleasant back there at the moment. We’ll probably stay at a hotel tonight and go back tomorrow to clean up.” Liam pops his head back into my aisle to see what’s holding me up. I mouth “Mom” at him and point to my phone.
“Something died?”
“Yeah, a wild animal or something. Nothing to worry about. The house has been empty for ages and I guess critters can always find their way in.” Maggots, ugh.
“Well, we all know now that nothing is something to worry about,” says Mom.
“Yeah.” I don’t want to have this conversation with her. I don’t want her putting shivers up me about our new house, a house that I’m already half in love with. “We’re going to get waffles soon.”
“Nice.” She drops a pause into the conversation then and I know there’s more coming. My Mom is transparently easy to read. I jump in before she can launch into whatever it is. “How’s Roger?”
Roger is her boyfriend. He wouldn’t be my choice of a pseudo-stepfather but the choice was never mine to make so I keep my nose out of it. He plays golf, he drinks down at the club, and he wears white pants a lot. He’s not Dad. In fact, I sometimes wonder how a woman who chose Dad as her husband could’ve ever chosen Roger as her boyfriend.
“Roger is… fine.” She’s building up to drop something on me, I just know it. “Ellie…” Here it comes. “Ellie, Reece and Roger aren’t getting along too well at the moment. You know that your brother is a little… different. Roger is finding it difficult to deal with him.”
“What do you mean?” I’m frowning at the phone now. Reece was there long before Roger was and Roger should be making more of an effort to get on with him. Timmy, I mean Reece, isn’t hard to get along with if you just try to understand him. He likes quietness, and peace, and people not forcing him to do things he doesn’t want to do.
Mom blows a long sigh into the phone and for a second or two I consider hanging up and pretending we got cut off. I’m not going to lie, I’m kind of pissed that she’s chosen now to talk to me about this. She knows today is special to Liam and me.
“Ellie,” Liam calls impatiently from the next aisle. “Are you nearly ready to go? I can taste those waffles from here.”
“I’ll be right there.” I put the phone back to my ear. “Mom, Liam and I are sort of busy right now.”
“Oh, you crazy kids,” Mom giggles and I feel the tips of my ears burning red. Did she just insinuate that we’re in the middle of… never mind.
“I told you we were at the store. Did you ring for anything important?” I prompt her so she can say what she needs to say and I can hang up the phone without feeling guilty.
“I think Reece needs to get away for a few weeks,” she says quickly, shoving those words out and pushing them down the phone line. “It’ll do him and Roger good to have some time apart. I know you said your new house has several spare bedrooms. I realize the timing could be better but Reece will be able to help you out with the renovating. Give him a paintbrush and some time to himself and he’ll do a great job.”
What? Has she really just asked me this? I’ve been looking forward to this for so long, this time to spend alone with Liam in our house. It’s supposed to be just the two of us.
“Ellie?” She’s using her coaxing, wheedling voice now. “I’ll send some cash along with him so he can pay his own way. He’s only met Liam a few times and it’ll be nice for the boys to have the chance to be friends.”
I can’t answer her right away. I feel disappointed, let down, even though I know I shouldn’t feel that way. She never was too good at seeing things from other people’s point of view and I should know that by now.
“I can get him on a flight tomorrow morning and he can catch an Uber to your house. You did give me the address – 13 Pannier Street, isn’t it?”
It seems it’s done. She’s made up her mind and I don’t think she’s going to change it. I force myself to think of Reece – things must be pretty bad there if she’s shipping him out. “Yeah,” I say flatly. “That’s it. 13 Pannier Street.”
Chapter Five
Liam is still grumbling about Mom and her ‘expectations’ as he finishes his plate of chicken and waffles. From memory, Dick’s House of Waffles isn’t of the same high standard as the Joe Knox Diner but it’s not bad. If I had to pick one type of food to eat for the rest of my life, waffles would be the meal I’d choose. I don’t think I’ll ever get tired of them. I see Liam has left a small piece behind so I steal it off his plate while he launches into another tirade about the bad timing of Reece’s visit.
“He’s quiet boy. You’ll hardly notice he’s around.” I’m starting to feel excited about his arrival now, now that I’ve gotten over my earlier disappointment and anger. I guess you can say Reece is somewhat of a perfectionist too, so he and Liam can go ahead and be perfect together while I just do my own imperfect thing in another ro
om.
“Yeah, but I was expecting it just to be us. You and me. I don’t need some 13-year-old kid tagging along.”
