The Long Way Home

by Phillip Overton

  Chapter 21

  January 1987

  Simon sat on his bed listening to rock music play over the radio cassette player his father had bought him for Christmas. It was a beautiful summer’s morning, eight o’clock and already hot. He wished the school holidays could last forever but knew all too well that school was waiting for his return in a little over two weeks.

  Everything he needed for the weekend was packed in his sports bag that lay on his bedroom floor. A Beach towel and sunscreen for today, a change of clothes for tonight, pyjamas and some nice clothes to wear tomorrow for Sunday school. Tucked away in the bottom of his bag was his Bible, hidden as usual from his mother’s prying eyes and his memory verse from last Sunday that he was going to stand up and read aloud in Church.

  She still didn’t know that he had been going to Sunday school for the last two years. He remembered once letting a memory verse slip out loud when she was nearby and her shaking him furiously, demanding to know where he had heard it. He had whimpered that he had heard it from a friend. After receiving a clip around the ear and a reminder not to repeat that sort of garbage in her house again, she had turned and demanded to know if his stupid father had been taking him to church. It hurt Simon when she spoke that way about his father, but it made it easier to tell her no.

  After all he wasn’t lying. His Poppy and Uncle Barry took him each week. Poppy had found the walk to Church each Sunday too much for him at his age, so Uncle Barry had started driving them in his car. Then one Sunday he decided to stay and see what all the fuss was about. Now Uncle Barry joined them every week. Poppy would always tease him on the way home about one of the ladies he was interested in, as far as Simon knew the two of them were now dating. They were all going out to the Leagues Club tonight for dinner, Simon, Poppy, Dad, Miss McKenzie, Uncle Barry and his girlfriend Teresa.

  Simon lay back on his bed and listened to the music coming from the speakers. His Dad would be here any minute, and so would Miss McKenzie. It made him happy to see the two of them together. They had met on parent and teacher night last year when she had been his teacher. The two of them would laugh hard when telling people that it had been love at first sight. Simon didn’t dare mention to his Mum that the two were dating. As his Dad had told him, it was no longer any of her business so why go out of the way to make her mad.

  “Simon!” His mother yelled out from the kitchen. “Your father’s here!”

  Simon hadn’t heard him arrive over the sound of the music. He sprung to his feet, turned off his radio and grabbed his sports bag off the floor. By the time he had reached the lounge room his mother was already standing guard by the front door, making sure she got the message across that her ex-husband was no longer welcome inside.

  “Hey son, how are you?” Doug smiled as soon as he saw Simon race across the lounge room, bag in hand.

  “Dad!”

  “Are you ready to hit the beach little man?”

  “You bet I am.” Simon sang back happily.

  “Make sure you behave Simon.” Rowena stopped him by the front door. “And remind your Dad to make sure he puts sunscreen on you every three hours, I don’t want you coming back sun burnt.”

  “I can take care of everything Rowena….”

  “I wasn’t talking to you Doug!” She snapped, cutting him off mid sentence. She hated that he had managed to put their past behind and move on with his life so easily. As well as having more ambitions than when they were married, the man seemed to be able to walk with the poise of someone who had it all together. It didn’t help that Rowena still thought he was good looking. Sometime in the last year he’d had dental work performed, correcting the disproportional smile he had been hampered with as a result of their terrible argument years ago. The easiest defense mechanism for Rowena was to be nasty and provoke him into an argument, serving as a reminder of why they weren’t meant to be together.

  Doug stopped to look at her. Each time he had the misfortune of bumping into her lately she looked awful. Her hair sat like a tangled mess over her dirty dressing gown, her mascara from the night before had run leaving black lines under her eyes which themselves were red and baggy. She looked like she had woken with a terrible hangover, probably surviving the morning on a diet of aspirin and black coffee. He felt sorrier for Simon having to put up with her moods than he did for her self-inflicted misery.

  “Alright, we better make a move then Simon.” Doug spoke almost apologetically, trying so hard not to get into an argument with her in front of his son. “I’ll have him back at lunch time tomorrow Rowena, once again thanks for everything.”

  “Thanks for what?” She snarled as the two of them stepped down from the front porch. “What’s that supposed to mean, what on earth have I done for you lately?”

  ‘My thoughts exactly.’ Doug thought while he bit his tongue hard. He had heard through Simon about how much time she spent across the road at some guys’ house instead of at home raising their son. Simon was more than a pawn in a game of chess that she could just stumble back across the road drunk to late at night, but now wasn’t the time to tell her how he really felt. He had company waiting in the car.

  “What, now you’re too good a person to even answer me?” She mocked him as he continued to walk towards the car.

  “Not now Rowena. I didn’t mean anything okay. Look it’s a beautiful day, why can’t we both just enjoy it? Please, for the sake of everyone can we just let it go?”

  Rowena stopped for a moment to decide if in fact she would. Her head hurt from a late night at Ron’s house and she already had succeeded in having Doug running scared from her. Maybe she could just leave it at that and claim a small victory, and then she saw the other woman step out of the car.

  “Hi Simon.” Sally greeted him with open arms as she stepped out of the car to meet him. She was dressed in neatly pressed casual shorts and sandals. Her gorgeous blonde locks of hair fell over the shoulders of the tiny white t-shirt she wore over her bikini top, she may only have been dressed for the beach but she certainly knew how to dress in style. Standing in the brilliant morning sunshine she appeared the perfect opposite of Rowena. “Are you ready for a fun day at the beach?”

  “I knew you were going to come with us!” Simon said delightedly while Rowena watched in horror at the sight of the two of them embracing warmly by the car.

  “Doug, who is she?” Rowena asked in disbelief. “When did you plan on telling me you’ve picked a replacement Mummy for Simon?”

  “Rowena, let’s not get into this right now.” Doug said firmly.

  “Well who is she Doug? I don’t like the idea of you getting some blonde bimbo to waltz in here pretending to be close with my son.”

  Over by the car Sally could sense the friction building between the two of them. Her blue eyes shot one last stern glare at his ex-wife before helping Simon into the car.

  “Will you calm down Rowena? I don’t go asking you to defend your lifestyle do I? So please just respect my space okay. We’ve both moved on now, the only thing we have in common anymore is our son.”

  “Oh spare me the lecture. I just want to know why my son ran over to hug your new plaything. What game are you playing?” Rowena gave him a verbal spray.

  “She was Simon’s teacher last year okay. That’s how they know each other, are you happy now?” Doug tried not to raise his voice.

  “Miss McKenzie? Oh that’s rich.” Rowena laughed. “What’s wrong Doug can’t get a date so instead you get it on with your son’s teacher? How old is she anyway? She looks like she’s straight out of school.”

  Doug ignored her and turned to walk towards the car. Since their divorce she had steadily spiraled downwards into this horrible, callous person. He didn’t need her in his life anymore.

  “Oh what’s the matter Doug? Have I upset you and your little girlfriend?” She mocked him.

  Doug stopped and turned around to face her. He was going to make sure he had the final say.

  “As I remember
Rowena it was you who wanted me to go to the parent and teacher night last year, so really we have you to thank for the two of us meeting.” He replied coolly, reflecting her anger with calm niceties. “As I said before, thanks again for everything.”

  Doug opened the door of the car, hopped in and leaned across to plant a small kiss on Sally’s lips. He started the engine, put the car into reverse and shot a last look at Rowena standing on the front porch with steam coming out of her ears before reversing down the driveway.

  “You filthy, disgusting old pervert!” Rowena screamed at the top of her lungs as she watched them drive away. Turning back towards the house in a rage she fumed inside, slamming the front door shut behind her.