Things We Cannot See

by Dianne Maguire

  ‘I’m going to get another drink,’ Alex shouted above the music moments later, running again from the dance floor towards the drink tubs.

  ‘Really? You are seriously manic, Alex,’ Maddi yelled after her, knowing no one could hear, including Alex. ‘You should slow down. You’re getting wasted,’ she said, pulling Alex’s arm to bring them face to face at the tubs of diminishing drinks and ice.

  Ignoring her, Alex tossed her empty bottle in the recycle bin, grabbed up another. ’Oh chill, Maddi. These things are just lolly water. I can have dozens of these without getting wasted. Here,’ she said, bending and handing Maddi a new bottle. ‘Down that. We should do one for one.’

  Maddi turned as a guy stepped up to them. ‘I’ve got some good stuff. Do you want any?’ he said, shouting above the music, plunging his hand into his pocket and withdrawing a handful of plastic zip-locks.

  Shaking her head, Maddi pulled Alex away, alarmed at the degree of interest she showed by leaning in for a closer look at the pills.

  For Maddi the night dragged, but for Alex the party seemed to be a mystical magical experience she could not get enough of.

  ‘Let’s go and sit on the lawn for a while,’ Maddi was saying when a voice called ‘Hey Holt’, and Colby Pallins and his motley crew of mates appeared.

  ‘What are they doing here?’ Alex said to Maddi, her eyes fixed on the boys staggering towards them. ‘They are seriously uncool. How did they make the A Team?’ She rolled her eyes. ‘What do you want, Colby?’ she said, one hand on her hip as she drank from her spritzer.

  ‘I just came over to say hello,’ he slurred.

  ‘He wants to fuck you again,’ one of his mates said, stumbling sideways when his own raucous laughter set him off-balance.

  ‘Bullshit. I’d rather stick my dick in a mincer than in her again,’ Colby said with a crooked sneer. ‘Nah, I just wanna say good work, Alex . . . Good work for getting rid of Fuller. He was the crappiest teacher in the school.’

  ‘What do you mean? Alex said.

  ‘He’s gone – as of yesterday. Kicked out by the principal because he was being too friendly with you and few hundred other girls.’ He studied Alex with glazed eyes. ‘Oh. Oh look . . . look at the sad face,’ he said with a theatrical pout. ‘You thought you were special, didn’t you, Alex? But you’re not. He was conning heaps of you suckers. I hope Fuller thought it was worth it. ’Cos I can tell him from experience it wasn’t. Not with you anyway.’ He staggered away in fits of laughter along with his sneering mates.

  ‘Ignore him, he is such a drop kick,’ Maddi said, frowning at Alex’s flinty expression.

  She threw back her head and drained her drink. ‘I know that. I want another spritzer.’

  ‘I’m having water next time,’ Maddi said, running after her, sensing something really bad was about to happen.

  ‘Water? Who drinks water at a party, for Chrissakes?’

  Once she had relaxed and spent some time on the dance floor with Alex, Maddi began to enjoy the party, despite the voices were growing louder, the laughter and screams more frequent. It must have been two or three hours since they arrived, Alex had downed yet another spritzer and Maddi was drinking water, safe in the knowledge that no one would know because no one could see, when Chloe staggered up, waving a bottle of vodka.

  ‘Cool party. Thanks for inviting us,’ Alex hollered.

  ‘Whatever. Have you seen Rose?’

  They shook their heads as Chloe staggered away again, swigging from the vodka bottle.

  ‘She can’t hold her grog,’ Alex slurred. ‘I’m going to the toilet. Come with me,’ she added, pulling Maddi by the sleeve before leading the way unsteadily to the house. Maddi was certain Alex had drunk more than enough alcohol, but was grateful she was still standing and had not vomited like so many others. Yet, a dogged sense of foreboding would not leave her be.

  ‘Which way to the toilet?’ Alex asked the security guy at the front door.

  He pointed to a narrow tiled passage. ‘First door on your left.’

  Maddi and Alex pushed through the door to find the floor-to-ceiling marble bathroom peacefully empty.

  ‘I’ll wait out here.’ Maddi made to step out into the passage again.

  Alex pulled her by the sleeve and pouted. ‘No, come in with me. Just turn around and don’t look . . . and lock the door!’ she said, pulling down her jeans.

