‘I’m just saying that you could see what life would bring if you allowed fate to take the reins for a while,’ Jarrah continued. ‘Like, have you ever trusted in the universe to decide which path you should take? Or placed your faith in a higher power? I mean, have you ever even bought a lotto ticket?’
‘I’m thrilled that you’re happy living out your destiny and making decisions based on how your tea leaves dry in the bottom of your cup,’ I said dryly, ‘but that’s just not for me. And I’ve got better things to spend my money on than the lotto. Besides, NASA studies astronomy, not astrology, so I don’t know what they’d be doing looking for new star signs. The zodiac signs date back to the Babylonians, who divided the zodiac into twelve segments and then picked twelve constellations, which they aligned to their twelve-month calendar. I don’t see how there can be a thirteenth one.’
‘Okay now,’ Dad said, reaching for a sour-cream-laden corn chip, half of which fell to his poncho as he tilted his head and inserted it into his mouth. ‘Let’s just enjoy this delicious meal. Elise, how’s it going at the herbarium?’
He wiped his face with the back of his hand and smeared his moustache over the bottom part of his face. He was a mess, but I was grateful for him shutting down the conversation.
Lunch continued in the typical way – conversations about bands I hadn’t heard, books I hadn’t read and movies I hadn’t seen. Once the last bit of dried cheese had been pried from the casserole dish (which I doubted had ever been used for a casserole for as long as it had been in this house) and the last drop of margarita was slurped from our glasses, I motioned to Gran that I was ready to go. I exchanged hugs and kisses with Mum and Dad and nodded farewell to Jarrah and Elijah.
‘I wasn’t really having a crack at you,’ Jarrah said as she followed me up the hallway towards the front door. ‘I just think you’d have more fun if you eased up a bit.’
How would I ever prove to her that I was content? Smile more? Wear brighter clothes? Update social media with #blessed posts? And why would I even want to? Having watched on the sidelines as Jarrah danced her way through party after party, loved her way through a series of passionate relationships and ricocheted through exotic adventures, I knew that her highs were a stark contrast to her lows. Her life wasn’t all rainbows and sunshine, and at least I had a reliable forecast.
Chapter 4
Beth
‘Urgh,’ I grunted as we pulled away from my parents’ house. ‘Imagine thinking that redefining horoscopes would somehow change who we are as people.’
‘I know, darling,’ Gran sighed. She seemed tired.
‘Are you okay?’
I sometimes forgot that Gran was eighty-two and that slowing down was probably something that came with the territory.
‘Oh yes, sweetie,’ she responded, her singsong chime returning. ‘I’m fine. Just a little tired. Actually, that reminds me. Can we stop at the pharmacy on the way home? I have to get a script filled.’
‘A script? Is everything okay?’
‘Yes, pet. Everything is peachy.’ She swatted the air with her hand as if shooing away my concerns. ‘My doctor is just tweaking my blood pressure medication. Nothing to worry about; I’m fit as a fiddle.’
Indeed she was. She’d aged in appearance after my grandpa died, though; her face became gaunter, and her hair greyer. But she made a point of keeping busy. She increased her volunteer hours at the herbarium, made jam from every imaginable fruit and did a short course in silversmithing. She often referenced her favourite author, Gertrude Stein, who said, ‘We are always the same age inside.’ Based on that, I’d have said Gran’s inner self was in her mid-twenties.
I pulled into the car park of the small shopping centre that was halfway between our two houses.
‘I won’t be a jiffy, darling,’ she called back to me as she took off through the automatic doors while I was still climbing out of the passenger seat.
The centre was typical of those found dotted in suburbs all over the country. It had the standard line-up of shops: a bottle shop, pizza shop, bakery, beautician, supermarket, newsagent, chemist, barber and health food shop. It also had a multi-function shop where you could get keys cut, shoes mended or drop off your dry cleaning.
I meandered over to inspect the offerings on the discounted book table outside the newsagent. I thumbed through a copy of Cooking for One: cuisine for singles; glanced at Practising Pilates, which boasted a free stretch band; and smirked at the stack of untouched street directories. Who was upgrading their street directories these days? Then, the illustrations of zodiac signs and the Grecian-style font on the cover of Science of the Stars: the 12 zodiac signs caught my attention. I turned over the book to read the blurb:
Are we the masters of our own destiny? Is our future determined by fate? What does your birth date say about you? This is the must-have guide to understanding the 12 zodiac signs and how the planets impact our lives.
Too bad for all the people who purchased Science of the Stars, even at the discounted price of $19.95, as the entire book was now defunct if Jarrah was right about NASA’s ‘discovery’ of the new constellation.
I browsed through the magazines and decided to treat myself to a copy of National Geographic. See, Jarrah, I thought, I can be spontaneous. A magazine hadn’t been in that week’s budget, but I bought it anyway.
‘Do you want a ticket in tonight’s draw too?’ the elderly gentleman behind the counter asked as I handed the magazine over to be scanned. He pointed to a sign that was emblazoned with ‘$60 million jackpot’ and decorated with streamers and balloons.
My first thought was that surely everyone knew that the higher the jackpot amount, the more people who bought a ticket, so your odds of winning were actually lowered. My second was of Jarrah.
‘What the hell,’ I said, loudly enough to surprise us both. ‘I’ll take one.’
I paid, tucked the ticket into a pocket of my wallet and made a mental note to adjust my budget spreadsheet to reflect the unexpected purchases.
~
As I stepped over the threshold of my apartment after dropping Gran home, a wave of relief washed over me. It was good to be home. I felt safe in this space, away from the clutter and chatter of the world, where everything was exactly as I wanted it.