by Nova Weetman
‘So can I go for a ride on your motorbike?’ Frankie says, making Thommo blush even harder. The idea of flying out of the shed with her arms around his waist and Mack catching them makes him smile.
‘Yep,’ he says, leaving the can of drink on the bench. ‘Come on.’ Before he can chicken out, he grabs his bike and wheels it past Frankie to the edge of the shed. He hopes she’s impressed because it’s the only thing he owns, other than a cow he bought when he was ten that his dad will probably make him put down soon.
He sits down on the seat, waiting for Frankie to get on. He wants to get going so Joely or Mack can’t turn up and ruin it.
He feels her hand soft and strong on his bare shoulder as she climbs on. Facing forward so she won’t notice his red face, he passes back his helmet.
‘What about you?’
‘I’ll be alright,’ he says, wishing he could explain how awful it would be if something happened to her face and that his doesn’t mean as much.
Frankie giggles as her hands slide around his waist. He shivers even though it must be almost forty-three degrees. He looks down at her tiny wrists and black nails, betting Maggie has never had black nails or a nose piercing. In fact, he knows she hasn’t because he’s seen her every day for the last fourteen years and she’s always exactly the same.
Thommo hopes he has enough petrol because he wants to show Frankie the moon.
Chapter 7
Joely’s putting the last of her clothes away when she hears her best friend laugh. She scurries across Frankie’s bed and peeps out through the thin cotton curtain. She can’t see Frankie, but she can hear her talking, her singsong voice rising up and down, charming whoever it is that she’s with. She looks over at the shed, wondering if it’s Mack or Thommo.
There’s a revving of an engine and time seems to stop. She kneels higher, pulling the curtains aside so that she can look out properly and, just as she does, a motorbike shoots out of the shed. As it flies past the window, she sees Thommo with someone on the back. She sees long hair flying out of a helmet, bare legs and she knows, without seeing her face, that it’s Frankie. Of course it’s Frankie! Holding onto Thommo like he’s her own personal chauffeur.
Just like that Joely’s left behind and watching like the world out there is too dangerous, too fast and too out of reach.
Joely stomps out of their room and bangs into the kitchen. Jill looks up but says nothing, just passes Joely a peeler and lets her get to work.
‘Thought we’d have a potato salad tonight. What do you think?’
‘Sure,’ says Joely, hating the fact that Frankie has changed her mood.
‘Where’s Frankie?’
‘Gone for a ride with Thommo.’ Joely wishes she could keep the anger out of her voice, but she’s so cross that she wants someone else to judge Frankie too.
Her aunt slips her arm around Joely’s shoulders, and pulls her close. ‘So I get you all to myself. That’s nice.’
‘Yes.’
‘How long have you and Frankie been friends?’
‘A while.’
Jill nods. ‘You still friends with Tess and Lucy?’
Joely’s surprised Jill remembers them. It’s not like Joely ever really talked about them that much.
‘Yes. I see them at school.’
‘But Frankie’s the closest?’
‘Yes.’
Jill smiles. ‘Having a best friend is nice, isn’t it?’
Joely’s pleased she understands. But then Jill always does.
‘Come on, peeling time.’ Her aunt nods towards the bowl of potatoes. Joely can smell their dirty jackets. She reaches out and chooses the largest potato she can find. She can’t wait to slide the peeler around and around, and try to take off the skin in one long strip.
Before Joely can start, the wire door bangs. She knows that it’s Frankie coming back because she doesn’t hear boots being kicked off in the hall. She doesn’t want her friend to come in right now, so she’s sure it will be her. It always works like that for Joely. The thing she wants least is what happens. She used to try to trick her mind to think the opposite, so that what she really wanted would happen. It never worked.
Frankie walks in smiling. She kisses Joely on the cheek. ‘Can I help?’
Joely watches as her aunt turns and looks at her best friend. Frankie shuffles her feet and looks down. Joely’s not used to seeing Frankie like this. It pleases her more than she knows it should.
