At that exact moment, Drew Jamison and Louise arrived. They were holding hands. They saw us and sauntered over at the same time as Jeebie, Helen, Sandy, and Brat arrived. This morning Louise wore her brief white bikini and a very smug expression. Drew smiled at us, but I had the feeling that he was avoiding my eyes.
“Glad you‘re all here,” Louise exclaimed. “I’ve talked Mum into letting us have a party tonight. Spread the word.”
“In aid of what?” someone asked.
“A welcome to the district bash for Drew. All welcome.”
Louise dimpled up at Drew. She was still holding his hand and she looked pretty pleased with herself. Drew smiled back at her. He looked pretty pleased with himself, too.
“Love to come,” Helen promised. She nudged Sandy. “Right?”
“Right,” Sandy agreed.
“Formal,” Allie suggested, her eyes dancing.
“Naturally,” Louise replied.
There was a thoughtful silence while we all thought about what to wear. The parties at Louise’s were a good excuse to wear something dashing. Brat, who was listening intently, suddenly spoke.
“You and Jeebie will be able to go together,” he suggested.
Everyone looked at me and then at Jeebie. There was the same question on all of their faces as they waited for me to answer. I glared at my little brother. Trust him to embarrass me in front of my friends.
“Be very convenient, golliwog,” Jeebie suggested. “After all, we live right next door.”
“No.”
“No,” Jeebie repeated, the broad grin still on his face. “Can I walk home with you then? I’m scared of the dark.”
There was a suppressed murmur of amusement and I felt my face redden. Everyone thought Jeebie and his stupid way of acting was hilariously funny. It was the school joke of the week. I glared around at the amused faces and inspiration hit.
“I can’t go with you,” I apologized sweetly. “Murray is taking me.”
“Yeah,” Murray agreed happily. “See you at eight tonight.”
Of course I immediately regretted that offer. Murray was all right, but not as a partner for the evening. Still, I had managed to discourage Jeebie and wipe that amused questioning look off all the faces. What made it infuriating was that Jeebie didn’t look at all dejected by my refusal. His grin was still as broad as ever as he left with Brat skipping beside him.
I went off with the other girls to get dressed, ignoring the chatter about clothes and what everyone was wearing. Louise might have a tactical advantage because Drew was her guest of honour, but I intended to grab every opportunity at the party to consolidate my friendship with Drew.
Of course the random factor in this plan was Murray the Murk. I decided again that it had been stupid and impulsive of me to encourage him. I might find it difficult to continue the togetherness thing with Drew Jamison while Murray hung around all night. Louise I could cope with, but I didn’t know about Murray the Murk.
One way or another, I guessed I was in for an interesting evening.
Chapter Fourteen
I was on the phone to Julie when Mum came in. I could tell immediately that she was in one of her niggly moods. She dumped the shopping on the table and launched into attack mode.
“Is there some reason why you haven’t done the breakfast dishes or bothered to clean up a bit?”
“I’ll see you this afternoon,” I promised Julie as I hung up.
Mum slammed out the door and came back with more shopping which she dumped on the table with such force that the crockery rattled. I remembered that she had worked in the sun room until well after I went to bed. Despite that, I felt my resentment rise and prickle. I didn’t see why she spent so much time trying to make me feel guilty. I hadn’t done anything. She always took out her bad moods on me. Who would she pick on if I wasn’t here?
“Have you changed the sheets on the beds?” she demanded. “Where’s Brett?’
Where was Brat? We had come home from the pool together, and I had reminded him to hang his wet towel and togs on the line before he drifted off somewhere. Then I had settled on my phone to discuss the events of the morning with Julie. Brat wasn’t around making a pest of himself and I had been enjoying having the house to myself.
“He’s ten years old, Mum,” I pointed out. “Isn’t he getting a bit old to keep underfoot?”
