IN THE MORNING when I hit the breakfast table, Erica was there and eating. Felix was giving me the silent treatment which, in his case, meant he didn’t hand me one of his quick smiles, and Dad was imitating an expressionless statue. I helped myself to hashed spuds and eggs. They really should put the radio on. This silence was not cool.
I sat down and started eating.
Erica took in a couple of breaths — on her way to hyperventilating if she wasn’t careful. I figured we were about to discover which way she’d crumbled the cookie.
Yep.
‘Felix, Archie’s got a surprise for you,’ she said. Then, to me: ‘It’s all booked. We’ve got a slot for the whole place this afternoon if you want to ask your friends.’ She looked sick, and for a split second I saw an image of the skull with the escaping brain tissue.
For the first time, I felt a bit sorry for her. ‘Will you and Dad come too?’
‘Where? What?’ Felix looked at her, then at me, then at Dad.
She gave a sort of sob. ‘No. I can’t.’
Dad stood up so he could hold her shoulders. ‘Yes, you can. And yes, we will. Archie, that’s an excellent idea.’
‘What?’ Felix shrieked.
I started eating again. He could wait a few seconds, the little toerag. But I gave in soon enough. ‘Nothing much. We thought we’d try out the indoor go-karts. Kyla and her auntie are going to come too.’
It’s a wonder his eyes didn’t fall out of their sockets and land in his porridge. ‘All of us? Me too? Can I drive one? Can I really? Mum?’
She gave her eyes a scrub and dredged up a smile. ‘Yes, darling. You can drive one.’
I swear that kid’s feet didn’t touch the ground for the rest of the morning. His mother could well have regretted that he was into talking now, because every two minutes he’d ask, ‘Is it time yet? Can we go now?’
MY MATES WERE already there when we arrived. Erica took one glance at the track and looked like she might faint.
I beckoned Felix over. ‘Listen, mate. I’m going to drive a few slow laps. You follow me. Follow my line through the corners. Do exactly what I do and don’t worry about the other buggers. Okay?’
He nodded, eyes on full beam. ‘Will we pass other karts?’
I grinned at him. ‘Let’s just get the cornering right. First things first, kind of thing.’
‘Okay!’ He buzzed off to get kitted up.
I reckon Dad was just as excited as Felix was, but he was trying to keep the brake on it for Erica’s sake. If she actually got into one of the karts it’d be a miracle.
The last group of drivers finished their session, and it was our turn for the track. We got the briefing and the instructions about how to drive the karts, then we were off. Dad waited behind to make sure Felix got started, and by the time I came round again there was no sign of either of them, or of Erica, so I figured the little rat must be doing okay. I caught him up, passed him, and we did five slow circuits with me in front to guide him round the corners. The others kept whipping past and yahooing as they went.
The sixth lap, I lifted my hand to signal to Felix and accelerated. He’d either be okay, or he wouldn’t.
I got down to serious racing. Kyla was leading — no surprise there — but Joanna was right behind her, with Dad poised to sneak past her. James was leading my group of mates, followed by Ginnie, then Colin, with Nina and Silas trailing them. Erica was a couple of kart lengths back and seemed to be intent on keeping the gap. Felix was out on his own and, by the look of it, he was doing all right.
My mates were so easy to pick off in the corners, it was pathetic. I looked ahead — Joanna had to have raced before. By the time I caught her, Dad had got past her. I ducked through as she came out of a corner, then it was off after Dad.
He was a cunning old bugger and hard to get past. He was up there, niggling away at Kyla too. The three of us circled in formation for a couple of laps before we caught Felix. I passed Dad when he took his mind off the game to watch him. Didn’t catch Kyla, though. She knew it was me behind her and no way was she going to let me through. We lapped Erica and the bunch of five, but Kyla held the lead. We got the time up signal. I moved out beside her to race her to the finish. She won by a nose.
Dad came in next, followed by Joanna. Kyla and I started to laugh. Felix had passed Nina and Silas. Erica was last off the track, but she arrived in time to watch Felix scramble out of his kart, whip off the helmet and see his huge grin. She heard him too — the whole place probably did. ‘That was awesome! I passed Silas and I passed Nina. Did you see that, Archie? Mum — isn’t it awesome!’
Dad, with a swift look at Erica’s less than ecstatic face, said, ‘Good work, my man. Not many people get past two karts and especially not their first time out.’
Erica gave him a hug and he didn’t notice she was trying her best not to bawl. Joanna gave her a thoughtful look, slipped an arm round her and said, ‘You and I need a good cup of tea, Erica. You others go and amuse yourselves.’
Dad came with us and we spent the rest of the afternoon playing snooker, watching other karters and eating. At some point, Dad drifted back to Erica. By the time we left, she was looking calmer. Not happy, though. More like resigned — as if she’d accepted that her kid was going to race.
‘She okay?’ I asked Joanna on the way home in her car.
‘Give her time. She’ll get there. I pointed out that he’s going to scare her no matter what he does.’
‘It must be hard for her, seeing what people do to themselves,’ Kyla said.
‘You drive a mean race,’ I said to Joanna. I needed to be distracted from the image of the broken skull Erica had stuck in my head.
She said, ‘But I’m not at all competitive.’
Kyla laughed all the rest of the way home.
We went out that night, just the two of us. Her last night. We ate at a cheap and cheerful place in town, then wandered along the waterfront for a bit, before finishing the evening with a movie.
Joanna picked me up early the next afternoon to go the airport. When Kyla got in the back to sit with me, Joanna turned herself into a tour guide with a fairly pointed commentary. ‘And now we’re passing Te Papa where, if you’re not careful, you will see plenty of exhibits of the perils of passion.’
The other one that stuck in my mind was her comment on the Wellington sign. ‘Up there on the hill is the Wellington Blown Away sign. It’s really a message. Love blows away on the wind, is what it says.’
In spite of the sarcasm, she took her time parking the car so we could say goodbye properly. She wouldn’t let me stay to watch the plane take off, though. ‘Well, you can if you want, Archie. The bus goes regularly.’
For a moment, I considered it. But I’d dented my bank account during the past week and the bus cost money. Joanna drove me home. I watched the city pass by and felt the ache of missing Kyla.