‘No,’ Judy said. ‘Neither did I.’
‘He was quiet, but every little thing had to be just so. His way or the highway.’
‘You hit the nail on the head,’ Judy agreed. ‘I was happy when they broke up. She never got over it, though.’
‘I’ll make a copy of that, too. You can use the scissors and cut him out.’
Judy laughed. ‘Yes, good idea.’
Ljubica returned the photos to the tin. ‘You can ask Milly if she has others. She visited her in Sydney, twice.’
‘I had no idea.’
‘You were such a bitch at Marko’s funeral. Telling us we didn’t belong.’
‘I know.’ Judy sighed. ‘There’s no excuse.’
Ljubica nibbled at a crisp, ribbonlike biscuit. ‘Have you been to Casuarina?’
‘To see Campbell? Gawd, no.’
‘I did.’
‘You visited Campbell ?’ Judy gaped. ‘What was it like?’
Ljubica shrugged. ‘He didn’t say much. We talked about his family, a little bit. His grandma. I told him I was Pavlina’s grandma.’
‘Why on earth?’
‘It’s better than “I am her father’s first wife”. I wanted him to explain. He didn’t.’
‘No surprises there.’
‘Maybe you’ll have better luck. But I don’t think he can explain. All he says is, “I didn’t touch her”, “I’m not a sicko”, “They tricked me”. The way he talks; he’s “drug-fucked”.’
‘You do think he did it, though?’
Ljubica shrugged. ‘People destroy other people for no reason.’
Judy exhaled raggedly. ‘She’d be thirty-five now.’
Ljubica crossed herself, poured more rakija, and held her glass aloft. Judy downed hers like it was a shot.
‘There you go, getting pissed again. Aussies: always getting pissed then drink-driving.’
‘Oh, shit.’ Judy checked her watch. ‘I left my car at the beach. It was a two-hour zone. Oh, I’ve definitely got a ticket, haven’t I?’
Ljubica laughed. ‘Finally, my revenge.’
It was bushland, out where Sean Patrick Campbell lived. The building was whitish-gold like a sand dune against the spiny-dark vegetation, smudged with bore stains. ‘NO ADMITTANCE UNLESS ON OFFICIAL BUSINESS’, read the signs. Judy drove around, trying to see what she could through the trees. She parked off road and cried. Then she just sat, watching the last light pulse from the sky until a guard strolled over.
‘Visiting hours are over. If you wanna visit, you need to make an appointment.’
‘No. Sorry.’ Judy shook her head. ‘I’m just looking. The man who murdered my daughter is in there. I don’t want to see him. I just wanted to see … where he lives.’
‘It’s not the Ritz-Carlton.’
‘No, I figured. I thought I’d be able to see more from here, though.’ Judy glanced at the pale, shadowy walls. ‘Is it big?’
‘680 capacity.’
‘That doesn’t sound so big,’ Judy murmured. ‘It’s smaller than Fairfolk Island.’
‘It’s no island.’ The guard shrugged. ‘It’s no Ritz-Carlton.’
‘It doesn’t really matter. He could be on Pluto. It wouldn’t bring her back.’
‘What’s the bastard’s name?’ the guard asked. When Judy told him, he shrugged again. ‘Never heard of him.’
‘Fair enough.’ Judy started the car, then stopped and looked at the guard. ‘Her name was Paulina.’
‘Paulina?’
‘That’s her name. Don’t ever forget it.’
THE GREAT WHITE WHALE
Paulina didn’t think anything when she saw him riding his bike along Klee Welkin Road on Saturday morning, at the exact time she was taking her walk. Or when she saw him the next day at the same hour, though he should’ve been at church with Rita and Bunny. It wasn’t till he showed up at the Mutes’ bistro half an hour before closing that she realised she’d been seeing more of Rabbit White than usual lately.
‘Oh, shit!’ Paulina looked up from the table she was wiping. ‘Hello.’
‘Hello.’ Rabbit glanced around the bistro. ‘I was hoping to get a bite to eat?’
‘Early bird specials finished at six-thirty.’
‘Oh.’
‘Like, we’re open till eight.’ Paulina swept her fringe from her eyes. ‘I reckon the chef’s turned off the deep frier by now, but.’
