Gifts of the Peramangk

by Dean Mayes

  He looked at her apologetically.

  “Sorry, miss,” he said softly. “I forgot I had it on.”

  Again Miss Glasson smiled disarmingly. Glancing over her shoulder to check that no one was looking, she nodded sneakily.

  “Go on,” she nudged him. “Just this once while we’re taking a break but you turn it off once you’re done.”

  Jeremy grinned bashfully and took out his phone.

  His smile faded as he scanned the single text message that was waiting for him on the screen. Miss Glasson noticed the sudden change in his demeanour.

  “Are you okay Jeremy? You look like you’ve seen a ghost.”

  Jeremy’s eyes flicked from the phone’s screen to her and back again. He shifted uncomfortably in his seat.

  The message was from Mickey.

  ‘Meet after school. Gavin expects you.’

  Jeremy shut the phone off and shoved it in his pocket.

  “Jeremy?”

  Jeremy shook his head dismissively.

  “It’s nothing, miss,” he said. “Nothing…”

  “It didn’t look like nothing,” she said evenly, unconvinced. “You can talk to me you know.”

  Sensing the tension in Jeremy rising, she sat back in her chair, adopting a less confronting posture and diverted her attention away from him for a moment.

  She pointed at his work book and algebra text in the centre of the table.

  “Have you given any further thought to my program?”

  Jeremy felt an instant circuit breaker of relief at her change of subject, even though it pertained to something he had also been trying to avoid talking about.

  “What—vege maths?” he scowled.

  “No—not vege maths,” she fired back with just the right amount of sarcasm in her voice that he smiled bashfully.

  “Come on Jeremy. My program will help you in the areas you’ve been struggling with. It doesn’t mean that you’re dumb and no one else should think of you that way. You’ve seen the difference it’s made with some of your friends. They’re doing really well now and their grades reflect that.”

  Jeremy nodded slowly.

  “Put it this way,” Miss Glasson quipped. “Do you want to keep butting heads with Baxter or would you rather score a kick in the pants from me?”

  Jeremy couldn’t help but grin this time and he brought a hand up to his face to cover the fact that she had made him blush.

  “Between you and me,” she continued, leaning in close. “I think he’s a jerk—but you never heard me say that. Alright? So—what have you got to lose?”

  Miss Glasson held her arms out in a kind of victory gesture but Jeremy remained quiet, as if he was considering her offer.

  “Who are you worried about Jeremy? Surely not your mates who are already doing it. They wouldn’t be wise in lining up to pay you out. So who could…”

  Miss Glasson’s voice trailed off and Jeremy’s expression became downcast. His jaw set. Miss Glasson sensed where his mind was focused.

  “Is it your dad?” she ventured.

  Jeremy looked up at Miss Glasson and held her gaze momentarily before retreating into his chair. He knew that Miss Glasson had some knowledge of his family background.

  Still, Miss Glasson feared she had crossed the line. So she was surprised when Jeremy nodded in the affirmative whilst looking down at his hands.

  “He’s getting worse…” he said quietly. “Angrier.”

  Miss Glasson listened, allowing him as much time as he needed to offer whatever information he felt he could.

  “He…fights,” he continued. “With Mum…with me. He gets so violent.”

  “Tell me more about that,” Miss Glasson probed carefully.

  Jeremy looked at her awkwardly.

  “It’s like…he hates everything when he gets drunk. Especially me. He…thinks I’m stupid.”

  “And how does that make you feel?”

  Jeremy shrugged his shoulders, trying to find the right word to describe his feelings.

  “Angry…and useless.”

  Miss Glasson tilted her head slightly, her expression offered sympathy and understanding.

  “Don’t let anyone—anyone—make you feel useless Jeremy,” she said firmly. “You’re not useless and you’re most certainly not an idiot. You’re bright and you have plenty to offer.”

  Jeremy raised an eyebrow, considering her words.

  “Look…what about your mum? Your nan? What if I met with them and talked about the program. Would that be better? I’m sure your mum would have no problem at all with you joining my class.”

