Mr Vine grunted when I arrived. I did the floors and sang another of Davey’s school songs. I chose Miss Molly and her sick, sick dolly. I hoped it would get in Mr Vine’s brain.
He came stomping out from the back room. ‘Trust you to sing a baby’s song. Too dumb to know anything harder, are you?’
I swished the broom at him. ‘That’s right.’ And I went on singing while I swept: the whole thing, three times. I sang different kids’ songs while I mopped. He didn’t like ‘Do Your Ears Hang Low’. He hated ‘Alice the Camel’ so I sang it over and over till I finished the mopping.
I didn’t sing when I cleaned the toilet. It was better, but it still stank.
He gave me my pay without a fuss. I met Mick on the footpath as I was leaving. ‘Any problems today, Ruby?’
I grinned at him. ‘He didn’t like the songs I sang. But no — no problems today. Thanks again.’
He wanted to know what the songs were. He gave a hoot of laughter when I told him, and went into the shop still chuckling.
I rode home. I would bank my money this week. Yay for Ruby! I was on my way to Brazil.
At home, I got the boys up. They went through the routine with no fuss. Wonderful Ruby.
I sat at the table and ate my breakfast. Max was there already. His book was in front of him and he shovelled food into his mouth. ‘Max, can you pass me the milk, please.’
He didn’t look up. ‘Get it yourself.’
I snatched the book away. ‘You know what, Max Yarrow? You’re an arsehole. A stupid one.’
‘Mum!’ Theo shouted. ‘Ruby swore! She called Max an …’
‘That’ll do, Theo,’ Mum snapped. ‘Max, pass the milk. At once.’
‘I’ll get it for you, Ruby,’ Davey said. He slid off his chair, picked up the milk carton and handed it to me.
‘Thanks, buddy.’
Mum said, ‘Max, you’re coming with me and Theo this morning. I’ve got things to say to you.’
He did the reasonable act. ‘No, Mum — that would be counterproductive. You go the other way from school.’
Mum didn’t look at him. She just kept on making Davey’s lunch. ‘I know where I go, Max. You’ll have plenty of time to walk to school. You can think about things on the way.’
He pushed his chair back. ‘Don’t stress, Mum.’
‘Get in the car. Now.’ It was her don’t argue with me voice.
He shrugged his shoulders and did the Hollywood sigh but got in the car. Davey and I cleaned up the kitchen. This time, I didn’t mind.
We sang ‘Alice the Camel’ all the way to school.
I wondered if Wiremu and Tom would be hyped up about their interviews. They weren’t. Wiremu said, ‘What’s to be scared of? Man — I’ve been yelled at by Mr T. Nothing can scare me now.’
Tom yawned. ‘What? Oh, the interviews. No sweat.’
They asked how mine had gone. I pulled a face. ‘Bad. I didn’t even know what language they speak.’
That woke Tom up. ‘Brazilian?’
Maisie poked a finger in his ribs. ‘No, duh-brain. They speak Portuguese.’
Oh. Even the word made it sound hard.
The day rolled on like a wave you can’t stop. It would stop tomorrow when we heard who would go and who wouldn’t. All day, I kept the question in my head — how could I learn Portuguese?
I picked up Davey and we did the evening chores. I was so glad I’d decided to go to Brazil by myself. It was something to look forward to. It was my secret.
That evening, I worked on a poster in my room. This was an autumn spread for a girl of my age, but with a heap more money than I had. I designed a wardrobe that had class, but it had casual gear too. I couldn’t find the right top. I wanted a wraparound cardigan but they all looked as though an old man should be wearing them.
I needed some more magazines. Davey and I could call in at the op shop on the way home tomorrow.
Tomorrow. That was when we’d find out who was on the trip to Brazil and who wasn’t.
The morning came. I knew they wouldn’t pick me. I knew it. Maybe that was why I felt as if I was going to my doom. Mr W read the notices. The kids who’d applied for Brazil were to go to the media room at interval. Megan and I stressed. Maisie wasn’t worried. Wiremu shrugged. Tom yawned.
The day crept towards interval. The bell rang. Megan rubbed her hands down her skirt. ‘This is it.’
My voice seemed to have vanished.
We had to wait five minutes before Ms Adams showed up.
She read out the list. Girls in alphabetical order, then the boys. Megan Chapman was first. I gave her the hugest hug. She was crying. Maisie Lemmon.
‘Yay!’ Megan, Maisie and I yelled. They looked at me, their eyes bright.
I shook my head.
‘You never know,’ Maisie whispered.
‘I want you to come!’ Megan grabbed my hand and held it hard.
The girls’ list stopped at Amanda Trask.
Okay. That’s it. I knew it would be like that. The others didn’t look at me. I tried not to be disappointed, but I was.
Wiremu got chosen. Tom didn’t. ‘Sweet, man,’ he said.
The rest of the day was hard. I was happy for Megan, Maisie and Wiremu, but that didn’t help the cold lump of disappointment in my gut. I smiled and laughed. Inside, I was crying.
After school, I picked Davey up, but we didn’t go to the op shop. I just wanted to hide out at home.
We cooked a beef casserole that took a lot of preparation. It was soothing and Davey liked helping. He was cheerful company.
That evening at dinner, Max spoke to me. First, he smiled, and that made me suspicious. What was he up to? I soon found out. ‘I hear you applied to go to Brazil, Ruby.’
Wow, he could be mean when he tried.
I said, ‘Yes, I did. What of it?’
He ignored that. ‘Did you get selected?’
Mum’s eyes zapped between us. Calvin watched as well. The boys kept eating.
I put down my fork. ‘Why are you asking, Max? I’m sure you know the answer.’
He shrugged and put another gob of food — cooked by me and Davey — into his mouth.
I was pissed off with him. Why did he need to point out how dumb I was? An idea zapped into my brain. Huh! I smiled at Mum. She wore her worried look. ‘It’s okay, Mum. I just did it to keep Megan company.’ That was true at the start, anyway. Then I smiled across the table at Max. He ignored me. I turned back to Mum. ‘I need to go to the town library after school tomorrow. I’ll take Davey, but Max will have to do dinner.’
‘We’ll go on the bus.’ Davey thumped the table and sang, ‘The wheels on the bus go round and round!’
Theo shouted, ‘Me too! Me too!’
Calvin put a hand over his mouth. ‘If you go too, buddy — who will I have to walk home with?’
Max shook his head and kept eating. He had a small smile on his face.
Mum said, ‘That’s a good idea, Ruby.’ She straightened her back and took a breath. ‘We’ll have fish fingers, Max. That’s not too hard.’
‘And mashed potatoes,’ Davey said. ‘And salad and beans from the garden and feijoa pie. Yum!’
Max shook his head again. ‘Ruby can do it when she gets home.’
Calvin looked as though he wanted to say something, but he didn’t.
Mum took a deeper breath. ‘She could, Max, but she’s not going to.’
Max shrugged. ‘Okay. Don’t stress.’
Tomorrow night’s dinner would be air fingers, mashed air, air from the garden and air pie.
He was such a loser. Couldn’t he see how much he was stressing Mum out? I wondered if he even cared.
I ran outside and played with the kids while Max did the dishes.
Nobody said anything more about Brazil.