Mum didn’t bother to answer that. She slammed another bag of shopping on the table and started stacking things away. I got the message and did the breakfast dishes and wiped down the benches. It was less than a five minute job, and I honestly don’t know why Mum made such a big deal of it being done. Mum paid me ten dollars a week to help her on Saturday mornings and keep an eye on Brat. I reckon I earned it. It wasn’t the housework that was the hassle; it was putting up with Mum nagging about it. Anyone would think that she was paying me a full week’s wage for nothing the way she carried on.
It only took a little more time to change our beds, then another ten minutes to hang out the washing in the machine and throw in another load. Then I zipped through the house with the vacuum cleaner. By the time I had finished the shopping had been put away and the aroma of coffee brewing was spreading through the house. Mum looked more relaxed. There were fresh apple cakes on a plate and my coffee was poured out and waiting. I decided to risk communicating with her.
“Louise Lessing’s throwing a welcome to the district bash for Drew Jamison tonight. We’re all going, formal. Can I borrow your black velvet skirt?”
“Certainly not.”
“What about your green lace off the shoulder blouse?”
“To wear with what?”
My mother had this thing that she had better taste than me. We had a few bad scenes over clothes for a while and now we had a sort of truce going. I wouldn’t go for the sophisticated look if she didn’t push me into kiddy stuff.
“What about my full skirt?” I had worn it to school on Monday, but dressed up with the evening blouse and Mum’s high-heeled shoes it would look completely different.
Mum looked thoughtful and nodded agreement. “It should match very well and you can have a loan of my jade pendant to go with it.”
“And your earrings?”
“No,” Mum said with a shudder.
We had had a few fights about the earrings that matched the pendant. They were very ‘wow’ and dangled almost to the shoulders. Mum never wore then so I couldn’t understand why she was so lousy about letting me have them full-time. However, she seemed in an agreeable mood so I didn’t carry on. I pushed the crumbs of the apple cake around my plate.
“Murray and Wendy saw Drew and Louise at Tootles last night.”
“I’m surprised that the Lessings let Louise go there,” Mum said. “It has a dreadful reputation.”
The fact that she made no comment about Murray or Wendy being at the disco reminded me that her opinion of Murray the Murk was rock bottom. I collected the cups to rinse in the sink, and threw the information back over my shoulder. “Murray Morris is taking me tonight.”
“Is he indeed?” Mum said in her driest voice. “You make sure you ring me to collect you if he’s been drinking.”
“Even if he does drink he’s hardly likely to get pulled over for a breathalyser test walking me home,” I pointed out.
“Not on,” Mum said. “Is John invited too?”
It took me a few seconds to realize she was referring to Jeebie. I shrugged. Even if he was going to be there I didn’t intend to socialize with him.
Mum looked at the clock. “I’m getting lunch. Go and find Brett for me.”
I couldn’t believe that it was lunchtime. The morning had whizzed, yet we had returned from the pool really early. This was a nuisance as I had intended putting in a few hours on my homework. Taking notes on Drew’s English books had absorbed more of my time than I realized and my own stuff was beginning to pile up.
Brat wasn’t down at the park, nor was he playing with any of his fiendish f
riends. I returned home in a real snitch. More of my valuable time wasted chasing around after him, and Mum would flap if he stayed missing. Also the clear morning had fulfilled its promise and developed into a real beach weather day. I was hot and sticky in my shirt and jeans and couldn’t wait to get inside to change into something cooler.
I was walking through our front gate when I heard the familiar giggle above me. Brat was hidden in the old rhododendron by the gate. It had been cut back every year so the foliage was too thick for me to see him. I grabbed hold of a branch and stood on the fence to see up into the tree. Brat had placed two planks across the forks of the branches. It was a solid little platform with a good vantage point to watch the street. Two soft drink cans, three comics, a bag of sweets, and a supply of water-filled balloons rested beside him.
“What do you think you’re up to?”
“I’ve made a cubby,” Brat said. “It’s my secret place.”
“Didn’t you hear me calling? I’ve been looking everywhere for you.”
