by Gary Seeary
“Look what they gave me, Grub. Margaret gave me the green one, Danielle the white one,” she said placing them next to her tightly curled auburn hair.
“Do ya like ’em, Grub?”
I nodded my approval, thinking it wouldn’t be such a bad thing if Lettie got to know the girls.
“They told me the colours were very special to them. Green and white are the colours of the University Peace Group, which they’re both passionate about, as well as that of the college, of course. It’s very thoughtful of them, don’t you think?”
“Yeah, they seemed nice at the theatre, Lett. They must be sure ya stayin’ on.”
“I dunno, Grub. Madeline never gives away a thing, either way, but what happened during my break after lunch service was funny though. The girls told me that the Peace Group was having an afternoon meeting in the Quadrangle Garden and anyone was allowed to come along and join in, so I told ’em I would try to make it if I finished my clean-up on time.”
“It took me yonks to find them in the campus. It was right in the middle of a beautiful building with arched verandahs, not really a garden in the quadrangle, just a few camellias. There were lots of people though, it surprised me. Margaret and Danielle were standing proudly in front of everyone, holding up a banner with ‘World Peace’ on it, green and white ribbons in their hair. A tall, solid bloke, maybe a minister was doin’ all the talkin’. He said that Spain was behind Great Britain, because the Catholic Church ran all the schools in Spain. Is that right, Grub?”
“Wouldn’t have a clue, Lett. The Catholic Church runs a lot of schools here, they seem all right to me.”
“A lot of people were trying to drown out this big man by jeering and laughing, and they said some pretty nasty things to him. The meeting was starting to get a bit out of hand and I was worried that Margaret and Danielle might get caught up in the middle of a fight. Then suddenly, a well-dressed man stood up and stepped very close to the speaker, pointing a finger between his eyes, yelling loudly ‘You are a liar, a damn liar … and a bloody turncoat too!’ to the roar of one section of the crowd.”
“I don’t know what he meant by that Grub, but Margaret stepped forward, yelling loudly herself for everybody to be quiet. She told the well-dressed man that he had ‘overstepped the mark with his comments, and he should leave the meeting, NOW!’ It was a brave thing for Margaret to do with the unsettled crowd and this man staring at her in a kind of daze, not like he was drunk, but something else. That man then urged his supporters in the crowd to follow him from the quadrangle, which they did, to the loud booing from the crowd left behind. The people who walked out were mostly dressed in black gowns with a white cross and maybe Catholic symbols on ’em.”
“Madeline did say something the other day about things getting a little out of hand on campus, Lett. It might be best to stay away from those meetings.”
“Stop fussin’ Grub, nothin’ happened.”
I was enjoying my walk back home from work with Lettie, especially the last stretch we were on now, through the quiet back lanes near Aunty May’s. The weeping willows and peppercorn trees whipping overhead made us feel like we were almost back home in the country again.
I knew there had to be more to Lettie’s story than a fiery meeting at the university, so I gently urged her to get to the point.
“If the girls didn’t invite us, who did, Lett?”
Lettie stopped to give herself a quick dust down before we took on the last couple of hundred yards to Aunty May’s.
“Before I got back to the kitchen, at the big bike sheds near the oval, a King’s College girl came running up to me from behind, calling out for me to stop. She startled me a bit, my mind was miles away in the kitchen. She asked if I could spare a minute, so she could apologise about a misunderstanding that had happened. I told her I had to get back to the kitchen pretty soon, but she could walk with me if she liked.”
“She said her name was Elaine and that she had met you at the Aid for Spain stand in Emerald Hill and liked that you had shown so much interest in their cause, even after your new mate William had been very rude to you. She said it was her fault how things became so confused, although she said William’s erratic behaviour of late hadn’t helped. After we had talked for a while, I was surprised how much we had in common. She seems really nice, Grub.”
“Yeah, she was very friendly when I met her in Emerald Hill. And quite persuasive.”
