Page 20 of The Family Across the Street
‘What intricate work,’ says the woman softly, looking at his hand where a scorpion sits – its body perfectly drawn so that every part of its skeleton is visible, its tail up, ready to strike. The woman smiles and thanks him for the delivery as she closes the door. Her voice was light and calming, her tone kind, and he feels some of his anger seep out of him. Maddy will be okay. Please let Maddy be okay. Hang in there, Maddy, I’m coming.
He heads back out to the van, and his phone lights up with Debbie’s name.
‘Okay, so I spoke to Terri,’ she says when he answers, ‘she works in emergency. Maddy is in intensive care.’
‘Oh God,’ he says, nausea washing over him.
‘Terri says she’s been put in an induced coma to allow her body to rest and heal. There’s some swelling on her brain and they’re waiting for that to go down. I’ve booked you a flight for tonight at eight. They won’t know more about her condition until tomorrow morning. I’m trying to find you a hotel near the hospital.’
‘Thanks, babe, thanks,’ he says and he’s a little ashamed of the tears that fall. His sister, his baby sister. I’ll kill him. I’ll kill him.
‘Come home,’ says Debbie.
Logan sees himself pacing up and down the living room of their small flat, waiting for the hours to pass. ‘No, I’ll finish up here. I won’t be much longer and I need something to take my mind off it. Can you call them every hour, your friend… Terri, can you call Terri every hour and get me an update?’
‘Absolutely. Try to stay calm. She’s getting the best care. There isn’t anything you can do.’
‘I love you,’ says Logan, an uncharacteristic statement. It makes him feel weird to say the words.
‘Ah babes, I love you too, and it’s going to be fine. She’ll recover. Just get through your day and I’ll pack for you.’
After Logan hangs up, he starts planning how to get Maddy back to Sydney so he and Debbie can take care of her. Looking at a future where she’s okay focuses him, and though he hears a text on his phone again, he doesn’t look at it until he’s at the next delivery.
You’re next.
Logan doesn’t recognise the number. The words are shocking in their simplicity. Next for what? Is the text meant for him? Is it a mistake?
He stares down at the two words. There are a lot of people in his past who are capable of sending a threatening text. People he stole from, people he met in prison, even people he once considered friends like Nick, who he thinks is still in prison. He hasn’t spoken to Nick since that fateful night, refused to see him even when he tried to visit him in prison before Nick himself was caught and jailed for his crimes.
An unexpected laugh bubbles up inside Logan. He cannot believe that this is somehow still the same day. He finds himself laughing out loud as though someone has told him the greatest joke he’s ever heard. It’s only when he realises that his cheeks are wet that he stops and takes a deep breath.
What am I next for? He studies the text, trying and failing to recognise the number.
Maddy is in a hospital bed and now someone says he’s next. That can’t just be a coincidence. Is it a text from Patrick? Surely not. He’s in Melbourne, far away from here. But maybe Patrick has nothing to do with what happened to his sister. Faces and names flash through his mind. Everyone he has ever associated with knows he has a little sister who he loves. Even if Nick is still in prison, he knows everything about Logan’s life and maybe he hasn’t taken kindly to being ignored for the last few years. Maybe he’s talked about the things they did more than he should have. Nick knows people everywhere. The list of possibilities gets longer the more Logan thinks about it, his heart racing with all the things he’s done wrong.
What if this is payback? He thinks he’s left the past behind him but what if someone he stole from is making sure he understands his mistake? Hurting someone he loves would be the best possible choice. Whoever hurt his sister would know that the first thing he would do would be to get on a plane and go and see her. Hurting her would lure him down there to face whoever is waiting for him. ‘Oh God,’ he whispers, feeling his stomach churn, his forehead bead with sweat. Maddy has been hurt because of something he’s done.
Tonight, he’ll get to Melbourne and his past will be waiting for him.
He slaps at the steering wheel again, fury rising inside him as all he can think is, I’ll kill him, I’ll kill him. He just isn’t sure who exactly he is thinking about.
10
Gladys
‘I’ll tell you what they should do,’ says Lou, pointing at the television set, where a variety programme is on. ‘They should add a dog performing tricks to this.’
‘I’m sure one of the contestants did have a dog a few weeks back,’ says Gladys, ‘they voted him out.’ She doesn’t take her eyes from the television even though she’s not really watching. Occasionally she glances out of the large bay window where she and Lou have their small round breakfast table and two chairs. Sunshine streams in, colouring the timber table orange, and even though she doesn’t want to be out in the heat, the sharp green of the grass against the bright blue of the sky begs to be experienced.
‘No one appreciates true entertainment anymore.’
Gladys hates the variety programme but Lou refuses to watch anything else, despite every streaming platform available to them. He doesn’t seem to be able to concentrate on a movie long enough to keep the characters straight, and he nods off during series, waking only to get angry at her for continuing to watch without him. She is only sitting with him in the cool living room because he has been calling for her all morning. He seems to need her right next to him today. She thinks it may be because his routine with Peter has been interrupted. He prefers Peter to help him bathe and shave and Gladys has not made a good job of it. There are two cuts on his chin from the razor.
‘Don’t you think?’ he asks, and she realises that she hasn’t replied to him.
‘Probably not,’ she agrees. ‘It’s time for your medication, Lou. Do you want to have a snack with it?’
‘I wouldn’t say no to a nice peach. Do we have any peaches?’
