Ben was sitting out in the small overgrown front courtyard wrapped in a blanket when they returned to the flat. He ran a hand across his jaw and then through his floppy blond hair to pull it away from his face. He looked like he was sporting a hangover but got up and hugged Anna and then, after hesitating for a moment, gave Faith a hug too. Rachel had gone to uni and the other flatmates were both still asleep.
“I heard you arrive. Before I even saw you,” Ben said looking pointedly at the bright-pink van. “What the fuck is that monstrosity?”
“Yes, the van. It would seem Faith and I bought it last night,” Anna sighed. “By the way, do you know a guy called Benny or Barney or something? He was at the flat we ended up at in Kilbirnie. I don’t think he lived there though.”
“Nope, don’t think so. That’s not much to go on, Mum. How did you end up in Kilbirnie anyway? I thought you were coming back here, then I thought you must have bailed and gone back to the hotel.”
“We really should have,” Faith said as she plopped herself onto one of the cheap plastic patio chairs. She rubbed absently at her temple looking tired. “I doubt Barney or Boris or whoever we bought it from is going to give us our money back, even if we could find him. It’s probably already spent. Do you know anyone who wants to buy a pink ex-plumbingnow-shoddy camper van?”
Ben scratched his chin. “Yeah, nah, probably not. You could try and sell it on Vic Deals, I guess.”
“That might be our best option, but how long will it take to sell? I’m meant to be heading to Invercargill. I’d drive down but I can’t afford to pay you out for your half, Anna.”
Anna’s mind whirled. As fast as it could given her current hungover state. The thought of going home and dealing with Greg wasn’t exactly appealing. She’d obviously been talking about going to visit the twins to Faith the night before. She hadn’t seen Cameron since he’d gone back to Christchurch after Christmas and Niamh had stayed down there to work so it had been months since she’d seen her.
She didn’t need the money, she could just let Faith take the van, but she’d said she wasn’t a confident driver. And then there was the shambles of her marriage waiting at home for her. She had a sudden longing to see the kids, and maybe to talk to them about what was going on with their father, just to sound them out so it wasn’t a complete shock for them.
“What were you thinking of doing?” Anna asked Faith.
“Are you going to drive straight to Invercargill?”
“I haven’t really thought about it, but I can take a few days to get there. As long as I’m there by Saturday week. There won’t be much to do on my own so I suppose I’ll just drive and stop where it’s convenient. I’d ask Rachel to come with me but she can’t really take time off from uni. If I just take it easy and stop heaps I’ll be okay. It’s probably not that much different than driving a car.”
Anna didn’t think Faith looked that convinced.
“I might have to make one of those playlists on my phone to keep me company,” Faith added.
“I don’t suppose you’d want some human company?” Anna asked her. “I mean, I know we don’t really know each other but I promise you I’m a reasonably decent person. That is, if you wouldn’t mind me tagging along? And I don’t mind driving.”
“Really?” Faith looked relieved. “I’m happy for you to come with me if you want to. It could even be fun.”
“Then stuff it, I’m going to go with you.”
“Really? You’re actually going to do it?” Faith asked.
“Sure, as long as you’re okay going via Christchurch. I can’t remember exactly what we talked about doing last night but I haven’t seen much of the South Island so why not, right?”
“Have you asked Dad about this?”
“I don’t have to ask your father anything, Ben,” Anna told him. “I’m my own person.” The children didn’t really know the extent of their marital problems. In fact, Anna had told Greg she wanted a divorce and he, reluctant to sell the house and give her half what the business was worth she suspected, had been digging his toes in. Now that Ben had left home for uni, Anna was determined to make him see their marriage was well and truly over. Done and dusted. A dead duck.
“Okay, I need to make a call. Do you mind if I plug my phone in to charge it?” Faith said getting up and heading inside, grabbing her phone and charger from her handbag.
“Look, Ben,” Anna sighed after she’d left. “Things haven’t been great between your dad and me for a while. I’m going to go down and see the twins and then I think I’ll take a bit of time out travelling with Faith before I go back and sort things out with him.”
