The following morning the windows of the house were propped open, and the summer breeze that slipped through the kitchen was so moist it left a faint chill in its wake. The radio was on but turned down to a metallic patter. Dettie had not gone home and was finishing up breakfast with the children, refilling their juice glasses. Sam’s mother walked in from the hallway, fixing her hair. As she passed him the comics section of the newspaper she touched both him and his sister on their shoulders and squeezed. Sam noticed the way she kept glancing at Dettie, and he could tell that his aunt was intentionally avoiding her gaze.
‘Good morning.’ His mother crossed to the refrigerator and grabbed a tub of yoghurt. ‘How did everyone sleep?’
Katie nodded and slurped up another spoonful of milk from her bowl. Sam shrugged.
‘Very well, thank you,’ Dettie said, scraping a sliver of margarine over her toast. Sam knew she was lying. Her eyes were puffy and she had been massaging a crick in her neck since she’d sat down to eat. She was still wearing the same clothes as the night before, her brown skirt and grey blouse both crumpled, and when Sam had emerged from his room there’d been a blanket and her knitted cardigan folded on the arm of the couch.
Their mother checked the water in the kettle, and measured a scoop of instant coffee into her travel mug. ‘Sam, Katie, I was very proud of you both last night,’ she said. ‘You were really well behaved. Roger said he’d never met two nicer children.’
Dettie rolled her eyes, her lips pursed, pushing her plate aside until it clicked against her teacup.
When the kettle boiled, their mother poured hot water into her mug, stirring it in. ‘Which reminds me,’ she said, sucking her spoon clean. ‘Did I ever tell you kids about Roger’s house?’ She tucked the coffee jar back on its shelf. ‘He has a pool. His own pool. He said you kids are welcome to try it out some time. And Katie, did Roger mention last night that he has two cats?’
Katie’s eyes widened.
Their mother smiled, screwing the lid onto her mug. ‘Well, if you like the sound of that,’ she said, ‘after work, I’ve got a big surprise for you.’
Dettie exhaled loudly. She took a bite from a triangle of Vegemite toast and examined the marks left by her teeth, turning it in her thin fingers.
‘Honestly, I don’t understand you, Dettie,’ their mother said, setting down her drink on the counter. ‘I would have thought you’d be happy about all this. If everything works well, we won’t have to go out so much. See? I won’t have to lump the kids on you all the time.’
Dettie rose, crossed the floor and dropped the rest of her breakfast in the plastic bag hanging under the sink. Turning, she dusted off her hands and adjusted her wedding ring. ‘It seems to me you’ve already made up your mind, Joanne,’ she said. ‘You’ve been seeing this fellow for months now. He’s sat at your table. Does it really matter what any of us think?’
Sam let the same bite of crust sit in his mouth. Katie wiggled her toes so that her slippers slapped on her heels. Dettie’s breath shook.
Their mother was blinking heavily. ‘Of course it—’ She took a breath. ‘I am trying—’
‘Oh, I know what you’re trying to do,’ Dettie turned her back to her and started clattering dirty dishes into the sink, twisting the tap on. ‘If you really want my opinion, you should call your husband,’ she muttered.
The pipes squalled in the walls and water blasted over the cutlery.
Their mother gathered up her purse, her mug, and her keys from the fruit bowl, and threw a Chapstick into her handbag. ‘Oh, I’ll call him,’ she said. ‘Don’t you worry. I’ll be talking to him today.’
On her way to the door she kissed both Sam and Katie on the forehead. ‘Mummy’s going to be a little late,’ she said. ‘Be good. Listen to Dettie. And don’t dawdle on your way to school.’
When the front door had closed and their mother was gone, the radio went on chattering, louder in the quiet, and the apple tree in the backyard rustled against the flyscreen.