Chapter 37
CHAPTER 37
T uesdays: you’re over the hurdle of Monday but Friday is still a distant prize. All things considered, there’s not much to like about Tuesdays except tacos and cut-price movie tickets.
The alarm buzzed and I hit the snooze button… until I heard my phone vibrating. Diane! I dragged myself out of bed, took my pyjama top off, slipped on a bra and put the top back on. Okay, I was a lazy walker. I threw on my pale-blue hoodie and track pants, scrunched my hair into a ponytail, pulled on my sneakers and was out the door within four minutes of waking.
Before Diane arrived, I confirmed that my Tis the Season story had dropped on the magazine’s website. It had. Perfect!
‘Are you sure these hills aren’t getting steeper?’ I wheezed, hot and desperate to peel off my hoodie, thus revealing my very pink pyjamas. ‘How’s everything with David?’
‘Shit.’
‘What’s going on?’
‘My daughter and stepson. I can’t even…’ Diane stopped and sat on the kerb. ‘I walked in on them kissing in Nina’s bedroom.’ She sniffed back tears. ‘They said they were mucking around, an d when I asked Nina about it in private, she said it was no big deal and that Sam has a girlfriend.’
‘So, maybe they were having fun?’
‘I guess.’ Di blew her nose. ‘Except I panicked and told David.’
I grimaced. ‘Not good.’
‘No. He’s ballistic, accusing Nina of all sorts of things. Of course, he’s not saying a word against his own son. It’s too much.’
‘I can’t believe David would do that.’
‘He said, “Boys will be boys”.’
‘Maybe they need some time apart?’
‘Of course. Just before Christmas.’
‘Summer boarding school?’
‘I’m thinking about it.’
Composing herself, Diane stood and started walking. ‘Enough about me and David. ‘What’s happening with you?’
I exhaled. ‘Got called in to see Lexi’s principal yesterday. She’s been skipping school and told her teachers I’m having an affair with the gardener and having a nervous breakdown.’ I pulled my hoodie down and increased my step to match Diane’s.
After my walk, though worried for Diane, I felt invigorated and full of energy. Before Matthew left for work, we made peace, sort of. Well, we grunted civilly. In all honesty, we might as well have been living on opposite sides of the planet such was our emotional distance.
‘This isn’t your battle,’ Matthew said, referring to my parents after he kissed me goodbye. ‘Trust them. They’ll sort it out.’
‘Dad’s right,’ Lexi said, as the front door closed behind Matthew .
I chewed my inner cheek. ‘It’s complicated.’
‘But they were married for like a gazillion years.’
I gritted my teeth. ‘As I said, complicated.’
‘You don’t want any of us to be happy, do you?’ Lexi’s voice thundered. ‘You’re not happy, so you don’t want anyone else to be happy. You don’t like Grandpa. You don’t like Hunter. No one’s ever good enough for you.’
‘Not true. When you’re older, you’ll understand.’
‘How old do I have to be? I understand plenty. But you won’t listen.’
No. I declined to explain to my daughter why her grandfather was a shit. As for Hunter… Well, he wore pornographic T-shirts.
Changing the subject, I said, ‘Could your skirt be any shorter?’ She glared at me, eyes on fire. ‘Don’t you find it draughty when you sit down?’
Ignoring me, she peered into her lunch bag. ‘I can’t eat this.’
‘Why? It’s?—’
‘Meat, Mum. I refuse to eat Bambi or her farm friends.’ Lexi’s mobile was in one hand and her other was making a stop sign in my face.
I was so furious I could have choked her. Ingrate. ‘Fine! I’ll eat it.’ I snatched the ham roll she’d set on the bench. ‘Angus, we’re leaving.’
Lexi scowled, took a Granny Smith from the fruit bowl and stalked towards the door.
I dropped Lexi off at her school and waited until she walked through the school gates before leaving. Common sense told me she could easily skip out again minutes after I drove away, but I had high hopes of her making it through a full day.
‘I’m not supposed to be at school until eight thirty, the teachers said so,’ Angus complained as we pulled up at the kiss-and-drop zone shortly after eight o’clock. ‘I’ll get a detention. ’
‘No, you won’t. Can’t you go to the library or kick a football on the oval until then? It’s only this once.’ I knew full well I’d dropped him before eight thirty several times in the past two weeks. I kissed him and pushed him out the door. ‘Best of luck with your eight times tables today. Love you.’
Guilt stabbed as I watched him walk into the school grounds. My darling boy. Choking back tears. I drove to Image Ink.