‘That’s alright. I just want something light.’
‘Like, cheese and crackers?’
‘Perfect.’ Rabbit pulled up a chair. ‘Mind if I sit here?’
‘Sit anywhere. It’s just those guys left.’ Paulina nodded at a table of grey-haired men, even older than Rabbit. ‘They’re guests. It’s mostly only guests who eat here.’
Rabbit blushed. ‘I was in the area.’
Paulina smiled through his bullshit, crossed the room to the serving hatch. ‘Psst, Toa!’ she called into the kitchen. ‘Can you get some cheese and crackers, quick? My ex just came in. I wanna get rid of him before closing.’
Toa leaned through the hatch on his big arms. ‘That old bloke?’
‘I dunno what he’s doing here. He’s married now.’
‘Want me to stay back? Make sure he doesn’t try anything?’
‘If he doesn’t take the hint, yeah.’
She came back with Rabbit’s cutlery, wrapped in a napkin. A bottle of tapwater. He sat back and watched her fill his glass. ‘A glass of red, too.’
‘No worries.’ Paulina tried not to look surprised. ‘House okay?’
Rabbit nodded. She felt his eyes on her as she walked off to pour his wine; met them when she returned with it on a tray, along with his cheese and crackers.
‘Rita know you drink?’
‘She’s visiting her sister on the Sunshine Coast.’
‘Howabout Bun?’
Rabbit sniffed his wine. ‘She’s at Hine’s tonight.’
Paulina checked the clock. ‘Well, we close at eight.’
‘Plans after work?’
‘Yeah. I’m playing PlayStation with Jesse.’
Soon after, the men at the next table paid up. Paulina cleared up, aware of Rabbit’s gaze. Ten minutes before closing, she brought over his bill.
‘Thank you, Lina,’ he said, looking into her eyes.
‘What the fuck,’ she complained to Toa. ‘Go home already.’
At two to eight, Rabbit finally got up, thanked her, and ambled toward the exit.
When she checked the faux-leather bill folder, she found a fifty-dollar tip.
‘Poor old bugger.’ Toa whistled. ‘Must be really horny.’
He showed up again two nights later and ordered the same thing.
‘What’s the story?’ Paulina came right out with it. ‘You can eat better at home.’
‘Bunny’s at Hine’s again.’
‘You shouldn’t let her have so many sleepovers on school nights.’
‘I don’t mind.’ He gazed at her steadily. ‘It’s a nice change of scene.’
While Rabbit ate, Paulina hid out in the kitchen. One minute before eight, he was still at his table. Toa came out and stood around, arms crossed, till he paid and left.
Again, a fifty-dollar tip.
‘Take it.’ Paulina offered it to Toa. ‘I don’t want his money.’
Toa shrugged his bulky shoulders and walked her to her car, same as the night before. Back at her cottage, she opened a box of goon and called Jesse.
‘Oi, Camel-shit. Still coming over?’
‘Sorry.’ Jesse’s voice was stuffy. ‘I fell asleep.’
‘Bloody useless. What’s the point of even being friends with you?!’
‘Calm down. We hung out yesterday.’
‘Yeah, and you fell asle
ep then, too. Useless.’
‘Wetties tomorrow?’
‘What, so I can watch you eat chips and stare at tits?’
‘You can stare at Pellet. He’s coming, too.’
Her head twinged. ‘Yeah, nah.’
Paulina hung up. Turned on her stereo and blasted it, in defiance of her aching head. Then she smoked and drank on the porch till Vera came out in her boots and bathrobe and told her, ‘Party’s over.’
There was a message from her mum on the answering machine, when she got in:
Hi, darling. Not long now! I know you said you wanted a new Discman, but I’m going clothes shopping this weekend so if there’s anything else—
Paulina couldn’t be fucked listening to the rest of it.
‘You’re gonna turn into a mouse,’ Paulina warned Rabbit, taking his order the next night.
‘Have a drink with me,’ he said.
She pretended not to hear him.
He said it again when she came back with his cheese and crackers. ‘Have a drink with me, Lina.’
‘I’m working, if you didn’t notice.’
‘After.’
‘What, here?’
‘Or, you could come to the house.’
