Page 29 of Nothing Without You

In the end, she stopped making suggestions and asking questions. Although they had treated her like an adult, telling her the truth about the situation, anything after that seemed to put her back into the child category. No one asked for her advice or what she thought they should do. Neither of them cared what she thought of the stupid plan they had worked out together. She was just the same little Evie, a fifteen-year-old whose mother was having an affair with one of her teachers, and whose father was a man who liked men. Just an everyday family.

Chapter Twenty-Seven

She tried not to cling to her father when she said goodbye. His reassurances that she could visit once he settled in Sydney didn’t help. For all she cared, Sydney could have been London or Hong Kong. Sydney was miles away, and once they were in North Queensland, it would seem even further away.

Mother gave him a quick hug and promised to ring when they reached their destination. They would need to stay in regular contact until the house was sold, and Evie listened to them giving each other last minute instructions on money and house matters. People in town would realise they were moving, after all, there was a dirty big ‘For Sale’ sign on the front footpath. Father said he would tell anyone who asked that they were all moving north of Cairns. He would say that Mother and Evie had gone ahead and that he would follow once the house and business were sold and settled.

The car was packed with their suitcases and boxes, and as Mother pulled out of the driveway onto their street, Evie took one last look at the only home she had ever known. Father stood in the driveway with his hand held up high, waving to them. She took one last look at Mother’s gerberas, colourful against the white picket fence, and the hedge of camelias lining the driveway that were also out in full bloom. It was the picture of domestic bliss. A cute timber house, with a neat garden and the perfect-looking father waving goodbye to his beloved wife and daughter. Once, it was the picture of perfection, Evie thought, but now it was just the picture of a broken family.

Father, Chris, Layla, school, friends, her bedroom, the house and garden, father’s shop, the bush where they hung out, and the shed where she and Layla shared their secrets. Her childhood. Her family. Everything. Finished.

Chapter Twenty-Eight

The drive to Cairns was lengthy and they stopped overnight at small motels along the way. By the fourth day, they were getting closer to their destination, and Evie peered out the side window at the cane fields that lined the sides of the road. Dark mountains rose on the western side of the highway, heavy clouds with bruised bottoms hanging low over their peaks. It was the first time she had been to North Queensland, and Mother said it would be a lot hotter and more humid than where they had come from.

She noticed the weather changing as they drove up the highway that wound its way along the coastline of Queensland. Wide open plains with low shrubs and smaller hills in the distance, now gave way to ranges on the western side that were higher than any she had seen before. Sometimes, the ocean appeared on their right, and she gazed at the sparkling water, often dotted with islands lined with sandy beaches. A couple of seaside towns they stopped at overnight brought back memories of Stradbroke Island, and she tried not to think too much about past holidays. Everything she saw reminded her of Chris, and as much as she tried to push him from her mind, he was always there.

Apart from asking Evie to pass her an apple or a biscuit, Mother had driven in silence. That left plenty of time to think. When the prospect of starting school somewhere new, away from all her friends and Chris became too much, Evie curled up and faced the window. Father had put her pillow in the passenger seat and she could push her face into it, pretending to be asleep. Although the sound of the Beatles and Carole King was really starting to get on her nerves, the cassettes Mother played non-stop relieved any need for talking.

Once they passed Townsville, her mother breathed a sigh of relief. Perhaps she felt she had put a safe distance between them and the issues down south. She started to talk a little, relaying stories about the small towns they passed through. She had grown up in Cairns and also lived in a few different towns they now passed through. At least her stories broke the monotony of the trip, and Evie listened and asked a few questions. It was going to take a bit of getting used to Father not being with them, and she could tell from the tone of her mother’s voice that she was also pining for a person she was driving further and further away from. Annoyance rankled Evie. That person was not her father.

Chapter Twenty-Nine

Evie’s mother had kept in contact with a friend she had gone to school with. Katrina lived north of Cairns and had a small house that was available for rent. The address was written on a piece of paper, and Evie peered at it as the sun sank below the mountains that flanked the side of the road they drove on. The place they had come to live was north of a town called Mossman. ‘Mossman is where you’ll go to school,’ Mother told her. ‘We’re going to live further out.’ Evie clutched the note, as she peered through the windscreen at an old timber house that was barely visible through the palms and other rainforest trees that surrounded it. Someone had put the front veranda light on and, as promised, the key to the front door was in the letterbox.

