by Penny Tangey
‘So do you live around here or are you just visiting?’ Lara asks Dad Ben.
‘Well, I’ve been working up in Queensland recently. I’ve come back for Grandparents and Friends Day at Stevie’s school.’
‘What’s that?’ asks Lara.
‘It’s just a thing,’ I say. ‘We all have to dress up for our Australian history project and do a presentation for all the Grandparents and Friends. And then there’ll be a sausage sizzle and a craft stall.’
‘Is this the one where you’re going to do your suffragette presentation?’
‘Yes.’
‘I wish I could go,’ says Lara.
On the way out of the hospital I say to Dad Ben, ‘Don’t tell Mum we went to see Lara’.
‘Why not?’
‘She doesn’t want me to be friends with her because she’s a teenager.’
‘I don’t like lying to your mum, Stevie.’
‘Please?’
He doesn’t answer.
That night I can’t sleep again. I keep thinking about visiting Lara. I want her to come to Grandparents and Friends Day. I just don’t know how I could keep it a secret from Mum. Also, Morgan would keep asking Lara questions about having cancer, which would be really embarrassing.
I will get up for a glass of water. Maybe Dad Ben and Mum won’t notice if I sit down and watch the television very quietly.
Mum and Dad Ben are talking in the lounge room. I sit on the floor in the corridor. I know I’m not supposed to eavesdrop, but I always do. That was how I found out that Dad Ben was going to Toowoomba because he couldn’t get a job here and Mum was sick of it.
‘But they’re friends!’ says Dad Ben.
‘I just think it’s too sad for her,’ says Mum.
‘Life is sad. She already knows about that with Rhys being sick. You can’t protect her from it, it’s already happened.’
Mum’s voice gets louder. ‘Don’t compare Rhys with Lara. Rhys is going to get better. It’s a completely different situation.’
Then Mum is crying. I go to the bathroom and have a drink from the tap.
It’s not fair that Lara can’t come to Grandparents and Friends Day. We all need something to look forward to. And Lara is my friend.
I go back to the lounge room and open the door.
Mum and Dad Ben look up as I come in.
‘I want to invite Lara to Grandparents and Friends Day. She wants to come.’
‘It’s not that easy,’ says Mum.
‘Why?’
‘Because she’s very sick, Stevie.’
‘So is Rhys. And you want his friends to visit him.’
‘But it’s different with Lara.’
‘Why is it different?’ I ask. But it is not a proper question. I know the answer. ‘I know she’s going to die. But so is everyone.’
Dad Ben picks me up after school again the next day. Morgan is getting used to seeing his motorbike. We go to the bakery cafe and Dad Ben has a coffee. I have a chocolate milkshake. It is delicious.
We are sitting in the window and Charlotte and her mum walk past. She sees Dad Ben and waves. He waves back. So of course Charlotte’s mum comes inside.
Charlotte stays outside reading the noticeboard.
‘Hello, Ben!’ says Charlotte’s mum.
Dad Ben stands up and they kiss each other on the cheek. ‘Hello, Joy,’ he says.
‘I didn’t know you were back from Queensland,’ she says. ‘Charlotte never tells me anything!’
As if Charlotte would know. As if she talks to me anymore.
‘Yeah, no, I’ve only just got back. I arrived on the weekend,’ says Dad Ben.
‘It must be great for Miranda having you back. It’s been hard.’
‘It’s great to see everyone again,’ says Dad Ben.
‘What were you doing up there?’
‘This and that. Working.’
‘It’s been such a hard time. Such a hard time. I haven’t seen Miranda around recently, she must be terribly busy, and Stevie hasn’t come over to play for a while. How is Miranda?’
‘She’s doing well. You know what she’s like – never complains.’
‘Yes, but sometimes it’s the tough ones who fall apart.’
‘Well, so far she’s in one piece.’
Dad Ben sits down.
Charlotte’s mum bends over to get closer to him. ‘And how is Rhys?’ she whispers. ‘I heard, well, I don’t like to say in front of . . .’ She nods towards me.
