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CLANG, go the pots and pans in the kitchen. I wait inside the toilet clutching Emerson my ten-year old sister, who is cuddling in my arms. I can’t climb out our bedroom window because that would mean climbing a two metre fence and with Em being small, that would make our escape harder. So the front door is our only option. We stay quiet in the toilet and listen intently.
The hallways groan and croak under our cousin Sam’s feet. We live with her. She walks across the floor and her bedroom door locks click shut. I open the toilet door as fast as I can and run out the front door. I pick up Em’s glow bug and her emergency bag full of clothes from a gap in the wall on the outside of the house.
I sling it over my shoulder and walk— run while holding Em’s hand, across the road to Mrs Flannery’s. Who would rather I call her Jane, but I’m just not comfortable with it just yet. She lives in a small but humble cottage with thatching on the roof. The stone walls of the cottage are covered in moss, and her roses are in full bloom; the sweet smell is heavenly. We have slowed to a walk as we cross the front verandah and walk up to the large wooden door. It has an intricate carving etched into the wood. I knock on the door twice and turn around. We wait for Mrs Flannery to answer the door.
I notice Sam, watching through the front window in the lounge room across the road in the old, rickety house we live in. She must have heard us leave. Sam is too much of a coward to follow us across the road to Mrs Flannery’s place. Did I shut the front door a little too loud? Her facial features are a mixture of hate, regret and something else I can’t comprehend. She is pissed. She must not have had her fix yet.
The locks click, and Mrs Flannery comes out wiping her hands on her apron. She always wears her silver hair, in a bun on top of her head. Mrs Flannery’s smile is warm and affectionate, which makes me long for a grandmother who is just as caring as she is.
Em doesn’t hesitate. She runs into Mrs Flannery’s opened arms, while I hold her backpack and walk into the house. Emerson and I have been here many times before. Mrs Flannery’s place is our second home, and it has been our safe house over the years we have lived in this neighbourhood.
‘Hey, Mrs Flannery, all of Em’s things are in here.’ I hold the backpack up. ‘She also has a new glow bug, ‘cause Sam threw the other one out.’ I sigh. ‘Hopefully, she sleeps well with this one tonight.’ I pull the glow bug out of Emerson’s backpack.
‘I’m sure she’ll be fine tonight, Ava.’ Mrs Flannery takes the backpack and hangs it on a hook by the door. ‘I went into Avalon and bought some new movies for Em to watch.’ Mrs Flannery peers over her rimmed glasses that are sitting on her button nose. ‘Am I expecting you back here later, as well?’
I shake my head.
‘No, Ma’am. I’ll be at home sleeping, but after I head to Donny’s Rock for a party,’ I tell her. The way I normally do whenever Mrs Flannery has Em. She gives me a stern look.
‘You be careful, dear. Those seniors don’t know how dangerous a place like Donny’s can be,’ Mrs Flannery says as she wanders off into the kitchen.
The smell of a home-cooked meal and apple pie reaches my nose as a low rumble growls in my stomach. Em tugs on my long blonde hair to get my attention. I turn to look at my little sister.
‘Ava, will you come back?’ Em asks. She plays with her ponytail while looking up at me with her big blue eyes.
‘Yeah sure, Baby Blue.’ She’s had that nickname since she was a baby. Mum still uses it, even though she lives in another town. ‘I’ll be back in the morning. Mrs Flannery—.’
‘Nana! She wants us to call her, Nana,’ Em chides.
I have never felt comfortable calling her that. Maybe one day I will, but right now, I allow Em to call her Nana.
‘All right.’ I say as I kiss Emerson on the head, then walk into the kitchen.
‘Is everything all right, dear?’ Mrs Flannery asks. She’s standing at the stove, stirring the large pot with a wooden spoon. The smell of a hearty stew comes to life with each turn of the spoon.
‘Yes, it is ... Um, can you get Em to play at the back? ‘Cause I’m about to go back home and Sam’s ratty today.’ I lean against the bench top and fold my arms.
‘Yeah, sure thing, honey.’ Mrs Flannery eyes squint at the corners. ‘Is Sam gonna be as bad as the last time?’
I shrug my shoulders.
‘I don’t know. As long as Em is here, I can deal with her stupid shit.’ I draw in a quick breath.
‘Get the chilli,’ Mrs Flannery demands. ‘No cussing in my kitchen young lady. You know better than that.’
I walk to the pantry, and look at the spice rack. My eyes skim over the different containers. When I find the chilli spice jar, I give it to Mrs Flannery, who is waiting with a spoon in her hand. I groan inwardly. This punishment is gonna burn. Cussing in front of Mrs Flannery is a big fat no-no.
My mouth burns the moment the chilli powder lands on my tongue and I have to swallow the whole damn spoonful. Mrs Flannery’s brown eyes watch me, and she places her hands on her hips.
I open my mouth to get rid of the overwhelming heat waving my hands in front of my face to fan away the spicy aftertaste. Mrs Flannery brings me a glass of milk. She smiles as she set the glass down on the bench in front of me.
I finish the glass of cool milk. ‘All right, I’m getting out of here before I have to eat more chilli.’
The burn is still there but minimal.
Walking into the lounge room, I find Em cuddled up on the couch. I walk over and sit next to her.
‘Where’s Low?’ Em asks.
I smile at her, stand up and walk over to Em’s backpack. Reaching in, I pull out Emerson’s glow bug.
‘Here is Low. Look after her for me, okay,’ I say to the glow bug.
Emerson looks at me. Her eyes twinkle with amusement, and a big, bright smile spreads across her face.
‘Don’t be silly. Toys can’t talk.’ Em chuckles.
