Page 33 of After the Siren
She shouts at me whenever I try
Jake
g2g keeley wants 2 surf
good luck
Theo was about five chapters intoDeath on the Nilewhen Jake messaged him again, post-surf. By the time Theo felt it was safe to venture out of his room, he knew that the dog was called Plugger, that Jake’s friend Keeley (of the yellow bikini) was a better surfer than Jake was, and that Lydia refused to cook turkey on Christmas because, ‘Nobody likes it and it’s too hot.’ He didn’t realise how long they’d been texting until he got downstairs and discovered his parents were ten minutes away and Eva wanted him to put on a nicer shirt. He thought about arguing – there was nothing wrong with his Falcons polo – but arguing with Eva was usually fruitless, so he went to change.
Jake was sprawled on the back steps, full of prawns and smoked salmon, scrolling while he got some afternoon sun. His mum, Lydia and Keeley had all flopped onto the couch to watch a detective Christmas special, and Jake had opted for some quality time with Plugger.
The message banner popped up as he was looking at some vintage sneakers.
Theo
I wish I could pull a fire alarm rn
Jake blinked at the text. Plugger took advantage and wrenched the rope toy out of his hand. He ran a triumphant lap of the backyard, trying to bark around the mouthful of hemp, then hurled himself at Jake’s feet, tail thudding. Jake gave him a belly scratch with one bare foot as he considered the message.
He could text back, or he could just ... call Stavs. Which he’d never done before, but the text did seem like a cry for help. Or at least for rescue. Jake wasn’t going to leave a teammate high and dry.
Also, he wanted Stavs to be his friend. Stavs clearly needed some friends, and Jake liked him. They were going to be friends, whether Stavs thought he wanted to be friends or not.
Jake called him.
Theo’s phone buzzed against the table, interrupting his father’s question about his Law degree. It was always good to see his parents, except for the way it made something in him ache a little, like a broken bone that had never healed quite right. It didn’t help that, apart from a little silver in their hair, they looked the same as when he was a kid.
Jenny the psychologist had gently introduced the concept of ‘mind-reading’ to their last session, talking him through all the problems of making assumptions about what other people were thinking – but knowing that’s what he was doing didn’t really help when his parents exchanged a look he knew meantHe’ll get his head on straight eventually. Maybe he was mind-reading, but he was reading their minds right.
His parents were the sort of people who managed to get off flights looking completely unrumpled. Maybe it was just practise. They were also the sort of people who could come on a ten-day trip with only carry-on baggage. Priya was convincedthey’d exchanged their souls for magically capacious carry-on cases.
They were having drinks in the living room and ‘catching up’, which meant that his parents were asking Eva about work, updating both of them about their siblings, and pretending that Theo didn’t have a job. Normally that meant Theo just avoided a loving but intense interrogation, which is what Eva got, but this year his parentsdidhave Theo’s studies to ask about. The degree was going fine, but the questions and suggestions were starting to feel like pinpricks: bearable individually, but painful in accumulation. No, he didn’t have time to pick up a couple of additional subjects. No, he didn’t think he’d be able to get involved in extracurriculars. No, he wasn’t going pick up some work experience.Work experience. As though he were a fifteen-year-old and not a professional fucking athlete.
He picked up the phone as it continued to vibrate, expecting to see Priya’s face on the screen. She was good at responding promptly to an SOS; it wouldn’t have been the first time she’d strategically called him on a holiday. His parents loved Priya, of course. They’d definitely spent a period of time hoping they’d get her as a daughter-in-law. They could conceivablystillget her as a daughter-in-law, but only if Eva had a change of heart about heterosexuality.
It wasn’t Priya. Theo stared at the screen for a few seconds. Why was Jake calling him? A butt dial?
‘Everything okay?’ Eva asked.
A life raft was a life raft. ‘I should take this ... it’s someone from the team. Excuse me.’
He ducked out the back door into the garden before anyone could tell him off for checking his phone. It was a blisteringly hot day, but there was a nice nook of shade under the majestic gum tree that shaded the back courtyard.
He answered the call. ‘Hi.’
‘Hey.’
Theo waited for Jake to explain why he’d called.
‘You said you wanted to pull a fire alarm,’ Jake said, just as Theo was about to ask if he was still on the line.
Well, that explained it. ‘Oh shit, sorry. I meant to send that message to someone else.’
‘I kinda figured. But I didn’t want to leave you, like, stranded or whatever.’
‘You called me on Christmas so you could be a figurative fire alarm?’
Theo could almost hear Jake’s shrug. ‘Well, yeah, I’m not gonna ignore a cry for help.’
