It’s late when we get to the hospital ward. Mum waves, but Nanna is asleep. That is, until we come in. She must have some special sixth sense, because she suddenly opens her eyes. ‘Oh, you’re here.’ She jiggles forward in her bed. ‘Come over, Leo and Anna. Don’t stand at the back.’
‘Nanna, your hair looks great.’ I don’t mention the bandage at the back of her head.
‘It does, it does.’ Samantha squiggles onto the bed.
Leo rolls his eyes, but doesn’t dare say anything standing next to Anna. Anna loves Nanna.
Nanna beams. ‘A hairdresser in the hospital did it for me this afternoon.’ This means that Nanna is really better.
‘Your hair is nearly as good as when Stanley does it.’ Samantha flicks her pigtails upwards.
‘Who loves Stanley?’ I tease Nanna.
Nanna blushes. She really does love Stanley. He makes a big fuss of her when she sees him. Stanley is the one who makes Nanna’s hair hard. Every week he washes it, puts it in rollers then under a hair dryer, combs it and teases it into a puff before spraying it HARD. I’ve watched the whole process for scientific purposes.
‘Do you remember when you made Hector’s hair like Nanna’s?’ Samantha nudges me.
‘Actually it was an experiment — as you know, Samantha.’ I gave Hector a shampoo, a dye (green) and a blow dry. I used miniature curlers, but he didn’t like them. He didn’t seem to mind his hair being puffed up. I sprayed him until he was hard. He didn’t like that much. Samantha assisted and held him down by his paws and tail. Samantha said he looked beautiful. As if that is the point. I was testing the effect of hard hair on my experimental rat. There was a bit of hair loss, but it grew back. Samantha was right, though. Hector looked good as a green fluffed-out hard rat.
Nanna isn’t very interested in Hector. She’s talking to Anna. ‘I’ll be out of hospital tomorrow.’
‘That is so good, Nanna.’
‘It is.’ She beams.
We tell Nanna all about the theme park. She likes hearing about the tigers. ‘Can you believe that Rob and Jack went on the Tower of Terror? Scary.’ The girls do a duo shudder.
‘Can I take a picture?’ Nanna isn’t sure, but Mum pats down the bandages at the back of Nanna’s head. ‘You look great.’ Click. A photo with Mum, Rob and Leo next to her with her broken wrist extended like a trophy. Click. Another with Samantha and Anna kissing her cheeks on either side of her bandaged head. Click. ‘Nanna, smile.’ Click. Her teeth slide forward. I laugh. ‘You look like Dracula.’
Nanna laughs too. ‘Jack, I drink tea, not blood.’ She grins. ‘Well, maybe it’s tea with a little bit of blood.’
‘Yuck, Nanna.’ Samantha wheezes. Yep, I definitely get my humour from Nanna.
When we say goodbye, Nanna suddenly stops smiling. ‘My wrist hurts. My head hurts.’ She wants Mum to stay. ‘Don’t leave yet.’
Mum takes the flower from behind her ear and puts it in Nanna’s hair. ‘I’ll collect you tomorrow. Promise.’ As we walk out of the ward, I feel awful. Nanna is trying not to cry. ‘We’ll be back soon.’ Mum runs out of there. I do too.
Dinner is quiet tonight. Mum twiddles a frangipani until it looks like it needs resuscitation. ‘We have to do something about Nanna,’ she stammers, then shakes her head. ‘I’m glad you all had a great time today.’
We talk about the tigers for a while, but I’m tired. ‘I’m going to bed.’ I give Mum a kiss, then rub Rob’s prickly head. ‘Golf head.’ I laugh.
‘Hey, don’t touch.’ Rob pretends to pat it down. ‘Go to bed then, Jack.’
‘Goodnight everyone.’
Bathroom. Brush teeth. I am never too tired to do that. I think of Nanna’s false teeth. I shudder. Bedroom. Pyjamas on. Oh, must check my fungus. I reach under the bunk. Hey, it’s not there. I fossick about. Where is it? Has the jar moved? Phew, found it. The green colour is amazing.
What? The mushroom growths are smaller. The fungus has shrunk. It can’t have just collapsed like that. This is wrong, really wrong. Then I see it. Sand in the jar. Lots of it. Gold Coast sand. How did it get there? I slump against the wall with my jar in my lap.
Leo is standing at the door with this funny look. I glare up at him. I know Leo did it. I just know it. ‘Was it you?’
‘What are you talking about?’ Leo starts to get into his pyjamas.
‘The fungus. You did it, didn’t you?’
‘What?’ Leo’s face is red.
‘The sand.’ I lean forward, looking at my fungus. ‘I’ve been working on it for weeks. Weeks. It could have been important. It could have been … penicillin.’
‘Bad luck.’ He shrugs. ‘But it wasn’t me.’
He’s lying. I jerk forward, bang the jar on the floor, then charge. Leo yelps, but I grab him by his legs and he comes crashing down onto the rug. He tries to hit back, but I have his arms pinned behind his head. I lean over him so that all he can see is my face. ‘You little creep. Why did you do it?’ I press hard on his weedy arms. ‘Tell me or I’ll break your thumb.’
