Rosso ordered Snags out of the cab and wiped him down. Steve pulled some of the bags and boxes out of the way. He muttered to himself. Snags came over to sniff them and Steve slapped him hard on the nose and shoved him away. Rosso didn’t see because he was laying a beach towel over the puddle.
Steve looked at me angrily.
‘Why didn’t you say anything? Eh?’
‘It’s not the boy’s fault mate,’ said Rosso. ‘I’ll give the carpet a shampoo later.’
We drove in silence the rest of the way. Steve was still annoyed when we got to the caravan park. I threw the apple juice bottle into a bin as soon as I could.
Once the tents were up, I helped Rosso clean out the car. I climbed inside and scrubbed the carpet and patted it dry with a fresh towel. He said I was a good kid, and bought me a mint-choc Cornetto from a vending machine.
At sunset, I prepared dinner over by the gas barbecues. I sliced tomato and lettuce and cheese. I toasted buns on the hotplate, then I sweated some onions and cooked beef patties on high heat and made burgers for everyone.
When they were finished, I cleaned up their plates. They called me the Camp Wife and told Steve I was very well behaved. He didn’t say anything. I gave my burger to Snags because I still felt bad about him getting in trouble. He ate it in one bite.
I went to bed early and listened to them talk about the Eagles’ midfield and brands of sonic fish-finders and subdivision applications and lifting the ban on professional cage fighting. Steve bragged about how attractive my mum was and showed them private photos on his phone. They drank a lot of beer and laughed really loudly. I didn’t sleep at all.
The next morning I went with Steve to the ablution block on the far side of the caravan park. Change rooms always made me nervous, and I didn’t want to stay in there very long. I kept my shorts on while I showered then dried off quickly and brushed my long hair. I cleaned my teeth so fast my gums bled.
I left Steve there and started walking back to the campsite down a thin sandy path. Suddenly I stopped. There was a grey snake coiled up a metre in front of me. I was so shocked I couldn’t do anything but stare at it.
‘What are you doing? Come on, hurry up.’
Steve was behind me. I didn’t move. He gave me a nudge. I stumbled forwards and almost stepped on the snake. I yelled and threw my weight back. The snake lifted its head. Steve saw it and grabbed my shoulder. He pulled me back to the ablution block. I was upset.
‘Why did you push me?’
Steve was annoyed that I was angry.
‘I just saved your life! If it wasn’t for me you would have got bit.’
‘Because you pushed me!’
I had never spoken like that to him before. He narrowed his eyes. Then he grabbed me, picked me up and carried me over his shoulder, taking me a different way back to the campsite. I squirmed and kicked, but he was too strong.
When we got back to the campsite, he let me go. His whole mood changed.
‘You alright, mate?’ he asked. ‘Eh?’
I couldn’t understand why he was being so nice to me. Mick, Wayne and Rosso were drinking coffee and eating toast and cereal around the campfire.
‘What happened?’ Mick asked.
‘Poor little bugger’s a bit shaken up, I think. Almost stepped on a dugite outside the shower block. I grabbed him just in time.’
‘Jesus,’ Mick said, and whistled.
‘Lucky you were there, eh?’ said Wayne.
Steve puffed out his cheeks and raised his eyebrows.
‘Close call. I better give these fellas the heads-up.’
I watched Steve walk to all the other tents around us to warn them about the snake. With each person he spoke to, the snake got bigger and more aggressive. He told them I was playing around and the snake struck out at me, but he snatched me out of the way and hit it with a lump of wood. He told them it slithered away but it was still alive. People shook his hand and patted his back. An old lady with permed hair came over and offered me a piece of watermelon and told me I was lucky my dad was so brave.
‘I don’t like watermelon,’ I said, but that was a lie.
What I wanted to say was, ‘He’s not my dad.’
Later that morning we drove out to the dunes. They rolled their dirt bikes off the back of the trailer. I stayed in the car with Snags. Rosso told me not to let him out unless he was on the leash because he chased the bikes. They rode off.