Jill breaks the silence and says, ‘Just in time. Grab another peeler from the drawer, Frankie.’
Frankie opens the drawer, takes out a peeler and sits down next to Joely.
Joely wonders why Frankie came back so soon. She hopes it’s because she remembered the potato peeling and not because Thommo had other things to do. ‘Race?’ says Joely, desperate to win something against her friend.
‘Nah,’ says Frankie picking up a potato and starting on one end.
‘Chicken.’
Jill laughs. ‘Remember you and Mack used to race each other.’
‘Yes. ’Til he cut his finger,’ says Joely, remembering the red blood on the white potato.
Trying to join in the conversation, Frankie asks, ‘Do you eat lots of potatoes?’
‘One of the benefits of living on a farm. You eat what you grow,’ says Jill defensively.
‘I like potatoes,’ says Frankie, wondering why she seems to say the wrong thing all the time.
‘Fine if you don’t. Joely likes them.’ Jill smiles at her niece. ‘And she needs a bit of fattening up. She always comes here looking all skinny. I like sending her home with a bit of meat on her bones. Drives her mum mad.’
Joely laughs. ‘Everything drives Mum mad.’
‘How is your mum?’ Jill sounds so serious that Frankie wonders if she’s asking for a reason. Joely’s mum might not be much chop, but at least she’s around and she seems to care.
‘I don’t know. I don’t see her much. She’s always working or on her computer.’
‘And your dad? Seen him lately?’
‘I think he’s okay. He’s had a baby. Did you know that?’
The look on Jill’s face confirms that it’s a surprise.
‘So I have a brother. Half-brother. Whatever. His name’s Donnie. I haven’t met him yet, but I saw a photo. He’s cute,’ Joely starts on another potato and adds, ‘for a baby.’
‘Are you going to go and see him?’ says Jill.
Joely nods. ‘Dad said he’d send money. I’ll go up next holidays and stay for a few days.’
Frankie has stopped peeling. She hasn’t heard about any of this and she can’t believe Joely hasn’t told her. She wonders if Joely’s talking about it now because she wants Frankie to know, but she just doesn’t know how to tell her. They’ve never really talked about their dads before.
Jill stops chopping and walks close to Joely, rubbing her shoulders. ‘I’m sure he’d love you to go and stay. You could help out. Change a pooey nappy.’
Joely smiles as Jill kisses her on the head. ‘He’s a lucky boy to have a big sister like you, Joely.’
Frankie can’t believe how Jill seems to know just what to say. She wonders if Joely knows how lucky she is to have an aunt like Jill, and how much Frankie wishes she was hers.
Frankie starts peeling again. She finally finishes and drops her potato into a bowl. She holds up the long ribbon of muddy potato peel. It’s a perfect coil. She bounces it slowly up and down, watching the dirt fall onto the table.
Joely reaches over and gives the end a yank, ripping the peel in two. ‘Get on with it. There’s another kilo to go.’
‘Sorry,’ says Frankie.
Jill opens the fridge, takes out the jug of lemonade and, without asking, pours them all a glass.
‘Cheers. Thanks for having me,’ says Frankie, tapping the side of J
oely’s glass, and then Jill’s, hoping that Joely will forgive her for whatever it is she thinks she’s done.
‘Pleasure, Frankie,’ says Jill. ‘Joely’s friends are always welcome here.’
The sound of boots stomping down the hall interrupts everything. Joely jumps up, sending her glass of lemonade flying. The glass hits the table hard but doesn’t break. Jill tries to right it, but she’s too late and lemonade fizzes everywhere, streaming along the table and dripping onto the floor.
‘Sorry, Jill!’ yells Joely as she hightails it down the hall.
‘Hello little Joely,’ says a man’s voice. ‘You’re getting tall. Be as big as me soon.’
‘Hardly.’ Joely laughs.
