The Rental (3 page)

2

C
ARA AND
I were at the bus stop outside the school gates. It had been a sunny day, and we spent lunch under the heat of it at the soccer oval. I had hoped to lure Justin and his friends to sit with our group, but he ran the whole time, only looking my way twice. It wasn’t much of a break after school either. It was later in the afternoon, but everyone was jammed around the shelter, huddled in cliques and leant up against the fence.

Abruptly, Cara whipped her head my way and sported a devilish grin. “Want to come to a party tomorrow?”

“Sure.”

“But—”

I shook my finger at her. “But what’s the catch? A nudist party or something?”

“Not that. God, your mind is in the gutter. Didn’t you hear about Rick Delaney’s twenty-first? He’s back in town, apparently.”

Our girlfriend, Renée heard us on the other side, waved, and came. “I’m fucking there. You know what’s going on, right?”

“His mates are hiring a few strippers for a show.” Cara wrapped her arm around Renée and me. Then she turned to me and said, “Don’t worry, babe. We’ll all look out for each other. It’s going to be mad. I can’t believe he’s back. I wonder why?”

“I
wonder
if he’s staying long,” Renée purred.

I ignored the lust in Renée’s voice and spoke to Cara. “Who invited you?”

“Justin. He didn’t …”

“Nope,” I said, tightening a strap on my school bag.

Justin hadn’t spoken to me like he said he would, and for the first time today, I cared so little for a fleeting moment I wanted us to break up. He wasn’t telling me so much about himself. If he was screwing me around, I wasn’t going to stick by. And not knowing what my boyfriend was doing when my friends did? That was a big fat screwing.

“Maybe he was worried what I’d think if he said he was going,” I offered, playing the part of concerned girlfriend.
Which begs the question why he’s worried about me being there.
I didn’t want to shout my issues out while so many others were around.

“Justin told me, but he said he’d rather me pass it on. He wasn’t sure if you’d feel weird about him telling you. I’m really shocked he said nothing to you, though.”

“I’m not,” I muttered so low neither of the girls heard. I said louder, “Considering there’d be near naked girls around? Um, yeah, that’s weird. I don’t want him looking.”

“Such a saint.”

“Shut up.”

“Girls, girls. There are enough strippers to share. And, girls
or
guys can join in the fun.”

“I’m in,” Renée said.

“So am I,” Cara added. “Vee?”

Weeks ago, I would have trusted Justin hands down, but I didn’t trust him now.

He had tried to get me to go all the way with him two weekends ago when Dad was interstate and Mum was on a late night shift. I said no, and pushed back, but he had been all hands ever since. Grubby and sticky like a toddler who was left alone with a tub of jam. Justin was hands-on when he arrived with Rick. Hands when we were alone. So many hands, and I wasn’t ready for more with him.

I was ready for fun, though, since Justin had dragged me into his bad mood. I found myself interested in what the strippers would do, and what sorts of games we’d get into. “I’ll go.”

Cara nudged me with her shoulder. It was her way of saying thanks and she was excited.

Renée continued it, nudging Cara. “I, personally, might be MIA half the night. I’ll be on the hunt for a certain Mr Delaney.”

“But—” I choked out.

She laughed. “Not your boyfriend, Vee. Gosh, the other hotter, older, and hopefully, single one.”

I swallowed hard. “Oh.”

It was stupid how that disappointed me. But stupid be damned, my body still became ill with jealousy. My tongue felt like lead as if it were a foreign lump and not part of me. My stomach churned queasily, and I wrapped my arms over my belly in hope it would dull the groaning sound.

I couldn’t stop the memories any more as the ill feeling crawled over me, pulling me into a dark place. I regretted how I acted the last time I saw Rick, and all of a sudden, the memory re-played.

About eight of us hung at the skate park that night, and we lay in the curved rink, drinking up the stars and smoking too much weed. Justin had his arm around my shoulder, and he had been trying to replace my joint with his lips. I had to keep swatting him away.

