The Sunnyvale Girls

by Fiona Palmer

  ‘You like? It’s emu,’ he said slowly.

  Both Italians froze. By now they were well aware of the word emu.

  Giulio’s face contorted. He sprang from the table and rushed outside while holding a hand over his mouth.

  ‘I know how he feels,’ mumbled Maggie while John and Charlie were laughing. Phyllis gave them cold stares.

  ‘It’s not that bad, is it, Rocco?’ asked Charlie.

  Rocco’s dark eyebrows moved as he frowned. ‘Is good. Food India, not much.’ He shook his head.

  Maggie forgot the food on her fork as she watched Rocco. ‘India? You were in India?’

  ‘Si. Long time. No food.’ His lovely tanned skin paled by the candlelight.

  Maggie could see the pain dancing across his deep brown eyes. What had they endured there?

  Everyone was silent. Rocco’s admission had changed the mood and filled the atmosphere with discomfort. Luckily Giulio came back in.

  ‘Mi dispiace, mi dispiace,’ he kept repeating.

  ‘He say sorry,’ said Rocco.

  John waved it away. ‘Don’t worry, Giulio. Sit, sit. Eat the bread.’ He picked up the plate and Giulio gratefully took a slice, his shoulders relaxing after seeing the smile on John’s face.

  Maggie turned back to Rocco, ‘So “sorry” is mi dispiace?’

  Giulio and Rocco both looked at her with surprised expressions. Giulio said something to Rocco in Italian.

  ‘Si, si.’ Rocco agreed, and smiled at Maggie. ‘Giulio say good. You good.’

  ‘What is the point, Margaret?’ huffed her mother. ‘I don’t think you should humour them. They need to adapt to us.’

  ‘Maybe Maggie might visit Italy one day,’ said Charlie.

  ‘I might,’ she said. Giulio and Rocco went back to eating. She could tell the family was talking too fast for them. ‘I like the challenge. It’s something new, and like Father always says, new things keep the mind ticking over.’

  John grinned at Maggie, then turned to Phyllis. ‘It’s not hurting anyone. Let her at least help them learn.’

  Maggie didn’t dare glance at her mother but when Phyllis didn’t contradict her father, she did let the breath she was holding escape slowly.

  ‘Oh, guess what we found out today?’ John said to Phyllis. ‘Rocco tells me that Giulio is a mason. His father was a good one and he learnt from him.’

  Phyllis stared at John blankly.

  ‘He can build us a new house. A real one, with bricks.’

  ‘Are you joking with me, Mr Fuller?’ said Phyllis. She dabbed her lips with the worn napkin on her lap.

  Maggie knew her mother dreamt of a nice home. This bit of news would be a delight. Hopefully it would ease her disdain for the Italians.

  ‘I assure you I am not joking. Maybe tomorrow we can find the spot you’d like your new house to be.’ John was grinning, waiting for Phyllis to understand what he was actually telling her.

  Phyllis dropped her napkin and clasped her hands together. ‘Oh, John.’

  ‘So you’d better draw up some plans soon so we can give them to Giulio,’ said Charlie.

  Phyllis was looking at John like he’d built it already, when in fact it was Giulio who’d be doing all the work.

  ‘Charlie can have a real room instead of the sleep-out,’ said Phyllis. ‘Oh, this is wonderful news.’

  Maggie shifted her feet under the table and accidentally touched someone’s foot. She looked straight up at Rocco, who was smiling at her. She was embarrassed and excited at the same time, and couldn’t help the heat crawling towards her face. Maggie hung her head towards her bowl. Luckily her mother was too busy talking about plans for the new house. Hopefully this would keep her in a good mood for a long time.

  Maggie refused to look up again in case she saw Rocco watching her. Instead she quickly got up, started collecting the empty dishes, and took them to the tin dish on the side table to wash up. That way no one could see her face, as she was sure it would be bright red.

  8

  ‘I LOVE these old photos. Look how beautiful Nan is,’ said Flick.

  ‘She’s a looker, all right,’ said Jimmy with a chuckle as he leant against a dining chair.

  ‘Are you trying to get yourself a big slab of pavlova?’ said Maggie as she walked back into the room in a grey tracksuit.

  Toni stepped back abruptly. The air grew thick with tension.