  Maddi locked the bathroom door, faced the glass shower cubicle and tried not to listen to Alex peeing.

  ‘Are you having a good time?’ Alex slurred.

  ‘Sort of,’ Maddi said.

  ‘It’s not your thing, is it, Maddi?’ Alex said above the sound of the toilet flushing. ‘I’m sorry for making you come,’ she sniffed, breaking into tears as she washed her hands at the basin. ‘Maybe when we’re seventeen like Chloe and her mates we won’t feel so out of place.’ She wiped her hands and face on a towel.

  ‘I still don’t get why Chloe invited us,’ Maddi said yet again. ‘She hasn’t spoken to us all night.’

  Alex shrugged as she peered into the mirror, stretching her mouth open as she wiped mascara from under her eyes ‘She just wants lots of people here, to make sure it’s a good party, I guess.’ She hiccupped.

  ‘I need to get in there. It’s urgent!’ Rose’s voice boomed as she pounded on the door.

  As soon as Maddi opened the door Rose shoved her aside and stumbled to the toilet, leaned into the bowl. ‘Don’t go, Alex,’ she managed to slur, lifting her head briefly between retches. ‘I wanna talk . . . You can go, Maddi,’ she said.

  Pulling Alex towards the door, Maddi mouthed they should both leave, her gut churning. But Alex stood firm, shook her head and pulled her arm free of Maddi’s grasp. Maddi felt torn. She’d stayed with Alex this long, so it made no sense to leave her now. Besides where would she go? It was a jungle out there.

  Rose finally finished at the toilet. Kicking off her stilettos and staggering to the hand basin, she splashed water over her mouth before staggering to the empty supersized bath and climbing in, muttering something about feeling hot, stretching out to her full length and leaning back, closing her eyes.

  ‘Maybe you should go home, Rose,’ Maddi said, alarm bells ringing. ‘You don’t look good.’

  Rose’s face was the same colour as the white bath, her panda eyes streaked with mascara, splashes of dried and fresh vomit on her blouse and her breasts barely covered by her push-up bra and plunging neckline.

  ‘Why would I wanna go home?’

  ‘You need to sleep it off in your own bed,’ Maddi said.

  ‘Yeah right – so that fuck-head Frank can come into my room, into my bed, for godsakes, and fuck me then leave. Yeah, why don’t I go home? You know what I mean, don’t you, Alex?’ she said, her face twisting, coughing up tears like a four year old. ‘You understand, Alex. I know you do because I heard.’ She flung an arm over the edge of the bath, as though reaching out for Alex. ‘Your stepdad’s doing it to you. I heard. I bet he’s the same . . . If he’s not now, he will be . . . like telling you nice things about yourself that no one else ever told you, saying he thought about you all day, that he could not wait to be with you again. You know how it feels, don’t you, Alex? Until he stops wanting to do it to you and starts looking at other girls, like even your own fucking friends. But the words stop then. He doesn’t tell you it’s all washed up, he’s not straight about using you for what he wants until he gets sick of it and moves on. He doesn’t tell you that, you just know.’ Again her face contorted. ‘I just wanted him to tell me he loved me again. Just once. But he wouldn’t,’ she gasped between sobs.

  ‘You should tell your mother,’ Maddi said, horrified.

  ‘Oh, she doesn’t care. She’s pissed most of the time anyway. But I don’t care,’ she slurred softly before her head fell to the side and she was asleep.

  Maddi looked at Alex, who seemed frozen to the tiles where she sat, her cheeks pale and st
reaked with tears.

  ‘That could be me,’ Alex said in barely a whisper. She stared down at her hands in her lap then up at Maddi.

  Maddi had no words to say. She just sat there on the cold bathroom tiles, her legs crossed in front of her beside her friend, the silence palpable as they both stared at the girl they had feared so much as the school bully.

  ‘She should report him,’ Alex said. ‘She’s a mess. He should not be doing that to her or anyone else.’

  CHAPTER THIRTY-NINE

  The call came through on Laura’s mobile at 6 am Sunday morning, but she didn’t know until she woke at seven to find Cynthia’s message. So by the time she returned Cynthia’s call, both mother and daughter were in a state of turmoil.

  ‘Alex wants to report Greg.’

  ‘Are you sure?’ Laura said, still half-asleep, struck dumb by this sudden change in attitude.

  ‘Yes. She is absolutely certain.’