“Elaine said the confusion came about when a senior came racing into the Junior Common Room on Sunday before last while she was studying with William. He was looking for a tutor or a professor to come with him to have a look at a rough looking bloke who had been found wandering in the grounds. The senior said that the intruder pretended to be looking for work for his sister.”
“Elaine said William’s eyes lit up when the senior said that the young man had a cut under his chin. Then William went with the senior to have a look for himself, but didn’t return for over an hour.”
Lettie and I stopped in the lane, a few yards back from Aunty May’s, not wanting this story to make it inside.
“So, William must have followed me home, the sneaky bugger,” I said sarcastically as some of the pieces to this puzzle started falling into place.
“No wonder he knows so much about me. He probably spoke to old Reg, he’s always hangin’ around out the front wanting a chin wag.”
And Reg can never remember Lettie’s name
“Elaine said she was so angry with William for spying on you, but he reckoned he only did it because he had run into you four times in a fortnight, and didn’t like that sort of coincidence.”
“Yeah, it would look a bit suspicious, but why didn’t he just stop and ask me,” I wondered shaking my head.
“Elaine said he wanted to know exactly who you were before introducing himself properly. William told Elaine that he would make amends somehow, so he went to see Madeline to convince her that the young man who attempted to visit her was only looking out for his sister and that she should consider helping her with work, if the opportunity arose.
“Elaine said that at no time were William or her trying to make me feel unwelcome in the college.
“I told Elaine that perhaps her boyfriend might be a little too crazed to be a college senior, which she understood in part, but also said I couldn’t know the William she does.”
“Elaine confided in me that she wished for just one day, not only William but her whole family lived a normal life, and weren’t so passionate about making the world a better place for other people, and concentrated on looking after the ones that were closest to them. Then, she wouldn’t have to worry so much.
“I felt a bit awkward that she was telling me this, Grub. Not knowing her. Did William say anything on Saturday about Elaine’s family?”
“No, he did say that I would be most impressed if I ever met them, though,” I replied, keeping it short and sweet. I didn’t want Lettie to know about Elaine’s sister being in trouble in Spain, she had enough to deal with without that.
“I said to Elaine that we should perhaps put all this mix-up behind us, and act as if it never happened, and maybe one day we could go out as a group for a picnic, or to a coffee palace. Elaine thought that would be a nice change. After all, you and William had a day in the city.”
“That wasn’t my idea, Lett,” I chipped in.
“Before I went back into the kitchen, I asked Elaine if the senior standing under a nearby oak tree looking rather nervous was William, and if so, could she please bring him around to the kitchen after dinner so I could finally meet this bloke you’re always goin’ on about.
“When they came around to the kitchen door after service, I was surprised how charming William was, and he’s not at all bad looking either, Grub,” Lettie said stripping small cream flowers off the peppercorn tree just above her head.
That was a big turnaround from Sunday.
“Elaine said there was a lot happening at the uni, and with th
e Aid committee at the moment, so the only opportunity, if we were free on Sunday evening, would be to go with them to a soirée at her parent’s house in Camberwell. She would have to phone first, but she was sure it would be fine.”
“I remember on Saturday, William talking about a soirée or some such at Elaine’s parents, but I didn’t imagine we would get invited to it,” I said leaning hard against the paling fence.
“I told Elaine we’d both be delighted to go to the soirée with them,” Lettie giggled as she smiled, her head leant to the side. “I hope ya don’t mind, Grub.”
“They’re different to us, Lett,” I replied, taking a deep breath.
9
* * *
Soirée
On Thursday the reality of what we’d accepted dawned upon us. We had until Sunday afternoon to work out what people wear to soirées. We wondered what made a soirée different to any other do and were we just kidding ourselves to think we could fit into William and Elaine’s circle? Lettie was quiet on Thursday, like me; we were not sure what we’d let ourselves in for. It wouldn’t have taken much for either of us to pull out.
