Intruder

by Christine Bongers

  Twenty-Three

  I rose late, unrefreshed, after a restless night.

  Herc had hogged the bottom half of my bed, a hot anchor at my feet. Then Jimmy had woken me in the middle of the night, checking to see if I was okay after his gig. I’d lain awake for hours afterwards, wondering the same thing, while Herc snored the blissful sleep of the innocent.

  Am I okay?

  I had the whole day on my own to think about it. Jimmy was pulling a double shift at Crusty’s to compensate for a rare gig-free evening ahead. I’d have him home tonight, but until then the day yawned emptily before me.

  Herc trailed me into the bathroom. I grabbed the edge of the sink and took a long hard look at myself in the mirror. Was Jimmy right? Had I cut myself off from the world?

  ‘What do you think, Herc?’

  He grinned – his default setting.

  I’d mulled over Jimmy’s words for half the night and the facts didn’t look any better in the cold light of day. The only person who had phoned me in months was a stalker. The only friend I had left was a dog. The only human I’d managed not to antagonise recently was eighty years old – and literally blind and deaf to my flaws.

  Yup, Jimmy had nailed it.

  And that triggered my default setting – anger.

  Herc did his best to counter the bad vibes sizzling off me with some healing vibes of his own: nuzzling into me on the couch as I played game after game of Hanging with Friends on my iPhone. I took savage pleasure in annoying my random opponents with obscure words they had no hope of guessing. Jaup. Degust. Sager. Djinni.

  When even my anonymous ‘friends’ wouldn’t play with me, I took Herc down to the creek, letting him splatter and lollop in the shallows.

  A couple of little kids turned up with a cute cocker spaniel who made a beeline for Herc, feinting to get his attention. Then they play-fought, both of them romping happily at the water’s edge.

  Herc’s social skills were contagious; they had even infected someone as resistant as me. Thanks to him, I’d made new friends down at the dog park in Al, Bill and Nance. But keeping those friendships was up to me, and that was the hard part.

  Al had called me brave the first time he’d met me. But I wasn’t brave when it counted. Not with the friends I’d let slip away after Mum died, not with facing up to Jimmy’s breakdown or dealing with the fear that it would happen again or, worse, happen to me.

  Al said he was a chickenshit, but he had the guts to admit when he was scared. He’d been humiliated and scarred, but it hadn’t stopped him seeing the best in people. In many ways he was as open and friendly as Herc.

  Or at least he had been till I’d screwed things up.

  My finger hovered over his number in my phone. I wanted to call him. But it would be easier – and safer – to text. That way I could plan what to say, and how to say it. Calling was too big a risk. I’d say the wrong thing, make the situation worse . . .

  I took a deep breath. There was only one way to do this.

  The right way.

  My heart hammered out a staccato beat.

  Please pick up please pick up please pick up please pick up . . .

  He answered on the fifth ring. ‘Hey, Kat.’

  Al sounded subdued, but I was so relieved he hadn’t let my call go through to message bank that I could barely squeeze any words out past the swelling in my chest.

  ‘Hey.’

  There was a pause. He was probably wondering why I’d called if I wasn’t planning to say anything. ‘So, what are you up to?’ he asked.

  ‘Trying to be brave,’ I said faintly. ‘What about you?’ I thought I caught a whiff of a laugh, but he didn’t say anything. ‘I was, um, wondering if you’re hitting up the dog park this afternoon?’

  ‘Yeah, Sequoia and I might go down when it cools off a bit.’

  ‘Okay . . . well, we’ll see you there then.’

  ‘Sure. See you, Kat.’

  Not quite the hallelujah chorus I’d been hoping for, but it was a start.

  Three hours later, I was on my way to the dog park. Head down, planning what to say to Al, when Herc wrenched me sideways, trying to sniff some dog’s bum. He caught me off-balance and I tripped into the dog’s owner. But the words died in my throat before I could apologise.

  It was Hoodie Guy.

  The shock jerked me to a standstill. He mirrored my reaction, and for an instant our eyes met. Something I didn’t recognise lay locked in their depths. Something . . . wrong.