Leo is scared. I can see it in his eyes. I put pressure on his left-hand thumb. More pressure, more. ‘Okay, I’ll tell … but … let me go.’
‘Tell first.’ I press harder. The thumb crunches. ‘Now.’
‘You weren’t supposed to bring the fungus,’ he stutters. ‘Anna told me.’
‘So what?’ I twist his arm.
‘Ugh. Everyone thinks you’re so great. Well, you’re not. What about the orange rock? It’s graffiti. I should tell.’
‘As if it was graffiti.’ As if Mum and Rob would care.
‘You’re so dumb you even wrote SuperJack backwards. I’ll tell them.’ Leo is shaking. ‘I’ll tell.’ Leo shakes his head.
‘Well, do it. See if I care.’ I put more pressure on his arm.
‘Stop, Jack. Stop, stop. You’re hurting me.’
‘You destroyed my fungus. Why would you do that? Why?’
‘I don’t know.’
‘Sure you do.’ I twist his arm a bit more.
‘Stop, Jack. It’s about stuff. Stuff like thermometers and the orange juice squisher.’
What is Leo talking about? I still hold on to his arm. ‘What is wrong with you?’
‘You do stuff with Dad like making shelves in the garage. He told me that.’ Leo’s voice catches into a gulp. ‘Dad thinks you’re smart, Jack. You make things.’ He looks at me. ‘Like fungus.’ He whispers, ‘You even saved Nanna.’
I stare at him. ‘Do you want her dead?’
‘No, Jack,’ Leo pleads. ‘it’s just that Dad is always talking about you. All the time.’
‘Me?’ I start to let go of Leo’s arms. I don’t get it. Leo is Rob’s favourite. ‘You’re his son, not me.’
‘Am I?’ Leo blinks hard. ‘He hardly visits me. He doesn’t know me and I don’t know him. That’s how it feels.’ He swallows a sob. ‘And when he eventually comes to see me, he brings all of you. Why did he do that? I’m not that important, that’s why.’
‘It’s because you’re important that Rob brought us. To make us all a family. Can’t you see that?’ I let Leo go, and lean back against the wall next to my fungus. Leo slowly gets up, then sags onto the bottom bunk. I watch him for a while. He watches me. ‘Were you going to light a fire today?’
He shakes his head. ‘As if I would. You’d have to be scum to light a bushfire. Is that what you think I am?’
I stare at him, unsure. ‘So why do you carry the lighter, then?’
Leo stammers. ‘Because it’s Dad’s. It’s my dad’s. It belonged to his father in the war. Dad doesn’t know I took it.’ He speaks so quietly I can hardly hear him. ‘I’ve had it ever since he left. It’s got his initials on it.’
My head is throbbing. I don’t want to feel sad for Leo. I look down at my feet, trying to catch my breath.
He kicks the legs of the bunk. ‘I didn’t win the kangaroo. I was burying the wrapping, that’s all,’ he mutters. ‘I wanted to impress Anna.’
There is no talking. I don’t know what to feel. Leo destroyed my fungus. Leo misses his father. I think about that for a while. We just sit thinking. I’ve never asked Leo about himself, really. I don’t know why I never did that. I ask now. ‘So what’s it like living in Port?’
He looks at his hands. ‘Good, but …’ He stops.
I wait. Leo doesn’t say anything for five minutes, while I stare at my failed fungus. Then he speaks. ‘Even though Dad sends money, Mum has never got any.’ He stutters. ‘Mum’s boyfriend is a real user.’ I know about having no money. Leo whispers, stammering out the words. ‘It’s not the same as with you and Dad.’
Rob. No, it’s not the same.
Leo takes a deep breath. ‘Please don’t tell Dad, or anyone, about the fungus.’
I mumble, ‘Okay.’
‘It was a low thing to do.’
I look him in the eyes. They are watery. I shake my head. There will be other experiments. ‘No more garbage, Leo. Okay?’ I turn off the light, climb onto the top bunk. ‘Okay, Leo?’
‘Okay, Jack.’
I close my eyes but can’t sleep. Thoughts and pictures go through my mind. I smile at Mum and her star jumps and Rob’s great orange juice. Samantha is laughing at my jokes. Nanna choking. I cough, remembering the taste of vomit. But it is a great thing to have made Nanna breathe again. And there is Anna. I’ll grow more fungus … Suddenly a buzz zips through my head and it doesn’t hurt.
Morning. I creep out of the bedroom, because Leo is still asleep. I am carrying my fungus jar. I chuck it out.
There is a note that Mum and Rob have left to go to the hospital. Gone to collect Nanna.
I check on the girls. Still sleeping. I want them to get up so I stomp around the bedroom. No reaction. I slump onto the rug in the middle of the floor. Movement at last. Anna rolls onto her side. Girls awake. About time. ‘Thought you two were practising to be Sleeping Beauty One and Sleeping Beauty Two.’