Paulina looked around. A husband and wife were still plodding through their desserts. ‘Yeah, nah,’ she said, and walked off.
She nicked off for a smoke. It was quarter to eight when she returned. She fixed the bill for the husband and wife, began clearing their table. Rabbit watched her.
‘Need me to give your old man the boot?’ Toa peeked his head through the hatch.
‘S’alright.’ Paulina waved her hand. ‘He’s harmless. Go home, if you want.’
‘Seriously?’
‘Yeah. I’ll have a drink with him.’
Toa looked at her like she was crazy.
‘S’alright. We’ve got unfinished business.’
The husband and wife got up to leave. Paulina beamed at them. ‘See ya next time!’
She brought Rabbit his bill. ‘Just so you know, fifteen to twenty per cent is standard.’
He drew out his wallet, laid out a twenty for his wine and cheese, another fifty on top. She shrugged and took the faux-leather folder to the counter, poured herself a glass, and started on the books. Toa emerged from the kitchen, looked from her to Rabbit. ‘Alright?’
‘Yeah, all good.’ She sipped. ‘Say hi to Christy and the kids for me.’
Toa gave Rabbit the stink-eye on his way out. The clock ticked past eight. Paulina finished the books, locked up the cash, and sauntered over with her wine.
‘Big guy.’ Rabbit nodded toward the door as she sat. ‘Protective?’
‘He’s nice. Started in December. His wife works at Jelly’s.’
‘You with Camilleri now?’
‘No.’ She looked at him steadily. ‘We’re just friends.’
‘You didn’t look like just friends, that night—’
‘You hit me, Ric. I felt like a prisoner. What do you expect?’
He looked at his lap. ‘I’m sorry.’
‘I lost our baby and then you hit me.’
‘The drinking …’ He trailed off, red-faced. ‘I was too controlling, I’m sorry.’
‘Yeah.’ She swallowed her wine. ‘You should be.’
‘You’re so beautiful.’
Paulina rolled her eyes. ‘It’s just makeup.’
He reached for her hand. ‘I miss you.’
‘I miss you too, sometimes.’ She looked at his wedding ring. ‘It’s been a bad year, Ric. Worst year of my life. You have no idea.’
‘I have some idea.’ He squeezed her hand. ‘I’ve missed you so much, gorgeous.’
‘You have no idea. I’m thirty in three weeks. What do I have to show for it?’
‘Come home with me.’
‘Yeah, nah.’ She laughed. ‘I’m not rooting you in the bed you share with Rita.’
He drew her hand to his mouth. ‘Lina.’
She pulled it away, finished her wine, then his. Stood and cleared the table.
‘Lina,’ he repeated. ‘Gorgeous.’
‘Yeah, yeah. Give me a sec.’
She ducked into the kitchen, had a cry while she loaded the dishwasher. Then she came out and crossed her arms.
‘I live on Tenderloin Road now, if you wanna drive me home.’
Paulina took her hair down, during the drive, knowing Rabbit liked it like that. Smoked, knowing he didn’t like that. The lights were on in the main house. ‘Do you know Vera and Rocky?’ she asked him.
Rabbit looked sheepish. ‘I know everybody.’
There was no question of them not fucking, but she showed him around the cottage first.
‘This’s my first time living alone. I wanted to make it nice.’
‘You could’ve decorated my house any way you liked.’
‘Yeah, but. It was already nice. And it’s your house, not mine.’
He took her waist. ‘It’s very nice.’
‘I wanted it kinda beachy, but feminine?’ She slipped out of his arms. ‘I put these little hooks in the bathroom, for towels. They’re shaped like seahorses.’
She snapped on the bathroom light. ‘See? Cute, hey?’
Rabbit nodded, took her waist in his hands again, and kissed her. He tasted like wine. Paulina broke the kiss and looked at the two of them in the mirror. They looked wrong together, like they always had.
‘Do you like the towels?’ she asked. ‘Turquoise?’
‘I like everything.’
Within five minutes, he had her on her back, was kissing her wet pussy through the thin fabric of her g-string; unhooking the string from around her raised hips, knees, ankles.
‘Ric,’ she sighed as his tongue turned her on like fairy lights. ‘I missed you.’
