Page 30 of Nothing Without You

The three of them sat out the back, around an old cast iron table and chairs that perched on the grass. Katrina had wiped them over with a rag and was now filling three cups with tea from a large teapot. There were a couple of stairs that led down from the kitchen to a path made from flat rocks that had moss growing around the edges of them. When Evie looked up, the sky was nearly entirely blocked by the rainforest trees that were full of parrots and other birds that called out to each other. ‘Mould and moss are a problem here, and once this wet season really sets in, you’ll understand why.’

‘Does it flood here?’ Evie asked as she looked down the backyard towards a small creek that ran along the fence line. At the moment the waterway was only a trickle of water, but the banks were a lot higher than the water, and she could imagine what it would be like after a lot of rain.

‘You’re in the tropical north. We get more rain than Cairns. Sometimes sixteen inches a month, and that’s when there isn’t a cyclone. See that path at the back there, through that gate? If you follow that for a couple of miles, it’ll wind through the rainforest and eventually come out at the beach. There’s no one around.’ She looked towards Evie. ‘No need for togs here. Everyone just goes naked.’

Evie nearly spat her mouthful of tea out. She was a prude when it came to nudity, and there would be no way she’d be going anywhere without being fully clothed, or at least in bikinis.

‘There’s a commune further down the road you came in on last night. They’ve been trying to close it down, but no one is budging. They’re just living with the earth and the trees. Not hurting anyone.’

‘Why do they want to close it down,’ Evie asked, curious as she had never seen a commune before.

‘No proper toilets, so they say it’s unsanitary and a health risk. It’s crown land though, so they’re not trespassing.’

Mother looked around the yard. ‘It’s safe here, isn’t it? You assured me it is.’

Katrina flung her head back and laughed, her dreadlocks shaking with her body. ‘Safe as houses. No one even has locks on their doors. Half the mob on the block across the road from you, live in teepees and shelters they’ve made themselves out of palm fronds and branches. It’s very safe.’

‘How will I get to school from here?’ Evie asked.

‘The school bus comes to the corner. You don’t have to walk far. You’ll meet kids from the commune and across the road. They all walk up the road together in the mornings and afternoons. They’re a friendly lot.’

The matter of enrolling in a school was going to have to wait until the new year. Everything was shut for the holidays, so thankfully Evie wouldn’t have to think about that for a few weeks.

As they waved goodbye to Katrina, she thought how natural and honest she was. She had not treated Evie like a child, and when Mother disappeared to make another cup of tea, she had talked to Evie like an adult. ‘Jeremiah’s the local bloke if you or your mum want any weed. He only has good stuff. Your mum probably won’t want any, but you never know, she might convert to our free style of living. Just remember, if you want anything you ask me. Jeremiah, as in Jeremiah was a bullfrog,’ she laughed at her own joke, ‘he also takes care of making sure everyone is safe when it floods. Make sure you have supplies for when that happens. Reeco and Mundy own the bait shop. You’ll see it up further. They can get you anything you want. Saves driving into the big smoke.’

When her mother returned, they sat and talked for a bit longer. ‘I’ll need to get a job. I can’t rely on Carlo for money forever. He’s been very good, and he’ll pay for Evie’s things, but I need to have some money.’

‘What sort of job?’ Katrina asked.

‘Anything but cleaning, or to do with schools. I want to try something new.’

‘There might be some work going at the resort. You’d have to catch a boat over to where it is, but it’s only a short drive to the dock. They were after office workers a while back. I know the fella who runs it. I’ll find out for you.’

When Katrina left, Evie’s mind was spinning. So much to take in and adjust to. This was going to be a very different lifestyle from what they were used to.

When she went to bed that night, she watched geckos run across her ceiling. They were drawn to the moths that fluttered around her wall lamp, and several of them scampered back and forth trying to catch one of the bugs that hovered nearby. There appeared to be a plague of bugs here, and although there were screens on the windows, it didn’t seem to stop them. She turned the lamp off. There were too many annoying insects to keep reading. Lying in the dark, she listened to the silence. She wondered what Layla was doing. Had she found out that Evie had left town? Her thoughts drifted to all the people she had left behind. What was Chris doing? Maybe he was rolling around on his bedroom floor again with Geraldine.

