Ashley laughed. ’Wow, that happened literally as you said it,’ she said, eyes wide. ‘That was like magic.’
Sally rolled her eyes. ’I’m sure it was.’
‘You’re dripping all over the floor,’ Ashley remarked, pointing at Sally’s feet. She was right. Sally’s towel, wrapped around her waist, was still damp from the beach. It was dripping. Ocean water congregated in a puddle on the tiled hostel floor around her feet, but Sally was too engrossed in the guide book to worry.
‘I’m trying to get an idea of where we should head off to next,’ Sally said.
Ashley tilted her head, inquisitive. ’Head off? After what?’
‘Here.’ Sally gestured around the hostel’s foyer. ‘Like, in a day or two when we leave the city. I want to go up along the coast.’
‘What do you mean, leave the city?’ Ashley asked as the lift doors dinged again, impatient to close. She held them back with a gentle push of her hand.
‘We should do it,’ Sally said. ‘Go ahead and travel.’
‘And go where?’ Ashley asked.
‘I don’t know,’ Sally replied. ‘Around. Further north, maybe? Along the coast? Let’s just see where we end up. It’ll be an adventure.’
‘I want to stay here in the city, though,’ Ashley replied. ‘This is where my cousin lives.’
‘What? Just stay here the whole holiday?’
‘Yeah. I thought that’s what we’d agreed back home.’
Sally was surprised. ‘I thought we came all this way to go travelling,’ she said, closing the guide book. She held it tightly in her hands, like a shield between her and her friend. ‘I want to see the country and not just hang around here.’
‘We were supposed to stay here in the city. It’s what we had planned,’ Ashley said.
Sally didn’t want to argue with her friend, especially when she was standing, semi-naked, in the middle of a backpacker hostel. ‘I didn’t agreed to any specific plans. I thought it was more of an impulsive holiday,’ she said.
‘We never spoke about that,’ Ashley said, sighing.
‘What was that sigh for?’
‘Nothing.’
‘Are you angry with me?’ Sally asked.
‘I’m not angry,’ Ashley replied. ‘Why do you think I’m angry?’
‘I don’t know.’
‘I thought we had agreed we were going to stay here for the holiday,’ Ashley said, stern. ‘You could’ve told me you wanted to do more travelling when we were planning it out back home. You could’ve told me then, not now when we’re in the actual country.’
‘What’s the problem?’
‘There’s no problem,’ Ashley replied. ‘I like it here. I want to have fun here with you. Tonight I want to get drunk and have a good time with you and my cousin. What I don’t want to do is go out into the wilderness and the countryside. I didn’t plan for that.’
‘I want to have fun tonight too,’ Sally replied.
‘And that’s why we’ve come.’
Sally sighed. ’But I also want to see the country.’
‘And you want me to come with you? Into the wild?’
‘Of course.’
‘But you never mentioned it when we were planning this out,’ Ashley said.
‘I was worried you’d say no.’
‘That’s your problem, Sally, you’re so worried about telling me what you want to do. You should’ve told me earlier. This happens all the time. It’s what happened at the harbour with the homeless man, and it's what happened on the bus with that stupid woman. You're unable to say no to other people.’
Sally was going to protest, but she knew Ashley was right. She knew Sally too well.
‘Okay.’
‘I don’t want to end up in some dangerous situation travelling somewhere remote.’
‘I think,’ Sally said slowly. She didn’t want to anger her friend, but she knew the truth. She had to say it. ‘I think we have different ideas on what this holiday is.’
Ashley chewed on her tongue. Sally could tell her friend was holding back, probably doing it for her sake. She knew Ashley understood what the real reason for the holiday was for, what her parents had invested in. It was for Sally. ‘If you read about anything good let me know and we’ll see,’ Ashley said, deflated.
‘Thanks, Ashley. I will.’
There was a pause as they stood facing each other. The only sound was the slow drip of water running off Sally’s towel on to the floor. ’You can stay down here, but I need to sleep,’ Ashley said, letting go of the lift doors so they could close.
Sally smiled, but Ashley didn’t.