He spent a long time with his head between her legs, making her quiver and whimper. When she couldn’t take it anymore, she tried to guide him up, but he just kept lapping at her like he was lost in the desert and she was the only source of moisture. He wanted her to beg.
‘Fuck me, babe,’ she pleaded. ‘Please, Ric. Fuck me.’
Then he was inside her and his face above hers was tender and grim, familiar and unfamiliar; it had been so long. At one point, the force of his thrusts caused her head to bump against the headboard. He cradled it in his hands, kissed her brow, and kept thrusting till, with a startled groan, he pulled out and came on her thighs.
‘Oh, babe.’ Paulina kissed him. ‘You’re so good.’
She reached for the tissues, mopped up his spill, but didn’t want to stop kissing, touching. He didn’t seem to mind. With a mildly amused expression, he pinched her nipples, traced her waist, stroked her pussy as he might stroke a flower in a vase at a restaurant.
She came, again and again. So readily, it felt a bit melodramatic.
‘Babe.’ She fondled his dick; it’d gone soft. ‘I want you so much.’
He shrunk away. ‘I bes’ go.’
‘Stay, babe.’ She pushed her tongue into his mouth, clenched her thighs around his wrist. ‘We can do other things.’
He withdrew his hand from her thighs; they were totally slick. ‘You bes’ find another customer.’
Paulina stiffened. ‘What’s that s’posed to mean?’
Rabbit sat up, sniffed his fingers, and wiped them on the sheets. ‘Do you think I’m stupid?’
‘Oh, bloody hell!’ She switched on the lamp. ‘This again?’
Rabbit was already pulling on his pants. ‘I’m not making the same mistake twice.’
‘Yeah?’ Paulina found her ciggies. ‘What mistake’s that, Ric?’
‘Waking up next to a whore.’ He took out his wallet. ‘I pay by the hour now.’
‘Har-har. I bet you spent
ages thinking that one up.’
He chucked three fifties on the bed. ‘That should do it.’
‘You know what, Ric?’ She lit up. ‘I do think you’re stupid. Always have. I’ve met some dumb pricks in my time, but you take the cake, hey.’
Rabbit found his shirt, started buttoning up, his lips pale and tight.
‘What’s wrong, babe?’ Paulina wheedled. ‘Run out of smart things to say?’
He caught sight of Anna Karenina on her bedside table. ‘Still not done with that?’
‘Nah. I’m a slow reader. I get headaches if I read too long. Is that the best you can do, Ric?’
Smirking, he shook his head, tucked in his shirt.
‘Gawd, you’re a miserable old prick.’ Paulina blew smoke at him. ‘No wonder Tatiana walked out on you.’
His jaw clenched, shoulders tensed.
‘I feel sorry for Bunny,’ she continued. ‘She’s a smart girl. Someday she’ll grow up and see what a miserable prick you are. You’ll be lucky if she talks to you once a year.’
His fists tightened.
‘Whatsamatter? Wanna hit me again?’
He turned his back, mumbled, ‘You’re nay worth it,’ and stalked out of the cottage.
Paulina saved her tears till his car had gone. There weren’t many. Then she hunted around for her g-string, but it was nowhere to be found. ‘Sick fuck,’ she muttered, lit another ciggie, and scrawled in her diary:
R over for a root after Mutes’, called me a whore. Made off with my undies. Wanker!!!
Then she called her mum and told her all the things she wanted from the mainland.
‘No wonder he was grumpy.’ Jesse played it cool, when she told him. ‘You kept him up past his bedtime.’
‘Har-har.’ Paulina snaked her tongue along her ciggie to seal it. ‘What’s your excuse?’
‘I’m not grumpy.’
‘Are so. What’s wrong? Jealous?’
‘Of Rabbit?’
‘Of my multiple orgasms.’ She crossed her legs. ‘He’s good with his tongue. When he’s not using it for talking.’
‘Maybe you should change lanes, eh,’ Jesse suggested, nodding across the beer garden at Oliana, who was wandering around with two pints, looking lost.
Paulina waved. ‘Oi, babe. You lost?’
Oliana crept over to their table, green eyes damp and red-rimmed. ‘Hi.’
The Newcomer Page 35
