Chapter 12
Chapter Twelve
C hris’s sisters walked into a huge argument when they arrived home. Neither was in the mood for taking their mother’s angry insults; and when she launched into a tirade of how useless and lazy they were, they linked arms and threw insults back. It did not help their mother’s cause that their father had not intervened, and instead, even backed their arguments. ‘Leave them be. They’re on holiday and deserve a break too,’ he said.
Even though everyone’s tempers cooled down after a while, his mother had suffered enough. ‘If I get moving and pack quickly, I can make that last passenger ferry to the mainland this afternoon. No one appreciates me here, and that way I’ll make my bridge class tomorrow morning.’ She threw out more instructions. ‘You can all have the rest of the time to relax. Just clean the place before you leave. David, we’ll leave for Dunwich in half an hour.’
The car was backing out of the yard when Chris arrived home with the bucket of fish. ‘Where are you going?’ he asked, looking his mother up and down when he noticed she was wearing a good dress and sandals. She had makeup on her face, and her hair was brushed and sitting stiff. He hated the smell of the hairspray she used.
She must have cooled down a little, as her voice showed no anger. ‘I’m just leaving a few days early. You’ll all be fine. I can have a few days to myself at home. I need it.’
He leaned in through the car window and kissed her on the cheek. ‘Seeya, Mum.’
‘Goodbye, Chris.’
A weight lifted from the house with his mother gone, however while his father was out, he told his sisters exactly what he thought about them hanging around the boys from the camp. ‘They’ve got drink and drugs there. You’ll get yourselves in trouble.’
Lily ruffled his hair. ‘Wait ‘til you’re sixteen. Then we’ll see.’
He knew it was no use saying any more, and he certainly wasn’t about to tell on them.
Together the three of them tidied the house, made sure the dishes were done, and ensured everything was clean. ‘Poor Dad,’ Rose said. He does everything around the house and tries all the time to please Mum. She’s a bitch.’
Chris was horrified. ‘Rose! Don’t say that. She’s our mum.’
Rose ruffled his hair and playfully punched him in the arm. ‘She’s still a bitch.’
Evie was lying in the hammock reading a book, when Chris and his father called out. ‘Anyone home?’ Mr McIntosh called, as he carried the bucket and a container full of fillets towards her. She swung herself out of the hammock.
‘Hello. Yes, we’re here.’
Her mother appeared on the porch, a book also in her hand. ‘Hello, Chris.’ She nodded her head. ‘Mr McIntosh.’
‘We’ve got your fish here,’ Chris’s father replied. ‘These two are doing a great job feeding all of us.’
‘They certainly are. Come in. Come in. Can I offer you a cold drink? I was just about to have a shandy.’
Chris’s father sat down on the step. ‘You know what? Yes. I will have one. Suddenly I feel like I’m on holiday.’
They left her mum and Mr McIntosh sitting on the steps. The adults’ conversation was interesting at first, when they talked about fish and the different ways of cooking them. However, it soon became boring when they moved on to all the things adults talked about, like jobs, houses and the state of the world.
It was good to see her mum happy and talking to someone. It must have been lonely for her not to have Dad around. Chris tricked Evie, walking slowly towards the beach before calling out, ‘Race you to the water.’
Her legs moved fast, but he was taller and stronger than she was, so it really wasn’t a competition. After splashing at the water’s edge, they moved up to the edge of the bushes, a sandy shady area providing respite from the summer heat.
‘My mum’s gone home to have some time to herself,’ Chris told her. ‘There was a huge argument, but I think she’d calmed down by the time Dad drove her to the ferry. My sisters are out of control, though. They don’t listen to her at all.’
Evie frowned and pulled her knees up under her chin, her fingers drawing circles in the sand. ‘I didn’t like the boys at the camp. They’re all older. I hope high school isn’t full of kids like that.’
He pushed her with his shoulder. ‘You’ll be right. You’ve got me there. I’ll watch out for you.’
She dug in the sand, letting the cool particles run through her finger. Digging the hole deeper she pushed her feet into the wet sand. Something hard was underneath, and she pulled her foot back out, digging with her hand to find what was buried.
‘A penny.’ She held it up to the sun, brushing the last bits of sand from it. ‘A 1924 penny. Wow. That’s…’ she calculated it quickly in her head. ‘That’s exactly fifty years old. I wonder who it belonged to ?’
When she passed it to Chris, he tilted his head to the side and ran his finger over the top of the coin. ‘1924. Fifty years ago. Do you ever wonder what the world will be like in another fifty years? Like in the year 2024?’
Evie thought about how far in the future that year was. ‘It sounds so futuristic. Imagine when we get to the year 2000. I can’t think about that ever happening.’
‘Maybe it’ll be like in the TV show, The Jetsons .’ Chris looked at her, his face animated. ‘We might be like them and have an alarm clock that talks to you, a watch you can see the cartoons on, or maybe we’ll be able to talk through a TV screen to each other.’
They laughed at the thought of such crazy ideas. ‘I wonder if this beach will still be the same in fifty years?’ Evie said, as she leaned over and took another look at the coin.
Chris turned it over. ‘Find a penny, pick it up. All that day you’ll have good luck.’ He grinned and looked closely at it. ‘That’s King George on the back. It’s good luck to find a penny.’
When he handed it back, she closed her hand over it and made a wish.
‘What did you wish?’ he asked.
‘I always wish the same thing.’
‘What?’
‘That Dad, Mum, and I are always happy.’