Page 53 of Nothing Without You

On Saturday, she closed the shop early. It was annoying that she now had to do a shift at the resort rather than visit Matilda. That would have to wait now, until tomorrow afternoon. Bob came into the back of the shop just as she was locking up. He wore Stubbies and a XXXX shirt, his long hair and beard dirty and in need of a cut. She tried to hide her disgust at his appearance as she turned to pull the curtains over the windows in the shop. ‘I’m going to Ziggy’s,’ he said. ‘Won’t be home ‘til late.’

‘Okay,’ she replied. ‘I’m about to catch the ferry for my shift, so I’ll be home tomorrow afternoon.’

He grunted, and she thought he appeared a bit edgy. Perhaps there was something big going down. His connection with the seediest characters in town was frightening, and she had distanced herself as much as she could when any of the men he associated with came into the shop.

‘The boys wanted you to come and serve the drinks and food. The new fellas are coming. They’re from this new gang. I told ’em you were doing a shift on the island and wouldn’t be home ‘til tomorrow afternoon. I said you’d come Wednesday night instead, so make sure you don’t go on those stupid walks that afternoon. We need you to help Leon’s missus in the kitchen.’

She nodded, wishing he would just leave. This afternoon she felt nauseous, and she needed to go to the toilet again before she got on the ferry. It was an hour’s trip to the island resort, and she didn’t want to need to go when she was out on the water. The sound of the shop door closing and Bob’s car driving out were welcome as she ran to the toilet.

Half an hour later, she was still in the bathroom. Not only did she have cramps in her stomach, but she had also vomited. She had missed the ferry. As soon as she was able, she ran down the road to the phone box and rang the resort to let them know she was sick. The manager, Felicity, was lovely and told her to lie down and drink lots of water to flush whatever was causing the problem. ‘We’ll see you next shift. No worries, we’ve got plenty of staff here, and it’s going to be a quiet night anyway from the number of bookings. A storm is forecast, so that’ll keep the customers away. I tell you what lovey, if you want to get that next barge over later on, you can still stay in your room tonight. I’m off in a minute. Quiet night at home for me. You could sleep there by yourself; give you a break from that old man of yours.’

Felicity knew Bob from the shop, and the offer of a night by herself was appealing.

‘I might do that.’ It would be easy to slip in and out of the resort the next morning. That would actually be a treat, and she could walk along the island beach in the morning before coming home. ‘I’ll do that Felicity. Thanks. I’ll see you next shift.’

The night air was heavy and humid, thunder rumbling out to the west. She changed back into her denim shorts and T-shirt, grateful that Bob was out and she could lie down for a while until the nausea passed. The next ferry would leave in an hour, and if she rested for a while, she’d have time to walk down to the jetty and catch it. However, the Panadol she had taken settled her stomach and sent her into a deep sleep. When she woke up hours later, it was to the sound of keys rattling in the front door. She glanced at the clock. It was one in the morning and she realised she had been asleep for hours.

Further noises caused her body to tense. Suddenly, Bob burst in through the door. His body was silhouetted against a flash of lightning, a loud crack of thunder coinciding with his arrival.

She sat up in fright, rubbing her eyes, then stared at him in disbelief. His eyes were wide with shock as he shook uncontrollably, his hair wet and hanging over his face. ‘You’re home,’ he managed to stutter. He gasped for air as if he had been running.

She pulled herself together. ‘I was sick…I never went to the island. What’s the matter? You’re as white as a ghost.’

She recoiled and leaned back as he came towards her, his breath stinking of rum, the stench of dope clinging to his clothes. Sweat dripped from his forehead as he placed both hands on her shoulders. ‘You have to listen to me and move quickly. Really quickly. I’m going to get in the shower and scrub some of this blood off me. For the first time she noticed blood on his legs, and when he turned slightly, she could see the back of his T-shirt was soaked in it.

‘What the hell have you done, Bob?’

‘Just listen. While I’m in the shower, pack a bag with only a few things in it for both of us. Gather every bit of money that’s in the house and the shop. Leave everything else. I reckon we’ve got about fifteen minutes to get out before they come looking for me.’

