Page 60 of Kiwi Gold
“Yeh, right. Tell me you weren’t planning on studying maps this weekend, in preparation for …”
“Mali. And maybe I’m doing that for relaxation. Maps are awesome, eh. I probably shouldn’t have told you about Mali, though, since your dad’s likely going after the same job.”
“I’d better not tell him, then,” I said. “You could also be busy with, oh, call them recreational activities, since your date last night didn’t end the way you’re used to. You could be scheduling an outing with a woman who doesn’t— who does—” I broke off. I wasn’t going to explain what other women did or didn’t do in front of my kids.
“We could have a party!” Amira said, ignoring all of it. “All together! With popcorn! And loud music! And dancing! A bathtub party!” While gazing longingly at Lachlan, of course.
I might be conflicted. My daughters weren’t.
I told her, “It’s tempting, but since the only reason I’d say yes would be to annoy somebody with both whining toolsandloud music, and that’s not a very noble sentiment, I’m going to say no. I told you—it’s dusty and very noisy, so I need to do the first part by myself.”
“But we get to help with the other part,” Amira told Lachlan. “Where you put the new rout on.”
“It’sgrout,”Yasmin said.
“That’s what Isaid,”Amira said.
“Awesome,” Lachlan said, then asked me, “D’you have an oscillating tool?”
“I think that’s meant to be my line.” I didn’t mean to say it. It just came out. He gave a shout of laughter, and I slapped a hand over my mouth, then started to laugh myself. “Wait. Erase that. That’s terrible.”
He was still laughing. “Classy. Very classy. If I’d said it, you’d have turfed me out, and quite rightly, too.”
“Ahem,” I said. “Starting over. Yes, I do have an … an oscillating tool.” I could tell I was blushing. “Borrowed it from my dad. I already had a drill, so I’m not lacking any, uh … tools.”
“Good,” Lachlan said. “I have a drill as well. The big, powerful kind. But no oscillating tool.” And grinned.
What were we, fifteen? Any minute now, we’d be snickering over the word “moist.” And still, I was laughing.
“We have all the other things, too,” Yasmin said. She was still leaning against Lachlan’s leg, her hand on his thigh, clearly seduced by his glamour, and he put his arm around her and gave her a cuddle as if he’d done it a thousand times, which he no doubt had. “We got a special blade for Mummy to use on the tool,” she went on, “and it’s very sharp, so we have to stay out with the door closed while she uses it, but after she’s done, we have two of a thing called a float. It’s called that even though it’s heavy and it wouldn’t float, and it’s to put the new grout on. One of them is for Mummy and one is for Amira and me to take turns, and we have a pointy thing that is for Mummy to use, to take the rubbery stuff out from around the bottom of the bath, which is sad, because I like to pull it out of the crack and stretch it. But we have a special gun to put more rubbery stuff in, except it’s not really a gun. It doesn’t shoot bullets at all. We have things for cleaning, too. We have—”
I said, “We have all the things, yes. We’re all good.”
Yasmin wasn’t done. “It all cost more than two hundred dollars,” she told Lachlan, “and it took five bags to hold it, and the grocery store cost almost two hundred fifty dollarsmore,so it’s almost five hundred dollars just for oneday.And Amira and me need new shoes for school, because our old ones are too small now, and our uniforms arealmosttoo small, but we have to wait to buy those until Mummy gets some more—”
“Lachlan doesn’t want to hear all that,” I cut in. “That’s boring, hearing about how much money we spent.”
Amira said, “But you said it was very important to pay attention to how much money we spend, because there’s a budget, and you only earned four thousand dollars so far this month, and there’s too many expenses, and that’s why we can’t go away on a plane for a holiday like Iris Okura at our school, and ride horses and go on boats and stay in a bach, because we can only do things that don’t cost extra money right now.”
I looked at Lachlan helplessly. I’d thought he’d be smiling. He wasn’t. In fact, he was frowning as he said, “Why didn’t you tell me? We could’ve done something cheaper last night. Or I could’ve paid, the way I wanted to in the first place. Even better. You bought new clothes. You paid a babysitter. I could’ve helped with that, at least. And I think—”
I didn’t let him finish. Seemed I was interrupting everybody these days. That was because everybody kept saying things I didn’t want to hear. “I didn’t tell you,” I said, “because that was our agreement. Besides, it’s an … an investment in my future. The …” I glanced at the girls. “The lessons. And the dress and shoes were on sale. Final markdown, because I wear a small size.”And I wanted to look pretty,I didn’t say.I wanted to change, to be new, even though I know it’s irresponsible and juvenile and all sorts of things I can’t afford to be right now.Instead, I said, “And I’m fine. I do have a budget, I know how to stick to it, and I don’t need your help with this. I appreciate it, but I’m perfectly capable. I’ve always done our DIY projects myself.”
“Why does that not surprise me?” he asked, and he still wasn’t smiling.
“Anyway,” I said, “if I needed help—with any of it—I’d have asked my dad. Well, he’s in Aussie now, of course, but I could’ve asked him later.”
“Right,” he said. “And have him tell you some more that you can’t take care of yourself?”
Wow. That was a bit close to home.
“But Mummy said we have to do the grout part now,” Yasmin said, still leaning against Lachlan, “because a tile fell off and hit her on the head, and she got blood all over the bath. She was naked and wet, and she had bloodall over her, too, and it got all over the towel, and she couldn’t get all of it out, so now it’s a towel for Long John, when he gets wet in the rain. And we probably need to buy a new towel, too.”
“I was going to come get you,” Amira told Lachlan, “in case Mummy needed to go in the ambulance this time, because there was blood allover,but she wouldn’t let me.”
“I was fine,” I said. “Hardly any blood at all. A bit of pressure with a gauze pad, and it was sorted.” Lachlan looked startled, and no wonder. Naked and wet and bloody. And, now, with a sprained foot. Also skint, which could mean that I was either a rubbish businessperson or a rubbish photographer. How irresistible was I?
“And you said Grandad would have opinions,” Amira said. “And you didn’t need to hear his opinions.”