Frankie looks up as Joely skips back into the kitchen, a large-framed, tall man behind her. He ducks to get through the doorway and looks just like Mack but even bigger and stronger. Frankie knows she’s staring but can’t help herself.
‘Just in time for some lemonade,’ says Jill, looking up with the most genuine smile Frankie has ever seen.
‘I’d prefer mine in a glass,’ says the man watching Jill wring out a dirty cloth into the sink.
‘Really? You don’t like dirt in your lemonade? What’s wrong with you!’
He laughs and notices Frankie sitting at the table. He fixes her with a smile that’s almost the same as Thommo’s.
‘So you’re the reason my boys have done no work today,’ he says walking towards her. She stands up. He’s so tall that if she stays sitting she’ll only come up to his waist.
He shakes her hand, his skin like sandpaper. ‘Hi Frankie. I’m Ged.’
‘Hi. Nice to meet you,’ she says, sounding like someone different.
‘Jill’s got you working already I see.’ He nods at the potatoes.
‘Yeah, but I’m a bit slow.’
‘Don’t worry, you’ll get there.’
Jill hands him a fresh glass of lemonade. Ged bends over and kisses her on the cheek. ‘I’m heading into town to see Riley about a fence.’ He smiles then downs the glass in one long gulp. Jill laughs and takes the empty glass from him.
Frankie doesn’t know what they’re talking about, but she doesn’t care. She wants to watch them being nice to each other, soak up what that’s like. Embarrassed, she picks up the smallest potato she can find and starts peeling, liking the earthy smell of the dirt on the potato skin.
‘See you ladies later,’ says Ged as he ducks out the door.
As his boots stomp off down the hall, the fan whirrs, working hard to turn the hot air. Frankie listens to the sounds of the kitchen work being done without words: Jill chopping the vegies on the wooden board, the hum of the old fridge and the squeak of the potatoes being peeled.
Chapter 8
When Joely walks into their room after dinner, Frankie is lying on her bed in an old grubby singlet and a pair of men’s checked underpants. Joely is used to this outfit. Frankie always changes into these clothes whenever she’s finished with the day. It puzzles Joely because Frankie spends so much time perfecting an image to present to the world that it doesn’t seem right to see her so casual.
Frankie moves over, making room for Joely to sit down. Instead, Joely lies on her own bed, still cross that Frankie disappeared with Thommo today.
Over dinner she worked out why she was so mad. Frankie’s her best friend, hers to introduce to the world. Thommo jumped the queue and spent time with Frankie that didn’t involve Joely. She wasn’t expecting that would happen so quickly and it hurt when it did. It also worried her. If Frankie could slip under the radar and be that comfortable with her cousins then what was Joely supposed to do? Watch from the window?
Still, Joely’s relieved that Frankie knows about her dad and step-brother now. She wanted to tell Frankie before, to explain how weird it felt, but they don’t really talk about their dads. Frankie never mentions hers, so Joely didn’t want Frankie to feel left out if she admitted that she talked to her dad all the time on the phone. She’s glad that Frankie found out about it in front of Jill so that Frankie didn’t have to say anything. That way they could both pretend it didn’t mean anything.
Joely looks across at Frankie. She’s reading her tatty old book again, but Joely won’t interrupt her. She doesn’t want Frankie to think she cares about what she’s doing so she stares at the cobwebs instead. The spiders have long upped and left, but she likes looking at the sagging reminders of their home. It’s better than looking at Frankie with her serious expression and her beloved book that has taken her more than a year to reach the middle.
Joely can’t be bothered with this tonight. She wishes she were more like other girls who could just tell their friends how they feel. She wishes she were able to make demands. But it’s all stuck inside. Stuck in her chest like it’s suffocating her. The only way she can make a stand is to lie silently and stare at the forgotten webs, hoping she falls asleep first and doesn’t have to watch Frankie reading all night.
