Chapter 10
GOLDEN TICKET
Mosquitos swarmed Ronnie at dusk as light spilled out Reg’s front door onto the raised veranda with the timber pillars and arched dollhouse trim.
Cast in a sling, she awkwardly pulled open the screen door with the hand that was carrying a bag of ice and stepped inside.
“Oi, Da! I got the ice for the esky!” Ceiling fans pulled a cross breeze through the drafty house, competing with the sports radio in the kitchen and the game on the telly.
Nonna had cooked spaghetti bolognaise and chicken parmesan.
Ronnie used the hand that wasn’t in a cast to put the ice in the cooler, then bent to hug her grandmother and give her a peck on the cheek. “Ooo, spag bol and chicken parmi, my favorite!”
“What happened to your arm?” Nonna asked, visibly concerned.
“Skateboarding accident.”
Nonna and Blaise winced in sympathy. Orphaned baby wallabies in the family room made rattling sounds when they licked their water bottles. Reg frowned across the dining room table. “Nev dropped by the firehouse.”
Ronnie pulled out a chair with the hand that wasn’t in a cast and sat down slowly. The table was silent. In the family room wallaby water bottles rattled.
“Are you all right?” Nonna asked.
“Yeah,” Ronnie lied. Inside the cast, her wrist throbbed.
“You need to be more careful,” Reg warned.
Ronnie scratched her neck. She needed a shower.
Nonna looked at Reg, then at Ronnie.
“I don’t want to talk about it.”
Reg glanced at his mother, then back at her. “Did you ask about sharing custody? Is that why she went off?”
“No.” That wasn’t a conversation she looked forward to having.
She had no appetite, but served herself chicken parm on spaghetti bolognaise anyway, to make Nonna happy.
Blaise met her eyes across the table. “I’ll send you a list of lawyers tonight.”
“Thanks.”
Her grandmother reached over to pat her leg. “We’re sorry that you have to deal with this, darling. We’re here for you. We’ll support you.”
“Thanks, Nonna.”
“I’ll pay for the lawyer.”
“No,” Ronnie rushed to say. “Really. I have money.”
Reg rolled his eyes. “Ask the lawyer if there’s any chance they can get you full custody.”
“They can’t. I don’t know how she’s such a good mum. I keep expecting her to do something horrible to Rainbow, but she hasn’t.”
Divorce was like that sometimes, she had heard. Some shitty exes were okay parents. At least she and Maude had been in agreement from the start not to use Rainbow as a weapon. They had done one thing right in this dumpster fire of a relationship.
“Stay away from her, Brum.”
Ronnie swallowed. He stopped going through her phone years ago. Hadn’t he?
“Aunt Suki saw pictures of you two on a boat at Lake Tinaroo. Cover your ears, mum. No more booty calls. You’re not like your brother. Now’s not the time to sabotage yourself when your life is about to turn a corner.”
What corner? “She didn’t ruin my life, I did. I’d rather be who I am, where I am, than who he is, where he is.” This was mostly true.
Reg scowled at her. The women passed parmesan and pepper around the table.
“If you’re a masochist, join a BDSM dungeon or date a cop.” Reg worked himself up. “If her mother sees those pictures she’ll drive circles on my lawn. You’re a good girl and you need to look good. Your reputation is in rehab. Protect your reputation like your life. Go on dates with nice girls.”
“I went on dates last week.” One didn’t go anywhere, but the other turned into a second location and an overnight in a fancy hotel.
“How did those go? Any second date material?”
She shrugged. “They seemed nice.” The doctor had been a fun time.
“But they live in Townsville? That’s a load of nothingburger. That’s not happening. Find a nice girl who lives five minutes away. Someone who likes animals, long walks in the rain and adores you. Someone reliable. No drama. Boring is good in a partner.”
Blaise agreed.
“I’m not looking for a partner.” Casual dating was one thing. Inviting a stranger into Rainbow’s life was unthinkable.
“Because you have Nev.”
“Come again?” Ronnie said.
“You’re not looking for anything serious because you have... Forget it. Rainbow has to be your priority.”
When she got home she found another envelope in the mailbox and tossed it on the kitchen island to open later. Blaise had already emailed her a list of three lawyers. She looked at their websites, but didn’t find their rates reasonable.
She picked up the white envelope that lay on the kitchen island and studied it. The return address said ‘Australian Football League.’ She ripped it open. Inside was a typed letter with half a page of text and a signature at the bottom.
Holding her breath, she resisted the urge to skip to the end, and focused on reading one word at a time.
“Dear Ms. Madonna, Congratulations on being awarded MVP of the South Cairns Cutters last October. We would like to invite you to try out for the Brisbane Lions Women’s this October…”
No fucking way! A professional team! This must be one of Mattie’s elaborate pranks, payback for the vegemite in his sneakers last Christmas.
He would do something like this. She put a wooden spoon handle under the line she was reading and moved her fingers from one word to the next, reading it out loud to herself.
“Training camp week will be held at the Brighton Homes Arena in Springfield. Candidates are responsible for flights and ground transportation to and from the facility. Room and board are provided.”
Holy shit! She covered her mouth and leaned on the kitchen island, staring down at the letter.
Ronnie slid her fingers into her hair and pulled it by the roots. “No fucking way…”
She called Mattie to ask if this was one of his pranks, but he denied it.
“Send me a picture. I need to see this.”
She did.
A minute later, Mattie cheered.
She hung up and texted the photo of the letter to her dad and Mikey. Reg called her immediately.
“Is this a joke?”
“I don’t think so?”
“Are you going?” Reg asked. “Might as well. You’re a legend on the Cutters. The Lions should have scouted you years ago. I don’t know why it took them so long. Maybe you wouldn’t have to move there. Tryouts would be good for you. Give you something healthy to focus on.”
Now that she realized she had a choice, she became frantic. “I have to, right? I can’t say no. This has been my dream since I was five…”
A text came through from Mikey.
(Mikey) OMG CONGRATS!!!!!
She heard Reg sigh and blow a raspberry over the phone. “Yeah, you gotta go. You deserve this.”
She could guess what he was thinking. If she won equal custody of Rainbow, she couldn’t move three days south to Brisbane.
“I’ve been looking at lawyers. They’re crazy expensive.”
“The ones Blaise sent you do a sliding scale.”
What if Maude said no? She probably would say no.
If Rainbow was only with Ronnie every other weekend, she could swing travelling back and forth on an airplane.
If Maude cut her off all together, she could definitely move to the big city.
Rainbow was the only responsibility keeping her here on the Tablelands.
“I knew you’d get scouted eventually, Brum. You’re fast as, and you’re the best ruck the Cutters have had in a decade.” She appreciated that her dad didn’t rain on her parade.
“Thanks, dad. Love you.”
“Love you, Brum. Congratulations. You should be proud. It’s an honor to be invited, another notch for your belt, regardless of what happens.”
She tossed the letter on the pile of paid bills.
“Yeah.” Her heart fell. She had never been on an airplane.
Commuting across Queensland seemed wasteful and bad for the environment.
She couldn’t ask Rainbow to fly alone twice a month.
Rent in Brisbane would be astronomical compared to here, but her salary there might be higher. Something to research.
No. She couldn’t seriously consider it.
Could she?