We didn’t notice Rick had arrived to take Justin home until his shadow loomed over us. His eyebrows were pinched tight and his jaw clicked over. He said something like
un-fucking-believable, you fuckhead
and then pulled Justin up by his collar. Rick knew Cara and I, so he kissed her cheek goodbye, then came to me. He had a pained look in his face and mapped me out with his big, attentive eyes, stripping me naked then and there. He kissed my cheek, but lingered and turned inward so our faces were huddled closely.

I think he breathed in deeply, but I was too high to be sure.

And he mumbled something, but I was also too high to remember any of it.

The words passed right through like an express train, gone as quick as they came.

But I remembered what he did when the brothers were about to hop into his car because a tear streaked down the side of my nose and I stood engrossed, oblivious to how stupid I must have looked.

A part of me broke then and there. I was done with the silent games. I needed to ask Rick if I was imagining everything, or if he liked me back.

When Rick looked at me that last time, he put three fingers to his lips, paused, and saluted me. I choked on a tear and scurried through my pocket to see if I had something to wipe my wet face.

By the time I righted myself, their car had taken off.

• • •

I
CAME HOME
from the bus ride and expelled a heavy breath as I opened the front door. I staggered to the couch, kicked off my stiff school shoes on the way, and collapsed, relieved to be out of the spotlight of my friends. Mostly, though, I was relieved to be distanced from the suffocating jealousy of imagining Rick Delaney with another girl. The bareness of the ceiling pulled me in instantly, and I was drawn into thinking whether I should be with Justin at all. He didn’t care much for me, and my care was waning, too.

I was so lost in a daze I didn’t notice the body and then a voice, which called out to me. Not at first. “Vee girl.” Dad. “Everything okay?”

On cue, I smelt the slightness in the air of sweat mixed with aftershave. I sat up and looked at my dad standing tall, with one hand rubbing his potbelly over his work shirt, and a grin plastered on his face. My loneliness warmed to love. Dad was a sun in a room you couldn’t ignore. He blinded you, made you hot and fidgety, or made you warm and cosy, like you were on the happiest place on earth. But he wasn’t someone you forgot was there.

I noticed he still had on his work pants, which he hated, as they were stiff. He must have got home minutes ago. “Just school.” I patted the spot next to me.

“Tell me everything.”

Everything from today or completely
everything
? Issues with Justin began weeks ago. He was away then, too. “I can hardly remember a few hours ago.”

Sadness swept over his face, washing away the happiness I so very needed.
Crap.
I had to be more careful with my choice of words. It wasn’t like he enjoyed working his ass off, barely enough sleep, staying awake for a whole day at a time, and missing out on family memories.

We were quiet after that, avoiding each other with a metre-radius, like coming closer would amplify the awkwardness. While I sorted and cleared, Mum prepared dinner. I tried not to over-think things, but it was like that game when someone said don’t think of a pink elephant in a tutu.

Some time later toward the end of our meal, Mum said, “We wanted to tell you something, darling.” She eyed Dad, traces of worry pinched next to her eyes. He reached out and squeezed her forearm, drawing his hand down to lace his fingers through hers.

Mum said, “My work doesn’t need staff as much these days, so I’m going to be looking around nearby for other work. Your dad will accept higher-paying interstate jobs for a while longer. Then everything will be back to normal.”

I nodded. Was that all they were saying? It felt like a heck of a lot more than they were letting on. Would we be okay as a family? Would we get to keep the house?

“Dad, are you going to be okay? This job and these hours are killing you.”

“Oh, shush. I’m alive, aren’t I?” He waited a beat, and I was about to say
for now
, but he continued, “So there’s nothing to worry about, all right?”

I nodded quickly.

“And I’ll be all right.” Mum set her hands up on the table and rested her elbows out to the side. “There are a couple alcohol stores, another grocer, and of course, the shopping centre close by. We’ll be fine, but we wanted to make sure you didn’t feel like we were hiding anything from you.”

“Okay.”

“Because,” Dad said, “we’re not.”

Again, I nodded—it seemed like that was all I was doing—but then I said, “Wait.”

They leaned in, anticipating my words.

“I’ve been thinking, and Cara has a job, and most of my other friends. I want to get one, too.”

