It was a quiet trip back home.
I didn’t want to think about Anders being lonely. I had enough on my plate as it was.
I had to get changed. Make sure Caleb had told Mr Paulson that I wouldn’t be coming to school today. Get some clothes for Mum and pick a bunch of flowers from the hydrangea bush out front of our house to take up to the hospital. She loved hydrangeas, especially the blue ones. Called them Nanna flowers.Said they were one of the reasons she had rented the house.
I told him I had to get some stuff from home and jumped out of the car as soon as he stopped. I figured I could hole up at home till it was time to go the hospital, but as soon as I set my foot inside the front door, I knew that I was wrong.
The place was like the inside of a drum. Vibrating with emptiness. Every muscle in my body wanted to spin me round and walk me straight back out again. But there were things I had to do. A quick clean-up. Hang out the washing that had been sitting in the machine since yesterday. Sort out what stuff I needed to take to Mum.
Half an hour later, I was back next door with an armful of clothes and a bunch of blue hydrangeas clutched in one hand.
Manny prised them out of my fingers in the kitchen. ‘Here, I’ll wrap these up for your mum while you put those clothes away in your room.’
He’d been busy while I was out. My bed was made and a chest of drawers was squeezed in next to the desk. No-one ever made my bed – I was usually still in it when Mum went to work, and I’d never seen the point of making something I was going to mess up again that night.
I slid open the drawers. All empty and just waiting for me to fill them.
I shoved my clothes in and picked up the bag of things I’d grabbed for Mum. A couple of giant T-shirts she could use for nighties, a toothbrush and toothpaste. That was probably all that she’d need.
I wandered back out to the kitchen where Manny was making himself a cup of tea. His mug had a picture of a fat lady, swooning in a chair, and the words Happily Dying from Chocolate.
‘Where is everyone?’
Manny looked around. ‘I thought Anders was with you. Caleb’s working, and Vee’s sleeping. Don’t expect to see her anytime soon.’
I thought about Mum calling Vee the reclusive Violet Winterthe first time they had met. She obviously didn’t tell her fans what she had told me last night.
‘What time does she normally get up?’
The jug boiled and automatically clicked off. Manny held up a packet of green tea with mint and wiggled it at me. I shook my head.
‘We try to keep pretty quiet in the mornings for her,’ he said, pouring boiling water into his mug and dunking the bag three times before pulling it out. ‘She usually gets up in the early afternoon, but tends to stick to her room till dark. It’s blacked out better than the rest of the house.’
‘I’m going to head off to the hospital,’ I said. ‘Tell Vee and Caleb I’ll see them this arvo.’ A thought struck me. ‘Did Caleb remember to tell Mr Paulson that I wasn’t coming in today?’
‘He did,’ said Manny. ‘Your principal said to pass on to your mum his best wishes for a speedy recovery. And to let him know if there’s anything he or the school can do to help while she’s laid up.’
He was a good bloke, Mr Paulson, but I’d made my decision. There wasn’t anything he or Perpetual Suckers could do for me from now on. I wasn’t ever going back to that school. But right now, I didn’t feel like getting into all that with Manny.
‘Can you tell Anders that I decided to walk to the hospital–’
‘Tell him yourself,’ said Manny, nodding in the direction of the lounge.
I turned to see Anders, bleary-eyed but upright, standing in the doorway with his keys in his hand.
‘You ready?’ he asked.
I nodded and he turned on his heel and headed straight back out the door.
Manny raised his eyebrows as he passed me Mum’s blue hydrangeas, now wrapped in bright yellow tissue paper and tied with a green bow.
‘Thanks.’ I grabbed the flowers and the bag for Mum and waved a quick goodbye. If Anders wanted to save me a long hot walk to the hospital, I wasn’t going to say no.
He was already in the driver’s seat when I reefed open the door. He’d cleared a space for me in the front passenger seat. Everything that had been in the front was now neatly stacked alongside the canvasses, paints and boxes in the back.
I climbed in and buckled up, just as an important thought slapped me in the head. ‘Hang on a tick–’ I twisted round in my seat, craning my head to see if I could spot the yellow envelope in the back. ‘Where’s Mum’s contract?’
‘At the real-estate office,’ he said, pulling away from the kerb.
I propped myself sideways in the seat and stared at him. ‘You took it in? Why didn’t you wait for me?’
‘You were busy.’ His hands shifted on the wheel, gripping it tighter. ‘And I thought you’d want to be at the hospital when visiting hours start. To tell your mum the good news.’
He pulled up at the red light on the corner. ‘She’ll be paid as soon as the property settles in thirty days time.’
I sagged back into the seat, thinking out loud. ‘OK, then we just have to get through the next thirty days. We can do that. I can deliver pamphlets or something. I’ve done it before.’
He opened his mouth, then closed it again. A beep behind let us know that the lights had changed to green. He took off, lips compressed into a tight line.
We were almost at the hospital before he spoke again.
‘Your rent’s paid for the next month. Manny will feed you. You can give me any bills that come in till your mum is back on her feet.’
I didn’t know what to say. I’d only known him for a couple of days. ‘Uh, thanks, but I don’t think Mum would like that–’
‘Consider it a loan. Till her commission comes through.’
I thought about that for a minute and couldn’t see any reason to object to the arrangement. It seemed fair enough. ‘OK. Thanks. I’ll see what Mum says.’
His mouth worked, like he was chewing on something but it wasn’t in his nature to just spit it out.
‘I thought you said people should say stuff out loud,’ I said. ‘Instead of keeping it all inside their head.’
He glanced over at me and blew air out from between his lips.
‘OK,’ he said finally. ‘I think you’re right. Your mum’s not going to like it.’
He swung into the car park.
‘But right now, she doesn’t have much choice.’