Wrath (15 page)

She lay on her back, her arms folded over her face. I was belly down for safety, with my head turned towards her, resting on my elbows. I closed my eyes, but through my lashes, I was running my eyes from her toes right up to her raised arms. She was so close to me, her thigh touching mine. I lay my head down on my arms and just wallowed in the warmth of that long, smooth leg pressing lightly against me.
Hell,
here we go again!
I wriggled into the sand, and then suddenly she sat up and began pulling her T-shirt over her head. “Thank you so much, Luca! I like that very much. Could you teach me again another time? I must go home now.”

“But why? We could have a hamburger on the beach later. There are always people here Saturday night.”

Karol shook her head decisively. “No, my parents would not permit that. I must be home before dinner.”

“Why not come down here after that?” I persisted.

She laughed, twisting her long, dark blonde hair back into a loose bun on top of her head. “I am not allowed out at night alone with a boy for another two years, but I can see you at school and here at the beach on the weekend.” She smiled and then bent down and touched my cheek. “Thank you very much for today. You are very kind.” Then she turned and walked quickly across the sand. When she reached the road, she turned and waved—how did she know I'd be watching her?—brushed the sand off her feet and was gone.

My mind was buzzing. How your life can change in a couple of hours! Before, she'd just been another pretty, out-of-reach girl in an ugly school uniform; now she was a golden goddess, warm and beautiful, and she liked me! She was going to come to the beach again. I lay back down on the sand and started imagining what might happen the next time; us swimming and then my arms around her underwater—maybe later, under a towel, a big one. I would have to buy one. This one was too small.

My mind drifted on.

“What're you doing, Luca? Want to get a burger?”

I sat up quickly. Three guys from school were there: Ross, Brian and Toby.

“Or do you want to lie there having a wet dream over that Croatian chick?” They laughed like drains, slapping Brian, the joker, on the back.

“Yeah, right, very funny.” How right he was! Then I jumped up and ran at him, knocking him into the sand, and we rolled and scrambled, laughing, until we hit the water.

Watching the sun drop towards the horizon and the sky changing colour, eating a burger, pretty much in love, no one at home—life couldn't be better. For some reason, Dad popped into my mind, but I pushed him out again as quickly as I could.

When it got dark, we went for a walk through the main street. I have to say, there was a lot more to do and see in Geraldton than where I'd come from. I still missed it, but I missed it like I missed being in primary school or playing hidey or helping Dad in the shed. It was time to put it away in my mind. All over.

We met a few other kids and hung around across the road from the pub in a small park. The music was really pumping out of there, but the bright lights, noise and people laughing just made us feel a bit depressed, I guess. It seemed like forever till we would be able to walk in there, order a beer, lean on the bar and talk, and then get into our cars with some good-looking girl and drive to wherever we wanted and do whatever we wanted.

“This is boring,” said one of the girls, Ebony. She wasn't bad-looking—great, in fact, from the neck down—but she had such a snooty look on her face that it turned you off.

“Well, what do you want to do?” said Ross. Things were different when girls were around. Everyone acted like tossers and said dumb things, crude things, bragged about themselves—anything to get attention.

“I feel like going to a party, don't you, Amanda?” Ebony's friend was nicer than her but shy. She nodded eagerly, and they both turned expectantly to Ross.

“I don't know about any parties anywhere, but why don't we get someone to buy us a few bottles, and we'll go down the beach and see what pops ups.” The girls squealed with laughter, “Let's go!” and ran off, doing that weird run girls do when they're wearing tight skirts and high heels—kind of like their knees are hinged to kick out sideways instead of backwards.

Ross muttered, “You guys go ahead. I'll try and get some booze.” The others pulled out a few notes between them and handed them to him.

“I'll stay with you,” I said quickly as everyone else took off after the girls.

“Got any money?”

“Sure. I got paid yesterday.”

“Don't spend it all on beer.” He stepped towards me and lowered his voice even though the racket from the hotel was drowning out anything anyone else might hear. “Toby's got a stash.”