‘Who’s looking for you? What’ve you done?’

‘Ziggy and the boys. They killed one of the other boys. Travis, from the new gang. He owed them money and was dealing on the side, skimming off them. Trouble was, I was working with him. Him and me were skimming together. I got plenty of money for us, Evie.’ He talked faster, his eyes wide, the whites of them showing more than the colour. ‘I didn’t realise Ziggy knew about it. They tried to get me and Travis. They killed him and made me help, then they started coming for me. But I ran. They’ll come here for sure. They’re trying to kill me. I blocked the track out of Ziggy’s place with one of the big tractors and threw away the key, but it won’t take ‘em long to get round it.’

Fear gripped her and she blurted out her response. ‘I have no need to leave. I’ve done nothing wrong.’

This time he gripped her arm tightly. ‘You’re coming with me. Aint’ nobody staying here to tell any stories. They think you're at the resort tonight, but once they get here and see you, they’ll finish you off too. Get your shit together. Now.’ He moved quickly, pulling off his T-shirt before he flicked the light on and entered the outside bathroom. The sound of water running lulled her mind, and for a moment she stood motionless. Leaving. Pack. Money. Get out.

If she stayed and refused to go, they would come for her too. They would know he’d told her what happened. There was no option.

Moving quickly, she raced into the bedroom and scooped up her box with her mementos and money in it. A bag she used for groceries was nearby and she stuffed the box in there, as well as a pair of jeans that lay on the floor nearby. Glancing around the room, she stopped and listened to make sure the shower was still running. Without another look, she walked silently through the door that connected the house to the shop. She scooped up money from the till and hesitated for a moment before stuffing half of it in her bag. The other half she left for Bob. He would have to look after himself. She opened the back door of the shop, the exit point on the other side of the house, away from the bathroom where Bob was showering.

It wouldn’t matter how much he scrubbed, nothing would clean the grime of his life away. He could take the filth, the drugs and now a murder with him when he ran from those wanting to kill him. This time she was not going to get dragged into his fucked up life. This time she was going to think about herself. Not Bob.

Chapter Sixty

Once her eyes adapted to the darkness, she was able to make out the road behind their house, and the bush behind that. As she clutched her small bag of belongings, she wished she had grabbed a torch. At least she would be able to see where she was going. For a split second she thought about going back for a torch, but panic drove her forward. Stepping carefully so as not to make any noise, she walked quickly across the backyard and, after looking up and down the road, she crossed the dirt surface and slipped silently into the cover of the thick bush behind.

She had no sooner moved further back in the bushes to make sure she was hidden when car headlights flashed around the corner and lit up the street she had just been on. Her heart thumped so hard that she crouched down to keep her balance, her mouth dry and her eyes wide with shock as she watched four men get out of the car. They weren’t that far from where she was hidden, and she recognised Ziggy’s voice. ‘He’s in there. I can see the light on in their bathroom.’

Another voice she didn’t recognise, spoke. ‘What about the bitch. He might have told her what happened.’

‘No, he can’t have,’ Ziggy said. ‘He said she’s at the resort tonight. She works and stays over there every Saturday night. It’s only him we have to worry about.’

‘Good. That makes it simple.’ The man mumbled something else she couldn’t understand, although later on she realised he had been asking someone to pass him the kerosene.

As the men walked away from where she was hiding towards the flat, Evie decided not to hang around any longer. Clutching her bag tightly against her chest, she pushed her way through the bush and onto a track that ran around the back of it. Not many people used the paths, only kids who were wagging school, or sometimes people walking their dogs. The bush paths were familiar to her though, as she often went this way to the beach. Now she jogged quickly, her breath raspy and her legs shaking. When she reached the beach, she was pleased for once that there was only a sliver of a moon, just enough light to let her see where she was going.

She had only gone a short distance, when she was halted by a deafening explosion. Whirling around, she stopped and cast her gaze back along the path she had just travelled. Flames erupted into the night, casting an ominous glow that illuminated the sky, as debris and sparks shot up into the air. She watched the fiery glow as she bent over gasping for air, a stitch stabbing her side.

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