Page 34 of Only One Bed: Anthology Vol. 1
Anvita nodded. “Oh, That’s lovely. It’s so nice that they’ve been able to keep their relationship with that side of the family.”
Shazza tried not to sigh. “Shane might be dead, but his family are still our family. His mother, Maria, is a wonderful woman.”
“I’m sorry I spoke so awkwardly.” Anvita’s polite cool tone reminded Shazza of her own lack of elegance. She may as well keep her attraction buried because they were so different.
Shazza shook her head. “Nah, It’s cool. Being widowed at twenty-three is a fucked-up thing, you know. People say the daftest things. I’m used to it.”
“I guess so. I’m still sorry though.”
“Thanks. I appreciate that.” Shazza wished there were less social missteps involved with talking about death. People were often hurtful in the guise of trying to be helpful, or polite. And fuck, it wasn’t like she was perfect at that either. She’d bet that Anvita dealt with racist shit in the same way, but she wasn’t going to ask. It wasn’t her place. “Shane and I used to joke that at least one of us got a decent mother in law.”
Anvita frowned. Shazza could always count the seconds until the meaning dawned on someone.
“I take it your own mother isn’t decent.”
“She does her best with her lot in life, but yeah, she named me Shazza.” She really didn’t want to go into the mess that was her birth family. Her mum wasn’t really equipped to be a mother, and Shazza had been brought up by her grandma and aunt. It had sucked to see her friend’s families; they all managed to be decent people. They were all poor too, but they loved each other and supported each other which made being poor easier to take.
It’d taken her ages to realise it was good to see their lives work out well. They’d given her motivation to be the type of mother she saw in her friend’s parents, and she worked her ass off to give her kids a better childhood than the one she’d had. She wanted them to feel loved, not fobbed off onto some relative every time it was inconvenient to have a kid around the place. Leaving them with Maria for this weekend twisted her guts with guilt, even though it would hopefully improve their life by growing the business. She’d never been away from them overnight before.
“I thought that was a nickname for Sharon.”
“Yeah, nah. Shazza is on my birth certificate.”
Anvita chuckled. “I’m sorry. Again. It’s not that funny.”
It kind of was in a fucked-up way. “It’s okay. You won’t be the first one.”
“I ought to know better than to assume anything of someone.”
“If you are assuming my mother is bogan as fuck, you’d be right. And It’s not the way she dresses, or the fact that she’s poor, because I’m bogan on that scale. It’s the selfish way she chases a cheap thrill, how she expects the next man to be the one who will fix all her problems.” Shazza shrugged. She’d said more than enough, and she’d spent too much of her life trying to shrug off the cliché that was her mum. “Forget it. It doesn’t matter.”
They were obviously worlds apart; Anvita was so classy and she was….
She squared her shoulders. Fuck it, she wasn’t her childhood. She was a working mother of two who was doing everything she could—even a bloody tv show—to make their life better.
“If it matters to you, then it matters to me.”
Shazza nodded but kept her vision on the road. People said shit like that all the time, but they didn’t mean it.
Anvita pressed her hands against her stomach as Shazza took items from the back seat and put them in the back of the ute. She was so practical, and it left Anvita with a familiar sense of hopelessness.
“Do you need any help?”
“Nah, I’m good.”
“The sunset is beautiful from up here.” Anvita filled the silence with inanities. Shazza had driven out of town with such certainty, and then They’d wound their way along a narrow road through the D’entrecasteaux National Park until Shazza had pulled off onto a dry dirt track and parked in a clearing overlooking the ocean. The sunset was worth the half-hour drive. “I can’t believe this place. So close to town, and yet, it feels like the middle of nowhere.”
Shazza paused for a moment and glanced up. The brilliant orange and pinks streaking over the sky added a red sheen to the duskiness of her hair. “Come and sit here.”
Anvita climbed onto the back of the ute and sat down in the spot Shazza indicated. “Here?”
“Yeah. You are right. It is lovely.” Shazza sat down beside her and leaned back with her hands supporting her. The position lifted her tits higher, and Anvita quelled the shiver that rushed down her spine. Shazza had kids, she was a widow, she would never…
“This is great. Ouch. Fuck.” Anvita slapped her forearm but missed the mosquito that bit her.
Shazza giggled. “I’ve got some bug spray somewhere.” She rolled sideways and reached into a bag, then pulled out the spray. “Here. Shut your eyes.” Spray hit her skin with the taste of harsh chemicals on her tongue.
“Bleurgh.”