We told Aunty May on Thursday night about the soirée; we had to, there was no way we could get around it. We couldn’t tell her on Sunday that we had our glad rags on to go to church — she knows we never go. Aunty May said the Parmenters were quite a ‘radical family’ for Melbourne, no-one was sure if they were communists or not. Although, she hinted that most of their friends could be called ‘fellow travellers’, but at least they were ‘prominent Australians’.
Aunty May said she had read one of Blake Parmenter’s books years ago called Men Are Human, Too!, and loved it. She couldn’t give her approval for us to go, but she would help us if we needed to know what went on at a soirée, after all she had gone to several in the Cape Colony thirty-odd years ago.
When I asked Aunty May if I would need a suit and tie for the do, she said that a white dinner jacket with a bow-tie was de rigueur for a soirée on the veldt. Aunty May said that Heinrich in his rush to leave years ago had left behind some of his clothes, and she would be happy if I went through them to pick out something to wear, but she wouldn’t help. Lettie gave me an elbow in the side, whispering for me not to ask on her behalf, saying later on that she couldn’t have stood Aunty May trying to fit her into one of her old dress designs that had no shape at all.
Lettie confided in Madeline on Friday that she was going to a soirée at the Parmenter’s house on Sunday, and didn’t have a clue what to wear, or how to act around people who were so well known. Lettie said she could see the surprise on Madeline’s face when she mentioned the Parmenters, but said she could borrow some of her clothes, if Lettie would do her a big favour Saturday lunchtime; pick up Bernadette from a birthday party at the Children’s Hospital that was finishing at an awkward time for the kitchen. Lettie told Madeline she had been waiting for an opportunity to see Bernadette again and jumped at the chance.
On Saturday, Madeline asked Lettie to leave the kitchen half an hour earlier than expected to pick up Bernadette, just in case the party finished ahead of time. As Lettie wandered through the wards, she said she couldn’t help but cry; so many children locked in horrible metal machines, or struggling to walk in callipers, others being pushed around in wheelchairs. She said the smiles on the faces of the children defied all logic considering what they had to bear each day. Lettie spoke to a few of the volunteers and nurses in the ward before wheeling Bernadette home, one volunteer said the hospital was turning away thirty children a day at the moment, sending most to temporary facilities in the southern suburbs.
At Madeline’s house the mood turned a lot brighter, with mother and daughter making a fuss over Lettie. Bernadette made herself judge of every dress that Lettie tried on, dismissing anything too dull. They all agreed on one dress; the one which Madeline said was her ‘standard’, and didn’t want back unless it was in exactly the same condition as it left.
Lettie and I had a bit of a scare ourselves on Sunday morning, with the whole Carlton neighbourhood covered in a thick, rolling fog which appeared out of nowhere and looked like it wanted to stay. According to The Argus, Sunday would be fine and sunny with a light westerly breeze.
Not that it would make much of a difference to my get-up for the soirée; a musty green jacket with grey pinstripes, a white round-collared shirt and a black tie was fashionable in any season. Aunty May suggested a bow-tie would be more suitable for the round collar, but I said bow-ties were only for people with tickets on themselves.
*
“Stop pinching your cheeks!” I yelled at Lettie, pretending to be angry “They’re already red raw.”
Lettie had been poking and pulling at her face, hair, dress and everything else, since we arrived twenty minutes earlier than necessary outside St Pauls Cathedral, where she had arranged for us to meet Elaine and William to catch a tram to Camberwell.
“Shush, Grub,” Lettie grumbled while waving me away and then, turned around to look for anything that resembled a mirror. The only thing Lettie could find remotely fitting the bill was the glassed-in cabinet that housed today’s ecclesiastic program for the massive cathedral. The small amount of reflection in the glass kept Lettie busy enough to spare the Flinders Street footpath any more wear and tear.
Lettie kept pulling down on the aqua-blue frock she borrowed from Madeline, as she peered into the cabinet, saying that it was a smidge tight for her, but loved the colour too much not to wear it.