Ben shrugged. “Yeah, fair enough. I mean it’s pretty obvious you haven’t been getting along. Kind of thought that when you moved into the spare room, to be honest.” He ran his hand through his hair. “Whatever though, it’s your business.”
“I guess I should have talked to you about it before now, but you won’t be too upset that we’re splitting up?”
“Nah, mum, you and dad are kind of like freaks being married still. Most of my friends’ parents have been divorced for years. It’s sort of like our family will be normal now.” He gave her an awkward pat on the shoulder. “Anyway, you want a coffee or something? It’s getting a bit cold out here. I think I could probably find some clean mugs. Don’t know if we’ve got any milk though.”
She followed Ben inside where Faith was just finishing her phone call. “I’m all set,” she said. “I called my brother’s partner in Invercargill and said I’d be down a few days later than planned.”
“We’d better check out the ferry schedule.” Anna pulled out her own phone. “We should make some kind of a plan.” Her stomach surged, but more with excitement than anxiety. Or vodka.
As they checked their phones to book ferry tickets, Faith’s daughter Rachel arrived back from her morning lecture.
“What the bloody hell is that pink van outside?”
“That belongs to me, and to Ben’s mum, Anna.”
Anna watched as Faith got up and Rachel stooped to hug her much shorter mother. “We’re heading off very shortly on a road trip to Uncle Isaac’s.”
“Well, that’s a bit weird but at least we’re not having a plumbing emergency. Who’d trust a plumber that turned up in that? It looks a bit dodgy. Why are you going in a crappy old van though?” She shrugged off her jacket and threw it over a chair. “Never mind, I think I’m too hungover to hear about it.”
“Rachel!”
“What? You were knocking them back last night before you disappeared. And you look a bit scody yourself mum, if I’m honest.”
Faith sighed and ran her fingers through her hair and Anna wondered whether she was longing for the luxury of her hotel shower as much as she was.
There was a ferry scheduled for later that afternoon, arriving in Picton in the evening. If they left right away they’d make the check-in time. They could then use the time to decide where they’d go from there. And get to know each other a bit better.
“So you want that coffee then?” Ben asked.
The kitchen was covered in glasses and bottles from the night before. A bowl of stale chips sat on the counter and there was guacamole smeared and caked dry on the surface.
“We’d better not. I’m sure we can grab one at the terminal or on the ferry.” She gave him a quick kiss.
“What’ll I tell Dad if he rings? He was in a right shitty mood before.”
As if he’d heard his name, Anna’s phone vibrated and she glanced down to see that Greg was calling. Giving Ben and Faith an apologetic look she stepped back out onto the patio.
“Hi,” she said resignedly.
“I haven’t heard from you. Were you even going to let me know what time you’ll be back? You need to pick up my suit from the dry-cleaners,” Greg started straight in.
Anna felt her temper rising. “I’m not your bloody slave, Greg. Get your own dry-cleaning. I’m going down to see the twins and then when I do get back, whenever the hell that is, I’m going. This marriage is over.”
“The marriage is not over. It’s not over until I say it’s over,” Greg yelled.
“We’ve been done for a long time. That’s been pretty obvious from the fact you’ve missed all of the counselling sessions except the first one, and now suddenly you’re concerned about missing the one today? Well, I’m finally following through. If you don’t want to move out I’ll pack some stuff when I get back and go.”
“And what about the business? Who do you think is going to do invoicing? Huh? You thought about that? You can’t just fucking leave me in the lurch.”
“Moira can handle it. And if not, she can find someone to help her.” Moira did the bulk of the work anyway. She was a capable woman who was probably under-utilised. Anna was only in the office a couple of days a week.
“You’re a bloody selfish bitch. Always have been. Do you know how much it’s going to cost me to get someone in to clean the house? What are my associates going to think when they find out my wife has just up and left me? Don’t be thinking you’ll be getting the new cars and fancy clothes and …”
Anna didn’t wait to hear any more. She disconnected and then waved to Faith to indicate she was ready to go.