  ‘And there’s the original Contractor. See, Jimmy? Tell him the story, Nan,’ Flick begged, hoping to distract everyone.

  Toni cleared her throat and mumbled something about needing another beer before leaving the room, her eyes downcast.

  Flick grasped her grandmother’s hand and pointed to the photo.

  ‘Well,’ started Maggie slowly, ‘I think I was about fourteen when we went to Kalgoorlie as a family.’ She sat down on the closest chair. ‘One of my father’s mates had told him about the Boulder Cup. It was the first time I’d seen anything like it and it was a splendid day. Contractor was in that race and he came third. Dad heard that Contractor had pulled up lame and they were going to put him down. But Dad believed he could heal Contractor,that he didn’t deserve to die, so they gave him to Dad instead. We borrowed a float and brought him home and Dad nursed him until his leg healed. He couldn’t be a racehorse any more but he suited us just fine. He had guts, that horse, and he was so grand. Made the poor Clydesdales look short and fat, but Winks was his best mate.’ Maggie pointed to the photo of all the Clydesdales and recalled each of their names.

  ‘Uncle Charlie fell off Contractor, didn’t he?’

  ‘Yes, yes he did. Wrecked his arm too. But it was a blessing; if his arm had been good then the army would have taken him and he would have died in the war like my other brothers.’

  The room fell silent.

  ‘I didn’t know that, Maggie. I’m sorry,’ said Jimmy.

  Maggie shut the photo album and sighed. ‘It was a long time ago. Sometimes it does no good to get stuck in the past.’ She rose from her chair to put the album back. ‘Come on, let’s eat so you kids can get to the club.’

  Dinner was a quiet affair, with Toni’s vacant chair causing some conflict. Jimmy wanted to find her but Maggie stopped him.

  ‘She knows it’s here. Leave her be, Jimmy.’ And she gave a pinched smile that was borderline grimace.

  ‘I’m so full,’ said Jimmy once he’d finished. ‘Too full to fit any pavlova in.’

  Maggie chuckled. ‘Best you be heading off to the club. Say hi to Cookie if you see him, if he’s not too busy in the kitchen.’

  ‘I will, Nan,’ said Flick, and they all got up to clear the table.

  In the kitchen Flick noticed that Nan had made up a meal for Toni, and it sat waiting on the bench.

  ‘I’ll just put it in the fridge,’ said Maggie. ‘She can come eat it later.’

  Jimmy watched her carefully. ‘Will you be okay?’

  ‘Yes, of course. Shoo,’ she said waving them towards the door.

  ‘We can stay,’ Jimmy added.

  ‘No. Shoo, shoo. Off you go.’

  Jimmy baaed like a sheep and linked his arm through Flick’s on the way past. ‘See you later,’ he called back to Maggie.

  Flick went with him but glanced back to watch Maggie reach for the knitting she’d left on the edge of the kitchen bench. Nan would be all right if she was knitting.

  Outside they headed to Flick’s new VX Commodore, a red six-cylinder executive sedan. She’d bought it a few months earlier, using some of the farm wage she’d saved since leaving school, and it had hardly made it out of the shed. Most of the time she drove the farm ute. It still had that new-car smell.

  ‘Do you think we’ll be able to sneak some pav when we get back?’ asked Jimmy.

  Flick laughed. ‘Jimmy, I swear you can read my mind.’ She glanced around, wondering where her mum could have got to. Maybe she just needed a walk to clear her head. Fella wasn’t around so he must’ve been with her.

  Jimmy stopp
ed by the back of the car. ‘And is your mind saying it’s Jimmy’s turn to drive us to the club?’ he asked hopefully.

  She opened the driver-side door and shook her head. ‘Pigs might fly. Good try, though.’

  ‘I wonder who’ll be there tonight,’ Jimmy said as they reversed out of the shed.

  The last of the light was fading fast. But it was September and the days were getting longer. Flick wasn’t sure if she liked that, as it usually meant they worked longer hours too. Before too long harvest would be here and she’d be on a header.

  ‘It’s a shame your mum isn’t coming. For a minute I thought she was going to.’

  Flick drove down the driveway and turned onto the gravel road heading towards Karlgarin. ‘I know. But she’s not really taking this news well. I don’t think she’s talked to Nan all day, and when I tried to talk about it with her she shut me down.’

