Stay Well Soon

by Penny Tangey

  •Party

  •Movie

  •Extra Sport

  •Free Time

  •SingStar

  Morgan turns to me and I turn to her and we both say, ‘SingStar!’

  I can’t believe we didn’t think of it ourselves. A SingStar day would be so much fun.

  Charlotte is putting her lunch box in her bucket. ‘Are you going to vote for SingStar too?’ she asks.

  ‘Yes,’ we say.

  ‘Good,’ she says. ‘That means us three and you two are definitely voting for SingStar. So that’s five votes already.’

  The vote is not until the end of the day, though, which seems like a long time to wait.

  We do silent reading before lunch. Morgan leans over and whispers, ‘The waiting is killing me.’

  Mr Parks shushes her. Morgan is always exaggerating.

  At lunchtime Morgan and I talk about SingStar. Apparently, Morgan used to play it all the time at her cousin’s house. I’ve only played it once, at April’s.

  Julian is walking towards us with his lunch box. Instead of going back into the portable like normal he stops in front of us.

  ‘All the boys want to have a movie day,’ he says.

  ‘I’m voting for SingStar,’ says Morgan.

  ‘Me too,’ I say.

  ‘But we want the movie day.’

  ‘You can vote for the movie day,’ says Morgan. ‘We’re not stopping you.’

  ‘If we don’t get the movie day, we’re going to be really angry.’ Julian kicks our bench. Then he limps up the portable steps.

  We have art after lunch. Miss Ellis asks for volunteers to get paint from the storeroom. We all put up our hands but she chooses me and Teegan.

  Teegan and I walk from the art portable to the main school building together.

  ‘Have you decided what to vote for?’ I ask.

  ‘I don’t think I’ll vote,’ Teegan says.

  ‘Why not?’

  ‘Well, the thing that I want to vote for isn’t what everyone else wants. So I won’t vote at all.’

  ‘What did you want to vote for?’

  ‘Extra sport.’

  That makes sense. Teegan loves T-ball.

  ‘But I know that everyone else wants the movie day,’ she says.

  We are at the main building now, and you’re not allowed to talk in the corridors. We go to the storeroom and collect the paint pots.

  When we get back to the art room Miss Ellis tells us that we’re doing Free Expression.

  Morgan and I go to the supplies post together for paint.

  I whisper to her, ‘Teegan’s not going to vote because Julian told her not to.’

  ‘He can’t do that!’ says Morgan.

  ‘He’s done it. Now Teegan’s not going to vote for extra sport like she wanted to.’

  Morgan and I go back to the tables with our paint. Morgan starts work straight away, but I don’t know what to paint.

  Miss Ellis comes over. ‘Stevie, there’s not a lot of Free Expression on a blank piece of paper, is there?’

  It is not a real question.

  I dip my brush in the black paint and paint a tail.

  Miss Ellis asks Morgan, ‘What are you working on?’

  ‘A sign,’ says Morgan.

  Morgan has painted alternate letters in green and purple to say, ‘every vote counts’.

  I suddenly know what I should paint. I turn the tail I painted into the ‘t’ in ‘vote’ and write, ‘your vote, your voice’ in different-coloured letters.

  Morgan and I find bits of old cardboard and sticky-tape our pieces of paper to them to make them stronger. We stick the signs to two rulers and we are finished.

  At afternoon recess we stick our signs into the space between the slats in our bench. Some people are not going to like this.

  Julian and Tim come over and stare at us.

  ‘Freaks,’ says Julian.

  ‘Sticks and stones,’ says Morgan, but too quietly for them to hear.

  ‘What was that, freak?’ asks Tim.

  ‘Nothing,’ says Morgan.

  They walk away.

  Charlotte, April and Brianna see us when they come back to the classroom. They stop to look at our signs.

  ‘Have you heard about what Julian’s been doing?’ asks Morgan.

  ‘Yes,’ says April. ‘It sucks.’

  ‘But don’t worry,’ says Charlotte. ‘We’re going to tell all the girls that if they don’t vote for SingStar, they can’t come to my birthday.’

