Page 183 of The Pearl Sister
‘Just a bit, Cee! He was in Papunya with Clifford Possum and painted theWheel of Fireand—’
‘Yeah, that’s the one.’ I stopped her mid-sentence. ‘Listen, can you bunk a day or two off work to come to the Alice?’
‘I . . . why?’
I explained, and the frostiness that had been in her voice when she’d first answered melted away.
‘That sounds beaut, though she won’t offer me the job when she hears I work on the tourist information desk at Broome airport. You’ve made me sound as though I’m the curator of the Canberra National Gallery!’
‘Where’s your positivity? Of course she will!’ I chided her. ‘It’s worth a shot, anyway, and my grandfather says you can stay at his place overnight.’
‘The prob is, Cee, I’m not sure I’ve got the moolah for the ticket. I used up all my spare cash last time I was in the Alice.’
‘Because you paid for the hotel, silly,’ I reminded her. ‘Hold on a minute . . .’
I asked my grandfather if Chrissie could use his credit card to book the flight in exchange for the dollars that I still had from the sale of my first painting.
‘Of course,’ he said, handing the card to me. ‘Tell her I’ll collect her from the airport too.’
‘Thanks so much,’ I said and reported the good news to Chrissie.
‘Am I dreaming? I thought that when I didn’t hear from you, I’d frightened you off . . .’
‘I’m sorry I didn’t call. Things were busy this end and’ – I swallowed – ‘I just wanted some time to think stuff through.’
‘I understand. Never mind for now,’ she said after a pause. ‘Ya can tell me all about it when I get there.’
‘Actually, I can’t, because I’m booked to fly back to England tomorrow.’
‘Oh.’ She fell silent.
‘It’s a return ticket, Chrissie. I’ve got to go home and sort my life out, put my apartment on the market and see my family.’
‘You mean you’re coming back?’
‘Yeah, course I am, as soon as I can. I’m gonna live here in the Alice. And . . . it would be great if you were here too.’
‘You mean it?’
‘I never say things I don’t mean, you should know that. Anyway, you’ll have my grandfather to keep you company when you arrive, and from the sounds of things, you’ll be far more excited to see him than me,’ I teased her.
‘Ya know that’s not true. How soon will you be back?’
‘In about ten days. Now, get off the phone to me and call Mirrin, then book a flight and I’ll text you my grandfather’s number so you can call him with the details.’
‘Okay. Honest, Cee, I dunno how to thank you.’
‘Then don’t. Good luck and I’ll see you soon.’
‘Yeah. Miss ya.’
‘I miss you too. Bye.’
I clicked off the phone and thought that I reallydidmiss her. There was a long way to go because I wasn’t sure yet what form the relationship between us would take, but it didn’t matter because I was moving forward. One way or another, during the past few weeks it had been feeling much better to be me.
‘By the Grace of God, I am who I am,’ I whispered, and out of it all, I knew I had learnt something important: I was certainly bicultural, possibly bisexual, but I definitely didn’t want to bebymyself.
‘All sorted?’ Francis wandered into the sitting room.