‘He’s having chemo, it’s going really well,’ says Dad Ben. ‘We’re just going to the hospital now.’
‘Well, that’s good. But it’s hard isn’t it?’
‘We’re doing pretty well.’
Outside, Charlotte is getting impatient. She is staring through the window at her mum with her arms crossed.
‘Well, I’d better keep going. This one runs me ragged,’ she says, pointing at Charlotte. ‘We’re off to buy more earring hooks before the shop closes. I’m sure I’ll see you again.’ She winks at Dad Ben. ‘And, Stevie, you must come over for a play again sometime. You still haven’t met Cinnamon, have you?’
Charlotte’s mum gets her handbag jammed in the door on the way out and the bells jangle like mad as she yanks it through.
‘That woman,’ says Dad Ben. ‘Joy, not. She should be called Misery.’
At the hospital Lara is in bed and her mum is sitting beside her in the chair.
Dad Ben introduces himself. ‘I’m Ben,’ he says. ‘I’m staying with Stevie’s family at the moment.’
‘Nice to meet you – I’m Sarah,’ says Lara’s mum.
‘Stevie has something that she’d like to ask Lara,’ Dad Ben says.
‘Do you want to come to Grandparents and Friends day?’ I say. ‘It doesn’t matter if you don’t. It’s probably going to be really boring and stuff.’
But Lara smiles. ‘That would be great!’
‘Okay. That’s interesting,’ says Lara’s mum. ‘How about you and I go for a little walk?’ she says to Dad Ben.
‘Sure,’ says Dad Ben, and they go outside.
‘She’s hopeless,’ says Lara. ‘She never lets me do anything.’
‘Do you think you’ll be allowed to come?’
‘Hopefully. But by the way, who is that Ben guy?’ says Lara.
‘Oh, he’s my Dad Ben. He was away but now he’s back. But it might just be for a visit, I’m not sure.’
‘He’s hot!’
I don’t want to talk about this; he’s just my Dad Ben.
‘Will you draw me another horse?’ I ask her.
Lara draws a picture of me riding Buttercup.
Dad Ben and Lara’s mum come back in.
‘So can I go?’ asks Lara.
‘Alright,’ says Lara’s mum. ‘We’ll ask the doctors, and if they say it’s okay and you’re well enough on Friday, we’ll see.’
*
At recess on Thursday, Morgan, Teegan and I talk about Grandparents and Friends Day. Teegan’s gran is coming from Wodonga. Teegan says when she goes to visit them in Wodonga they walk across the bridge over the Murray River and in the middle you can have one foot in New South Wales and one in Victoria. It is one of my dreams to go interstate.
‘Who are you bringing?’ Morgan asks me.
‘Dad Ben,’ I say. ‘And I might bring someone else too, but I’m not sure yet.’
‘Who?’
‘I’m not sure if she can come yet.’
‘But who is it?’
‘You’ll find out.’
‘Fine, keep your secret,’ says Morgan.
Teegan and I look at each other, wondering if Morgan is going to get in a huff again.
‘Anyway, I thought it could only be old people,’ says Morgan. ‘And
Ben’s not old.’
‘I didn’t know that was the rule,’ I say.
‘Well it is Grandparents and Friends Day. They only added the Friends part for kids who don’t have grandparents. But you’re still supposed to bring an old person as a friend. Like how Rory’s bringing Mrs Potter from the butcher’s shop.’
Mrs Potter is very old. She is wrinkly and doesn’t understand the internet. Maybe Morgan is right.
*
In silent reading I can’t enjoy my book because I am too busy worrying about Grandparents and Friends Day. Even though Lara is in a wheelchair, she doesn’t look old, she just looks sick. Maybe Lara will be the only young person there and the only person in a wheelchair. And Dad Ben is not an old person either. He is very strong. But Dad Ben has come all the way from Queensland for Grandparents and Friends Day. They are both really looking forward to it.
At lunchtime I go out to the bench with Morgan.
‘Where’s your lunch?’ she asks.
I slap my forehead. ‘Oh, I’m so silly – I forgot it,’ I say.
I go back into the portable. Mr Parks is wiping off the board.