“You don’t have to. Concentrate on school and study. After, there won’t be much down time to relax once university or a full-time job kicks in.”

Dad elbowed Mum and winked at me. “I didn’t expect my seventeen-year-old daughter to
want
to work, but stranger things have happened.”

“No, I’m really serious. It’ll be good for me to get used to working now, and make it easier when I get older. No one wants to employ an adult who’s never had a job before. I could brag to Cara about all the cool free shit I’d bring home.”

“So when this said store in need of staff sees you walk in, it’ll be like all their dreams have come true?” Dad offered.

“Right!”

I collected their plates from the table and put mine on top. They gazed up, then around the table in awe.

“My turn to clean up,” I explained. “Why don’t you guys chill and let me take care of this?”

Dad took Mum’s hand and walked to their bedroom. His voice disappeared into a whisper, but not before I heard, “We’ll keep the sex quiet. No more babies for …”

I slumped onto the table. Would we be okay?

3

T
ONIGHT WOULD BE
the celebration at the end of a long week. I was still Justin’s girlfriend, but since he’d been ignoring me, albeit those few late-night text messages, I indefinitely decided I didn’t want to be anymore. I was done caring when he didn’t. I hadn’t had a chance to speak to Rick yet and had no idea if his stay was permanent. And my parents were distant all day.

When Cara wanted to plan our outfits together, it was a relief to focus on something else. She wore a flowy skirt, a tight top that pushed up her boobs, her dark hair out over her shoulders, and daring charcoal eye shadow to make her green eyes pop. I almost pulled out a typical dress—dark, mid-thigh, thin straps—but then I remembered Justin’s
assholeness
and I upped the daring factor.

I stood next to Cara in the entrance to the Delaney home in thigh-high black boots with a strip of skin that met my washed-out denim shorts, teemed with a slim white tank top. My blonde hair hung long over my breasts, and Cara had gone for a neutral look with my make-up. I liked that nothing would deter from my outfit.

We soaked in the upbeat atmosphere. It projected from what sounded like the garage, and spilled out down the entry hallway where it met our heels with resounding thuds. Weighted bunches of balloons hung in corners and streamers spread across the ceiling. The Delaney house looked different done up for the party, decked out in music and colours and screams. The ceilings gaped higher, and the pictures on the walls were one of the few distinguishing items to remain, while tables, trinkets, and corner furniture had been moved for space or safety.

Justin emerged sporting a one-sided smile that wasn’t aimed at our faces as he clomped toward us. A guttural growl escaped from his lips as he reached for my waist, and before I knew it, those grabby hands magnetised to my waist, holding me captive. His lips sealed on mine—deep and possessive.

I crushed my hand into a fist behind my back, preventing myself from punching him. The audacity! What was he thinking? His body felt alien as it groped, and a shiver passed through me, confirming the unwanted feeling. We had to get inside, if not for anything else, for him to hear what had been on my mind. He was too late for kissing and making up.

I pushed at his chest to distance us. He staggered back, his breath wild. He hadn’t looked into my eyes yet, not even when he approached.

“Want to fuck later?”

“Justin,” I whispered harshly, “no. It’s a
party
.”

“Come on, babe. I’ve had a rough day. I need it.”

“
No
. I don’t want to.”

I wrenched my hand out of his, and I hung back with Cara while he walked back toward where he emerged.

Renée arrived with other girls minutes later, so we all approached Rick. We stood in a line and wished him happy birthday one by one, each of them crushing him into their chests with fierce hugs. They
really
wanted to rub in those birthday wishes, I told myself, and not the alternative.

When it was my turn, I couldn’t help but recall the skate park and waiting for his kiss after Cara. My face heated, surfacing the hot regret the tears had brought me. I darted my eyes away, feeling small and stupid. I was an inch from his height in my heels and he met me as an equal, wrapping his arms around my waist. It was unlike his customary shoulder pat my other friends received. His kiss was light but lingering, like smoke from shivering lips on a freezing winter morning. I felt our past in the heated air, though he pulled away reasonably and dutifully, an identical smile on his face as he had over and over while us girls passed by him.

“Happy birthday,” we all said in unison and then turned away.