The last thing Maddi wanted as she dragged her feet along the marble pavers to the front door was Celine Dion shouting ‘All By Myself’ across the neighbourhood. Maddi knew this was a sign her mother was home earlier than usual and was likely to be in a very good mood. Jayne Sterling invariably slipped Celine Dion’s entire collection into the sound system whenever she felt upbeat. Maddi’s view had always been that this was her mother’s way of bringing herself down again – striving for equilibrium.
‘Hi Madeline, darling,’ Jayne screeched from the kitchen, rivalling Celine as Maddi stepped in through the front door.
‘You’re home early,’ Maddi said, eyeing off her mother’s dazzling white Capri pants.
‘Yes. It’s such a gorgeous day, and I left home before daylight this morning to attend a meeting, which turned out to be a waste of time anyway . . . so I decided at two thirty that I was going to take the rest of the day off – and here I am.’ She smiled, stabbing at the sound system with a long vermillion fingernail, bringing a brutal end to Celine’s musical climax. ‘I’ve made you a snack,’ she said, withdrawing a plate from the refrigerator and sliding it onto the kitchen bench. ‘Oh, and I’ll get you some juice.’
‘No thanks, Mum,’ Maddi said, peering at the towering club sandwich. After Alex’s flashback on the phone last night, Maddi had been unable to finish her homework. And she hadn’t slept for most of the night, her guts churning like cream cheese in a vat. In fact they had been churning all day, whenever she thought of how many times they had passed Roger’s house, how she’d spoken to him with less than centimetres separating them. And how she’d been certain he was a good guy, and that despite his differences, would never hurt anyone, especially not Alex. No, her guts were a mess. She didn’t feel like eating right now, but she picked up the sandwich anyway and took a small bite since her mother had gone to the trouble of making it. Another reason she hadn’t slept was that she’d finally faced the fact that it was time for her to tell her parents everything she knew, and probably be banned from ever visiting Alex again.
‘Did you get to school on time today?’ her mother said, sitting on a stool opposite, picking up the remaining half of the club sandwich and nibbling at the crust. ‘I couldn’t believe it when your father told me he’d left you sleeping this morning.’ She studied Maddi’s face and swallowed. ‘You look tired, darling. Are you OK?’
Maddi placed her sandwich back on the plate and brushed her hands together. ‘Alex told me something last night that made me feel sick.’ She hoped she wouldn’t have to explain further, but the moment the horrified frown appeared on her mother’s smooth forehead she knew that had been a futile wish.
‘What?’ Jayne rasped, her brown eyes widening.
Maddi gazed out the kitchen window. ‘Alex had another flashback. She said she saw Roger Grenfell standing over her while she was lying on the ground after the attack, and he was holding a balaclava.’
Jayne’s hand flew to her face. ‘Oh my God, Madeline. Has Alex told the police?’
‘Yes. Her mum rang them.’
‘And . . . ?’ Jayne said, her eyes widening even further.
‘I don’t know, Mum. I guess the police are investigating it.’
Maddi picked up the sandwich again, more as a diversion than from hunger. She took a bite and chewed half-heartedly.
‘You seem so flat, Madeline. There’s something else. What is it?’ Jayne made the sudden face that overtook her whenever inspiration struck. She grabbed up her mobile phone and scrolled furiously through the calendar. ‘It can’t be your periods. They’re not due yet,’ she announced, tossing the phone back onto the bench. ‘Darling, please tell me what’s bothering you.’
‘I don’t know what to do,’ Maddi said, swallowing her tears. Alex is my friend and I really like her. But . . .’
‘But what, darling? Tell me.’ Jayne rose from her chair and filled the electric kettle at the sink, glancing over her shoulder at Maddi the entire time.
‘She’s got this . . . this sort of thing about Mr Fuller. It’s embarrassing. The way she goes on is worse than the mothers, like, all girly and pathetic whenever he’s around. The police told him he had to stop talking to her after class, so he told her he’s really angry and disappointed in her and has stopped talking to her altogether. But the more he ignores her the more she chases after him. Chemistry lesson was hideous today. Alex called out the answer to every question Fullavit asked – like, I expected she would throw herself at his feet any minute. All the other kids think it’s weird as well, but Alex won’t listen. She thinks they’re just jealous.’
Jayne made a cup of tea and sat down, resting her chin on the heel of her hand. ‘Thank you for telling me, Madeline darling. I hate to think you’ve been carrying this by yourself. It’s eating you up inside.’
Maddi watched her mother sip her tea and place it down again. ‘I have to tell you something too. When Alex had that turn on the footpath the other weekend – you know when you both saw Mr Fuller, I rang Laura Nesci.’
‘I know. Alex told me. You totally betrayed my trust, Mum.’
Jayne reached out and gently grasped Maddi’s wrist. ‘It seemed really significant to me, Madeline. I knew you wouldn’t be happy about it. And I must say it was a difficult decision, but it was the only adult decision – and I made it,’ she said, lifting her chin.