I stand behind him.
He turns around. ‘Can I help you with something, Stevie?’ he asks.
‘I forgot my lunch.’
‘Okay, go and get it then.’
I get out my mandarin and fruit roll-up from my bucket. I walk back to the door. I have nearly missed my chance.
‘Um, Mr Parks?’ I say.
‘Yes, Stevie?’
‘You know Grandparents and Friends Day?’
‘Yes, I do know it.’
‘Well, who can you bring? I mean, if you’re bringing a Friend instead of a Grandparent, do they have to be old?’
‘You can bring whoever you want, as long as it’s okay with your parents,’ says Mr Parks.
‘Oh. That’s good. I thought it was just for old people.’
‘No. Not everyone is going to be old.’ Then he adds, ‘Although, it depends what you mean by old.’
‘What do you mean?’
‘Well, am I old?’
‘Yes. I mean no. You are old, but you’re not grandparent old,’ I say.
‘Well, not everyone at Grandparents and Friends Day will be grandparent old,’ he says. ‘Brendan’s bringing his Uncle Liam and he’s my age. Liam and I went to school together.’
I’ve never thought about Mr Parks going to school before. I think maybe he might have been like Rory when he was at school.
I walk down the steps of the portable. Then I think about Lara in her wheelchair. She won’t be able to get up the steps.
I go back into the classroom.
‘Yes, Stevie?’
‘One of the people I’m bringing has a wheelchair.’
‘That’s not a problem.’
‘But she won’t be able to get up the portable steps.’
‘Good point. I can arrange a ramp for the day. But thanks for letting me know.’
When I go back out to the bench Morgan is talking to Kaylee.
‘You took forever,’ says Morgan. ‘What were you doing?’
Questions, questions, questions.
For the last class Mr Parks gives us Free Work Time. It is like Free Time except you have to do actual work. Most of the class are putting the finishing touches on their history projects. Morgan and I don’t really have anything to do. We finished ours weeks ago.
‘We could do a black outline for the bubble writing,’ I say.
‘Nah, that will make it too heavy,’ says Morgan.
‘We could practise our talk again?’ I say.
But when we start to practise we just end up laughing because we have practised it so many times. Morgan starts doing a funny voice and I can’t stop laughing. Mr Parks tells us to quieten down or Free Work Time will be over.
At the end of the class Mr Parks announces the order for the project presentations. Morgan and I have to go first. Mr Parks did not even draw names out of a hat, he just made a decision. It is not fair, so Morgan and I go to talk to him at the end of the day.
‘Why do Stevie and I have to go first?’ asks Morgan.
‘I don’t want to hear any whingeing, girls,’ says Mr Parks. ‘The decision has been made.’
‘But it’s not fair,’ says Morgan, even though Mr Parks has said that he doesn’t want to hear any whingeing.
‘Girls, I’ve put you first because I know you will do a good job. You’re the best-prepared group.’
We are still not sure.
‘Look at it this way: you’ll get your presentation over and done with first, and then you can enjoy the rest of the day.’
I can tell Mr Parks is not going to change his mind.
‘It’s still not fair,’ says Morgan.
‘Come on,’ I say. ‘Let’s go.’
Morgan follows me out of the classroom. ‘At least we will get it over and done with,’ I say.
Morgan still can’t see the bright side but what can we do?
16
Friends
Dad Ben takes me to school on Friday but he doesn’t just drop me off as usual. Today he is coming to Grandparents and Friends Day.
Miss Ellis greets all the Grandparents and Friends at the registration table.
Dad Ben says, ‘Hello, I’m here with Stevie.’
‘That’s great,’ says Miss Ellis. ‘I’ll just get you to fill in this name tag. Sorry, I know it’s a bit daggy.’
‘No worries,’ says Dad Ben.
Miss Ellis laughs even though Dad Ben hasn’t said anything funny.
Dad Ben uses a texta to fill in his name tag. It says Hi, my name is Ben.
‘So, do you live in the area?’ asks Miss Ellis.
‘Kind of,’ says Dad Ben. ‘I’ve been working up in Queensland recently.’