Lettie had woven the green and white ribbons that Margaret and Danielle had given her into a short ponytail, which didn’t really go with the small white disc-shaped hat, Aunty May told her she had to wear. Lettie insisted she wouldn’t wear the hat without the ribbons.
The sun had done the right thing by early afternoon, burning off the persistent fog, leaving behind a sunny but coolish day, making it a lot more comfortable to wear my heavy green dinner jacket.
“There they are!” Lettie yelled out, giving her hair, dress and ribbons another round of attention, in between waving to her two new friends.
Elaine and William both looked relaxed and confident as they strode towards us beside the cathedral lawn. Elaine in a long, bright yellow and white, vertically striped dress with a small white hat, William sporting a black dinner jacket with a plain white, pointy collared shirt, and no tie. I made up my mind right there and then, my tie would have to go, well before we reached the soirée.
“Don’t they look great, Grub? They’re so modern in the way they dress,” said Lettie, in awe.
They did look swell, but that only made me think more about the huge gulf between us.
“We’ve finally made it,” exclaimed Elaine, catching her breath, beaming a smile out to us. “How are you both doing, today?”
Elaine was a very pretty young woman, and the nicest person, but for some reason not my type.
“How are you, both?” William asked stepping forward to shake my hand.
“Great thanks, William,” Lettie gushed. “We were a bit worried about the fog this morning, but look at it now, couldn’t have turned out better for a soirée.”
“I’m good, too,” I replied and then, unnecessarily. “Now, are you sure it’s fine, us going to your parents’ house, Elaine?”
“Elaine called her parents. They are more than happy that you come along,” William jumped in coolly, not really making Lettie or I feel that welcome. If I was on my own, I would have made up any old excuse to leave. If William was in one of his moods, I didn’t want to be around him.
“Lettie, do you want to go over to the station? We can get something to eat for the trip. The boys will be right on their own, won’t you boys?” Elaine asked, putting her hand around Lettie’s arm, leading her towards the corner. I was stuck with a silent William, thinking that this day was about to turn sour any second.
“Last Saturday, before we went over the road to the Regent Theatre,” I started to ask tentatively, “you were looking around for
quite a long time along Swanston Street and then up and down Collins. What …”
“It’s none of your business,” William snapped. “I can tell you’re not interested. So leave it at that.”
If anyone needs the shit beaten out of them, it’s this bludger. I’ll try to get through the day for Lettie’s sake, but after that, I’m finished with him.
“Ever since you told me about Elaine’s sister in Spain, I haven’t been able to stop worrying about Elaine, and how hard it must be for her, not knowing whether her sister was safe. If any one of my family was in danger like that …” I stopped and then shook my head.
“When Lettie said that Elaine came up to her to apologise about my stupid mistake of wandering, uninvited into the college. I thought that we were the last people she should be worryin’ about, and Lettie would agree … if she knew … so you can go to hell!”
William knew not to say anything back to me.
I wandered over to the cathedral. A few minutes later I saw Lettie and Elaine running madly across Swanston Street like they had been friends all their lives, a policeman holding up traffic, until they cleared the road.
I think I hid my disappointment at William’s behaviour quite well from the girls after they returned from their foraging trip with a couple of paper bags each. Thankfully, Lettie didn’t seem to notice anything, and I was doubly determined that William wasn’t going to ruin our day. After all, it was Elaine who invited us, not him.
“We got some dried apricots and salted peanuts for the trip, Seb,” Lettie explained, offering me some peanuts.
“We’re gonna be thirsty by the time we get there,” I added.
“Don’t worry, Seb. Mr Parmenter makes his own home brew. I think it’s the best ale I’ve ever tasted. I’ll crack one open for us, as soon as we get there,” William said enthusiastically, playing along with the game convincingly.
The new tram arrived a little earlier than expected, but perfectly on time for the four of us. We were toey to get our trip to Camberwell underway.