  I fell back a step, heart hammering. Hoodie Guy swung abruptly away from me, pulling his dog after him. He pushed past a couple of kids playing soccer, nearly bowling one over in his haste to escape.

  Anger flared in my chest. Gutless bastard. Thought he could scare me on a deserted path in the dark, but couldn’t face me in the bright light of day. Well, I’d show him. Two could play that game.

  He’d already heard Herc snarling and barking down the phone line. Maybe it was time to buy my dog that spiked collar. Make him look like a killer. Walk him on a short leash, like he needed to be physically restrained from attacking. That would give Hoodie Guy something to think about.

  I jerked on Herc’s lead, but he ignored me, busily probing his missing boy bits with his tongue. I yanked again, and he rolled onto his back, assuming his favourite position.

  Damn. We definitely needed that spiked collar, and fast.

  ‘Kat!’ Al ran towards me with Sequoia glued to his heels. I wanted to tell him about Hoodie Guy, but he got in first.

  ‘What the hell do you think you’re doing?’ he demanded. ‘Bill told you to stay away from that bloke!’

  I took a step back. ‘I wasn’t doing anything! Give me a break. I didn’t even see him till Herc yanked me right –’

  A hot flush crept up my neck as his words sank in. ‘How do you know what Bill said to me? Have you two been talking behind my back? What else have you told him while I’m not around?’

  He drew back, affronted. ‘Geez, Kat, what do you take me for? I said I wouldn’t tell Bill anything and I haven’t. Nance told me, okay? She thinks we should be looking out for you with that prowler around. Stop being so paranoid.’

  ‘I’M TRYING, OKAY? I’m actually making a huge freaking effort to overcome my natural pain-in-the-arse tendencies, but it’s not easy when everything keeps coming at me at once –’

  I stopped, horrified at having blurted out the unfiltered truth. Al was looking at me like I had two heads.

  ‘Really, Kat? This is you trying? Because if it is, I’d appreciate you giving me the heads up if you decide to stop trying, so I can get out of range.’

  He spun on his heel.

  ‘Al, wait!’ I didn’t know what else to say. ‘I’m sorry.’

  He stopped, released a frustrated breath and swung back towards me. ‘You know, sometimes it’s really hard to be your friend, Kat. You run hot and cold, and lash out at people who are just trying to help you.’

  ‘I know, I know – I’m not good with people like you are, but I am trying. And I’ll get better, I promise.’

  He looked at me doubtfully.

  ‘With practice,’ I continued hesitantly. ‘Won’t I?’

  Al barked out a laugh. ‘Geez, I hope so.’ He ran a hand through his hair. ‘Well, glad I got that off my chest.’ He offered me his fist and the beginnings of a smile. ‘Friends?’

  I bumped my knuckles into his.

  Friends.

  When we arrived at the dog park Nance was already there, wanting help with the ‘new-fangled’ mobile her grandkids had given her for Christmas.

  ‘I don’t care about making calls – Lordy me, I have a telephone at home for that – but I would like to text the young ones. Just so they know that I’m thinking of them.’

  We showed her the basics, and watched her laboriously tap
out Hello dear, love from Nana to the sixteen different numbers she had jotted down in her diary.

  ‘I can show you how to send a group text if you like, Nance?’ offered Al, after she’d fired off the first couple of rounds.

  ‘No thanks, dear. I’m happy with this. And I do need the practice.’

  We stayed till the shadows lengthened and drifted up from the creek to swathe the whole park.

  ‘Time to go,’ said Nance, slipping her precious mobile into her handbag. ‘Come on, Miss Cocoapuff. We’ll leave them to the midges.’

  ‘I’m heading too.’ I stood and stretched, as Nance trotted off. ‘Jimmy’s home tonight. He’s probably already in the kitchen, knocking up a gourmet meal for two.’

  ‘You think it could stretch to three?’ asked Al hopefully. ‘Mum’s cooking is one step up from food poisoning – and that’s on a good day.’ He gave me his best puppy dog eyes. ‘Feed me. Please?’

  ‘Um . . .’ The request caught me on the back foot. I didn’t trust Jimmy to behave around Al. He’d been weird the first time they’d met and I didn’t want him jinxing things with Al just when they were starting to look promising. ‘Maybe not tonight. It’s Jimmy’s only evening off, and I think he’s planning a, uh, father-daughter thing . . .’