“It wouldn’t have been a secret any more if I had answered.”
“Lunch is ready.” I was tempted to thump him, and hard, but I knew that any blows would fall on empty air as he ducked away grinning like a monkey. “And if you’ve been stuffing into sweets Mum’ll kill you.”
Brat put on his innocent look and dropped from the tree. “I only nibbled some rations to stop me starving,” he declared.
After lunch I changed into my sundress. Sharp-eyed Brat watched me stuff my bathers into my bag.
“Can I come too?”
“No.”
“Don’t be a meanie. I want to come for a swim too.” His voice started to get a whine to it.
“If you’re going to Julie’s, take him with you,” Mum ordered. “I’ve got to get some work done.”
I glared at Brat. I felt like Sinbad and the Old Man of the Sea, except he got to unload his burden at the end of his tale and it looked like I’d never unload Brat. If I didn’t take him he was just as likely to pursue me there anyway.
“You’d better be on your best behaviour,” I warned, which he took as a pressing invitation to accompany me.
The entire district seemed deserted. I didn’t see a single girl or guy or any of the crowd on my way across to Julie’s. Geordie’s van was missing from its home in the driveway and the pool was empty. Mrs. Gosford was reading by the pool and waved me inside. Brat shed his clothes and splashed in with a loud whoop.
Julie squatted on her bed in a nest of colourful clothes.
“Where is everyone?”
“Geordie and some of the guys went down to the beach for the afternoon. Drew and Ian are playing tennis. Louise has pulled in all the available labour around to prepare for the party,” Julie chanted without taking a deep breath. “I’m not allowed out of my room until I clean up so I’m here for the afternoon.” She held up a bright yellow satin dress. “What do you think?”
“Very formal,” I agreed. “Where did you get it?”
“Five dollars at the local thrift shop. Do you think it’s formal enough for a Lessing party?”
“Ideal,” I agreed. Envy filled me. Even with the off the shoulder lace blouse I was still going to look like a school kid. “I bet Louise has scored something dashing for the evening too,” I sighed.
“Yeah,” agreed Julie, and the conversation moved on to all the previous Lessing parties and what Louise and her little sister usually wore.
The Lessings had an ideal party house for us to go formal. Although Louise wasn’t allowed to have her parties inside, the big triple car garage was the size of a ballroom and just as clean. We always set up the trestle tables along the back wall with the sound equipment, so there was plenty of space for dancing, especially if it was raining. If it was a nice evening Louise was allowed to get out the Christmas lights and string them around the patio and the pool and among the trees in the well-kept garden.
I stared out the window at the indomitable blue of the sky. It was going to be a lovely evening. Louise’s place would look like pure magic with the coloured lights strung around.
I admired the blue of the pool. Geordie kept it sparkling clean. Mrs. Gosford had fallen asleep in her chair, while Brat whooped and splashed in the spa pool. My eyes focused on him and I gasped. The water surged and foamed around him – too foaming and too blue against the tiles. The little brat had poured soap powder and blueing mix into the spa.
His skin was bright blue!
Chapter Fifteen
“You just can’t be trusted can you?” Mum nagged. “All you have to do is keep an eye on your little brother, and you had to let this happen.”
Julie and I had pounced on Brat. Even after we scrubbed him dry Brat was still tinged blue all over and kept protesting that his deed was a science experiment. We dressed him and draped the towels around his head and I ran him home fast. I left Julie trying to empty and clean the spa without waking up her mother.
By the time we reached home the allergic reaction to the soap powder had set in and he had come up in a blue rash and started howling. Mum stopped working and emerged from the sun room to check on what had happened. Of course I got all the blame.
“I just can’t understand how you can be so irresponsible,” Mum flung over her shoulder as she bundled Brat, towels and all into the car to rush him off to our local casualty department at St. Clare’s Hospital.
“How was I supposed to know the little creep would be stupid enough to frolic among soapsuds?” I yelled back. “Am I supposed to have ESP or something?”