‘I’ll be up in a minute,’ she said as Ashley disappeared into the lift. As the lift doors closed shut, she called out.
‘Don’t drip all over the hostel.’
10
Sally wasn’t going to stay in the city.
A week after the Funeral, Ashley had invited her to her house. Without speaking to each other, they listened to music from Ashley’s record player, making sandwiches and drinking white wine. There was no need to talk. They could just spend time together. The silence between them was natural. In a way, they understood each other perfectly. No need for words.
Together, they walked around the large house, the place was like a second home to Sally. She’d been there so many times over the years they’d been friends. They found themselves climbing the stairs. In Ashley’s bedroom, she had an enormous map of the world spread over a wall. Standing next to it, drinking from her wine glass, Sally’s friend smiled at her.
‘So, this holiday,’ Ashley said. ‘Where do you want to go.’
Placing her wine glass on a shelf, Sally approached the big map and pointed to the beach. The same beach her Dad had told her about so many times throughout her childhood. She didn’t need to check where it was on the map, she knew exactly where to point.
‘Here.’
Sally didn’t have to explain why she pointed there because Ashley knew. It was the other side of the world, the furthest place possible from home.
‘Let’s do it,’ Ashley replied, and that was that. A few weeks later they were on the flight over.
It wasn’t the holiday Ashley would’ve chosen, but it was what Sally wanted. Her dream holiday.
In the hostel foyer, Sally slid the guide book back in its place on the shelf. She’d made up her mind, she was going to leave, and she hoped Ashley would come with her. Sally needed Ashley to come. She wouldn’t be able to do it on her own.
A group of backpackers were gathering in the foyer, near the main doors. They hugged, greeting each other. They checked out of the hostel and headed outside. Through the glass, Sally spotted the hire bus waiting for them on the other side of the road. The group was leaving. They packed their gear into the undercarriage of the bus and boarded. Where were they off to? Out of the city? Into the bush? Exploring up the coast?
She wished she was going with them.
Sally appreciated how big of a deal it was for Ashley to agree to come with her to the other side of the world. Ashley had never been without her family for more than a few days. The longest had been on a school trip. Sally was jealous of Ashley’s love for her large extended family. She’d only ever had her Dad.
And Ashley’s family were paying for all this.
Sally took a step back from the bookshelf. If Ashley’s parents were going to throw money at this trip for her, then she was resolved to prove that it was her holiday. For once in her life, Sally was going to do what she wanted to do.
Mindful of prying eyes in the hostel foyer, Sally tightened her towel around her waist. She pressed the lift button and waited.
Her and Ashley shared a room on the third floor of the hostel. The place wasn’t Ashley’s first choice or even her second. She’d been set on booking a proper hotel, not a hostel. No way she even contemplated staying in a room stuffed with random backpackers. But Sally wanted the beach to be within walking distance, and there were no more hotel rooms av
ailable. It was the hostel or nothing. To convince Ashley, Sally had to send her photos of the hostel, having to show that the room was large, and it was only for them. No sharing with strangers. She’d sent her reviews of the hostel. It was only then, after a lot of persuasion on Sally’s end, that Ashley had begrudgingly agreed to the room.
Ashley had the door open and was undressing when Sally entered.
‘Wow,’ she said when she saw Sally’s exhausted frame. ‘You look really tired.’
Sally didn’t reply. Instead, she fell on to her bed, Ashley’s towel still wrapped tightly around her waist.
She thought about the money. Ashley’s family paying for all this. The phone she had to replace. Sally didn’t want to deal with all this right now. She wanted to sleep.
‘Look here,’ Ashley said, leaning over the bed. With a groan, Sally rolled over. Ashley held Sally’s phone, eagerly turning the bright screen to face her friend.
‘What is it? What are you showing me?’ Sally asked, yawning.
‘It’s the photo of you from the harbour today. I’ve finished editing it. I’m actually pretty proud of myself. I’m a visual arts genius.’
‘Oh, God. Don’t show me. I don’t want to see it.’
‘You so should. There’s nothing to worry about,’ Ashley replied.