  “Maybe. Mum’s got too much on her own plate to be worried about me. Probably wouldn’t care one way or the other.”

  “Well then…what do you think about it?”

  Jeremy laughed quietly in spite of himself, picked up a pen and started doodling on the page in front of him.

  “You’re pushy, miss,” he quipped. “That’s what I think.”

  Miss Glasson watched Jeremy absently sketching something and she leaned in slightly to see what it was.

  Her own eyebrow rose up this time.

  “That’s rather…abstract…isn’t it?” she remarked.

  Jeremy looked down at the page, as though he’d just realised what he had been doing.

  “A guitar?” Miss Glasson queried, craning her neck to see the upside down image from her side of the table.

  “A violin,” Jeremy corrected her, almost grabbing the page as if to screw it up but then he stopped and turned it around for her to see.

  “Ahhh,” Miss Glasson mused. “This would be your…cousin’s?”

  Jeremy nodded, a wistful smile tugging at the corners of his mouth.

  “Yeah. She plays. She plays it really well…although nobody knows it. I’m supposed to take her to the city tonight so she can play but Gavi…”

  His voice cut off abruptly, as though he had just remembered something unpleasant. It was an almost identical reaction to the one he’d displayed earlier and Miss Glasson’s eyes narrowed accordingly.

  “What, Jeremy?” she pressed, sensing he had revealed something he hadn’t meant to.

  The school bell rang then. Both of them sat for several seconds, then Jeremy began gathering up his books and stuffing them into his school bag.

  “Talk to me, Jeremy,” Miss Glasson pleaded. “I can help, but only if you’ll let me.”

  “No one can help me, miss,” he said dismissively. “Can I go now?”

  Jeremy didn’t wait for her to answer. He turned from the classroom and exited before he could hear her response.

  Miss Glasson sat there, her teeth clenched in frustration, knowing that she had gotten closer than ever before to uncovering the truth behind the rumours that Jeremy was involved with some kind of criminal gang.

  On the piece of paper he’d left behind, beside his doodle of the violin, she wrote down a single name.

  ‘Gavin.’

  Chapter 11

  Ruby and Asher sat behind the fence of the football oval watching a group of boys, including Jeremy, as they trained out in the centre of the ground.

  Asher noted that Ruby seemed impatient. She was checking her watch repeatedly and looking out toward the group on the field.

  This wasn’t unusual behaviour for her, Asher observed with amusement.

  Ruby often had one eye on her watch whenever she and Jeremy were to catch the train to the city. The particular train they took delivered them into Adelaide in time for her to make it to the Conservatory and the string quartet’s rehearsal session. It was known to be occasionally early and more than once in the past, they had missed it.

  Asher smiled knowingly and prodded Ruby gently.

  “It’ll be alright, Rube. You know he likes to leave it ’til the last minute just to give you a stir.”

  Ruby managed a half smile and clasped her watch arm awkwardly between her knees.

  “It’s just that…I know that the quartet is practising for the Lord
Mayor’s Town Hall Recital and I don’t want to miss it. It might be the only chance I get to hear them completely from beginning to end.”

  The girls were distracted then, their eyes drawn out across the field to the group of teens. Jeremy had clasped the ovular ball in both hands and was now sprinting down the ground, breaking away from a pack. While he moved effortlessly, on close observation, one could see that his hand still hurt him. He dropped the ball onto his foot and he punted it onwards, its spin and trajectory true. The entire group including the coach applauded his display enthusiastically.

  Asher returned her focus to Ruby and regarded her cousin with a lopsided grin.

  “Where do you find out all this stuff?” she asked, with a hint of wonderment.

  “On the computer at the school,” Ruby shot back swiftly with a hurt expression. “The quartet has all their information up on their website. I can look at it whenever I want.”

  “That’s a little obsessive, don’t you think?” Asher remarked.

  “Nooo-uh!” Ruby countered overly dramatically.