  ‘I’ll contact Noah to arrange an interview,’ she said.

  ‘Um, there is something else I need to tell you,’ Cynthia said, her voice trembling with emotion. ‘A girl from Alex’s school, Rose Singleton, told Alex last night that her step-father is having sex with her. Alex said Rose was very drunk. She may not even remember telling her, but Rose said she wanted Alex to know because she would understand.’ Laura could hear the sudden muffled clap of Cynthia’s hand against her mouth, the choking back of her tears.

  Laura sighed. ‘Noah will take a report from Alex about that as well.’

  She hung up the phone, her sense of triumph for Alex dampened only by the knowledge that the cycle was about to begin all over again with another perpetrator and yet another victim.

  It was not until she had showered and dressed that Noah received her message, messaging her back that he was about to interview Alex.

  An hour later, dressed in her uniform for the day, Laura left the change rooms wondering how Alex was coping with the interview. And two hours after that, Noah wandered through the door of the staffroom with his tie loosened, hair ruffled, his normally tanned complexion blanched and pale.

  ‘Was it a good interview?’ Laura said as Noah approached the coffee machine, his mouth twisting as he pulled off his tie.

  ‘We have a pretty sound case now.’ Noah said, watching the coffee flow from the spout into his cup as though suddenly retreating to another place.

  ‘Noah?’ Laura prompted.

  ‘Oh yeah . . . sorry. Alex did a really good job. She showed very reliable recall, including dates and other corroborating information. We’re looking sweet.’

  ‘So why do you seem to be so far away?’ Laura said.

  ‘The Northern Territory police have nabbed Shepherd. The Victorians are preparing to extradite him. I’m working out the logistics of Victoria’s arrest and our case against him here.’

  Laura privately celebrated this news because it may mean an increased chance of Alex and Cynthia staying for longer in what had become their home. ‘What about Rose Singleton’s disclosure,’ Laura asked.

  ‘Huh? Oh yeah . . . that sounds messy and sad,’ he said. ‘I’m sending a couple of my guys to interview her now. I hope she remembers what she said, given she was drunk at the time.’ He raised his eyebrows. ‘Anyway, onward and upward,’ he said striding from the room.

  Laura glanced at her phone as she swallowed the last mouthful of coffee. Phone calls like the one she was about to make were always bittersweet – bitter because it meant the end of something special, and sweet because she only made these phone calls when everything that needed to be achieved had been.

  ‘Hi Alex,’ Laura said when she answered her mobile. ‘I’m ringing to say how proud I am of what you did today.’

  ‘That’s OK,’ Alex said, fatigue evident in her voice.

  ‘Was the interview exhausting?’

  ‘It was OK. I like Noah. He’s funny. It was a bit hard but . . . I don’t know, it was easier because Mum and I are doing it together’

  ‘It was a great thing you did for Rose as well.’

  ‘She’ll probably hate me. But I get it now – it’s the only thing to do. No one but the police can stop her stepdad, just like no one but the police will stop Greg.’

  ‘You’ve worked so hard to deal with all this – Mr Martin and then Greg, the confusing attention from Roger Grenfell, the bad deal you got with that Pallins boy – all of it. I’m proud of what you’ve achieved in such a short time.’

  ‘Does that mean you won’t be ringing me again?’

  ‘Yes, it does. But that doesn’t mean you can’t ring me when you want to. And you’ll be seeing Dr O’Leary each week for a while yet, so I know I’m leaving you in very good hands.’

  ‘I’ll miss you,’ Alex said.

  ‘Me too.’

  Late that afternoon, when Laura arrived at Tara’s, it was as though she’d stepped into the wrong courtyard as she took in the sight of the timber outdoor setting, the white market umbrella and potted palms. She opened the screen door and stepped inside to the smell of freshly baked scones.

  ‘Lol’s here,’ Seth called from upstairs, clomping down the timber stairs and across the tiles. He wrapped his arms around Laura’s legs. Stepped back and looked up at her, his face suddenly serious. ‘My mum and dad have been fighting,’ he said in almost a whisper, his eyes wide.

  ‘Oh. Are they making up now?’ Laura whispered back, glancing up towards Tara’s bedroom.

  ‘No. Dad’s not here, just Mum. But they’re not making up. They argue all the time.’

  Laura shook her head. She wasn’t surprised by this news, given Tara’s stubborn streak.