  ‘People should vote how they want,’ says Morgan. ‘That’s the whole point of voting.’

  April rolls her eyes. Of course she doesn’t understand democracy.

  Mr Parks is on yard duty. He comes over to us, ‘Ah, so these are the placards Miss Ellis told me about?’

  He does so too love Miss Ellis.

  ‘People should vote how they want,’ says Morgan.

  ‘Who thinks they shouldn’t?’ Mr Parks asks.

  He is trying to make us dob, but we are not falling for it.

  ‘Never mind,’ he says. ‘Good luck, girls.’

  When we go back into class it is time for the vote. Mr Parks does a big talk about how no-one should be pressured to vote for anything. Mr Parks has decided on a secret ballot to make sure there will be no pressure and the class treat will truly reflect the will of the students.

  Mr Parks gives us all a piece of paper with the five options. We have to tick the item that we want.

  I put my arms around the paper to hide what I’m ticking. I tick the box next to SingStar and fold the piece of paper over.

  Mr Parks comes around and collects our ballots.

  He says, ‘You can talk among yourselves.’

  But we are all quiet.

  Mr Parks takes the votes back to his desk, sorts them into piles and counts them. Then he stands up and walks over to the board.

  ‘The people have spoken,’ he says.

  Next to Party he writes: 2 votes.

  Next to Movie he writes: 7 votes. There are ten boys in the class, so there should have been ten votes for the movie day.

  ‘Um-ah,’ says Brianna, which is exactly what I was thinking. Mr Parks gives Brianna a look.

  Next to Extra Sport Mr Parks writes: 6 votes.

  Next to Free Time he writes: 1 vote.

  Next to SingStar he writes: 8 votes.

  SingStar has the most votes! We won!

  Julian calls out, ‘We should vote again. Some people didn’t vote properly.’

  Mr Parks says the votes were fair and square and we will have our SingStar day next week on Friday!

  I hope Mr Parks doesn’t sing a song about loving Miss Ellis.

  Lara isn’t in the Kidz Space that afternoon. I go to the desk to speak to the nurse.

  ‘Can I help you?’ she asks.

  ‘Do you know where Lara is? She usually comes to the Kidz Space with me.’

  ‘She’s in her room today, Stevie. Do you want me to tell her you were looking for her?’

  ‘Yes please.’

  ‘Maybe you could visit her when she’s feeling better.’

  ‘That would be good.’ I really want to tell Lara that democracy can work. That even though we’re not getting to go horse riding, which would be the best treat ever, we’re still going to do something really fun.

  I go to Rhys’s room but he is asleep. Mum is reading her book but there’s a newspaper on the windowsill. I pick it up and look at the first page. A man had his arm bitten off by a shark but he still likes sharks. A girl died because her mum left her in the garage for three weeks. I’m glad my mum isn’t like that. A kitten was saved from the top of an electricity pole by firemen in a cherry picker. I would like to know how it g
ot up there in the first place.

  Mum finally decides that it’s time to go home. At the lift Lara’s mum is waiting too.

  ‘Hello, Miranda. Hello, Stevie,’ she says.

  ‘Hi, Sarah,’ says Mum.

  ‘Rhys is due to go home soon, isn’t he?’ says Lara’s mum as the lift door closes.

  ‘Hopefully in the next few days,’ says Mum.

  The lift doors open and heaps more people get in. I am being squashed. The doors start to close again. Then a leg sticks through the doorway. The doors open. It is a man carrying a big box of fruit. He manages to squeeze in and I’m even more squashed than before. The lady standing beside me is poking her bag into me.

  I want to get out of here. I imagine riding Atta Girl through the mountains. We would ride along ridges, into gullies and through raging rivers until we finally reached the top of the mountain. We would look out on the view of the trees and valleys below with a great sense of achievement.

  ‘For goodness sake!’ Lara’s mum says to my mum. ‘Who brings a box of fruit into a crowded lift?’

  ‘Tell me about it,’ says my mum.

  The man with the box of fruit says, ‘If it wasn’t for your fat arses there’d be plenty of room.’