Snags whined and climbed all over the car. I sat in the passenger side and watched them ride up and down the big white hills of sand in the distance.
They had been going for about an hour when I saw Steve going really fast towards one of the smaller dunes to jump off it. When he got to the top, his front wheel caught in the soft sand and he flipped over the handlebars. I didn’t see him land.
Watching it through the windscreen, I didn’t really feel anything. It was too far away to seem real. I still didn’t think it was that bad when another rider went over there and started waving his arms. Then a few others rushed over. It was only when an ambulance came past me and headed across the flat sand that I knew it was serious. My first thought was that maybe he was dead.
I was worried about getting out because I had been told to look after Snags, but I left him in the car and walked over to where the ambulance had stopped. It was windy and the sand was hot and crunchy beneath my feet.
By the time I got there, the paramedics were carefully carrying Steve back over the dune. They had strapped him to a gurney, and he had a neck brace on. His eyes were open and his face was red and puffy and sweaty. They slid him into the ambulance and closed the doors. A dozen other riders were standing around watching.
After the ambulance drove away, Rosso put his hand on my back.
‘You okay, sport?’
I nodded, because I really was fine. Rosso squeezed my shoulder.
‘You’re a tough kid.’
We went back to the campsite and quickly loaded everything up. Nobody talked much. I wondered if Steve was paralysed and if that meant my mum would have to care for him. She would never be able to leave him then. It would never be just the two of us again.
At the hospital we sat in the waiting area. After an hour or so, my mum arrived. She walked straight past me to speak to Wayne and Rosso and Mick. She was really upset, and it took them a while to calm her down. She folded her arms and shook her head, and Mick put his arms around her and patted her back.
A nurse came out and said Steve had asked to see me and my mum. It was strange that he asked to see me too. It made me worried and suspicious.
I followed my mum into the room. Steve was lying on a bed. He wasn’t wearing the neck brace anymore. There was a thin tube going into his arm.
My mum rushed in and crouched by the bed. I could tell she wanted to hug him, but she knew she had to be gentle, so she just held his hand.
Steve ignored her. He waited until the nurse had left the room, then he looked straight at me.
‘Did you talk to any of those paramedics?’
I shook my head.
‘You tell anyone here at the hospital my name?’
I shook my head again.
‘What about Rosso and the boys? They didn’t fill out any forms or anything?’
I shrugged.
‘I don’t think so.’
‘You don’t think so or you don’t know?’
Steve was really intense.
‘I didn’t see them fill out anything,’ I said.
‘You don’t speak to anyone, is that clear? Not a word.’ ‘Okay,’ I said.
‘Steve, what’s going on?’ my mum asked. ‘What did the doctor say? Are you going to be alright?’
Steve pushed himself up the bed, wincing with pain.
‘Listen,’ he said in a low voice. ‘My name is John Smith, okay?’
My mum was getting worked up.
‘What?’
‘My name is John Smith.’
‘No it’s not.’
/> ‘Yes. It is. Listen to me. The doctor wants to schedule me for a CT scan right away. We have to leave now.’
‘Why? What are you talking about? What have they given you?’ ‘Jesus fucking Christ, Sarah. Just do what I say. Go back out to the waiting room and tell the boys to leave. Tell Rosso to take the car and the bikes back to his place. Then I want you to find a wheelchair and bring it in here. We’re going to put this blanket over me and we’re leaving.’
‘Steve, one of the nurses said you might have broken your back. I don’t want to move you.’
Steve grabbed her wrist and held it tight. He was sweating.
‘Just do it. Now.’
My mum gave in. As we left the room, she told me to find a wheelchair while she spoke to Rosso, Wayne and Mick. I walked up the corridor and peeked inside the rooms. I found one with a wheelchair. I crept inside. The lady on the bed was old and wrinkly. The television was playing Deal Or No Deal, but the lady was asleep. I slowly backed the chair out.
