About Hana

by K T Bowes

Chapter 38

  Bodie picked Hana up from work the next afternoon and drove her to the garage on Greenwood Street. Hana’s heart sank at the alarmed look on Brian’s face as they pulled onto the forecourt. “Oh.” She grabbed her son’s arm and Bodie raised his eyebrow in suspicion. Hana swallowed. “I kinda made up a boyfriend,” she said.

  Bodie’s eyes narrowed. “He hit on you?”

  Hana squirmed. “Not exactly. More of a misunderstanding. Trouble is, I described you.”

  Bodie’s eyes widened in horror and he shrank back against his seat. “Mum! That’s gross.”

  “It wasn’t you, someone just like you.” Hana slapped his leg. “It popped out and then it seemed like a good idea. How was I meant to know you’d meet him?”

  Brian walked towards the car and Hana whimpered high in her throat. “Shoot me. Shoot me now.”

  With a snort, Bodie jumped out and shook Brian’s hand. His lips struggled against laughter and Hana endured her son’s embellished tales about their incredible relationship. “Stop it!” she hissed, jabbing Bodie in the back as he joked about sugar mummies. Brian shot sideways glances at Hana until her discomfort levels went skywards.

  Bodie peered in the Honda’s side window and hid his smirk at the flowers and chocolates adorning the passenger seat. “I’ll leave you to it,” he announced, kissing Hana on the cheek. “See you at home. Darling.”

  Hana extracted herself from Brian’s curiosity and drove to Achilles Rise, thrilled with her new vehicle and not disappointed by its performance. Bodie met her in the kitchen, sniggering at her with his face in the fridge. “Wow, Mum. I never knew how you felt about me. There’s a law against that kind of thing though. I’ll have to decline.”

  “Stop.” Hana elbowed him in the ribs. “I started off describing your father, if you must know. Then I added cop as a job title and vice squad and it got worse. I knew he’d assume I’d described you because I said Indian.”

  Bodie clutched his heart like a dramatic Romeo and laughed at Hana’s discomfort. His tone hardened at the same time as his eyes. “What kind of salesman hits on single women?”

  Hana shook her head. “Don’t worry about it. I need never see him again.” She peered over his shoulder into the empty fridge. A hardened block of cheese lurked in the corner next to a packet of bread containing two crusts. “Cheese on toast?” she asked. “One each.”

  “No.” Bodie withdrew his head and slammed the fridge door. “I’ll take my hot date for dinner.”

  Hana groaned. “You’re making it worse. I’m embarrassed enough.” She covered her face with her hands and Bodie relented, wrapping his arms around her.

  “Okay. I’ll shut up. How about dinner though?”

  Hana nodded and released a sigh. “I need to take the Hilux back first. I intended to get a taxi home afterwards.”

  “No need. I’m here now. I’ll follow you in my car and take you to dinner.”

  Hana sniffed into Bodie’s shirt and nodded. “Thanks. But can you drive the Honda? I can’t wait to give it a blast.”

  “Okay.” Bodie patted her back. “Let’s do it. I’m starving.”

  They locked up after feeding Tiger and drove to the garage in convoy. They sipped coffee sitting in the truck as it went through the car wash. “Izzie said you met a guy at work.” Bodie looked at Hana sideways over his cup and she winced.

  “I did. It went nowhere. Nothing to worry about.”

  Bodie jerked his head upwards in acknowledgement. “I’ll check him out, if you want.”

  “No need.” Hana gritted her teeth and inhaled, driving further questions away with her tight body language.

  She cleaned the interior with an autovac and Bodie watched her, leaning against the side of the truck. When she opened the rear door to vacuum the boot, he used the time to raid the glove box. His fingers closed around a crumpled letter from the tax office addressed to Mr Logan Du Rose. Keeping one eye on Hana, Bodie opened it out and speed-read it, scratching his head. He shoved it back and closed the flap as Hana fought the autovac into its cradle. “Here, let me help,” he said, picking up the slack on the air hose. “Have you ever heard of Circle Line Holdings?”

  Hana wrinkled her nose and shook her head. “No. That’s a funny question. Why?”

