Page 120 of Kiwi Sin
Behind me, I heard Gabriel asking Uncle Aaron, “Did you mean it, that you’ll reconsider?”
“Yes,” Uncle Aaron said. “I don’t say things unless I mean them. I’ve reconsidered. The answer is still no. I’ve had enough of this place. Let’s go.”
I waved out the back window of the ute until the tears blurred my vision, until Gabriel took the turn in the road and she was lost to view. My tiny, stoical little mum, whose heart was half of her. Her hand in the air and a brave smile on her face.
Waving goodbye.
51
ORIANA TAKES CHARGE
Gabriel
Oriana cried half the way home.
How did you love a woman like this enough? How did you deserve her?
When I finally reached Gray’s place, she turned into me, held me tight while I held her and wished for something to say to ease that pain, and finally said, “I need to … I need to help Dove now. I’ve always been the closest to her. She won’t understand Daisy or Priya, the way they want to change so fast and leave it all behind. She needs somebody to help her adjust.”
I ran my hand down her back and up it again, over the cardigan she’d designed and the clothes she’d sewn on the machine I’d bought her, and said, “Yeh.” Thinking about that first night at Drew’s, wearing the wrong clothes, trying to get to sleep in the too-big bed, with my back on fire and everything I’d ever known in the rearview mirror. About the next morning, trying to cook myself breakfast, trying to hold back the panic.
She said, “If I don’t see you for a few days … are you OK with that?” Sitting back, now, and looking anxiously into my eyes. Worrying about me, and not wanting to leave me alone.
I said, “I know you love me. Do what you need to do.”
“Friday night,” she said. “If not sooner.” She started to open the door, then turned back to me. “I think school, for Dove. Don’t you? It isn’t the start of term, but …”
“Yeh,” I said. “Always better to have somewhere to go and something to do. Something to focus on. Something to learn.”
“I think so, too,” she said. “You’re very wise.”
I had to smile. “No. Just lost for long enough that I remember how it feels.”
She put a hand behind my neck and kissed my mouth, then pulled back and said, “I can’t wait to marry you,” climbed out of the ute, and headed up the stairs to the yurt where, I was sure, she’d be making lunch for everybody. Making tea. Making it better.
Had anybody ever had the strength of these girls?
It wasn’t Friday, in the end. It was only Tuesday evening when she called and said, “I got a notice from the court. I have a hearing next Wednesday on the marriage thing. That was … that’s fast.”
What did that mean? I couldn’t tell. I asked, “Too fast?” and wished I wasn’t on the other end of a telephone line.
“No,” she said. “Oh—I found two flats that don’t look bad. D’you want to go see them with me tomorrow at six? That’s when I can get in. I read that it’s better to view before the weekend, when everybody goes.”
“Yeh,” I said. “Definitely.”
Neither of the flats worked. One of them was as bad as my current situation, and the other was so dark, you’d want to put in brighter bulbs and keep them on all day. Not even Oriana’s warmth could have fixed that.
She said, “Never mind,” and told the estate agent, “If something better comes up, would you ring me first? I’m better at cleaning than anybody I know, and Gabriel can fix anything.”
The agent, a middle-aged lady named Monica with poufy blond hair that didn’t seem quite natural, looked at Oriana, then at me, and said, “You’re, er … pretty young for that.”
Oriana said, “Oh. Are you not allowed to ask personal questions? That’s OK. I’m seventeen and Gabriel’s twenty-five, but I’m petitioning the court to marry him before June, when I turn eighteen.”
“Oh,” Monica said. “That’s, uh …” and looked more nonplused than ever.
“We left Mount Zion,” Oriana told her. “That’s why we seem different. You may recognize Gabriel from that thing they did on TV the day he walked out and we rescued my sister, because he’s so beautiful. I was there, too, but I’m not as exciting. I work as a photographer’s assistant. Newborn photography. It’s brilliant.” She reached into her purse, pulled out a card with a bare-arsed baby on it, and handed it over. “Laila Drake. She’s the best. Oh, and I also have my own business.” Another card, with a white lace scarf spilling over a black background, a sprig of lavender in the other corner, and the name,Lavender Hill Farm Knitwear,in the middle. “Gabriel doesn’t have a card, but he works for Gray Tamatoa. The All Black. My brother-in-law. Gabriel’s a team leader for Gray already, because he’s so skilled and so responsible. I have eleven siblings, and he’s the eldest of six, so you see …”
The estate agent looked like she didn’t know what had hit her. To be honest, I felt a bit that way myself. I just hoped Oriana wasn’t going to throw in “Sir Andrew Callahan.” I said, “I’m not …”