“He’s nearly 14,” I say irrelevantly.
Liam shoves his plate away. “I guess there’s not a lot we can do about it now. Are you ready to go? We should go check ourselves into this hotel. Get some sleep.” He waggles his eyebrows at me and I know he’s thinking of anything but sleeping.
“At least Mom isn’t sending Organza along with him,” I tease. “That’d really put the willies up you.”
“Speaking of willies up…”
“Liam.” I slide out of the booth while Liam drops a few dollar notes down on the tabletop. I really should thank my lucky stars that Organza isn’t coming along. I mean, I love my sister but she’s just so… well, let’s put it this way. She hasn’t changed much since she was four-years-old and trying to boss the whole family around. She’s loud and outspoken and everything she does is ‘my way or the highway’. I envy her sometimes for her confidence – she’s practically bullet-proof. That kind of personality does get a little tiring though, especially if you have to spend a lot of time in its company.
The hotel looks like it’s worth every cent of the $50 they want to charge us to sleep here. Some of the lights are out on the sign outside, so it appears the place is named ‘-igh-ay –otel’ instead of Highway Hotel, and there’s a loose shutter banging somewhere out the back. The path outside the reception needs a sweep and there are several dead cigarette butts lying around beneath the No Smoking sign. It seems a bunch of bikers are staying here and their motorbikes are taking up most of the spaces in the parking lot. Liam finds a space for the car next to a falling down fence at the spot furthest away from the entrance door. He glances at me in the dim light before we get out of the car. “Are you sure you want to stay here? We could probably find ourselves an un-stinky room back at the house.”
“No. This will do us. A fresh start tomorrow will be better.” I’m already unclicking my seatbelt and climbing out. I know for a fact that smells are worse at night and there’s no way I intend to walk back into that dead cat stink when my stomach is full of waffles.
The man behind the desk in reception is one of those creepy types who doesn’t bother to hide the fact he’s staring at my boobs. My boobs aren’t even all that impressive and I’m wearing a baggy top, which only makes it worse that he’s looking. He has to stare hard to be able to see the outline of them. The reception smells like cheap whisky and cigarette smoke. One of the bikers has left a leather jacket hanging over the back of a beaten down chair next to a coffee table littered with advertising for fast food, cheap bars, and pay-by-the-hour women.
Liam is his usual cheery and polite self. “A room for the night, please. A double.”
The guy grunts and doesn’t take his eyes off my boobage.
“We’re new to town.” Liam carries on as if the man is totally engaged in the conversation. “Just bought the old run-down house on Pannier Street.” He slips his arm around me and I get the feeling he’s just noticed that the guy is staring where he shouldn’t be staring. “Can we book the room?”
“Pannier Street?” Creepy guy finally shifts his eyes away from me and looks at my boyfriend. “Suckers. No one’s been near that house in years.”
“Once we’ve finished with it, you won’t recognize it.” Liam pulls out his wallet and shoves a fifty and a twenty across the counter. “Can we have the key?”
The guy does this big, snotty sniff, rubs his hand over his belly to make it jiggle and wobble, and turns to pull a key down from the hook. “Towels in the cabinet outside Room 6. Reception closes at 9 so if you have any complaints after that you’ll have to keep them to yourself until morning.”
“Thanks.” I can’t believe that Liam is still managing to be so polite as he takes the key from el-creepo. I feel the man’s eyes on my butt as I follow Liam across to the stairs and I can’t get out of there quick enough. I just want it to be morning so we can go back to our house and start to make it our own.
The room is much better than I expected and I guess that’s a good thing. It’s clean, and the blind pulls all the way down, and the bikers down the hall aren’t making too much noise. The shower is hot too, but there’s not much space ‘cos Liam squeezes in with me.
Anyway, I’m starting to feel happier about everything now. I climb into bed and Liam reaches across the mattress to pull me close. “I love you, Ellie. We’ve made the right move in coming here despite the bumpy start, I just know it.”
I snuggle into his chest, feeling happy and safe. “I think so too. This is a whole new chapter and I can’t wait for it to begin.”
Chapter Six
It’s nearly lunchtime before the Uber driver pulls up outside the house. We left the hotel early, just after the sun rose, and as soon as we got back here Liam quickly dealt with what turned out to be a dead opossum. He said it was probably sick to begin with and climbed in through an open window to die in peace. After that, we opened all the windows, sloshed bleach and disinfectant around, and the house already feels a whole lot better than it did. I wouldn’t say it feels homely, not yet, but it certainly feels nicer than it did yesterday.