Cicadas started up just outside her window, the silence broken by their regular, high-pitched calls. Hopefully tomorrow would be sunny, because she wanted to walk up the road and have a look around. Mother was going to be busy arranging the house and seeing what else they needed. Reaching down, she pushed play on her cassette player. The tape was a mixture of ‘explosive hits’, but she only listened for a moment, until the lyrics of ‘Evie’ started. She pushed the stop button hard and the cassette player fell over, the noise as it hit the floorboards reverberating around her bedroom. That was the last song she needed to hear.

Chapter Thirty-One

Slivers of sunlight filtering in through the palm trees outside her window lightened Evie’s room the next morning. It had rained during the night, and the steady patter on the tin roof had been a constant, comforting sound during the night. Her bedroom was about the same size as the one at home, and she cast her eye around the bare walls. Empty hooks were scattered along the fibro, the only decoration a purple piece of cloth with a red peace symbol printed on it. A single light bulb hung on a long cord in the middle of the room and she looked up at the ceiling above, which was buckled, its cover of white paint peeling and cracked.

Cool, smooth floorboards greeted her feet, as she padded across the room and stood at the small casement window, staring at the thick rainforest that surrounded a small cleared patch of grass. Birds flitted back and forth, and she spotted a wallaby feeding on the longer grass near the house. The window latch was old and difficult to move, but she managed to open it enough to let some fresh air in. Time for breakfast she thought, her stomach rumbling, reminding her she’d only eaten a sandwich for dinner the night before.

A couple of stairs that ran off the front veranda offered a prime position to sit and eat her Weetbix. There was a cleared grass area in front, and the dirt road they had driven in on lay beyond that. Mother was still asleep, and Evie felt like the sole inhabitant; as if someone had picked her up and plonked her in the heart of the North Queensland rainforest. The area was dim, with tall palm trees blocking the morning sun. She smacked a mosquito on her arm. There were more bugs and crawling insects here than she had ever seen before.

Drips of moisture fell from the edges of the corrugated tin veranda roof above her, and she tilted her head to the side when she thought she heard voices. People talking, punctuated by a noisy laugh, sounded from the thick rainforest. Peering across the front yard, she looked curiously as a group of kids emerged from the trees on the other side of the track. They came out opposite her house, and a couple of them saw her and waved.

They appeared to be about the same age as she was, and she waved back as they neared the house, then came up the path towards her. A boy who led the way was the first to greet her. He had long, blond hair down past his shoulders, and wore only a pair of corduroy shorts. His body was tanned to a deep brown, and when she looked at his skinny legs, she thought he would probably be a good runner.

When he smiled, his teeth were white and straight, and she smiled back, drawn in by his friendly manner. He stood in front of her as the rest of the group came up behind him. ‘Hi. I’m Tim. You must be Evie. Katrina told us to come and say hello.’

She nodded as the rest of the group came to stand beside him. Another boy who looked much the same as Tim, gave her an army salute. ‘I’m Arlo, and this is Peace and Sissy. We live up the track a bit further. We catch the bus to school when we can get there.’

She must have looked perplexed at the last bit of information. The girl called Peace sat down on the step below Evie. ‘It rains a lot and we get flooded in.’ She held out her hand for Evie to shake. ‘Welcome to the wet tropics.’

Peace had long, brown hair with strings of beads wound through some of the strands. She wore a sarong and leather riding boots on her feet. Sissy was a bit older, and Evie admired her slender legs and long red hair. She wore a frangipani behind her ear, and it seemed like every one of her fingers had a silver ring on it. Colourful bracelets jingled on her arms, and the tiny red shorts and blue crocheted bikini top she wore, showed off her slim body.

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