  ‘Hi Mum,’ Tara said, suddenly appearing at the top of the staircase wearing jeans and a loose shirt.

  ‘Are you and Anthony fighting?’ Laura said.

  Tara rolled her eyes as she came down the stairs. ‘It’s not really a fight,’ she said over her shoulder, leading the way to the kitchen. ‘Anthony wants us to live with him, that’s all. And I like my independence. Besides I think it’s too early.’

  ‘Well, I think we should go and live there,’ Seth said, climbing onto a stool at the breakfast bar. ‘Dad has a gigantic house that he’s swinging cats in – and he has a dog as well.’ His eyes widened. ‘Mum, you and I should do rock paper scissors to decide if we move or not. And whoever gets scissors wins.’

  ‘That’s not how it works, dude,’ Tara said, withdrawing a tray of scones from the oven.

  ‘This place looks almost under control,’ Laura said, glancing around at the distinct lack of clutter, clean benches, vacuumed floors.

  ‘That’s because I now have a cleaner,’ Tara said. ‘Anthony insisted. I must admit it makes life a lot less stressful.’

  ‘Mum even likes cooking now,’ Seth said, nodding.

  ‘It’s a miracle,’ Laura said, throwing up her hands and helping Tara carry the coffee and scones outside.

  ‘I’ve just realised I have sat down in this courtyard before now,’ Laura said, noticing for the first time the neighbour’s jasmine draped across the top of the stone fence.

  ‘I should have bought an outdoor setting years ago.’ Tara bit into a scone smothered with raspberry jam and cream. ‘Seth and I spend a lot of time out here now, don’t we, dude?’ she said, licking cream from her top lip.

  Seth nodded. ‘We spend time out here with Dad as well. We do really cool things. He wants to take me mountain climbing but Mum won’t let him. He said Mum could come too but she won’t. I think she’s scared of mountains.’ Seth looked at his mother.

  ‘Maybe do the mountain thing when you’re bigger,’ Laura said, sipping her coffee.

  ‘I’m way big enough now. Dad says he’ll talk Mum into it,’ Seth said, his feet knocking rhythmically against the leg of his chair. ‘Claude is coming mountain-climbing as well.’

  ‘Claude is Anthony’s son,’ Tara said to Laura.

  ‘His other son,’ Seth correct
ed. ‘But we have different mothers.’

  ‘You’re learning so much, Seth,’ Laura said, placing an arm around him and squeezing. ‘You’re so very smart.’

  ‘That’s because I eat my breakfast.’ He jumped up from his seat and ran inside, the squeal and slap of the screen door quickly followed by the sound of his feet thumping up the stairs.

  ‘Where are you going, Seth?’ Tara called.

  ‘I’ve finished. Thanks for the scones and milk, Mum,’ he called from the top of the stairs.

  ‘I’ve arranged for a couple of agents to value the house over the next week or so,’ Laura said, wiping her fingers with a paper serviette.

  ‘Why? Are you selling?’ Tara said, frowning.

  ‘I’m not sure. I’ve crunched the numbers, and I could buy Simon out with my superannuation but that means retiring on meagre savings. If we do sell, I could buy a smaller place a bit further back from the beach. That way I won’t have to leave Ackland Bay.’

  ‘Have you talked to Simon about this?’

  ‘Yeah. Right. We’ve had a productive heartfelt discussion on the matter . . . No, as always I am acting purely on assumption, and I assume he’ll want be closer to the city, especially since he seems to have a new love interest.’

  ‘Ah, you mean Angel,’ Tara said with a knowing look.

  Laura frowned. ‘Who’s Angel?’

  ‘The little nurse with the black bob,’ Tara said.

  ‘No, I mean Patrice – the big nurse with the blond curls.’

  ‘Oh my gosh,’ Tara said, shaking her head. ‘Why am I not surprised? I wonder if he’s deliberately targeting nurses, or if he’s simply being opportunistic because there are dozens under his nose.’

  ‘Who knows? Probably both, I would imagine,’ Laura said.

  CHAPTER FORTY

  Laura left Tara and Seth knowing she would finally be meeting Anthony at dinner next week. The chill of the early evening melted away in the warmth of her car as she took her place on the expressway among peak-hour traffic. By the time she exited, towards the sun setting over the sea, leaving the traffic behind, she was ready. It was time for her to take control over her destiny.