To be honest, I’d forgotten that Reece was due to arrive. I’d been so busy washing and scrubbing, dusting and sweeping, that it had slipped my mind completely. Yeah, I know. Bad sister. So the car pulls up outside and sits there idling just as I’m dumping a bucket of dirty water on the lawn and I stand and stare at it, wondering who has stopped outside our gate. The next minute, the door opens and a brand name shoe pokes out and hovers over the pavement before setting itself down. I’d recognize that foot anywhere. Organza.
Reece tumbles out the other door, the driver pops the trunk and off-loads two suitcases onto the sidewalk, and then the car leaves and I’m left gazing in astonishment at my little brother and sister. Mainly my little sister. “What are you doing here, Organza? Mom didn’t say anything about you coming.”
Organza turns around with her back to the house and holds up her phone to snap a selfie. “First pic at my sister’s new house!”
“Hi, Ellie.” Reece hunches his way up the path, dragging his suitcase behind him. Reece is one of those kids who often looks hunched, even when he isn’t hunching. Old man syndrome, Mom calls it. Born old. Some people just are.
I hear Liam walk out of the house behind me. He’s been fixing the boards above the door to make it safe for anyone walking in. “Ellie? Why do we have two kids in our front yard?”
Organza flounces up the path, wearing her favorite red rock goddess t-shirt and pulling her bedazzled pink and purple suitcase along by the strap. The wheels rattle and bounce off the cracked concrete but she sails on obliviously. “Hi, Liam! Stand beside Ellie so I can get a photo.”
“Organza.” I’m using my best big sister voice now, not that Organza is listening. 14-year-old girls aren’t generally known for their listening skills. I know this because I was once one. “Why are you here? Mom said she was sending Reece. She didn’t mention you.”
“Yeah, I talked her into sending me, too.” She pouts into her phone camera and takes another snap.
“It would’ve been nice if someone thought to tell us,” Liam growls.
“Mom texted to say she’d put me on the flight. Didn’t you check your messages, Ellie?” Organza asks sweetly.
I flick an apologetic glance at Liam. We turned our phones off when we went to bed last night and I haven’t bothered turning mine back on. Not that it would’ve made much difference as it seems Organza was already on the plane before Mom bothered to let me know. This is a disaster and truth be told, I’m still reeling. It was a dog move on Mom’s part to send Organza out here when she knows what a pain in the ass she can be.
“Hi, Liam.” The tension in the air appears to have completely bypassed Reece, but that’s not unusual. Most of the time, he inhabits a different space to the rest of us. I’m not saying that’s bad or weird. It’s j
ust what it is. He wanders up and politely offers his hand for Liam to shake. “It’s a nice place you have here.”
Organza isn’t quite so polite but she’s never bothered too much in the past with other people’s ideas of social etiquette. “It’s falling down. I hope my room is fixed up. I’m used to having nice things and I don’t like spiders so there’d better not be any of those in there.”
“There was a dead opossum in your room until a couple of hours ago,” I say casually. “Just chilling in the closet with its guts hanging out.”
Organza does this big fake screech and stamps her foot. “I’m not going in there. Reece can have that room. Don’t you dare put me in there, Ellie.”
“I’ll sleep in there,” says Reece as he hauls his suitcase over the step. “I don’t mind. An old dead opossum doesn’t worry me.”
Liam is sending me warning signals with his eyes, those kind of dangerous ‘we have to talk’ signals that can only ever mean trouble is brewing. I tell the kids to go on in to take a look around while I pull Liam over to the side of the house. We stand under an oak tree with overgrown branches that he’ll have to cut back some time soon. “Liam, it wasn’t as if I knew she was coming.”
He’s surprisingly unemotional. Perhaps he’s just given up on the disaster that’s my family. “I know you didn’t know she was coming. It was unfair of your Mom to send her but it might work out okay. At least they’ll each have someone to play with. That’s not what I’m worried about, though. The thing that’s worrying me is that we don’t have any furniture yet. We were going to sleep on the air mattress until we got things organized. Where are the kids going to sleep?”
Organza jumps over the step and lands back out on the path in her expensive air cushion shoes. She stops to take another selfie before she drops her phone down and glares over at us. “Your house is boring. You don’t even have a TV. Can we go buy the furniture now? Mom wrote you a check. She said it’s a housewarming gift and it should cover everything you need.”
The Nothing House Page 2