I pull Em into an embrace and hold her for a few moments, before I let her go, close the door behind me and walk back over the road to home.
* * *
SAM IS PACING IN THE lounge room. If she doesn’t stop soon, she will walk a track though the floor and reach the dirt underneath the floorboards.
Sam stops as soon as she notices I am standing in the doorway.
‘What are you up to?’ She purses her lips.
‘Nothing, Mrs Flannery asked to have Em.’ I lie smoothly.
‘Where’s my money?’ Sam walks closer, and her blue eyes are wild as she searches my face.
I know right at this very moment that taking Em across the road is for the best. Emerson is too young to put up with all the craziness that is Sam. She barely talks as it is.
I brush past Sam’s shoulder and walk out to the backyard to get the washing off the line. I hear the back steps creak behind me as Sam follows me into the dull-looking yard that has no life. Even the forest over the fence is more inviting.
I look towards the sky, and even the afternoon blue-grey sky doesn’t keep the groan away.
‘Where’s my money, bitch?’ The venom in Sam’s voice is deadly scary.
‘I don’t have any money,’ I say, keeping my voice calm— even.
My shoulders slump forwards, and I take a deep breath before continuing the folding.
‘Well, how the fuck did you buy them clothes then?’ she spits as she points to the washing basket.
I know that Sam wants a fight, but I’m not going to give it to her. I’m only just recovering from the bruises from our last squabble.
‘Haven’t you heard of five-finger discount?’ I sneer and wiggle my fingers in the air, before unpegging a shirt, folding it and placing it in the basket. These are the clothes I had bought earlier that day for Em. I also got myself some clothes too, but I had given the shorts to Parker to hold for me. Sam would have a fit if she knew I brought something for myself, yet she doesn’t mind me getting things for my baby sister.
‘You wouldn’t even know how to, mole,’ Sam scoffs as she steps closer.
‘Leave the girl alone,’ a deep voice yells, though it’s thick with boredom.
We both turn around and see Jeremy leaning against the doorjamb. His hair has that just-had sex look that he wears all the time. With grease smeared on his face, he grins when our argument stops. His dark blue eyes searching, probably for a way he can manipulate us.
Sam squeals as she runs and throws herself into his arms. He snakes his arm around Sam’s skinny frame to stop her from falling backwards.
Jeremy keeps his creepy eyes on me as he holds Sam in his arms and whispers in her ear. She steps out of the embrace and walks inside.
She has forgotten all about the little tiff she was trying to brew just a few seconds ago. Jeremy stands at the back door looking into the backyard that’s full of green grass. The only thing Sam looks after.
‘Come on in Jerr— if you want a favour later.’ Sam winks at Jeremy as she waves a small packet of white stuff above her face.
‘Are you kidding?’ I mutter, before I turn away from them.
I start taking the washing down, and folding the clothes as I go. I can’t believe that Sam had drugs all that time and she still tried to take my money.
The wooden floorboards creak in the hallway between the bedrooms. Sam won’t be out for some time. So I quickly take the rest of the clothes off and walk at a fast pace to the bedroom where Em’s and I sleep.
After putting the clothes away into the tallboy’s drawers, I hear a ping indicating a text message. I get out my iPhone 5.
Which Sam had thrown it away when Jeremy gave her a brand new iPhone 6, and I had picked the phone out of the garbage and claimed it for my own. I note that the message is from Parker.
;P: Hey, I’m heading 2 old fig now.
Me: Yep cool c u in, like 10 :)
I get my credit card, put it into my phone cover and then place the phone above my breast to sit under my right bra strap. This is the only place I trust when I am at home. Sam is greedy, and I am grateful that she doesn’t know my PIN. Otherwise my bank account would read zero.
I reach for the hem of my top, take it off, and throw it in the corner and then walk over to my trusty mattress. I lift it up to retrieve the rolled-up plastic bag and open it. The black shirt I had carefully hidden away from Sam is the very one I’m going to wear tonight. I pull it up over my head and down my chest, and I flick the tucked hair out of the shirt at the back. I also bought shorts, but I couldn’t leave them here, knowing full well that Sam loves to pinch shorts and make them her own; she wouldn’t have cared about the black shirt—not her style. So I gave the shorts to Parker to look after since she only has brothers to contend with.
I sit on the bed and look out into the backyard. The sun is setting just above the trees over the fence. I start to hear moans, followed by oh-my-God, and fuck-yeah coming from her bedroom. Sam is in the throes of ecstasy.
I lock my bedroom door, and go to the only window in here and slide it up easily before climbing out. This is the best exit. I would have left through the back door, but Sam would have been alerted by the creaking floorboards. Not that Sam would care if I was here or not.
I hear the click indicating that the window is locked. I run towards the asbestos fence in the backyard, and being one hundred and seventy centimetres, I easily lift my own body up and over. Once I land on the dirt, I dash through the trees that surround the property.
The neighbours live a block away. Trees and scrub bushes cover the area in between. The closest neighbour is Mrs Flannery, who lives across the road. Butler is further out—a small coastal town with few shops; it is just one of the towns in the district of the Avalon Valley, and the nearest large city-like settlement is Avalon.
I pull my phone out from under my bra strap and find my friend Sienna’s number and text.
Me: Headn 2 old fig now ;)
:S: Yep, Lisa n Jess r going 2 meet us there l8r. Dean’s taking us 2 Donny’s Rock ‘cause Lake is sick. Jess had said that his girlfriend doesn’t like us. The stupid slag.
Me: LOL, does Parker kno???
:S: not sure u will most probably b there b4 me. So she cn ride shotgun don’t say anything yet.
Me: Yep ok c u there ;)