  “No reason.” Bodie patted the side of the truck. “Do we need to fill this up?”

  Hana bumped the vehicle along the driveway towards the villa in Gordonton. Every tilt and clatter through the potholes increased her heartbeat and tension formed a knot in the back of her head. She pulled up outside the house and put the handbrake on, noticing a tremor in her hands. “Oh my gosh!” she groaned. “I can’t do this!”

  Bodie pulled in behind and waved, waiting for Hana to deliver the keys. Curiosity brightened his eyes and Hana felt him staring at her. She sat for so long, he got out and walked across. “What’s the matter?”

  “I can’t do it!” Hana gushed. She jumped from the driver’s seat and landed at his feet. “Please can you do it for me?”

  Bodie backed away. “No. It’s rude. Someone lent you a vehicle. You’ve cleaned it and filled it. Do it yourself.”

  “Bodie, please!” Hana’s eyes filled with tears and she glanced across at the closed front door, fear in her eyes. “I can’t. Do it, please? I made a mistake and got involved with someone who dumped me for his ex. I feel stupid.” Her fingers shook as she pushed the keys into Bodie’s chest. “They might be in there together. I’m humiliated enough.”

  Hana ignored his bewilderment and ran to the Honda, hurling herself into the passenger seat. Bodie blinked as Hana scooted into the foot well and disappeared from view. He gritted his teeth and climbed the porch steps, knocking on the wide front door with a decisive rap.

  He waited a long while. When the door opened, a tall man eyed him with suspicion, his hair damp and sticking up. The scent of shower gel and aftershave hung around him and Bodie noticed his tee shirt clinging to his body in patches of damp. He’d tugged it over his head to answer the door and a wet line stained the neck a darker colour. “Sorry, in the shower,” the man said.

  Bodie’s eyes narrowed. “I bet. Say hi to your new girlfriend and stay away from Hana Johal.” He threw the keys, noticing the other man’s fast reflexes as he caught them in mid-air. “Thanks for the loan of the car but leave her alone.” Bodie’s brown eyes flashed.

  Logan Du Rose saw his truck on the driveway and regret budded in his grey eyes. “She sent the truck back.” His jaw gritted, giving him a hard look. “But I said she could borrow it.”

  “Well, now she doesn’t need it.” The sarcastic edge in Bodie’s voice sliced the air and the dark man studied his face.

  “What’s your problem?” Logan demanded, eyes narrowing as his hand formed a fist around the car keys. “Who the hell are you?”

  Bodie snorted. “Someone you don’t wanna mess with, dude.” He turned to walk away, calling over his shoulder. “Stay away from my mother, loser.”

  Logan inhaled at the slur and his nostrils flared. He held onto his patience by the narrowest margin as the cocky punk climbed into the driver’s seat of the Honda and revved the engine. Gravel spat from behind it, peppering the porch steps and Logan’s mouth twitched in anger. But he said nothing.

  “Don’t dirty the car!” Hana hissed from the foot well. “That’s naughty!”

  Bodie waited until the end of the driveway to reply. “Where’d you find the bad boy?” he demanded as Hana sat up.

  “Work.” She curled her lower lip, looking ashamed of herself. “I shan’t bother again.”

  Bodie shook his head. “Oh, Mum.”

  “You didn’t like him?” She straightened her hair and scooped it back into a ponytail.

  Bodie shrugged and his lips quirked upwards. “I can see the attraction for a chick.” He raised an eyebrow in approval. “I baited him and he didn’t go for it.”

  “What do you mean?” Hana unfastened her seatbelt. “Move over. I’m driving my new car.�
��

  Bodie walked around the outside while she jabbed herself on the gear lever and handbrake crossing the centre. “I expected him to smack me,” he concluded, clicking the seatbelt closed. “But he didn’t.” His face twisted in a pensive look. “He could’ve. I saw it in his face. I called him a loser and he reacted. But he let it run.”

  Hana shrugged. “He’s not a loser. He’s a brilliant teacher and his parents own a massive hotel and farm above Rangiriri. From what I saw, he’s an astute businessman. They rely on him.”