‘Well, it’s probably your fault then, that the police came to the school and told Fullavit off.’
Jayne shook her head. ‘I don’t think so. They spoke to him because he’s keeping a particularly vulnerable student alone after class. And I think the police handled it the right way, no matter how much it upset Mr Fuller,’ she said.
Back in her room, Maddi stood at her desk and slowly pulled her books out of her backpack, wondering how she could conjure up the energy to complete her homework. She tossed up whether to give it a miss again tonight. Pulled out a maths textbook, gasping the moment she noticed it was Alex’s. ‘Oh shoot,’ she said, hurrying along the passage to the kitchen, calling ‘Mum . . . Mum.’
‘What?’ Jayne said at the breakfast bar without lifting her frown from her laptop.
‘I’ve brought Alex’s maths book home – I borrowed it during class and accidentally kept it. Alex is already getting crap marks since the attack.’ She turned and headed towards her room. ‘I’ll change my shoes and run it over to her house.’
Jayne flew from her seat. ‘You will do no such thing. I will not have you going there alone. Especially since we know there’s a potential rapist living so close. I’ll drive you,’ she said, grabbing up the car keys.
If Maddi were totally honest, she enjoyed having her mother home, to talk and to solve problems together. During the drive to Alex’s house they chatted about movies, shoes, makeup – like they did sometimes when her parents had a weekend free of work.
‘Mm. This looks interesting. I wonder what’s going on,’ Jayne said once they turned into Alex’s street to the sight of police cars lining the road.
Men wearing SES uniforms and high-vis vests wandered in and out of the lane, a few bent heads only just visible behind the tall fence as they seemed to be searching through the gardens either side.
Maddi’s heart felt as though it had lodged in her throat. ‘I hope Alex’s OK. I hope she hasn’t been attacked again,’ she gasped, her hand immediately on the door handle.
‘I’m sure Alex is fine,’ Jayne said unconvincingly as she pulled up opposite her house.
Maddi’s heart was pounding, her throat dry as she tore along the gravel driveway, Bruno’s barks echoing from inside the house. She slammed the iron knocker against the door and waited, relieved to hear footsteps thumping towards her.
Alex half smiled as she took the book from Maddi’s hand. ‘Thanks for bringing it back,’ she said, peering over Maddi’s shoulder across the road. ‘And thank your mum as well.’
‘What’s going on in the lane?’ Maddi said.
Alex opened her mouth to answer when Cynthia Holt appeared, dressed in the navy uniform she wore to the nursing home, wiping her hands with a tea towel. ‘Hi Maddi. Is that your mum out there in the car?’ she said straining her neck. ‘Do you want to ask her in for a cuppa? I’d like to talk to her.’
Maddi was not certain her mother would be thrilled with the idea but felt she had no choice but to check.
‘Don’t worry, love. I’ll ask her myself,’ Cynthia said, handing the tea towel to Alex and smoothing the sides of her auburn bob, before rushing through the front door and over the road, where she bent at the driver’s window for a moment before Jayne climbed from her car.
‘I thought with Alex and Maddi being friends that you’d want to know where this awful mess is up to,’ Cynthia said over her shoulder as the four of them made their way along the passage to the kitchen. ‘I’ll make us a pot of tea.’
Maddi watched her mother’s polite but strained smile. And from what little she knew of Cynthia Holt, Maddi could tell she was nervous.
Jayne and the girls sat at the small table and watched Cynthia setting up mugs, a large white teapot and a white milk jug. ‘You may know that Alex had another flashback – she saw Roger Grenfell this time,’ Cynthia said from the kitchen bench, spooning tea leaves into the pot and glancing up at Jayne. ‘You know who I’m talking about, don’t you? He’s the retarded guy who lives at the other end of the lane . . . Well, Alex knows now that he was the one who attacked her. In her flashback she saw him standing over her. And he was holding the balaclava. Greg and I think it’s conclusive evidence.’ A swirl of steam rose from the pot as Cynthia added boiling water.
‘He’s not retarded, Mum,’ Alex said with a disgusted frown. ‘In fact in some ways he’s a genius. He’s just a bit different, that’s all. It doesn’t mean he’s any better or worse. Just different . . . And stop saying I know he attacked me. I just think I saw him standing over me.’
Cynthia sighed. ‘Our kids are so much wiser than us,’ she said with a conspiratorial wink at Jayne, whose return smile was less than enthusiastic. ‘Roger Grenfell has admitted he was there, Alex,’ Cynthia chided before turning back to Jayne. ‘Greg and I think the police are clutching at straws. Roger claims he found Alex after she was attacked. The police say it is possible he may have disturbed her attacker, but Greg and I know it was Roger. The way he hangs around Alex is positively creepy. And we know now that he was writing her suggestive notes. We just wish they’d arrest him and get this whole thing over and done with.’