‘How interesting!’ says Miss Ellis. ‘I’m thinking of going to Cooktown at Easter next year.’
‘It’s amazing country.’
‘Dad Ben,’ I say, ‘come and I’ll show you where Morgan and I sit near the portables.’
‘Okay, Stevie. No need to stretch my shirt.’
Dad Ben and I go to the portables.
‘This is where Morgan and I sit,’ I say, pointing at the portables bench. ‘And sometimes Kaylee and Teegan. But that’s just a new thing, we’re not in a group with them or anything. But sometimes they need extra people for Kidnappers or something and so they come here and we talk. And sometimes we play with Rory and Brendan. And everyone has to walk past here to put their lunch boxes back so we see other people too.’
‘That’s good,’ says Dad Ben. ‘Variety is the spice of life.’
I jump up on the bench to look through the portable window. Mr Parks is in there. He is writing on the board.
‘That’s Mr Parks, our teacher,’ I say.
‘Do you like him?’
‘Yes! Some people don’t like him because we don’t do as much sport as Mr Lynch’s class, but some of Mr Lynch’s class hardly know any maths, and anyway, we are supposed to learn things at school, that is the whole point, you can’t just play rounders all day, and Mr Parks makes maths fun.’
‘Hi, Stevie!’
Morgan has arrived. ‘Hi, Morgan!’
Two old people are standing beside Morgan. They must be Morgan’s grandparents, but they don’t look like lawyers. It is silly, but I was expecting them to have white wigs and black capes.
‘Nan and Pop,’ says Morgan, ‘this is where Stevie and I sit at lunchtimes and recess.’
‘And sometimes Kaylee and Teegan too,’ I say.
‘Yeah,’ says Morgan. ‘But they’re not in the group. It’s just that sometimes they need more people for Kidnappers, which is this game that Teegan invented and it’s really fun but not as much fun a
s Murderers will be.’ Morgan explains all the rules of Kidnappers. Then she starts telling them about why her game Murderers would be even better than Kidnappers. Morgan talks too much.
‘Stevie, we should probably go back to the gate in case Lara arrives,’ says Dad Ben. He explains to Morgan’s grandparents, ‘Stevie has another friend coming today’.
‘So many friends!’ says Morgan’s nan. ‘Why don’t we come to the gate with you? Keep telling me about this game Murderers,’ she says to Morgan.
At the gate Miss Ellis is busy meeting the other Grandparents and Friends, but I’m still suspicious of her. Morgan keeps talking about school and pointing out things like the T-ball area and the monkey nut tree. I am keeping my eyes out for a yellow taxi van because that would be Lara and her mum, but then the bell rings for assembly and they still haven’t arrived.
We all line up in our classes on the basketball court while the Grandparents and Friends stand at the side and watch. We sing the national anthem. Mrs Anselma does a talk. There is no Certificate of Recognition for Leadership today because it is not a normal assembly.
When Mrs Anselma stops talking we have to do the bush dancing as a demonstration of what we’ve been learning. And Miss Ellis comes around and makes us go in boy/girl pairs. I am paired with Rory. Charlotte is next to me and she is paired with Julian. She doesn’t want to hold his hand because of boy germs but Miss Ellis makes them.
We do the heel-and-toe polka. Rory is a good dancer. When we get to the ‘swing your partner round and round’ part it’s like I’m flying. Then we have to change partners and I am with Julian. When we get to the ‘left-hand clap’ bit he hits me really hard and it hurts. So for the ‘right-hand clap’ I hit him as hard as I can too. After the ‘both-hand claps’ my hands sting. When we swing round and round we try not to touch each other at all. Dancing with Julian is not fun.
Luckily, we only have to do four rounds of the heel-and-toe polka and then we get to stop.
Mrs Anselma says we should meet up with our Grandparents and Friends and take them back to our classrooms.
I look over to where I left Dad Ben and I see that Lara and her mum have arrived too. I can tell people are staring at her, because she’s in a wheelchair and because she looks so thin.
‘Hi, Stevie!’ says Lara. ‘Great dancing!’