The car accelerated out of the driveway and was gone and I was left yelling to the empty air. I turned back and went inside. I couldn’t risk ringing Julie in case she hadn’t finished cleaning the spa and the telephone woke her mother. So I just had to wait.
Mum was in a more cheerful mood when she arrived home with the subdued Brat in tow. He looked almost back to his normal colour except for a few hard-to- shift patches around his hands and knees. The rash had gone down. Mum put him straight to bed.
“The effect of the antihistamines should keep him quiet for a while,” she said. “I didn’t mean to yell at you, Amanda, but you don’t take the responsibility of your little brother seriously enough.”
“I shouldn’t have Brat around my neck all the time,” I retorted. “No one else I know has to have younger brothers or sisters around their neck twenty-four hours a day.”
“I can’t understand you, Amanda,” Mum said. She seemed bewildered, and once again I wondered at the immense communication gap between us. “You are just so lucky to have a brother in your family. Can’t you see how lonely only children are?”
“Drew Jamison is a one and only and he likes it. What’s so wonderful about never having any time to yourself?”
“I rest my case,” Mum said as though she had won the argument.
She went back into the sunroom, shutting the door firmly behind her. By dinner time she seemed to be happier. Brat was still sleeping and the house was pleasantly quiet. After dinner I changed into the green lace blouse and my full cotton skirt. Mum handed over the jade pendant and her high-heeled sandals with an approving smile.
“You should see what Julie is wearing,” I said with a sigh. “She’s got this fab bright yellow satin dress with a dipped hemline.”
“I can imagine,” Mum said with a shudder. “You look quite presentable so don’t worry about it.”
There was a knock on the door. My ‘date’ Murray the Murk had arrived. “Try to get home at a reasonable time if you intend to go to Surfview tomorrow.”
“Hi, Mrs. Baxter,” Murray said as Mum opened the door.
He was sober and shone with virtue and cleanliness from his gleaming eyes and teeth to each stud on his jacket and belt. Even his black dreadlocks had a shine to each twist. He inspected me, his eyes lingering on my bare shoulders. I worried that I had made a mistake wearing such a low cut blouse for a date with Murray the Murk. He didn’t come out with any of his o
utrageous comments though – he just waited. Mum raised an eyebrow.
I brushed past her and marched Murray down the path. “See you later,” I called back.
Murray was on his best behaviour, for a change, as we strolled arm in arm along the street. He had dropped in at the Gosford place and had heard all about Brat’s latest prank from Julie.
“He’s a smart little kid.” Murray said with a chuckle. “The district would be dead without him. I bet he was trying out a scientific experiment. Why don’t you give him a chemistry set for Christmas?”
“And have him blow us all up?” I jeered.
Everyone it seemed was going to Louise’s party, except of course, her parents. They were well-trained and always fled the scene before it got too noisy. They only went to a neighbour’s for the evening, but it sort of made for a freer atmosphere not to have parents hovering.
It was a heavenly night with the stars winking away on a black velvet background. I had checked the calendar; a full moon was due later in the evening. It was going to be an absolutely perfect setting for the party and a heaven-sent chance to get to know Drew properly.
The music blared out to meet us. Once we turned the corner I saw the coloured lights around the patio and gardens. Linda, Louise’s little sister, came dancing out to meet us. She wore makeup and looked older than her thirteen years. She was also wearing a scanty halter top with a swirling full skirt, exposing a figure none of us had noticed before.
“Hi Mandy, Murray. Louise appointed me assistant hostess. Orange juice and fruit cup on offer.”
“Wow!” Murray said. “When did you decide to grow up?”
Linda giggled at that and we followed her through to the garage. The atmosphere hit us as soon as we walked in. There were balloons and streamers and food and drinks and people dancing, but it was the excitement and anticipation, solid enough to cut with a knife, that gave you the sort of high that made you feel exhilarated and reckless. Julie glowed like a golden sun in her bright yellow satin. She was dancing with Sandy.
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