  ‘Hmm, yeah, she did the same with me. She’s a hard woman to get through to,’ he said softly. ‘I just wish she’d stop trying to be so strong. She’s allowed to fall to pieces and she’s allowed to ask for help, or even just talk to me. I wouldn’t think any less of her.’ Jimmy pressed his fingers against his temples. ‘I can’t help her through this if she won’t let me in.’

  ‘Yep, well, that’s Mum. She keeps her cards close to her chest.’ Flick wondered where Jimmy was going with this. Just how much did he care? ‘Are you and Mum . . .’ she blurted out, and then didn’t know how to finish her question.

  ‘Are we what?’

  Flick cleared her throat. ‘You seriously want me to say it? Can’t you read between the lines?’

  ‘Not when those lines are blurry,’ he teased. ‘If you’re asking if we have something going on, then no.’

  ‘Oh.’ She glanced at him but it was hard to tell what he was thinking in the dark so she focused back on the road. They were coming up to a reserve and it was always thick with kangaroos.

  ‘Why? Do you want us to have something going on?’

  Flick shrugged. ‘It doesn’t worry me. I just want both of you to be happy. She’s getting older and I don’t want her to be lonely.’

  ‘I’m sure she’d appreciate the “getting older” comment,’ he said with a chuckle. ‘You know, maybe she’s happy that way.’

  ‘Maybe, but now with this Rocco stuff. You know how she is, she’ll bottle this up for God knows how long. I’m not sure I know how to fix it.’

  ‘Maybe you can’t. Maybe only she can.’

  She slowed down to turn onto the bitumen road. ‘Yeah. I don’t know. I just worry about them both.’

  ‘You’re a good girl, Flick. I think your mum would be stoked to know you care so much.’

  ‘God, don’t tell her,’ Flick groaned. ‘She’ll use it as an excuse to ram some more holidays down my throat.’

  ‘Would a trip away be that bad? Maybe go for a week, see something new and be back to the farm before you know it. Is it really that big a deal? At least she’ll be off your back.’

  ‘I guess.’ Deep down Flick knew her mum was hoping that if she went on one trip, Flick would have a ball and wouldn’t want to come back to the farm. What scared Flick was thinking her mum could be right.

  The clubhouse came into view, and Flick pulled up on an angle out the front.

  ‘Looks like an all right crowd,’ said Jimmy as they got out the car and headed to the door, drawn in by the clang of balls on the pool table and the sound of cheerful voices.

  ‘Hey, it’s Flick and Jimmy. Up for a game next?’ said Dolly, who was at the pool table with a few mates. One of the local truckies, Dolly had got his name when he lost the dolly he’d been carting on his flat-top trailer. The name had nothing to do with his hairstyle, which was a long curly mullet.

  ‘Sure, I’ll just get us a brew,’ said Jimmy, heading to the bar.

  ‘So who’re we playing? You two?’ Flick pointed at Dolly and Fred, Dolly’s mate who worked in Hyden. Both men were closer to Jimmy’s age than Flick’s, and had families.

  ‘Yep, that all right?’ said Fred.

  ‘Fine by us, as long as you don’t mind losing,’ she teased.

  A big roar went up as the guys laughed at her bravado.

  ‘Everything okay?’ asked Jimmy as he handed her a beer.

  ‘Of course. Just giving them fair warning.’ She spotted her friend Jane at the bar with her baby on her knee and went over to say hi while the boys racked up the balls.

  ‘Hey, Flick, how’s things?’ Janey was one of Flick’s few close friends nearby. Most girls her age were still away travelling or at university. On occasion, her friends from school would come out to the farm for a visit, but that’s all it ever was.

  ‘Hi, Janey. How’s little Emmett?’ Flick tickled the little guy’s toes, which he was trying to grab with plump fingers while Jane held his waist.

  ‘Hungry and tired as always,’ she said with a laugh. ‘I’m hoping he starts sleeping through the night before harvest gets here.’ Jane glanced at her husband, who was working a shift behind the bar. Most of the local farmers pitched in to help keep the local watering hole, which was part of the bowling club, operating all year round. ‘Once Turk’s on the header I’ll become a harvest widow and it will be all up to me.’

  ‘If you get stuck or need a break, you know I’ll have him. Just sing out, okay?’ said Flick.

