Brothers & Sisters - Charlotte Wood [106]
The room had fallen quiet except for the merry screams of the birds, the steady hum of the distant ocean.
‘I’m not going to speak about Leo but about Luigi, my younger brother. When he first started school Dad made sure I understood that I had to walk with him every day, that I was not to let him out of my sight. “He’s your brother,” he said to me, “you will always have to look after him. Do you understand?” But from the second day of school Luigi was determined to walk on his own. I guess he was an anarchist from birth.’
There was a ripple of laughter.
‘I knew I couldn’t change his mind. I knew it even back then. So I said, yes you can walk ahead of me. That’s my favourite memory of him, his walking ahead, a hundred metres in the distance, but every now and then turning back to look at me to make sure I was still there. That was what he was like, always wanting to be independent, free, not reliant on anyone. But I have to believe that from time to time he was still turning back, searching for me.’ At this Saverio’s voice cracked. ‘I have to believe he never forgot me.’
The applause that followed him back to his seat was warm and generous. Anna’s claps were the last to die out. Saverio looked over at Julian, who was walking onto the dais. Thank you, the younger man mouthed. It was Julian who spoke at the end and he spoke simply about love. There were no hymns, there was no religion, no prayers. The service finished with Lou Reed’s voice singing ‘Perfect Day’.
Rachel was waiting for him at the airport and as she folded him into her arms he submitted to the sweet calmness of their life together.
At home, as he unpacked, she sat on their bed, took Leo’s painting of their kids and scrutinised it critically.
‘I always liked this painting.’ She took it and walked out of their bedroom.
He followed her into the lounge where she held up the canvas against a stretch of blank wall above the stereo.
‘Here,’ she said with pleased finality. ‘I think it will be perfect here.’
BIOGRAPHIES
TEGAN BENN ETT DAYLIGHT was born in Sydney in 1969. She is the author of the novels Bombora (1996), What Falls Away (2001) and Safety (2006).
TONY BIRCH has published widely in short fiction, both in Australia and internationally. His linked collection of short stories Shadowboxing (Scribe Publications) was shortlisted for the Queensland Premier’s Literary Award in 2006. Tony’s collection of short stories, Fathers Day, was published by Hunter Publishers in 2009. Tony teaches in the School of Culture and Communication at the University of Melbourne.
ROBERT DREWE grew up on the West Australian coast, the setting for his best-selling memoir The Shark Net. His other work includes many novels and short stories. The Drowner won the premiers’ literary awards in every state, as well as the Adelaide Festival Prize and The Australian Book of the Year Award, and was named one of the ten best international novels of the last decade. His most recent book is the short-story collection The Rip. After twenty-five years constantly in print, his story anthology The Bodysurfers has recently been made a Penguin Classic.
ASHLEY HAY is the author of four books of non-fiction, The Secret, Gum, Herbarium and Museum (with the visual artist Robyn Stacey). A former literary editor of The Bulletin, her words have also appeared in journals and anthologies including The Monthly, Best Australian Essays, Heat and the Griffith Review. Her first novel, The Body in the Clouds, will be published by Allen & Unwin in 2010. Currently based in Brisbane, she is a happily siblingless and happily resolute mother of one.
CATE KENNEDY is the author of the short-story collection Dark Roots (Scribe); the memoir Sing; and Don’t Cry: A Mexican Journal (Transit Lounge); and two collections of poetry, Signs of Other Fires (Five Islands Press) and Joyflight (Interactive Press). Her novel