When I wheeled the chair into Steve’s room my mum was already waiting. She helped Steve to sit up. He groaned with pain. Then he pulled the tube out of his arm and slowly slid off the bed. He was breathing really quickly and his face was red. My mum supported him.
‘Help me,’ she said.
We lowered Steve into the wheelchair. He was so heavy that it was hard to be gentle. He clenched his jaw and gripped the armrests.
‘Blanket,’ he said.
My mum took a blue blanket from the end of the bed and draped it over his lap.
‘No, around my head. Cover me up.’
I knew my mum wanted to ask more questions, but she did what he said. She wheeled him out of the room and into the corridor. I walked ahead and scouted for nurses or staff, and I waved them forwards when it was clear. When we reached the corner before the main exit, my mum touched my shoulder and pointed at the lady behind the administration desk. I knew what to do.
I went up to the lady and told her I was looking for my mum and didn’t know where to go. She asked for my mother’s name and why she was at the hospital. I made up a name and a reason, and the lady typed on her computer. Behind me, my mum pushed Steve through the exit.
I told the lady I was going outside to call my dad. When I walked out, my mum was helping Steve into the front seat of a taxi. The driver was shaking his head and complaining about hospitals discharging people too early.
When we got home, Steve couldn’t walk up the stairs, so we helped him onto the couch. My mum prepared a heat pack, but Steve was in a bad mood and all he wanted was pain medication. I found some Panadol and some anti-inflammatories in the bathroom cabinet, but Steve said they weren’t strong enough. My mum raised her voice and told him he should have stayed at the hospital. Steve ignored her and told me to bring him his phone.
Half an hour later there was a knock at the door. I opened it, and there was a thin man in a navy blue polo shirt and grey track pants. He had small eyes and olive skin and he carried a backpack. Behind him in the driveway was a white van that said Kwik Traffik Courier Service on the side.
He looked over my shoulder.
‘Steve here?’
I led him through to the lounge room. Steve smiled when he saw the man and introduced him as his friend Whippy. They had grown up together, but they hadn’t seen each other in a long time.
Whippy shook my mum’s hand, then raised his eyebrows at Steve.
‘Family man these days. This why we don’t see you anymore?’
Whippy sat down at the dining table and asked Steve about his injury. Then he searched through his bag and took out two boxes of pills. Steve told me to get his wallet and give Whippy all the money that was in there. He was forty dollars short, but Whippy didn’t mind. He gave me the boxes. The name on the pack was Fentanyl.
‘Go easy on them, hey,’ said Whippy. ‘They’ll knock you the fuck out. Just take one for now and see how you go.’
I walked over to the couch and handed Steve the box.
He grabbed my arm before I could step away.
‘Oi, you tell your mum I saved your life today?’
My mum looked at us.
‘What?’
‘Kid almost trod on a snake. I grabbed him up just in time.’
My mum put her hand over her mouth.
‘Oh my God. Sam? Why can’t you be more careful?’
‘What kinda snake?’ Whippy asked.
‘Dugite. Huge bastard. Would have been all over.’
Whippy whistled through his teeth.
‘Yeah, that would have done it.’
‘Thank God you were there,’ my mum said.
Steve winced and tried to sit up.
‘Yeah, well, this is the fucking thanks I get.’
I wanted to tell them Steve had pushed me, but I knew they wouldn’t believe me, so I didn’t say anything. Whippy stood up. He pulled a little clear bag out of his pocket.
‘You want some hydro?’
‘Nah, cheers.’
‘Sure?’
‘Can’t mate. I’m back on site in a few days and they’re testing all the time now.’
‘No problems. I’ll leave you with that then. I got to get going, but we’re due a catch-up, hey? Don’t leave it another three years to call me. You know your brother’s out?’
‘Yeah.’
‘You seen him yet?’
Steve shook his head.
Whippy shrugged and said goodbye then left. My mum walked him outside. When she came back, she looked angry.
‘You are not going back to work in a few days.’
Steve didn’t say anything. He opened the pack of pills.
‘Steve, you can barely walk. You’re not going back on site.’
