but I’m sure she has it in her. I’m so ready to just do my own thing without having to spectate some long opera with the wailing and the flailing. Can I just have new boots, do we think?
I’ll pick u up.
But she would mean from Joey’s, my old school, where I don’t go anymore, which she should know, since she saw me leave in a different uniform this morning, if she was paying attention.
No I will meet you @ bunnings in 15 mins.
She doesn’t answer, so I get off the train and walk down to the Bunnings warehouse. There is a bench out the front, between the lawnmowers and the wheelbarrows. Isit there in the afternoon sun with my legs stretched out and close my eyes.
It was a good day. No, an awesome day. A new beginning. People liked me, and I got a sense of how it could have been from the beginning for me if I’d made a stand a long time ago, like when I was two. I’m never going to be happy, but I could get close now, I think. I could be almost normal. I could have a friend.
Of course, what I have is an opportunity to invent not just myself, but my whole circumstance. I rehearse it in my head.
We have a dairy farm in South Australia. My parents are boutique cheesemakers. We’re here because they’re selling to the fancy restaurants and delis in the city. We’re getting our own counter in the food section of DJs.
Yeah, I used to name the cows. Tiffany. Bianca. Simone. I didn’t milk them, though. It’s all done by machines. No, seriously, we’re not, like, farmers scuffing around in gumboots. It’s just the same as any business. We have staff to do all that. We live in a normal house. Now. It has a turret, though. Of course I mean a for-real turret! What did you think I meant—a chimney?
I open my eyes and there is a man standing in front of me with paint-splattered tracksuit pants, and stubble, and skewiff hair. He is staring at little rattling packets of bolts, or rivets in his hands. He’s done well to come out withonly a handful. Bunnings is an amusement park for old people.
It takes me a minute to recognise him. It’s. He looks through me, and then frowns. He doesn’t remember me, just knows that he has seen my face before, so he’s waiting for me to remind him.
I am about to say something, but my mother stalks up. She has her game face on. Joy.
‘I rang Joey’s today. They said you weren’t there.’
‘I’m going to a new school now, Mum.’
She pokes me in the chest so hard it hurts. ‘You don’t get to make these decisions!’ she hisses. ‘If you have a problem, mister, you come to me, and we’ll talk about it. I make the decisions around here. Do you understand me?’
I look away. I am embarrassed, but Crockett remembers who I am now.
‘Do you understand?’ she insists.
‘Yes,’ I say. I do understand. That doesn’t mean I agree. They are totally different things.
Crockett steps forward, hesitates, steps back again.
‘Can I help you?’ My mother asks sarcastically.
He ignores her. He rattles his little metal hardware thingies. ‘For my daughter. Her vertical blinds are sticking. And I’m hoping these will fix it.’ He watches me for a moment. ‘That thing?’ he says to me. ‘I looked it up. It’s doable.’
Crockett has a daughter.
My mother puts her hands on her hips. ‘I beg your pardon?’
Crockett looks at my mother and back at me again.
‘You looked it up?’ I say.
He nods.
Crockett looked it up. A smile spreads across my face. I put my hand over it. He nods again, but this time it’s like a little salute. We’re having a moment, Crockett and I.
My mother waits until he is out of earshot.
‘What’s doable?’ she asks.
I’m trying to come up with a passable story.
‘What’s doable? You answer me, mister!’ her voice more shrill.
Irritation wells up in my belly. ‘Please don’t call me mister,’ I mumble through gritted teeth.
She blushes, and laughs. She’s trying to boss me around, but she’s weak and panicky and
I’ll pick u up.
But she would mean from Joey’s, my old school, where I don’t go anymore, which she should know, since she saw me leave in a different uniform this morning, if she was paying attention.
No I will meet you @ bunnings in 15 mins.
She doesn’t answer, so I get off the train and walk down to the Bunnings warehouse. There is a bench out the front, between the lawnmowers and the wheelbarrows. Isit there in the afternoon sun with my legs stretched out and close my eyes.
It was a good day. No, an awesome day. A new beginning. People liked me, and I got a sense of how it could have been from the beginning for me if I’d made a stand a long time ago, like when I was two. I’m never going to be happy, but I could get close now, I think. I could be almost normal. I could have a friend.
Of course, what I have is an opportunity to invent not just myself, but my whole circumstance. I rehearse it in my head.
We have a dairy farm in South Australia. My parents are boutique cheesemakers. We’re here because they’re selling to the fancy restaurants and delis in the city. We’re getting our own counter in the food section of DJs.
Yeah, I used to name the cows. Tiffany. Bianca. Simone. I didn’t milk them, though. It’s all done by machines. No, seriously, we’re not, like, farmers scuffing around in gumboots. It’s just the same as any business. We have staff to do all that. We live in a normal house. Now. It has a turret, though. Of course I mean a for-real turret! What did you think I meant—a chimney?
I open my eyes and there is a man standing in front of me with paint-splattered tracksuit pants, and stubble, and skewiff hair. He is staring at little rattling packets of bolts, or rivets in his hands. He’s done well to come out withonly a handful. Bunnings is an amusement park for old people.
It takes me a minute to recognise him. It’s. He looks through me, and then frowns. He doesn’t remember me, just knows that he has seen my face before, so he’s waiting for me to remind him.
I am about to say something, but my mother stalks up. She has her game face on. Joy.
‘I rang Joey’s today. They said you weren’t there.’
‘I’m going to a new school now, Mum.’
She pokes me in the chest so hard it hurts. ‘You don’t get to make these decisions!’ she hisses. ‘If you have a problem, mister, you come to me, and we’ll talk about it. I make the decisions around here. Do you understand me?’
I look away. I am embarrassed, but Crockett remembers who I am now.
‘Do you understand?’ she insists.
‘Yes,’ I say. I do understand. That doesn’t mean I agree. They are totally different things.
Crockett steps forward, hesitates, steps back again.
‘Can I help you?’ My mother asks sarcastically.
He ignores her. He rattles his little metal hardware thingies. ‘For my daughter. Her vertical blinds are sticking. And I’m hoping these will fix it.’ He watches me for a moment. ‘That thing?’ he says to me. ‘I looked it up. It’s doable.’
Crockett has a daughter.
My mother puts her hands on her hips. ‘I beg your pardon?’
Crockett looks at my mother and back at me again.
‘You looked it up?’ I say.
He nods.
Crockett looked it up. A smile spreads across my face. I put my hand over it. He nods again, but this time it’s like a little salute. We’re having a moment, Crockett and I.
My mother waits until he is out of earshot.
‘What’s doable?’ she asks.
I’m trying to come up with a passable story.
‘What’s doable? You answer me, mister!’ her voice more shrill.
Irritation wells up in my belly. ‘Please don’t call me mister,’ I mumble through gritted teeth.
She blushes, and laughs. She’s trying to boss me around, but she’s weak and panicky and
Similar Books
Strictland Academy
Breanna Hayse, Carolyn Faulkner
Shamed in the Sands
Sharon Kendrick
Starting Fires
Makenzie Smith
Fallen
Tim Lebbon
Black Lies White Lies
Dranda Laster
Spirit Sanguine
Lou Harper
Survivor: Steel Jockeys MC
Evelyn Glass
Show Me How
Molly McAdams
Heir to the Jedi
Kevin Hearne
Discovery: Altera Realm Trilogy
Jennifer Collins