‘Did you do anything funny with it? You didn’t make me look like a clown or anything?’
‘No, I didn’t,’ Ashley said, laughing. ‘Don’t be like that. I’ve actually made you look pretty.’
‘Are you implying I’m usually not?’
‘Shut up, you know what I mean,’ Ashley said. ‘Please have a look at it.’ Sally did, and she was impressed. Ashley’s editing skills were top-notch. Her friend had toned the photo with warmer colours. Sally’s smile was white, and her skin tanned. It appeared like an actual professional photograph.
‘That’s really good.’
‘You think?’
‘I look better in this than in any other photo of me.’
‘Shut up, you flatter me,’ Ashley said.
‘You have a talent.’
‘Stop it.’
‘You do.’
‘I should go pro.’ Sally was glad her friend was in a cheerful mood after their weird conversation downstairs. The bed sagged under Sally as Ashley sat next to her. She opened an eye, observing Ashley squint at the phone’s bright screen. ‘Now all I need to do is make a dating profile for you,’ Ashley said.
‘Oh, God, not this again.’
‘This will make the perfect profile photo.’
‘Please, Ashley.’
‘I honestly can’t wait to get started.’
‘Please,’ Sally protested.
‘I’ll find you a boy in no time.’
‘That’s the last thing I want.’
‘Don’t you upset your pretty head, leave it to me,’ Ashley said.
‘Okay. Fine. You win. Do whatever. I just need to sleep.’
Sally’s eyes closed, her body damp in the towel, but warm, She fell asleep to the sound of Ashley tapping at the phone.
She woke an hour later. The towel around her waist had dried and hardened, sticking to her body. She had to prise it off with her hands. The skin under the towel pulsed red, and it stung like hell.
The hostel room was dark. In the bed next to Sally, Ashley was still asleep. She must’ve closed the curtain when Sally was napping.
Maybe this was the best time to find a phone shop. Sally could speak to them, negotiate, take out a loan or something. Wouldn’t it be great to come back in an hour with a new phone for Ashley? Surprise her. Be a good friend. She wouldn’t be expecting it.
But first, food. Sally was starving. She let the towel fall to the floor and ruffled through Ashley’s bag leaning against the bed. It was stuffed with clothes. No wonder her bag was so massive. With the amount of stuff pushed into it, it seemed like Ashley had brought everything she owned in the bag, even if the holiday was for a few weeks.
Sally found what she was looking for, the biscuits they’d bought at the airport after they landed. She started to chew on one. The chocolate was sweet and stuck to the top of her mouth.
‘Hey.’ Ashley grunted from the bed. She hadn’t moved.
‘Hey.’
‘What are you doing?’
Sally sat on the edge of Ashley’s bed and stroked her sleepy friend’s hair. ‘Eating those biscuits you bought,’ she said. She took another bite while cupping her hand under her mouth to catch loose crumbs.
‘They were mine,’ Ashley said.
‘I’m hungry.’
‘You’re crazy and greedy. Save some for me please.’
‘Sure.’ Sally finished the last bite of the biscuit she was eating. She wrapped the packet and stuffed it back into Ashley’s bag. The phone shop. Here was her chance. ‘I’m going to go for a swim,’ she said.
Ashley propped her head on the pillow and looked over at Sally with half-opened eyes. ‘Another swim?’
‘Yeah. I want to feel refreshed.’
‘And a shower won’t do?’ asked Ashley.
‘We’re staying right next to the beach,’ Sally said, nodding towards the closed window. ‘I’m going to dip in the ocean as many times as I can. I’ve waited to do this my whole life.’
‘Okay.’ Ashley closed her eyes again and shook her head. She sighed into the bedsheets. ‘As long as you don’t forget about Jim. Remember, we’re meeting him in a couple of hours.’
‘Oh yeah, I forgot about that.’
‘Well, be back in time. Please don’t forget.’
‘Like how you forgot to wake up for the flight?’
Ashley shot her a scowl. ‘Don’t. Forget.’