  Mum gets really mad. It is really loud if you shout in a lift. Atta Girl wouldn’t like loud noises. That is what would be so great about being on the mountain. It would be so peaceful.

  Finally, the doors open and everyone pushes getting out. I think the man with the box of fruit is scared of Mum because he won’t look at her and he walks off really quickly.

  We sit on a bench outside the lift. Mum starts crying and Lara’s mum pats her shoulder. She says it’s bound to get too much sometimes.

  ‘I feel like such a psycho,’ says Mum.

  ‘Don’t worry about it,’ says Sarah. ‘It happens to all of us sometimes.’

  Mum takes a deep breath and says, ‘I’m fine now.’

  ‘Are you sure you’re right to drive?’

  ‘Sure. I’m okay, really. Thanks.’

  ‘Alright then. You look after yourself. Give me a call when you get home if you need to.’

  We walk to the car together and Lara’s mum waves as we drive away.

  Mum bangs the steering wheel with her hand. ‘I am such an idiot, making a fuss in front of Sarah,’ says Mum. ‘With everything that’s going on.’

  ‘What to do you mean?’ I say.

  But Mum just shakes her head.

  ‘I didn’t know you were friends with Lara’s mum,’ I say.

  ‘We have coffee together when you’re at school,’ says Mum. ‘How do you know Lara and her mum anyway?’

  ‘I see Lara in the Kidz Space sometimes. Isn’t it funny how you’re friends with her mum and I’m friends with Lara, but we didn’t realise?!’

  ‘Yeah.’

  At home I draw about the day. I think Rhys would like this drawing too.

  That reminds me. I go to Rhys’s room. I don’t want to take all the gold coins, because that would be too obvious. So I take a handful of silver coins. When I get back to my room I count them: three dollars and fifteen cents. I put the money in my top drawer. But maybe that isn’t safe enough. I find my favourite sock, which has a picture of a horse on it, and I put the money inside and tie a knot at the top. I push the sock to the back of the drawer.

  It is good to be able to use my favourite sock again. I lost the other sock in the wash. Dad Ben says where lost socks go is one of the great mysteries of life.

  I do my teeth and get into bed. I call out for Mum to come and say goodnight to me.

  She sits on the side of the bed. ‘Stevie,’ she says, ‘I was just talking to Lara’s mum on the phone. She says you spend a lot of time with Lara in the Kidz Space.’

  I shrug. ‘I guess so. I like her.’

  ‘The thing is, Stevie, I think Lara is too old for you.’

  ‘What do you mean?’

  ‘I mean, she’s a teenager, and you’re still in primary school. She’s too mature for you, love. She’s probably interested in things that you’re not ready for.’

  ‘I don’t think so. We both love horses and drawing.’

  ‘I don’t want to argue about this, Stevie. Lara is too old for you. How about you concentrate on visiting Rhys at the hospital instead of Lara.’

  Mum kisses me on the head and goes out.

  I don’t understand what Mum is going on about. I know some teenagers don’t like primary school kids. Like how Rhys stopped playing with me when he went to high school and started being friends with stupid old Cameron. But Lara isn’t like that. Anyway, we are friends because we have things in common, like loving horses.

  I am not going to stop being friends with Lara, I don’t care what Mum says.

  8

  Mustering

  Rhys is coming home next week so Mum says I have to help clean up his room today. What a way to spend a Sunday.

  Mum takes the sheets off Rhys’s bed and puts all the dirty tissues in the bin. I vacuum. There are spider webs in the window and a big black spider crouching in the corner. I suck up the webs and the spider goes up too. I don’t like the idea of the spider going past my hands in the vacuum cleaner tube. I wonder if it is still alive. Maybe it will live in the dusty bag, spinning webs and thinking of revenge.

  Mum puts a new doona cover on. It is the one with the motorbikes on it. It matches his savings jar.

  When Mum and I finish we have a Wagon Wheel each.

  I tell Mum about how many marbles we got in the jar at school. She is really happy for us.

  But there is something that I can’t stop thinking about. ‘Mum,’ I say.

  ‘Yes, Stevie?’

  ‘You know Rhys’s savings jar?’