  “What farm and hotel?” Bodie’s brows knitted and Hana shook her head, wagging her finger at him.

  “Oh, no you don’t, Officer Johal. Leave the poor man alone. They’ll bust you down to kennel cleaner if you perform an illegal database search and you know it.”

  Bodie rolled his eyes. “Who said anything about illegal?” He winked at her. “His back light is out, that’s all.”

  “Is it?” Hana’s brow furrowed. “Is that my fault?”

  Bodie laughed at her and tapped the dashboard. “No. Now feed me. You promised.”

  “Left or right?” Hana gave him the choice, a smirk on her lips and Bodie pointed right.

  “Hamilton,” he said. “Pizza.” His smile mocked her. “I know what you’re doing, Mum.” He shook his head at her expression of wide-eyed innocence. “You’re paying me back for my teenage years of sullen silences.”

  Hana winced. “No, I just don’t wanna talk about it.”

  “Now you see how it feels.” Bodie grinned at her and watched the villa shrink in the distance. His mind worked through a mystery he wanted to solve.

  After a week of renovations, Hana looked forward to the weekend. She woke on Saturday morning and pulled the pillow over her head with a groan. Living in one house, working in the south of the city and driving half an hour north after work exhausted her. Bodie knocked on the door and brought her a cup of tea. “Get up, lazy-bones,” he said, sitting on the end of the bed. “We’ve got stuff to do today.”

  Hana sat up and sipped her tea, rubbing her eyes with one hand. “I know. I’m exhausted. What time do you leave tomorrow?”

  “Around tea time.” Bodie scratched his stubbled chin and smiled at her. “That’s the plan. Unless you need me to rescue you again.” He laughed and Hana kicked him through the sheets.

  “Not my fault. I varnished myself into a corner. It could happen to anyone!”

  “No!” Bodie snorted. “These things only happen to you.”

  “I needed a wee so bad.” Hana winced at the memory. “The varnish took ages to dry enough for me to escape. Damn stuff.” Her face brightened at the memory of the smart new roof and guttering. Flashing green eyes gave her a youthfulness. “The builders worked hard. You kept them at it.”

  “Yep.” Bodie lay backwards on the bed. “Decent guys. Today I’ll replace the plasterboard on those ceilings with damp patches. We need to be up there by ten to meet the electrician. He wants to start on Monday.”

  Hana dragged herself out of bed and spent most of Saturday morning stripping aged wallpaper. She returned the rented sander to the store and swapped it for a steamer. The remaining thick flock caved in the face of such stiff opposition and peeled itself. She moved on to annoying Bodie, stealing his filler for the myriad holes and dents revealed underneath. Every time he left his ladder or tools unattended, she stole them. Around lunchtime, he kissed goodbye to the remnants of his patience. “I can’t get anything done if you keep nicking my stuff! Go back to Hamilton and pack up the house. You’re doing my head in! Once the electrician’s finished you can move here for good. I’ll finish the ceilings if you leave me alone.”

  “But they need plastering,” Hana grumbled and Bodie jabbed a finger at her.

  “Yes, he’s coming in an hour.”

  “Who?” Hana put her hands on her hips. “Who’s coming in an hour? It’s Saturday.”

  “The guy to do the plastering!” Veins stuck out on Bodie’s neck as frustration took over. “It’s one or two patches. He doesn’t need to do the whole house. You’ll let it dry out for a few weeks and then paint over it when you do the rest of the room. Okay?”

  Hana nodded. “How did you get someone to come on a Saturday?”

  Bodie wiggled his eyebrows. “You’re paying him extra.”

  Hana frowned. “You want me to leave?” she said, her lips twitching in a nervous tick. “But then you’ll go home tomorrow and I won’t get to spend time with you.”

  Bodie rolled his eyes and gathered her into his chest. “You’re a nutter, Mum. I’ve been here all week. Do the packing and as soon as the plasterer leaves, I’ll drive back for a shower and we’ll go for food together. Yeah?”

