The next day on the way to school, Ez sucks in a deep breath at the front door, and strides out pointing her toes all the way to the car soon as Jonagold opens the door.
‘Good morning, Miss Esmeralda,’ he says as she jumps into the back seat. I follow along with Ez’s bag.
Near her school, she points down a street and whispers, ‘It’s just down there, where the trucks go past. I’ll get you there, tomorrow.’
Once through the school gates, Ez just says, ‘Park anywhere, Jonagold.’
‘So brave,’ I say. Jonagold parks a long way from the front door.
‘You have to walk with me,’ Ez whispers as I open the door.
‘Halfway,’ I say. ‘And you can carry your bag.’
Ez frowns at me.
But I frown right back. ‘Stop thinking about it, and do it.’
When I get out of the car, she pulls her bag over her shoulder and pushes past me, so I’m not even walking with her, just walking along behind. I stop halfway.
She takes a few steps and turns and looks back at me.
‘Be strong, Ez,’ I say, me thinking tomorrow I’ll be off so she’ll have to manage alone.
She nods, hefts her bag and strides on again. ‘Hi, Esmeralda!’ a girl with long blonde hair calls and runs to catch up with her. I watch her walk into school just like all the other girls. At the door, she turns and waves.
Later, Ma’s setting the table for the Pasquales’ dinner. She picks up each knife and fork and polishes it with a cloth before she lays it on the table. They get two knives and two forks each and a spoon. Ma’s not even bothering to notice the different sizes of the knives and the forks, and she’s not putting the smallest on the outside.
‘Ma,’ I say, and I move a little knife to the outside.
‘Thought you said this wasn’t important,’ Ma says.
‘Thought you said the Pasquales like things how they like them,’ I say. ‘I don’t want Mr Pasquale to hit you coz you can’t remember how the knives go.’
‘Nah,’ she says. ‘I’m just clumsy-tired all the time. Bang into things. Don’t you worry ’bout it.’
‘But Ma,’ I say. ‘You can come home to rest.’
‘Stop going on, Peony,’ Ma snaps. ‘My job is here. My man is here. You are here. This is my life. Here.’
I shake my head. ‘But how can you have a life when Gramps and Mags are somewhere else?’
Ma hurries back to the kitchen with me trailing behind. ‘They’re fine there. That’s where they want to be.’
‘That’s where I want to be too,’ I say.
Ivy shoves a bowl into my hands. Tiny red perfect tomatoes and little black olives and tiny white square cheeses, sitting on a pile of green. ‘Quit nagging your Ma and put the salad on the table,’ she says and turns me around, pushes me back to the dining room.
Mr Pasquale is coming down the stairs so I shut up and hurry to the table.
‘Peony,’ he calls.
I stop.
‘I hear you’ve been helping our Esmeralda?’ he says.
‘Jonagold says Esmeralda walked to the car by herself, and my wife says she was playing in the garden with you,’ he says.
I nod. I’m still not sure if I’m in trouble coz of the cake mess.
‘Thank you,’ he says, and he digs in his pocket. He holds out a blue note. Ten whole dollars!
My hand is out and taking it before I even know it.
‘Something extra,’ he whispers. ‘Just for you, for working extra hard.’
I hold the ten dollars back out to him. ‘I’m not doing it as part of work,’ I say. ‘I’m doing it coz I promised Ez I would.’
Mr Pasquale waves his hand. ‘Then you definitely deserve it. Keeping promises can be hard sometimes.’
I nod. This is something I know for sure.
