‘Terrible-terrible-terrible,’ Dominic mutters all the way down the steps and into the car and down the road. He stops this refrain every now and again and the silence gathers and then he starts over, under his breath, his lips making the word, moving silently around it, until suddenly it bursts out and the silence is filled with it again. Terrible-terrible-terrible. He sounds just like Noah, with his under-breath droning.
Normally, Maddie’s mom’s the one to calm him down when he gets into a state, when he starts on about what’s happening to taxpayers’ money and how the government should be booted out once and for all and how they should just up sticks and go and live on a desert island. Her mom will listen for a bit and then pat his arm or give him a hug and asks if he wants a beer, and should she do roast chicken or mince for supper. Small meaningless questions that pull him down from his irritable high.
But this is different, this mumbling, and her mom is sitting tight-lipped and her knuckles are white. Her left hand’s pushing against her door as if she’d like to fling it open, roll out into the road and run.
Her parents are changing into escape artists right in front of Maddie’s eyes.
‘How could you?’ Her mom finally forces the words out when they pull into their driveway. ‘The whole time we were there, you didn’t say one word to him. How could you?’
‘Look, Kate,’ her father’s voice is wheedling, filled with apology, ‘Look—’
‘No, you look. He’s your son, Dominic.’
‘But you know how I hate places like that. Hospitals, closed-in spaces.’
‘Oh, please, Dominic. Grow up. How do you think he’s coping? Did that thought ever enter your selfish, childish mind?’
Her father isn’t childish or selfish. Maddie knows that, and so does her mom, but Noah being at Greenhills has changed the way they talk to each other.
The moment Maddie’s dad stops in the driveway, her mom leaps out and runs to the front door. She fumbles her key into the lock and slams that too. Maddie edges along the back seat, closer to the back of her father’s head. She wants to smooth his hair, say, ‘Don’t worry, Dad. It’ll be fine, but something stops her. She opens the passenger door and slides out quietly. Her dad stays put. He doesn’t come into the house until much later, when Maddie’s finishing her homework and her mom’s calling her for supper.