  “Okay.” Hana nodded and ran a hand through her messy curls. “I’ll take the steamer back on the way home. Apart from the master bedroom and lounge, the rest of the rooms were bare plaster. I’ve packed the rubbish into the Honda.”

  “Good. Now get!” Bodie shooed her onto the porch and locked the front door behind her.

  Halfway home, Hana’s mobile phone chirruped to itself in her pants pocket. She pulled over on River Road and answered it.

  “I’m sorry,” Angus began before Hana replied. “But I mentioned Achilles Rise to someone at school and they phoned me about it this morning.”

  “Okay. That’s fine,” Hana said.

  “I am sorry,” Angus repeated, but his apology sounded half-hearted. “My friend tells me his recommendation was for you to rent it.”

  “Yes.” Hana opened her mouth to continue but Angus cut her off. “I’ve left numerous messages on your machine and you didn’t answer your mobile.”

  She heard the tension in his voice and groaned. “You’re outside the house with them, aren’t you?” Her heart sank into her shoes.

  “Yes, dear.” Angus sounded unrepentant. “Logan mentioned your new house, so I figured you’d be leaving soon. They’ve looked around the outside and want to see indoors.”

  All coherent thought abandoned Hana. “I’m on River Road,” she managed. “I’ll be about ten minutes. Can’t you go for coffee somewhere?”

  “Oh, we’ve done that,” Angus replied. “I’ll tell them you’re on your way.”

  Hana bounced onto the drive with plaster in her hair and a sticky mess on her tee shirt. The new biology teacher greeted her with enthusiasm. “We love your house, Hana,” he gushed, unloading two small children from the back of the car. “Our landlord sold the house out from under us and we can’t find anything suitable.”

  “When do you need to be out?” Hana asked, picking wallpaper from under her fingernails.

  “End of the month.” The teacher twisted his face into a grimace and Hana’s eyes widened.

  “That’s ten days. I’m not ready.” Her courage wavered as her emotional self demanded a foot in both camps while her rational self reminded her she went home to pack.

  Hana unlocked the side gate. “Have a look around the garden while I tidy up.” She waved in dismissal and bolted, spending the next five minutes running around the house and hiding things in strange places. The biology teacher chatted with Angus and tried to keep his small children off the flower beds. Tiger watched from Hana’s pillow, making no attempt to help. Hana gathered up a pile of laundry, the folds of the clothing filled with sanding dust and lumps of plasterboard. “Damn!” she groaned, noticing a stain on her tee shirt where she used it to mop up a varnish spill. “You’ll be sorry in a minute,” she threatened Tiger, who gave a lazy blink. “When those two little kids get a look at you, it’ll be a different matter!”

  The messiest thing in the house was its owner, her hair hanging round her face having escaped its clip and her clothing covered in blobs of filler. Hana finished fussing and unlocked the ranch slider into the family room, noticing the biology teacher’s heavily pregnant wife hauling herself up the slope from the driveway. She stood and caught her breath in the family room with Angus while her children bounced on their father in the garde
n.

  Mrs Biology Teacher smiled at Hana. “I love it. Please can we rent it? We’re desperate.” Angus winced and the woman corrected herself, “I’m sorry, I shouldn’t rush you.” She pointed to her prominent bump. “I’m scared.”

  Hana exhaled, remembering her own traumatic pregnancy with Bodie. With so little support, she and Vik existed in a haze of misery, cowering beneath their shared disgrace. The couple raised Bodie in a grubby upstairs bedsit while they both finished their degrees, never sure where the next month’s rent might appear from.

  Hana smiled with sympathy at the hopeful woman. “I’ll make tea,” she said, attempting to buy thinking time and extract herself from Angus’ unkind pressure tactics. Hana found milk in the fridge and rustled up tea and coffee for the adults and cold water for the children.

  Tiger skulked through with his tail in the air and the two-year-old girl squealed, “Puss!” She sprayed her brother and the cat with a mouth full of water. Tiger beat a hasty retreat through the cat flap. Both children lunged for the open door and the cat fled over the back fence. A frantic barking heralded his arrival in the Rottweiler’s yard and a yelp as the cat retaliated.