“Great. I like it better than beer anyway.” We stood for a few minutes, scanning the people flowing in and out of the doors to the bar, and then Ross saw someone he knew. He jogged forward and grabbed a tall, skinny guy in a checked shirt and black jeans by the arm. They talked for a few seconds, and then Ross handed him something from his back pocket—maybe cash, maybe weed. Anyway, the tall guy disappeared down the side street to the bottle shop at the back and then walked across to the darkness of the park with a slab of beer. He went behind the toilet block, and when he came back out, he was minus the slab. We walked casually over to the toilet block, and Ross picked up the beer up and tucked it under his arm.

Five minutes later, we were sitting between sand dunes not far from the water and giving out the cans of beer. We lit a small fire and sat in a circle around it, silent apart from the giggling girls who seemed to spill more of their beer than they drank. I didn't like the taste much, so I stayed with the one can while the rest of the boys kept on drinking. The silence didn't last for long as the alcohol started working, and before long, Ross and Brian had moved in on the girls.

A few minutes later, they got up to ‘go for a walk', and the rest of us sat there, laughing and messing around but with envy clear on everyone's face. Not mine, though. I had the thought of Karol to keep me happy.

When the talk lulled, I touched Toby's arm. “Got some?”

“Yep,” he said, reaching into his jacket and pulling out a packet of weed and some papers. I handed him the money, and he took it and turned back to the other boys. I rolled the paper carefully around the dry weed and licked the edge to stick it down. I smiled to myself when I remembered the time Toby had thought he could charge us more by doing all the rolling beforehand and selling them ready-made, but we'd all said, “Yuck! We don't want to smoke your spit,” so he sadly went back to selling his little packs. The fire died right down to a dull glow, mirrored in miniature by the pinpoints of light in the darkness where each of us lay smoking. I threw my towel over me and drifted off.

Later—who knows when—Toby loomed beside me and sat down. “Want something a bit stronger?”

“Like what?”

“I haven't got any here, but I got some speed from a kid at school.”

“Where'd he get it?”

“Who knows? Who cares? Do you want to try it?”

I considered his offer. I had no intention of becoming a druggie, so I didn't take anything but the occasional puff, but hey, this was different. I felt so powerful, so adult, that day. Why not try something new to mark my new life? Soon I would have my own gorgeous girlfriend, and it would be so good to be close to someone again.

“How much?”

“I haven't got much, so maybe just $20 will do it.”

We lay there for a while, the sound of the waves lulling me to sleep, but it was getting cold and I was so thirsty. “I'm going. I've got work tomorrow.” I said.

“Do you want to come over tomorrow and I'll give it to you?”

“Sure. I knock off at 2.30.” I looked at the dark bumps lying on the sand. “Ross and Brian didn't make it back?”

“Nah. Probably took those two slags home. Think I'll go too.”

We walked up the beach, our mouths dry and heads hazy, and waved to each other. I was home 20 minutes later and asleep not long after that.

*

I had an early shift the next day, and the coffee shop was pretty busy. A bus load of tourists kept me flat out bringing their coffee and cakes, cleaning the tables and working on the till. Near the end of my shift, I heard the low purr of a powerful car pull up outside, and I glanced out quickly. A tall blond guy I hadn't seen before got out.
Lucky,
I thought as I cleaned a table of crumbs, ripped open sugar packs and spilled coffee.

As I juggled the cups and plates back behind the counter to the kitchen, I heard, “Hi, Luca.” There she was—Karol! She was with another girl I'd seen at school. “You know Luca, don't you, Michelle?”

“Yeah, of course. You're in my science class.”

Karol smiled at me, that beautiful, open smile that I felt was just for me. “We're here with Michelle's brother and his friend.” I turned and looked, and there, laughing with his friend and leaning back in his chair in the window, was the blond guy with the car. “Can we have four coffees please? Two cappuccinos and two short black?”

I nodded, took the money from Michelle and gave the order to the barista.

“Bye!” They turned and walked across to the table. As Karol squeezed around it, the blond guy turned and pulled the chair out for her. She sat down and leaned towards him, her hand on his shoulder.