‘I won’t.’ Sally blew Ashley a kiss. ‘See you soon.’ Ashley grunted in reply and closed her eyes.
Sally picked up the towel she’d dropped on the floor and wrapped it around her shoulders.
As she was leaving the room, a repeating buzzing started somewhere in the room. Her phone. Mindful of waking Ashley, Sally darted over to the bed in a search for the vibrating phone. She found it lying next to her pillow. The screen was lit up. A phone call.
She studied the contact on the screen. Sally shivered at the name flashing up. Nicole.
Nicole? Her Dad’s neighbour back home? Why was she calling? Sally shook her head. She barely knew the woman beyond saying hi a few times over the fence. If Nicole really wanted to contact Sally, then she should message her. There was no need for a phone call. What did she want with Sally?
She swiped on the red, rejecting the call. Sally locked her phone and plugged it on charge in the wall socket, knowing Ashley would want to use it when she woke up.
Forget about Nicole. Forget about everyone back home.
She left the room to the soft purring of Ashley snoring.
11
Peering in through the phone shop windows, Sally could tell it was closed. The lights were switched off. No employees. The shop was empty.
Great.
On the way to the phone shop, Sally had imagined Ashley’s surprise when she would arrive back at the hostel room, triumphant, with a shopping bag under her arm. A new phone in its packaging. She imagined the look on Ashley’s face. It’d have been the perfect way to make up to her. But now Ashley would have to wait another day for a new phone.
If Sally could suddenly afford it in 24 hours.
She turned to leave the phone shop, catching her reflection in the window. Her body, mirrored in the glass, astonished her. Her skin was displaying the beginnings of a tan, and the saltwater of the ocean had thickened her hair. She was already transforming. If it continued like this soon she might be mistaken for a local, she wouldn’t even be recognised back home. She was still wearing her bikini, and the towel wrapped around her waist.
Sally was self-conscious when she’d left the hostel and stepped into the spotlight of the afternoon sun. Despite how late in the day it was, the sun was clear in the sky above. She’d assu
med it’ll be weird wearing swim gear in the bright daylight away from the beach, but the locals didn’t seem to mind. She was surprised that people passing her on the street didn’t stare at her. They were barely dressed in anything as well. It seemed normal here to expose most of your skin in public. Bikini-clad women and topless men shared the pavement with Sally without a care.
Walking down the hill from the hostel to the phone shop Sally folded her arms across her chest, trying to display a level of modesty. The phone shop was only a few minutes walk away from the hostel, and the beach was only a further five minutes walk from there. The dried fabric of her swimwear brushed against her arm as if to remind her of her near-nakedness. Sally smiled to herself, even though this city sometimes reminded her of home, it was still a vastly different world to what she was used to. Despite her brush in the phone shop’s window, nothing made her feel more like a foreigner than seeing the way people here were dressed.
She continued past the phone shop and further down the street. She counted five cafes along this street alone.
Wearing just a bikini and towel was becoming an issue. Sally felt shy. Foreign. She’d never exposed her body like this before, especially not at home. It was hard enough taking your clothes off during sex with someone who actually fancied you, let alone walk in public with nothing covered except your tits. Maybe wearing this getup was not a good idea. She felt stared at, observed, by everyone around her. Leaving the hostel like this had been too bold, definitely not like her at all. She’d been reckless. Sally crossed her arms around her chest tighter and continued to walk down the street.
She found herself heading, instinctively, to the beach. It wasn’t far. Maybe she should go in the water again, wash off her nap. Even if the phone shop was closed, there was no point in wasting this walk.
She rounded the corner of a street, thinking she might be lost, and then there was the beach across the road. No need to panic, she’d found it. The water glistened in the afternoon sunshine, inviting. But Sally froze. Someone was watching her. Someone’s eyes were burning into her, staring at her, watching her, that feeling of being observed. She glanced one way up the street, and then the other side. No one was there, no one peering, no one she could see. Stop. She was being paranoid again. Enjoy the holiday. Don't worry. Sally skipped across the road and forgot about the feeling.
The Busker: A gripping psychological thriller Page 6