  There was a pause between the two girls before they both burst into a fit of giggles and Asher punched Ruby playfully on the arm.

  Regaining their composure, Ruby’s eyes brightened when she saw Jeremy jogging over to them. Asher handed him a drink bottle from her bag and he took a long and generous swig from it, causing liquid to stream down his neck. Once his thirst was quenched, he handed Asher the bottle and wiped his arm across his mouth. He stood up and curiously scanned the car park beyond the two girls. He couldn’t see any sign of Gavin’s car anywhere.

  “Who are you looking for?” Asher asked, looking over her shoulder herself.

  “N…no one,” Jeremy responded hastily.

  “C’mon then,” Ruby quipped, jumping down from the bench and grabbing her back pack. “We’ve gotta go, otherwise we’ll be late.”

  Jeremy scratched at the back of his head awkwardly and hesitated, checking his own watch and scanning the car park once more.

  “Ahh…”

  Ruby flashed him a suspicious glare.

  “What is it?” she questioned reflexively.

  Jeremy didn’t answer.

  There was still no sign of the vehicle and a quick check of his cell phone revealed that there were no new messages waiting for him.

  Maybe they had forgotten, he wondered, with a confusing mixture of worry and relief. Maybe they had decided to do something else without him today.

  Slowly he reached into his own back pack and took out his fleece lined wind breaker.

  Ruby still hadn’t taken her eyes off him and she had now folded her arms protectively across her chest, clearly concerned. Asher was also watching her brother in a similar fashion.

  “Jeremy?” Ruby pressed forcefully, anxiety blossoming inside her.

  “Nothing,” he said finally. To himself, he thought, ‘They aren’t coming.’

  “Come on,” he said, feeling a sense of urgency to leave. “We better go.”

  Ruby quickly slung her back pack on her shoulders and smiled with relief at Asher.

  Jeremy turned and flipped a jaunty wave at a couple of his teammates on the oval then followed after the girls who were already at the gates.

  As he caught up to them and they prepared to cross the street, Jeremy suddenly heard a familiar metallic rumble approaching them. He turned to see the burgundy Holden coupe motoring toward them. Instantly, Jeremy felt an uncomfortable knot tighten inside him.

  Gavin’s car stopped in front of the trio. The darkened driver’s side window lowered, revealing Mickey at the wheel.

  His malevolent grin sent a chill through all three children.

  “Where are you off to, mate?” Mickey quipped with a threatening hint to his voice. “Did you forget something?”

  Ruby looked up at her cousin with an expression of confusion. Asher too, regarded her brother, while keeping one eye on the vehicle in front of them. The hairs on the back of her neck bristled.

  “Jeremy? What is this?” Ruby hissed under her breath.

  “I know you got my message,” Mickey said icily. “You ready to go?”

  That last sentence was less a question than it was a statement—an instruction.

  Ruby felt her heart pound, as though it had risen up into the back of her throat. The realisation of what was happening was beginning to dawn upon her and with that realisation came the painful feeling of betrayal.

  “Jeremy. You promised me,” she whispered angrily.

  Jeremy looked down, unable to meet her eyes directly. His expression was a mixture of guilt and disappointment. The knot inside him migrated to his temples and he began to feel sick.

  “I…I know I did Ruby,” Jeremy began. “But I…”

  Ruby’s eyes began to glaze with tears. She gripped the straps of her back pack tightly and ground her teeth together, to prevent herself from crying in front of both Asher and Jeremy as well as the strangers in the car. She heard a callous snicker emanate from inside, which cut through her like a knife.

  “Jeremy!” Mickey snapped warningly.

  “I’m sorry Ruby…I’ve got no choice. We can go another time, another day.”

  Abruptly, he turned from Ruby and Asher and strode toward the vehicle, leaving them standing on the curb, staring after him with disbelief.

  “Go straight home,” he instructed pathetically.

  “No!” Ruby spat with a venom that surprised even her.

  She took off down the street, running as fast as she could so that she could get away from the others without them seeing her sobbing openly.

