Girl Next Door - Alyssa Brugman [56]
'Oh my God, he's going to bring a dead body right through here!' I say. 'A dead body!'
I assume that it will be wrapped up like the body on the side of the road. I kind of hope that it isn't, because I want to see it. I tell myself that I want to pay my respects, given that I was probably the last person who ever had a thought about Eck Eck Man, even if it was a mean thought, but really I'm just a busybody. Also, I want to tell Declan that I saw the dead body, and I know he'll ask very detailed questions.
As the guy pulls the gurney up the stairs it makes a clinking, rattling noise. I lean back on my stool, but I can't see it.
'Shh! Here we go,' Bryce Cole says. The barman turns up the volume. They're pushing the horses into the starting gates. Mum wriggles on her stool. Her eyes are glittery.
On the television the starting gates swing open and the horses bound out.
'Away. Chan Caesar out quickly, Suziewantsa Grey up near the fence, then Go Bravo, Romance Me getting in behind them, Chinchilli Tilly, Bikabunda, Miss Linky and here comes Furious George as they settle in. Romance Me tucks into the rail.'
'Go, you bastard!' Bryce Cole shouts.
'Run!' shouts Mum.
I wrap my fingers around the keys and slide them into my lap. Nobody notices.
'They come around the turn, Bikabunda down the outside, Suziewantsa Grey has broken through, Furious George stays with him. Romance Me forced wide. Then Bikabunda, Go Bravo, and Chan Caesar drops to the tail of the field. Romance Me leaps forward and takes the lead.'
'Run!' Mum has her fists bunched up as if she's a boxer.
I stand up and edge towards the door, pushing it open.
'Across the back of the course they go. Romance Me two lengths ahead but Furious George is catching her. Then Suziewantsa Grey. Bikabunda, Go Bravo presses on, goes around the outside, Romance Me still leads but Suziewantsa Grey is . . .'
The door swings closed behind me. I jog to the car park. There's an ambulance in the driveway but I'm sure I can squeeze past it.
In the car my heart is hammering in my chest. I practise the stop and go pedals before I start the car. I turn the key and sit there for a moment chanting inside my head. Right go. Left stop.
It's easy. I can do this. I did it before. I probably drove further before.
Will opens the passenger door, startling me. 'Where are you going?'
I haven't had a chance to tell him about Mum and Declan's dad. I quickly fill him in.
'Shit!' he says. 'What did she say?'
'She didn't say anything.'
'So it might not be true.'
'Are you coming or not?'
Will slides into the passenger seat and slams the door.
'Don't you think it makes sense? You know, the whole car-pooling thing? How they were always home late?' I ask Will.
I haven't had a chance to be mad about that yet, but I am now. Before we were even povvos Mum stopped cooking for us – or at least collecting our takeaway orders. As far as I'm concerned, feeding your children really is the least you can do for them. Telling them that their hair is shiny and that they have a pleasant singing voice doesn't really make up for that.
Will sets his jaw. He wants the dad of Mum's baby to be our dad. He wants everything to go back to the way it was before.
I put the car into reverse.
'Don't you think I should be driving?' Will says.
There are no other cars in the car park, so it's easy to swing around, although as we head towards the ambulance Will feels the need to direct me. 'You're right. Heaps of room on this side.' I inch the car down the driveway.
'Wait, wait, WAIT!' Will screams. 'There's a pole.'
'Why didn't you say before?'
'I didn't see it before. You need to go right, go right. More. More.'
I'm looking out Will's window, looking for the pole. I can't see it because it's below the window. I stretch up, trying to look over the side and when I turn around I'm nose in to the ambulance. I thump my foot on the brake.
'You're going to have to get out,' I tell Will.
He climbs out and squeezes around the front of the car. 'Okay, go back, go back!'
I put the car in R and creep backwards.