She can see Frankie’s nose piercing from where she lies. The shining stud is pressed in to the side of her perfect nostril. Joely wonders where Frankie got the money for it. And why she has money to do things like pierce her nose but never any to buy something from the school canteen. Suddenly, Joely’s cranky enough to demand change.
‘Can you turn the light off?’ says Joely.
‘I’m reading.’
‘Well, I’m sleeping, but I can’t if the light’s on.’
Frankie rolls onto her side and looks across the room. She smiles and Joely wishes the smile were for her and not about her.
‘It’s not even nine o’clock,’ says Frankie.
‘So? I’m tired,’ says Joely, closing her eyes.
Joely hears the click of the light and feels the room go dark around her. Now it’s her turn to smile.
Chapter 9
It’s scorching even before the sun comes up. Flies circle when Frankie opens the wire door, reminding her of a zombie film. She doesn’t bother swatting them away, knowing they’ll call their friends if she does.
Off to the side of the house she notices a bare brown leg hanging out of a hammock. She wonders who it is as she sits on the back step, minding to avoid the nail heads that need knocking back in. If Frankie were at home, she’d stay in bed until after lunch, sleeping and reading and thinking. But here she isn’t ready to share her space in the mornings with Joely. Outside where it’s light enough to read by the waking sun, she can ready herself for the company of others.
Jasper curls around her legs, meowing and purring. She runs her hand down his back, feeling a bumpy spine hidden under fluff.
The wire door bangs behind her, sending Jasper burrowing under the house.
‘Morning, Frankie.’
Frankie turns and smiles at Jill framed in the doorway. Even looking up at her, Jill still seems small. All those potatoes must be hiding somewhere.
‘Cup of tea?’
‘No thanks.’
‘Joely up yet?’
‘No. She’s still sleeping.’
‘Brekky’s on if you’re hungry.’
‘Too early for me.’
‘Never too early for bacon and eggs,’ says Jill.
Thinking the conversation is over, Frankie turns back to the farm. She waits to hear the door shut, wanting to be alone again so she can think. But Jill doesn’t leave. Now Frankie doesn’t know how to turn around again and continue talking. She sits in silence, wanting this moment to be over, annoyed at Joely for not waking up and coming to her rescue.
Jasper creeps back to the bottom step, sniffing around Frankie’s toes. Frankie smiles, relieved to have something intrude on this conversational standoff. ‘Here, Jasper,’ she says. He circles and tiptoes delicately over for more rubs.
‘He’s a beautiful cat,’ says Frankie.
‘Typical male, he likes beautiful girls.�
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Surprised by Jill’s tone, Frankie turns to see the expression that accompanied the words. But Jill just smiles at her. Frankie tries to smile back.
‘Don’t give him too much attention. He’ll come to expect it. Then you’ll leave and I’ll be stuck having to pat him all day.’
Frankie nods, not knowing how to answer.
‘I’ll drop you girls into town later. You can go to the pool,’ says Jill.
‘That’d be great.’ Frankie’s careful not to comment on the heat or the bus in case she offends Jill like she did yesterday when she said something about eating potatoes.
‘Well, when you get hungry, come inside.’
‘Thanks.’
Finally Frankie hears Jill open the wire door. As if waiting for the audience to leave, Jasper immediately nuzzles up, wanting more than a rub on his back. She lets him crush against her leg, liking the softness of his fur, and the heat coming off his little body. She tickles the folds under his chin, hoping that Jill’s watching and can see that she’s chosen to ignore her words about Jasper.
Frankie tries to enjoy the morning again, but she feels irritated. The sunrise is now dull, the dry paddocks ugly and the flies swarm around her in a thick pack.
The door bangs again. Thommo dashes down the steps, grinning at her as he runs over to the hammock. With one quick move, he flips the hammock over and Mack hits the dirt, naked and swearing.
‘You fucker, you little fucker.’
Thommo laughs. So does Frankie. Mack jumps up and lunges forward, trying to grab the laughing Thommo.