  It was the best I could come up with on the run.

  ‘Fair enough.’ Al took it in his stride, bounding off the seat. ‘See you tomorrow.’ He snapped his fingers for Sequoia. ‘Think you can stay out of trouble till then?’

  I waved him off with a finger, and he laughed, thumping Herc’s ribcage while I clipped on his lead. Al and I parted at the gate, peeling off in separate directions. Him going his way, me going mine.

  The house was in darkness when I got home.

  Jimmy lay snoring on the couch, a half-eaten pizza still in its box on the coffee table. I rescued it before Herc pounced, and placed it on top of the piano.

  So much for father-daughter bonding night.

  I didn’t know what to do with Jimmy. I couldn’t blame him for being knackered – he’d worked half the night, and a long, long day – but he didn’t need to push himself that hard. It was just a house. He could get rid of it, buy something smaller that he could afford. He could get away from Edwina and what she had done. And be free to fulfil his dream, giving up work and playing for a living.

  I wanted to shake him, and tell him to wake up to himself. But he looked so vulnerable lying there, still in his work clothes. So defenceless. I couldn’t bear to disturb him. Instead, I eased the cotton throw off the back of the couch and spread it over him. Pulled the phone jack out of the wall and locked up the house.

  Then I took Herc and the remnants of the pizza downstairs, wondering if Al had fared any better with dinner than I had. One step above food poisoning for both of us.

  Twenty-Four

  I woke late, still in my clothes, book open on the pillow beside me. I blearily checked the time on my phone – geez, after midday, it was late – and found a text message from Al:

  Took your advice. Catching up with mates in Beaudesert. All good at yours?

  I rolled over, happy to have helped him over that hump, and texted:

  All good. When r u home?

  His answer came straight back:

  Late tonite. CU 4 New Year?

  Holy crap. I checked my calendar. Today was the thirtieth, the day before New Year’s Eve. And for once, it looked like I wouldn’t be seeing in the new year on my own.

  U bet. Enjoy Beaudesert.

  My finger hovered over the Send button. What the hell, a girl should celebrate ending a rough year on a good note. I added a discreet x to the text and hit Send.

  Seconds later a message flashed onto my screen:

  Will do. x

  Nice.

  I tossed my mobile aside and bounced off the bed to tell Jimmy that I’d found someone to spend New Year’s Eve with while he was at work. That should make him happy.

  ‘No.’ Jimmy gave the pancake mix a vicious stir. ‘You’re not having that boy round while I’m not here.’

  ‘WHAT? Why not?’

  He slapped a frypan on the stove top and fired up the gas. ‘Because you’re too young to be hanging around at night on your own.’

  ‘Correct, Jimmy. I am too young to be on my own. And I’m sick of it. That’s why I’d like to have a friend over. So I don’t have to be on my own for a change.’

  He took a deep breath. ‘Just let me finish – you are too young to be on your own at night with a boy. Okay?’

  ‘No. It’s not okay. I can’t believe you don’t trust me!’

  ‘Oh, I trust you, all right. It’s him I don’t trust. I remember being fifteen –’

  ‘Now that’s just disgusting. What do you think we’ll be doing, Jimmy? Drugs? Getting drunk on your gross cooking wine? We’re fourteen. We talk. We crack bad jokes. We watch dumb movies. Geez, what’s wrong with you?’ I stormed out of the kitchen and down the back stairs, needing to put some distance between me and Jimmy.

  ‘HERC!’ I called out.

  He glanced up, then went back to rolling around on the grass, grinding something disgusting into the back of his fat neck.

  ‘Herc – come!’

  He gave it one last delirious shimmy before waddling over, tail wagging.

  ‘Oh, you’re gross –’ I stopped myself. ‘Actually, I don’t care. We need to get out of here anyway. Come on, boy. Let’s go for a swim.’

  I took him to the swimming hole that Nance had told me about. It was on the way to the dog park, just down the road from her house, so I wasn’t surprised to find her there on such a hot day.