  Jeremy hesitated at the open door of the car, watching impotently as Asher started after her. She stopped on the other side of the street and wheeled back toward Jeremy.

  “You are a selfish pig!” she yelled. “Look what you’ve done!”

  Gavin reached across, pressed his hand to the horn on the steering wheel and shouted, “Get in the car!”

  Jeremy flinched where he stood, his guilt palpable. Slowly he lowered himself into the vehicle, disappearing from view.

  Ruby sprinted as fast as her legs would carry her through a busy shopping mall near the train station. Without pausing for breath, she skipped through a gaggle of people coming down a wide thoroughfare from the station platform and she skidded to a stop beside the very train she needed to catch.

  Wiping her angry tears, cursing herself for showing weakness in front of those boys, Ruby felt the betrayal boil inside her.

  How could he leave her like that, knowing that this was always their day?

  Jeremy knew how important this was. He must have known how she looked forward to these Tuesday afternoons. It was her only chance to dream of what playing with a quartet was like. He promised her this was how it would always be. Now, he had broken that promise.

  Ruby had no time to wallow further. The train’s horn sounded, signalling its departure. The last passengers were clearing the platform. Suddenly, Ruby realised that she had no money for a ticket. She had left her money with Jeremy.

  “Ruby!”

  Ruby wheeled around to see Asher coming toward her from the exit ramp. The train’s horn sounded once more and its engine began to throttle up.

  Ruby turned toward the carriage door that was closing and made her decision.

  She sprinted toward the train and leaped—her lithe frame whistling through the closing gap. The doors closed behind her and the train began to move.

  Asher stood alone on the platform, watching the train trundle away from her, gathering speed as it rounded a bend and was gone.

  It was twilight by the time the train pulled into Adelaide’s central station and Ruby knew that she was running late. In order to evade the fare collector, she’d spent the journey locked in the carriage’s toilet.

  She ran along North Terrace toward the Conservatory, single minded in her purpose. Anger continued to gnaw at her. Fresh tears streamed down over her cheeks and she bit the inside of her lip as har
d as she could to keep herself from crying. All she wanted was to immerse herself in the sounds of the quartet, to disappear into the world of music to forget the wretchedness of her existence. It took all of her resolve to push her anger away so that it wouldn’t poison her. She would not allow it. Her violin was the only pure gift she owned, untainted by her circumstance.

  Ruby ran past the statue of Sir Walter Hughes, kicking up a stream of crackling leaves in her wake, completely ignoring the statesman.

  “Ruby?”

  “I haven’t got time!” Ruby shouted angrily at the statue, causing several passersby to turn their heads in her direction. “I’m late!”

  She skipped deftly over a garden bed and skirted the path until finally, she stopped outside the open window of the auditorium where she could hear rehearsal taking place inside. They were beginning their practise performance.

  Thankfully, Ruby’s little corner was shrouded in darkness and the last pedestrians leaving the university were petering out. Concealed by the bush, no one could see her. The single nearby lamp cast just enough light so that Ruby could see to unload her backpack. She set it down carefully, taking out her violin case from inside.

  Ruby allowed the music from inside the hall to calm her and she focused on a peaceful centre in her mind. Moving her fingers across the latches of the case, she lifted her instrument out. In her mind, Ruby listened, seeking the rhythm of the piece being played and she found it, mentally joining with it and nodding her head slowly as she sat cross legged on the ground, raising her violin into position.

  Closing her eyes, Ruby fell into step with the lead violin and played with flawless synchronicity.

  The cool night air descended, though Ruby did not feel the cold. The sky above twinkled with a billion stars but she was oblivious to their beauty. The thrum of the nearby traffic was so distant that it did not register in her ears.

  All that mattered was the music.

  “Hey!”

  Ruby was jolted from her reverie by the sharpness of the voice nearby. Her eyes snapped open and she flinched into the blinding white of a torchlight that was directed straight at her.

  She froze as the hulking silhouetted figure holding the torch moved toward her.

  “What are you doing there!?”