  ‘Turk or Emmett?’ Jane said with a laugh. ‘Thanks Flick, you’re a gem.’

  Flick really wanted to tell Jane about Rocco and the incredi­ble day they’d all had, but something held her back. It was all too new, too fresh. Only Jimmy and Chad knew. Thinking of Chad, she looked around but couldn’t see him.

  ‘You playing or what, Stewart?’ said Dolly.

  She rolled her eyes at Jane before taking another long sip of her beer then leaving it on the bar. ‘Duty calls.’

  Jane laughed as Flick stepped to the pool table.

  Jimmy passed her the cue. ‘I broke for us. We’re bigs.’

  They won the first game easily, and just when they were about to win the second game a few new workers came in and called dibs on the pool table.

  ‘Lucky,’ said Dolly. ‘We were just about to win one back.’

  Flick and Jimmy wandered to the bar and sat down. There were a few families with kids eating at the far end, causing the room to hum with voices.

  ‘Didn’t you say Chad was coming?’ Jimmy said, catching her looking at the door.

  She shrugged. ‘He was going to try.’ She hoped he was still going to make it. She needed a shoulder and his were big and strong. ‘Must have got stuck at the farm.’

  She turned her attention to Jimmy. His elbows were on the bar, his hands clasped together as if he was praying, jade eyes dazzling under the lights.

  ‘What?’ he asked, wiping a hand self-consciously across his face.

  Flick hesitated, wondering if she should go down this path but decided to take a chance. It seemed like the day for it. ‘Do you think my mum’s hot?’

  Jimmy choked, his hand covering his mouth as beer dribbled out between his fingers.

  ‘Jesus, Flick, don’t spring stuff like that on a drinking man.’

  Flick passed him a napkin and he patted his mouth and hand dry. She wondered if he was going to answer her or not.

  Jimmy leant forward, the chair creaking under his weight. ‘Why do you want to know?’

  ‘It was a fair question and it’s a simple answer. Yes or no? I happen to think she’s pretty good for her age but I wanted a man’s opinion. I sometimes forget that she’s a woman, and wondered if men actually saw her as a genuine option. Or do you just see her as another bloke?’ Flick swished the beer in her glass before taking a sip.

  Jimmy gazed back. ‘You’re right, it’s a fair question so I’ll give you a truthful answer.’ He looked around the bar before leaning closer and dropping his voice. ‘I think your mum is gorgeous. She may cover up her curves but that doesn’t mean men haven’t noticed.’

  ‘N
ice way of saying you’ve noticed her big —’

  ‘Flick,’ growled Jimmy, cutting her off. ‘As I was saying, she’s perfect.’

  ‘So why haven’t you tried anything? She just not your type?’

  The blush spreading across his skin made her even more curious. He shifted in his seat and started to pick at his nails.

  ‘Wow, Flick. This conversation is a bit much.’

  ‘Don’t go all shy on me, Jimmy. You’re my best mate. You can talk to me,’ she said with a smile. ‘And today has been a day of major revelations.’

  He gave a nervous laugh. ‘God, I know this will come back to bite me on my arse. Fine.’ He took a deep breath. ‘There is nothing wrong with Toni. She’s gorgeous, funny, gentle and clever. And she is my type. Happy?’

  Flick spluttered. ‘Gentle?’

  ‘Yeah. You’ve never noticed how gentle she is with the birthing ewes or the new lambs? And she’s always talking to the dogs and spoils them when no one is looking.’

  ‘Huh.’ He really did notice things. ‘So then why?’

  He let out a massive sigh. ‘I haven’t tried anything because I don’t think I’m her type. She probably thinks I’m too young for a start, and I think there is that whole “we work together” issue, our friendship being more important.’

  Flick waved her hand. ‘Rubbish. What if it did work? Is that something you’d want?’

  ‘Isn’t that what everyone wants? A person to spend their life with? Don’t you?’ Jimmy picked up a beer coaster and played with it.

  ‘Yeah, I guess that’s the end game. For me, though – I think I could be happy living without a companion if I had the farm and my animals.’

  ‘Easy for you to say that when you have Chad.’

  She shrugged. Maybe he was right. But Flick hadn’t thought about anything long-lasting with Chad.

  ‘Hey, um . . .’ Jimmy bit his lower lip. ‘You’re not going to mention this conversation to anyone, right?’