Girl Next Door - Alyssa Brugman [57]
'STOP!'
Now I'm nose in to the ambulance and bumper in to the wall of the Plough and Peanut. 'Dammit!'
'Where are we going anyway?' he asks.
I explain to Will about my plan to tell Declan's mum and how she will run screaming from the house.
'You think they're still in a relationship?'
I remember the spider-look on Declan's dad's face when she hugged him after he brought her home from hospital. But that face he pulled didn't necessarily mean it was over between them, did it? Maybe she was stepping on his toe? She could have had bad breath.
Around the corner comes the gurney with the dead body strapped to it. The ambo can't get to the back of his ambulance with the dead body because Bryce Cole's car is in the way. 'Is she stuck, mate?' he asks.
'Yeah,' Will says in his deep, old-enough-to-drive voice. 'Dunno what she was trying to do.'
Traitorous mofo!
'Do you want me to have a go, love?' The ambo calls out to me.
'Thanks.' I take my foot off the brake and open the door. The car is still in reverse. The car hits the Plough and Peanut. 'Oops!'
The ambo thinks I'm an idiot. He pushes the gurney towards Will. Will holds it by the rail on the side. He's holding on to a dead body and he's not even looking at it.
The ambo gets in. He does about a hundred-point turn. He's got it straight and then he drives forward, smiling at me. The ambo thinks I'm hot. A hot idiot.
'Stop, stop, STOP!' Will calls out, but it's too late. There's a loud crunch as the ambo hits the pole with Bryce Cole's car. He rolls the car back a bit. He's sitting up high in the driver's seat, trying to see what he's hit. Will lets go of the gurney and it rolls forward, down the other side of Bryce Cole's car. I can hear the metallic screech as it slides along the metal.
'Oops!' I say, grabbing the gurney. It's heavier than I imagined. I can't help myself. I poke the body through the sheet. It's cool, and firm, but at the same time rubbery, like a big ham.
'Geez! I'm sorry, sweetheart!' The ambo climbs out of the car to inspect the damage.
'That's fine!' I tell him, smiling back. 'I really am in a bit of a hurry, so I'll take over now.'
As I slip into the driver's side, I hear a voice from the back door of the Plough and Peanut.
'JB? Are you guys out here?' Then a pause. 'Where the hell is my car?'
'Get in, Will!' I hiss.
'I should give you my number – for insurance,' the ambo says.
From the thumping sound I can tell Bryce Cole is taking the steps two at a time.
I carefully put the car in D and head down the driveway.
'Jenna-Belle!' Bryce Cole hurtles down the driveway behind us. His face is purple.
There's a gap in the traffic. 'Go! Go! Go!' Will shouts.
I press the accelerator and the car bursts forward, ka-thumping over the kerb. I swing the steering wheel wildly and the tyres squeal. Once I get the car straight I punch Will in the arm. 'Don't yell stuff!'
Bryce Cole stops on the footpath, bellowing at us.
Well, I did tell him that if I could drive I would steal his car. He was stupid for teaching me.
23
PINEAPPLE-HEAD
Declan is not keen on my plan to break up his family and replace it with my own, but then he's not staring at the prospect of staying at the Plough and Peanut again tonight. He'll be staying in his nice warm neighbourhood, so he's not making an informed vote on the subject.
He's got me by the arm as I march down their hallway. If we were in a cartoon there would be smoke and flames coming from his heels as I drag him along the carpet. He's muttering objections.
Will is shuffling along behind us. He was going to stay in the car, but I think he wants to see, like I wanted to see the body.
Declan's mother is sorting flowers on the dining table. I'm going to tell her. I'm nervous and I know if I don't say it straight away I won't say it at all, so I just say it.
'Your husband is having an affair.'
She doesn't look up. She's stripping leaves off daisy stems. A few seconds pass and my heart is hammering, because this is a really big thing for me, breaking up a marriage. It's not a decision I've taken lightly,