Samantha yawns as she stumbles out of her bed. ‘Well, you’re not the Prince who woke her up.’
‘More like a frog.’ Anna pretends to be a frog and croaks. ‘You’ll have to get out of our room. We’re getting dressed.’
That could be hours. I slouch onto the lounge, looking out of the window and watching for Mum and Rob to come back. I turn on the TV. Cartoons.
Suddenly there is a horn beeping. It’s them. I race outside.
‘Hold on, hold on.’ Rob opens the door for Nanna.
‘Nanna are you all right?’ Her face is pale, her wrinkles are creased together, her hair is sticking out in hard bits around her bandage and her wrist is still in plaster.
Mum helps Nanna wobble inside and settles her into her lounge chair. The girls arrive with Leo behind them. Nanna beams. ‘So good to see you children.’
Mum brings Nanna a cup of tea and two crackers. I try to think of a joke. A joke will make her feel she’s back on track. ‘Hey Nanna, listen to this.’ She looks up at me with cracker bits stuck to the sides of her mouth.
‘Old Nanna Hubbard
Went to the cupboard
To get her mad doggy a crumb.
When she got there
The cupboard was bare
So the dog took a bite from her bum.’
Everyone laughs. ‘Poor dog.’ Samantha hits my arm. ‘And Nanna’s bum probably tasted better than the crumb.’
Nanna chuckles. I am on a roll now. Joke King, they call me.
‘There once was a roly-poly Nanna
Who fell on her wrist and broke it.
It would have been wise
If she’d opened her eyes
But she didn’t, and flattened her cookies instead.’
Nanna is smiling when Mum brings her a glass of water and the hospital pain relief tablets. She takes them. ‘I need to have a rest now.’ Mum and I help Nanna up from her chair. As she shuffles towards her bedroom, she turns a little towards us and sniffs. ‘I’m so lucky to have you all.’
‘We’re lucky to have you, Nanna.’ Samantha is too quick. I wanted to say that.
Mum shuts Nanna’s door, looks at us and blows out a whoosh of air. ‘Lunch.’ Mum is humming. Everything must be all right. I bet she’ll do a star jump soon. I take out the bread for sandwiches. Leo helps me and that’s okay. Anna is setting the table and Rob has his orange juice squisher ready for action. Samantha is standing next to him, of course.
Everything is getting back to normal. Samantha is munching a tomato sandwich, the sun is shining, the waves are rolling onto the sand.
Rob reads my mind. ‘Beach, everyone?’
There are yahoos. Last sandwiches stuffed into mouths. Mum isn’t coming because she wants to stay with Nanna. ‘I have to do the last load of washing anyway.’ She crinkles her eyes at us. No one dares says a word.
Rob jumps up from the table, then disappears into his room. Suddenly he reappears and everyone bursts out laughing. He is standing in the middle of the room with his skinny legs, shrunken T-shirt and skin-tight shorts. ‘Nothing wrong with them.’ He winks at me. ‘Your mother is artistic and my shorts are earth-coloured.’ He dumps four multicoloured beach towels in a pile. Mum goes red. Rob tickles her, and swirls her around until she is laughing. Mum will never, ever live it down.
We all grab a towel and head off to the beach. Yellow sand and blue surf. The flags are flapping, marking where it is safe to swim. Two lifesavers are on patrol. ‘Race you.’ I am panting as I hit the water. It’s warm. Rob is in just after me. We catch some great waves. Rob really knows how to body surf. Leo does too. Rob taught Leo to body surf when he was little. I feel all right about that somehow. Rob runs into the swell just at the right time and rides the best waves. He gives me a few tips. I have been catching the wave too early. We ride some fast ones right into shore. I spy on Samantha, and when she’s not looking I dive for her. She splashes me. Anna joins her, but I don’t play for long. I swim after Rob. The surf is big.
I am waiting for the right moment to catch a wave when I see it. I gulp a mouthful of salt water. Splutter, cough. I see it again. Grey fin. My heart is a beating drum. Panic. Sharks. They have been known to take a man with just one attack. I’m totally rigid in the water, bobbing up and down with the waves like a petrified twig. Don’t move. Don’t move. Maybe it won’t notice me. Quiet. Mum won’t know what has happened if I’m eaten. Mum needs me. Oh no, it’s coming my way. I am dead. Dead. Splashing. It is going for me, for sure. I’m going to make a dash for it. Breathe, breathe. Swim fast. Rob grabs me. Thank God. Rob, Rob. The thumping drum is slowing down. He is pointing to the fins. There is more than one now. Then there are flippers. Black fan tails. Diving tails and fins, jumping through the waves, somersaulting with laughing faces.
Dolphins, dolphins!
Gasp, pant, wheeze. I am slowly breathing again. Rob rubs my wet hair. ‘Don’t worry. I’ve taken them for sharks myself.’
The girls and Leo are paddling towards us. We all watch for a while as the dolphins glide and leap through the water. Better surfers than we will ever be. We slowly move towards them, watching them tumble until we are there swimming with them.
It is one of those great moments in life.