  Hana felt sick with the pressure the family’s visit put her under. “I haven’t set a rental price yet,” she said, defending herself against the barrage of questions. “I don’t know what other people charge.”

  Angus shifted in his chair, affected by Hana’s unease. He rose to leave. “I’m sorry, Hana, I’ve rushed you into it.”

  She glared at him, recognising a familiar glint in his eye. “No, you’re not,” she muttered. “You’ve no intention of losing a good teacher to homelessness and you’re forcing me to make a decision. I bet you conspired with your agent friend.”

  The biology teacher and his wife stood, stepping in the garden as embarrassment shrouded them. Angus watched the children play and fixed his perceptive gaze on Hana’s flushed face. “It’s time to go, Hana,” he said, his voice gentle.

  “I’m doing just fine!” She stood and balled her fists. “I bought a house and a new car. I’m letting go. How can you do this to me? It’s mean!”

  The teacher and his wife walked inside as their children frolicked around the wide lawn. “We should leave,” he said. “Sorry about this.”

  Hana watched his wife as she kept her eyes down and focussed on the carpet. She swallowed like she might cry. Angus waved his hand towards the hall. “Why don’t you lovely people go and have a good look around? I’m sure Hana won’t mind.”

  He observed Hana with a determined look in his eyes and she glared in return. She waved her hand towards the hall door with an ineffectual wafting motion. For a woman who needed recovery time after the front steps, Mrs Biology Teacher moved like a racehorse when faced with possible success. She launched herself into the hallway and headed for the bedrooms, husband in tow.

  “Angus!” Hana whipped round as soon as the couple moved out of earshot, “How could you? I’m not ready.”

  Angus rose from his sitting position on the sofa, watching the children chase each other round the garden and straight across another of Hana’s flower beds. “My dear, you will never be ready.” Smiling, he walked into the garden, climbing the steps to the upper terrace. He sat on the swing seat at the top, admiring the view in the bright sunshine. When the couple emerged from their inspection of the house, they found him with a child on either side, telling them tales about the dragons in Scotland when he was a boy.

  By the time Bodie crawled home around five o’clock that night, he found Hana packing with frantic abandon. A box contained all the ornaments from the lounge and he tripped over the rolled up rug by the door.

  “Did you finish?” Hana asked him and he nodded.

  “Yeah. I finished the ceilings. It got easier when my equipment stopped disappearing.” He sat on the sofa and watched Hana pack books from the Welsh dresser. “Far out, Mum. When I sent you home to pack, I kinda thought you’d mess around for hours. I’m amazed.”

  “Bloody Angus!” she groaned. “He gave me no choice!”

  A necktie with a jovial Santa pattern flopped over one of the bin bags by the door and Bodie reached for it. He pressed the little squeaker at the back. “I wondered what happened to this,” he mused. A gaudy Christmas tune bleated from it and Hana watched her son, trying to read his closed face. “It still works,” he said to himself under his breath.

  Hana nodded. “Dad’s favourite tie,” she whispered.

  Bodie stood, tied the bag shut and carried it downstairs to the garage. Hana fought the urge to run after him, drag the tie from the bag and hug it to her chest. “You can’t,” she whispered into the empty room. “You’re letting go, remember?” Hana gritted her teeth, praying she held out until the rubbish truck arrived on Tuesday.

  After another day of snagging problems at Culver’s Cottage, Bodie left, driving back up to Whangarei and his sparse room in a rental house. Hana found it hard to let him go, loneliness and devastation moving in as he hugged her goodbye. “I love you, darling,” she told him in a whisper. “Keep safe.”

  Hana sat on the steps to the first floor and cried after Bodie drove away. Exhaustion nagged at her mind and body and weakness tugged at her heartstrings. She obeyed the urge to visit the rubbish bags in the garage, sinking to the concrete floor and sobbing when she couldn’t find Vik’s tie. After another hour of searching in the semi-darkness she knew she’d lost it. She also knew she couldn’t ask for it back.

  Work on Monday seemed dark and depressing. Smarting from Bodie’s absence, Hana oozed misery.

