Page 49 of A Slice of You

‘I don’t know.’ I shrugged. ‘Money?’

‘Cha-ching! Yep. So, apparently, Daniel has been paying Martin ten thousand dollars more than Kelly per year, yet she does more hours. Go figure.’

My mouth dropped at the same time as my stomach, and all I could think was:You sexist prick. I shook my head in disgust.

As if on cue, my phone started ringing and vibrating against the couch as‘Daniel (Boss)’appeared on the screen.

‘Oh my God, Daniel is calling me right now. Can you believe it?’Speak of the frickin’ devil.

She rolled her eyes so far back into her head that just the whites showed. ‘Do you want me to answer it?’

I shook my head. ‘It’s just funny he can say all of those false things to me last night, yet he is calling today like it never happened. Now who’s desperate?’ I let the phone ring out and smirked with satisfaction.

‘Yeah, he’s such an arse. We’ll show him.’ She took another sip of wine and looked deep in thought.

‘We sure will. I won’t ever go back to that again. I’m not putting up with abuse fromanyone. Employer or not, everyone deserves to be treated fairly, and I’m not letting myself get used again.’

She came out of her thoughts. ‘Go, girl.’ She paused. ‘So, I need to ask a favour.’

‘Alright, what is it?’

‘I’ve had a few drinks this morning, and I slept terribly last night. Any chance you could drop me at my mum’s house so I can milk her for some money?’

I sighed, trying not to show my frustration. ‘I’m pretty low on fuel at the moment, Deb, and I was just going to rest today.’

‘Oh, come on. You can get some on the way. Don’t neg out, babe. I’m going through a rough time, and the last thing I want to do is drive.’ She pressed her hand into her forehead.

See, this is what I mean. I just said I didn’t want to get used anymore, and now I feel obliged to drive Deb to her parents’ house because they’re owners of the house I’m living in, and I don’t want her drink-driving. It breaks my heart because I want to help Deb out and be there for her, but her constantly asking for money and for me to drive her everywhere is draining. I’d rather do heartfelt things because I want to, not because I’m constantly asked to. My mum was right–with my shopping and shouting Deb, it’s impossible to save.

What I wanted to say was ‘I’m tired and going to rest – maybe catch a cab?’ But what I ended up saying was ‘Let’s leave now, though.’

She nodded with her thumb up.

I waited five minutes for her to scull the rest of her wine and smoke a cigarette before we journeyed to her parents’ house.

16

Ice-cream And Tears

Iwas in the midst of a comfortable evening with my feet up, eating mushroom risotto and watching season three ofGossip Girl, when I got a hysterical phone call from Deb asking for me to pick her up. The fact that fuel was nearly $2.50 a litre made my dinner churn in my stomach, and I let out a sigh.On my way, Deb. Naomi to the rescue,I thought as I kicked off my slippers, grabbed my clutch, and walked into the garage. A chuckle escaped my lips as I looked down at my lilac nightie and pink dressing gown, and without further thought, I hopped in the car and drove seven minutes down the road to Deb’s parents’ elaborate two-storey house. It was pure white with a massive balcony overlooking her mother’s flower garden. My headlights revealed Deb sitting on the driveway with her arms wrapped around her knees, sobbing. An ache ripped through my gut as I sighed.

As soon as she noticed my car, she leapt up and ran straight to the passenger’s side and hopped in with a quick slam of the door.

Her parents’ lights were on, and I could see a shadowy figure standing in the window looking down at us. An awkward feeling crept over me, and I could tell by the sobs Deb was making she wanted to get out of there pronto, so I put the transmission stick into reverse and checked both ways before backing out.

‘What’s going on, Deb? Are you fighting with your parents again?’ I asked with sympathy in my voice.

‘Yes. Mum and Dad are so angry at me for losing my job. They are so angry like you wouldn’t believe. They both told me to grow up and that I’m … a failure.’ Her sobs intensified, and I reached out with one hand and quickly rubbed her arm. She cleared her throat. ‘They both told me to start acting my age and to stop asking them for money. Then Dad gave me a lecture about being in the wrong job. He said I should own my own house by now and that I should’ve listened to him and worked in business.’

Her sobs increased some more, and she sniffed loudly.

‘Oh, Deb. Did you tell them about Daniel? And I’ve got tissues in the glovebox.’

She opened the glovebox, grabbed a tissue, and blew her nose so loud my ears almost rang.

‘Are you kidding me, Naomi? Of course not. You know what my dad’s like – he would kill him.’ Her miserable voice had some sass back mixed with agitation.

I thought back to the time her dad lost his temper at her for coming home too late. He yelled for hours, and loud enough for the whole street and sleeping dogs to hear. A few dogs in the street actually barked at the volume of his thunderous voice. He accused her of sleeping around, and she denied it, but her puffy hair, smudged lipstick, and reek of Lynx deodorant said otherwise. His ice-blue eyes looked straight into mine as he asked me, ‘Was there a male between her legs tonight?’ His eyebrows raised and the vein on his head grew with frustration. We both lied and looked at the floor and told him ‘no’ in oursulkiest, most innocent voices. He didn’t believe us for a second and kept yelling.

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