  ‘Kat, I’ve had a text from young Al,’ she called out excitedly from her spot in the shade. ‘My first from outside the family. Bless him.’

  Miss Cocoapuff swam in circles in the shallows, her delicate dog paddle hardly rippling the surface. Herc belly-flopped into the water, almost washing her ashore, but at least he’d submerged his filthy bits, so I let them sort it out between them.

  ‘He tells me he’s spending New Year with you,’ she said. ‘That should be fun.’

  ‘I wish,’ I said glumly, and told her about my latest stoush with Jimmy.

  ‘Oh, he’s just being protective,’ she said, patting my arm. ‘Once he gets to know Al, he’ll change his tune.’

  ‘But New Year’s Eve is tomorrow, and Al’s not back till later tonight, so it’ll be too late to get him to change his mind. Honestly, Nance, my dad can be such a knob sometimes. All we want to do is watch movies.’

  ‘Well, you can do that anywhere, can’t you, dear? Al’s place, if his mum’s going to be home. Or even mine, if you’re desperate. I’m sure your dad wouldn’t mind as long as a responsible adult is – ooh, what’s that for?’ she asked as I grabbed her shoulders and kissed her wrinkled cheek.

  ‘Nance, you’re a genius. But if Al’s mum is going out, are you sure we can come round to yours? It’s not too much of a hassle?’

  ‘Not at all,’ she said. ‘Just text me the details when you’ve worked it all out.’

  Jimmy was asleep when I got home. So I filled the afternoon washing my clothes and tidying my room. I even reorganised my floordrobe, filing half of it into my cupboard, and the rest in the laundry.

  Jimmy must have noticed my hard work, because he woke up in a better mood and heard me out on Nance’s suggested amendments to the NYE plan.

  ‘So, there’ll be a responsible adult at home?’

  ‘Affirmative. Either Al’s mum, or if she has to go out, Nance from the dog park said we could watch TV at her place.’

  ‘Find out which house you’ll be at, get me the number and I’ll phone to make sure it’s okay.’

  From where I stood, that looked like a win.

  Jimmy made a special effort with dinner, serving up salmon
steaks – an outrageous extravagance. Maybe he felt bad after sleeping through our only night home together.

  Meanwhile, Herc couldn’t have been more pleased. He inhaled the crispy barbecued skins, then joined me on the couch, where I was scouring the limited delights of summer television while Jimmy got ready for yet another gig.

  When he wandered back in to the lounge room, I forgot myself long enough to actually laugh out loud. ‘You look ridiculous.’

  He frowned at the dazzling white of his tuxedo. ‘I think the word you’re looking for is resplendent.’

  ‘Only if that means you look like some old fart from a 1950s musical.’

  ‘Close enough.’ He grinned, preening in front of the mirror. ‘This is for tomorrow night. I just wanted to see what you thought of it.’

  ‘Depends – what’s happening then?’

  ‘Big New Year’s Eve gig – the All-White Ball at the RNA Showgrounds.’ He spun in a neat circle and spread out his hands. ‘I’m channelling jazz great Cal Calloway in his signature white-on-white tux. Figured it would look pretty hot when I lead the band in Minnie the Moocher. What do you think?’

  ‘You’ll pass.’ I turned back to the television and resumed my determined yet doomed channel-surfing. ‘But don’t come home via the Valley. Dressed like that you might get your head punched in by some coked-up metal-head who’s not a big fan of musicals.’

  We grinned at each other, our differences falling away for a moment. Herc had passed out at my feet; the excitement of salmon skins must have been too much for him.

  Jimmy nudged him with a white-gaitered foot. ‘Prepare yourself to rise and shine, my boy. Once this tux comes off, it will be time for your nightly ablutions. Remember, I can’t go till you do. Dem’s da rules.’

  Herc didn’t stir. Not then, and not when Jimmy returned a few minutes later, in his signature black-on-black jeans and t-shirt, standard uniform for most of his regular gigs. He nudged Herc with his toe, then dug a boot under his ribs and levered him up. After much sighing and lifting of the eyebrows, Herc reluctantly followed Jimmy outside. I kept flicking between channels, refusing to be defeated by free-to-air summer programming.