  “I need you to type this,” Caroline demanded, placing a rough, handwritten report on Hana’s desk with a flourish.

  Hana kept her eyes on her computer and typed, her fingers flying across the keyboard with a report Sheila wanted. A form for Evie sat in her tray. “I’m too busy,” she said, acid leaking from every word. “The typist is downstairs in the admin corridor. She types for the deans.” Hana didn’t raise her head and ignored Caroline’s irritated sigh, causing Sheila’s eyes to bug in her head with amazement.

  “Do it!” Caroline pushed the paper in Hana’s face and she ducked, fighting to maintain professionalism.

  “Don’t speak to her like that!” Sheila stepped across, offering unanimity as she faced Caroline. “She doesn’t do typing for the deans. Go to the typist.”

  Caroline swallowed and Hana watched her consider her options. When she stalked away, Hana sighed in relief but knew she’d pushed too far. “I should’ve just done it,” she said with a grimace and Sheila shook her head.

  “No. I’m sick of doing what everyone else wants. Tell her to sod off if she tries it again.” Sheila picked up her books and left, closing the door behind her as the bell rang for class.

  Hana exhaled and put her head in her hands. “Why give her an excuse to get you fired?” she asked herself. “Just do her bloody typing. Be the bigger person.” As if in response, a mobile phone bleeped into the silence and Hana traced it to Caroline’s desk. Her conscience told her not to read the message but an uncharacteristic nastiness arose in her, accompanied by curiosity. Pressing a few buttons and finding no screen code, Hana’s eyes widened at the message she read. ‘Thx 4 last nite. When cn I see u again? Xxx’

  For a techno-moron who couldn’t work the DVD player, Hana managed to do geek like a professional. She deleted the message, replaced the phone and sat down in her chair. The cursor blinked on her computer screen and she ignored it, knowing in her heart the message came from Logan. She toyed with the idea of retrieving the phone again and checking the number against his. It showed on Caroline’s as ‘Hot Guy’ but Hana shook her head and refused to give in. “You’ll get caught,” she told herself. “Just leave well alone now.”

  She cringed at the memory of her amazing weekend with Logan, prickling tears adding their weight to her stupidity. Another emotion wriggled to the surface and Hana knew she couldn’t keep pushing it away. She worked in a church school and
Logan knew about her past. A teenage pregnancy could get her fired. Hana’s body tingled with terror at the possibility he might tell Caroline and let her do his dirty work.

  Hana pulled herself together and dragged herself back to her new resolutions. She made her decision rather than watch her life crumble before her eyes, stomping down the front stairs and into reception.

  “He’s not to be disturbed!” The principal’s assistant squeaked as Hana stormed past. Angus’ door stood open and Hana marched through it, closing it with a slam behind her. Rushing forward to the heavy oak door to listen, the assistant heard Hana’s loud exclamation.

  “How could you do that to me? I thought we were friends.”

  The answering voice replied in lower tones and the assistant heard nothing more. The receptionist wandered over for a listen, but only recognised the sound of someone crying.

  Angus gave Hana a painful reprimand. “I understand what it’s like to lose a loved one and find yourself stuck in a life poorly lived. We wait for them to reappear and carry on as usual because moving on without them is excruciating.” He handed her another tissue, perching on the corner of his desk and patting Hana’s shoulder.

  “But it’s all gone wrong,” she sobbed.

  “Then start again!” he commanded. “And again and again and again. But at least do something, Hana!”

  Hana dumped the ensuing legalities of the rental on Angus as punishment. “Fine,” he capitulated. “I’ll engage my agent, deal with the paperwork and present it to you for signing. Be ready to move out two weekends hence!”

  Hana sat in his visitor’s chair while he rang the removals company to book it. Angus replaced his handset and smiled in satisfaction. Hana felt like a bus drove over her chest. “Go home, darling Hana,” he said with a grin. “I’ll square it with Donald. Go home and pack. And stop wallowing girl!”

  Hana emerged looking puffy eyed and flustered. The gossipy women spread rumours she’d got fired.

  “No!” squeaked the alarmed biology teacher, overhearing their bile in the staffroom. “We want her house!”