“Get a move on, Luca. There are two orders here waiting.” My boss stood there, frowning.

“Sorry,” I murmured, grabbed the first tray and whisked it over to Table 17. Then I took the second one outside, where people were sitting under the umbrellas dotting the stretch of paving between the shop and where the sand started. By the time I got back to the counter, the order for Karol's table was ready. My hands were shaking slightly, but I took a deep breath and carried the tray over. I put it down on the empty table beside them and handed out the four cups. Not a drop spilled.

“Thanks, Adam,” smiled Karol, touching the guy's arm again. “This is Luca, a friend from school. He is teaching me how to surf the waves without a board.”

He flicked a dismissive glance at me. “So how's that going, babe? Getting the hang of it?”

“I think so,” she said, smiling up at him, her eyes all sparkly and wide. Picking up the tray, I carried it back and forced myself not to look across their way again. I collected the cups from outside and wiped down the tables, and then a few minutes later, I saw them get up and walk out, holding hands. The four of them walked along the beach, and then I saw Adam put his arm around Karol's shoulders and she snuggled up to him, her arm going around his waist.

I went outside and wiped the tables again mechanically, my eyes unable to pull themselves away from Karol. It was so painful that my chest hurt, and for one horrible moment, I felt tears prickle my eyes before I blinked them down. Pushing my way back through the café doors, through a crowd of chattering Japanese tourists, and I circled methodically around the tables, cleaning, smiling and taking orders like a demented robot until Jerry, my boss, called me over.

“That's it for the day. See you next week.”

I changed back into my clothes and then caught a glimpse of myself in the mirror. Who was I kidding? What chance did I have against a good-looking 18-year-old with a car? Walking outside into the glaring heat, I stood undecided. I felt like going home and rolling up in a ball, but chilling out with Toby seemed a better choice.

Turning left, I trudged to Toby's house. I could hear the music booming out from his room at the back, so I walked around the side and banged on the back door. The music stopped, the door swung open and he was there, grinning at me. “Thought it might be you.”

I followed him to his room, and we sprawled onto a couple of old chairs. He bent down and pulled out an envelope taped to the underneath of the chair he was sitting on. I flicked two $10 bills at him, and he handed me a tablet and took one for himself. “I can make this up for you instead.” From the bottom of the envelope, he fished out a small, plastic syringe.

“Nah, just a tablet. I don't want to start shooting up. This is just a one-off, and then the odd bit of weed is enough for me. I don't want to end up with a fried brain.”

He snorted but dropped it back in the envelope. “Whatever. You'll feel different after you've had one of these. Take another one for later.”

“I haven't got any more money on me.” It wasn't true, but I didn't want it.

“No worries. You can pay me at school tomorrow.” He was being a bit aggressive, which wasn't like him, so I guessed he must have taken something already. I took the tablet and put it in my pocket. I'd give it back to him tomorrow. I didn't go to work to spend my money on drugs. I'd saved up nearly $2,000 from my work. I'd need it when I left home.

“Take one now, and then we can head off. Maybe go around to Ross's. My mum'll be home soon, and she can always tell if I've had something. Don't take the other one today. You don't know how you're going to react the first time.”

I was regretting it a bit now. I didn't want to stagger home and have Reid know I was off my face. His words had never left me—that I'd end up under a bridge in Perth. I'd just take this tablet, hang around Ross's till it wore off, and then go home. I'd buy a pizza and hang out in my room tonight. I gulped it down while Toby was taping the envelope carefully back under the chair, and we came around the side of the house just as Toby's mum pulled into the drive.

“Hi, Mrs Williams, “I said, waving at her as Toby hurried past the car, his head down. “We're just going for a walk.”

“Okay, Luca,” she smiled. Her old station wagon was full of kids and dogs and boxes of fruit. “Be back for tea, Toby!”

“Sure, Mum,” he called back, pulling his cap down over his eyes. I caught up to him, and we jogged up the road. The sun was still high, but it had lost some of its kick.