‘Yes I am.’
‘Why? Just call and tell them you’ve hurt your back.’
‘No.’
‘Then I’ll do it. You’re not going. You can’t.’
‘Don’t even think about it.’
Steve swallowed two small white pills. My mum sat on the coffee table.
‘You can’t go back to work; you’re going to make it worse. Are you in denial or something? I don’t get it.’
‘Stop fuckin’ nagging me, Sarah.’
‘I’m trying to make you see sense. Do you see how crazy you’re being right now? I mean, what’s all this John Smith rubbish? Why am I sneaking you out of the hospital? Why are you inviting one of your old mates over instead of getting a prescription? You might need physical therapy. You might need a brace. We don’t know until you’ve had all the tests.’
‘And I will have them. Just not yet.’
‘Why?’
‘Just trust me. I’ll handle it.’
My mum shook her head and put her hands over her face.
‘Why are you being like this? It’s so stupid!’
‘Stupid am I? Is that what you reckon? Or do you think for a minute I might know what I’m doing? You think I’ve got this far in life being a fucking idiot? Is it my stupidity that pulled you out of the gutter and put a roof over your son’s head and sorted all your shit out?’
‘I just want to know what’s going on.’
Steve shook his head and sighed.
‘You don’t get it, do you? If I’m out of work with an injured back, I’m fucked. I’ve got no money coming in. And what are you gonna do then? Are you gonna earn my wage? Eh? Are you gonna pay my debts? Or are you gonna leave me for the next sucker with cash in his pocket?’
‘Don’t say that. I’m worried about you. You can’t go back up there so soon. Not the way you are.’
‘I won’t be there long.’
‘What do you mean?’
‘I mean, if I play this right, I’ll never have to work again.’
‘How?’
‘Jesus, Sarah, are you gonna make me spell this out? I didn’t fuck my back up in Lancelin. Some bloke called John Smith did. But I am going to fuck my back up in a workshop in Karratha. Okay? Because if I’m on premises, the
y’ll have to shell out. So you tell me. I’m either fucked financially, or I’m sitting on an early retirement.’
‘What if you get caught?’
‘I won’t. It doesn’t cost the company a cent. They handball all that shit to their insurance, and they foot the bill for my tests and rehab and compensation for lost work. If my back is broken, the payout could be millions.’
My mum thought about it, then she looked at Steve.
‘What can I do to help?’
‘Delete everything from today off your phone. Don’t mention Lancelin to anybody.’
‘What about Mick and Rosso and Wayne?’
‘They’ll be alright. They’re good boys. They won’t say anything.’
‘How will you do it?’
‘Dunno yet. I’ll probably work through smoko or something, wait till the warehouse is cleared out, then I’ll make it look like the scaffolding has buckled and tipped me off.’
‘Are there cameras?’
‘No, not where I’ll be. It’ll be easy.’
‘Is there anyone you can trust on site to act as a witness? It would help with your claim. Maybe you could cut them in?’
Steve smiled. He looked a bit drowsy.
‘Cut them in, eh? You’ve been watching too much TV. Just leave it to me. I’ll sort it all out.’
‘I know my way around. I’m not stupid either.’
‘It’s too risky to trust someone else. There won’t be any problems. These companies get thousands of claims every year. Plus all the proof I need will be in the medical report. I’ve just got to get on the plane and walk in there looking alright.’
Steve squinted at the box of pills and read the label, then he smiled and closed his eyes.
‘Fuck these are good.’
For the next three days, my mum looked after Steve. She brought him food and helped him shower and go to the toilet. Steve mostly slept and played video games. Rosso returned the car and the trailer. He was concerned that Steve was going back to work too soon, but Steve said he was feeling fine. He asked Rosso not to tell anyone about his accident because he was embarrassed about it.
By the time Steve left for the airport he could walk slowly, though he had to use his luggage like a walking stick. My mum was anxious after he was gone. She opened a bottle of wine and cleaned the whole house.
Honeybee Page 12