  ‘Yes,’ she says.

  ‘Nothing.’

  Morgan and I practise for SingStar day at recess on Monday. Morgan printed out the words from Beyoncé’s song ‘Halo’. Morgan likes it because she thinks the song is about loving someone who is dead, and Morgan loves thinking about dead people.

  Morgan asks me what I did on the weekend. I tell her nothing, which is pretty much true. She looks at me like she doesn’t believe me but at least she doesn’t shout again.

  I am lying in bed but I can’t sleep. Angel is in my bed and is snoring her head off but I can still hear Rhys being sick in the bathroom.

  He came home from the hospital today. Mum made him a special tea, mini-pies and wedges, but he couldn’t eat any. I got to have five pies to myself. Rhys still doesn’t have to go to school but he is meant to do an hour of homework every day. He will never learn anything in that time. Maybe he will be held back like Brendan James. I do not want someone from my family to be held back because people can be mean about it, even though Brendan is really good at other things, like making cars out of matchsticks.

  When we picked Rhys up from the hospital after school, I wanted to visit Lara but Mum said I wasn’t allowed because I had to help her pack up Rhys’s things, even though there was hardly anything to do.

  Dad Ben called after we arrived home. Rhys was too sick to talk to him so I talked to Dad Ben for a whole hour. He told me about a muster he went on. It sounds like one of my dream jobs. Maybe when I’m on holidays from being a vet and a horse breeder and a chemist I will go mustering. At night I will sleep under the stars next to Atta Girl, who will let me know if the campfire is going out.

  One bad thing about having Rhys at home is that we all have to wash our hands all the time. You have to wash your hands before you eat anything, even just an apple. If we aren’t careful then Rhys could get even more sick.

  I am going to get up and do a drawing like I’m supposed to when I can’t sleep and can’t stop thinking and thinking.

  9

  Pure White Thoroughbred

  Morgan and I pl
ay Royal Families at lunchtime. I am being Duchess Kate and Morgan is being the Queen. She is not being very nice to me but it is only the game. We make spiky crowns from the prickly grass. We are laughing a lot.

  I suggest that we pretend to ride our royal horses. My horse is called Pippa after Duchess Kate’s sister. She is a pure white thoroughbred and she is beautifully behaved. Morgan doesn’t want to have a horse though, so it is just me galloping.

  Brianna comes over. ‘What are you guys doing?’

  ‘Nothing,’ I say, just as Morgan says, ‘Playing Royal Families.’

  ‘Can I play?’ Brianna asks.

  Morgan looks at me. ‘Where are April and Charlotte?’

  ‘At the tuckshop. They’ve been gone for ages.’

  ‘You can be Prince William,’ says Morgan.

  I don’t want to marry Brianna, but you can’t have everything you want in life.

  Brianna is quite good at the game. We go hunting in Africa. Brianna wants to act out the honeymoon, but I don’t want to. Brianna likes to make everything rude.

  Teegan comes along and wants to play. We let her be Prince Charles. Then Rory Tickner comes over and we let him be Prince Harry. We don’t usually play games with the boys, but Rory has good ideas, like going to Balmoral Castle.

  Morgan is very funny as the Queen. Every time one of us has a problem, she says, ‘Shoot them all’, in a very posh voice.

  When I get home from school I go to say hello to Rhys in his room, but he is asleep in his bed. I don’t want to wake him up, so I don’t take anything from his savings jar.

  He is very pale and he looks small in his bed. I try to remember what he looked like before he got sick. He used to be very strong. He could hold me down on the ground using just one hand while he put dirt in my mouth.

  I don’t miss going to the hospital but I wish I could talk to Lara.

  *

  Finally, it is Friday and SingStar day has arrived. At lunchtime Morgan and I stand on the bench and look through the portable window at Mr Parks setting up the PlayStation. I don’t think it is going very well.

  ‘Maybe we should help him?’ says Morgan.

  We go into the portable and we hear Mr Parks say, ‘Damn!’ Then he looks up and says, ‘Sorry, girls, I didn’t know you were there.’ He has gone bright red.