Cynthia placed her mug on the table and sat. ‘The police are in the lane now,’ she said, nodding in the direction. They’re searching for the balaclava because Roger has conned them into believing he threw it over the fence when he heard Greg and Bruno coming.’
‘I guess the balaclava may have DNA – if they find it,’ Jayne said. ‘You must be pleased. This is a huge step forward.’
Alex stood then and grabbed up the maths book from the table. ‘Come to my room, Maddi? I want you to help me with a maths problem.’
‘Don’t be long, Madeline. We have to go soon,’ Jayne called after her.
‘What’s the problem you want me to look at?’ Maddi said once they reached Alex’s room, immediately flopping down onto the white doona.
‘I don’t really want help with maths. I hate maths,’ Alex said pulling a face. ‘I need to tell you something in private,’ she whispered, closing the door. ‘But you have to absolutely promise you won’t tell.’
‘I promise,’ Maddi said, not really wanting to be tangled up in even more secrets and lies.
‘What do you promise on?’ Alex said.
‘I promise on my grandmother’s grave,’ Maddi said.
‘OK. Late last night someone sprayed ‘kid fucker’ totally across the front of Roger’s house, over the windows, the door, everywhere – in bright red paint.’
Maddi gasped as her hands flew to her mouth. ‘Oh my God. Poor Roger. Especially if what he told the police is true and he’s totally innocent . . . It was probably the same gang who threw the eggs and bashed him,’ she added.
Alex shook her head and glanced up, her blue eyes filling with tears. ‘It was Greg. He tore out of the house the second I told him I saw Roger in my flashback. I shouldn’t have said anything to him, but it really freaked me out. Greg was gone for hours. He woke me up in the middle of the night when he came home again.’ She hesitated. Picked at her nails. ‘This morning he told Mum and me everything would be fine from now on and that pretty soon Roger would either be in prison or run out of the neighbourhood.’
Maddi screwed up her face. ‘Greg wouldn’t do graffiti. He wouldn’t know how, for a start, and besides, he’s not the type. Have you seen Roger’s house? Does the writing look like Greg’s?’
Alex shook her head, tears still threatening, her voice thickening. ‘I haven’t seen it because I’m not allowed to go anywhere near his house. And I don’t really want to, anyway.’
‘None of this is your fault,’ Maddi said, stepping over to her friend’s bed and hugging her.
Alex whisked a few tissues from the box on the bedside cupboard and dabbed at her eyes. ‘But it is my fault, Maddi. If Greg gets into trouble from trying to protect me, Mum and I will have to move out of this house. We like it here, especially Mum. And we have nowhere else to go,’ Alex said, leaning into the wad of tissues and quietly sobbing, eventually taking a deep breath and sitting straighter. ‘Anyway, I don’t reckon Greg did it himself. I reckon he paid some kids to do it. That’d be more his style.’
Maddi clenched her lips together. Greg can’t be all that smart. Kids aren’t very good at keeping secrets.
‘I forgot to ask after you spoke to Laura today,’ Maddi said, desperate to change the topic, ‘did you tell her about Isaac’s backpack?’
Alex rolled her eyes and dabbed at them, a slight smile creeping across her lips. ‘Yes, Maddi, I told her,’ she said. ‘But Laura didn’t say much about it. Anyway, I don’t care what happens any more. Isaac won’t talk to me or even answer my questions, but he stares at me all the time. He and everyone else is being totally weird.’
Maddi laughed. ‘You must be watching him all the time, Alex. He probably thinks you’re acting weird as well.’
‘Thanks for the tea, Cynthia,’ Jayne’s voice echoed as the women wandered slowly towards the front door.
Alex dabbed at her eyes and sniffed. Stood straight as Maddi followed her from her room into the passage.
You’re welcome,’ Cynthia said, smiling at Jayne. ‘I hope you understand what’s going on now. Hopefully we’ll be back to normal soon. But in the meantime Greg is very protective. He won’t let anything happen to Alex or me – and the same goes for Maddi, whenever she’s here with us.’
From the edge of the footpath they watched two police cars pull away from the kerb near the lane and drive off, a large yellow emergency services van following. A group emerged from the lane then, police officers in high-vis vests. An officer leading the way clasped a brown paper bag marked ‘Evidence’ as though it was nothing more than his lunch.
‘Oh my God,’ Alex whispered through pale lips. The balaclava must be in that bag.’
Cynthia rubbed Alex’s shoulder as they watched the remaining police cars drive away.
‘It’s all good,’ Maddi said as she hugged her friend goodbye, alarmed at the way Alex’s body shook.
Back in the car, Jayne cast Maddi a warning glance. ‘Do not even ask to visit Alex again until Roger Grenfell is in prison. I mean it, Madeline. Do not even ask,’ she said, her voice shaking.