The night air was sultry and a moon floated in the eastern sky, giving them some light as they lugged their suitcases up the overgrown path, into the house. ‘Thank goodness the electricity is on,’ Mother said, as she flicked the lights on. They stood in the front room, where an old lounge and a couple of single chairs positioned around a chunky timber coffee table, took up most of the room. A couple of rugs covered the rough timber floorboards and Evie ventured a bit further into the kitchen. The house was old and the kitchen had bright blue cupboard doors, with three wooden shelves painted blue to match. A rounded fridge that Evie guessed was from the 1950s had been turned on, and a welcome note on the kitchen bench told them where a few necessities were.

Toilet is out the back door and to your left. Watch for snakes at night and during the day. The hot water system is broken but will be fixed tomorrow. Back door doesn’t lock, but you’re safe here anyway. Will call around in the morning to check what you need. Love Katrina.

Katrina promised that, although the house was old, it was waterproof, comfortable and tucked away from the more populated areas. ‘Just what we want…and it’s cheap and furnished,’ her mother declared as they looked around. Although the toilet was outside, the bathroom was inside and the kitchen had plenty of space. The furniture was basic, but included everything they needed. ‘This is going to be home,’ she added, as she put an arm around Evie’s shoulder. ‘Home for you and me. We’ll make it work.’

Evie wasn’t sure if she was supposed to reply to that statement, but the words didn’t come anyway. What was she supposed to say? ‘Yay. Can’t wait. Can’t wait to try and make new friends. This is the best day of my life.’

As she lay in the single bed in her new bedroom that night, she tried not to jump every time a palm frond brushed against the window, or a twig or small branch landed on the tin roof. Apart from those noises, there were no others. That was probably the strangest thing, and it kept her from going to sleep. Silence. A profound, unsettling silence.

Chapter Thirty

The next morning, she woke early to someone banging on the front door. It was Katrina, and she carried in a basket of fruit, flowers and a bottle of wine. She hugged Evie as if she had always known her. ‘I haven’t seen you since you were a new baby. Gosh, you’re adorable. Lucky to get your father’s beautiful olive skin and dark eyes. Not that there is anything wrong with the way your mother looks.’

Katrina had long, blonde dreadlocks that came to below her waist. Her tanned face was smattered with freckles and long, dangling earrings matched her tie-dyed sarong. She wore nothing on her feet, and Evie couldn’t help but stare at the tattoos that covered a part of her arm. Mother’s friend was a hippie. Evie liked her. She was the opposite of Mother — completely unreserved. She was what Layla would call, out there. ‘I could have told you years ago Carlo was gay. I could pick it a mile away. Thank goodness you’ve both pulled the pin.’ Evie inhaled sharply at Katrina’s next words. ‘Don’t worry, Maya. There’ll be plenty of men around here knocking on your door once they know you’re single.

Mother held the bunch of flowers that looked like they had been picked from the trees nearby. Evie pulled a timber vase out from under the sink, as her mother grimaced. ‘Good grief, Katrina. That is the last thing I want. I didn’t move here to find a man. I’ve moved here to get away from them.’

Two of them, Evie thought.

‘You’re only young. You don’t need to find a husband. Just have a good time.’ She winked at Evie. ‘You know what I mean. How old are you now, Evie? Fifteen, sixteen? You know what I’m talking about. Your mother needs to get laid.’

‘Katrina. Enough. We, well, I don’t talk like that around Evie. She’s only young and she’s a good girl.’

Katrina bumped her hip up against Evie’s. ‘She’s the perfect age. You should go for it, Evie. You’re only young once. Look at us two. We both wish we looked like you. Why I’d be spreading my …’

‘Katrina,’ Mother yelled. ‘Stop!’

Katrina looked a bit bashful. ‘Sorry, I’m just excited you’re here. Plenty of time for me to introduce you to everyone, and I’ll make sure Evie meets some of the younger mob before she begins school in Mossman next year. That way she’ll have friends before she starts.’

Katrina cupped her hands around Evie’s face. ‘Would you like that?’

She couldn’t help but smile. ‘I would. Thank you.’

---