Huia Short Stories 13 by Huia Publishers

Author:Huia Publishers
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Huia (NZ) Ltd
Published: 2019-01-15T00:00:00+00:00

Tina’s Coming on Tuesday

LAUREN KEENAN

It was going to be a good week.

The weatherman said there would be sun for the next three days, so Nora would be able to wash and dry her sheets. The nurse was coming to visit tomorrow, which was perfect timing because Nora’s elbow had been sore in the wet weather, and she was looking forward to reading the magazines the nurse had promised. She was also expecting Peter to ring. Last time they’d spoken, he’d said, ‘I’ll drop you a line in the next few days.’ That was almost a week ago, so surely he’d be calling soon? Of course he would, or he would have said ‘next week’, not ‘in the next few days’. She couldn’t wait to talk to him. She could tell him about the bag of feijoas she’d bought for five dollars. Only five dollars for an entire bag! What a bargain. Best of all, Tina was coming on Tuesday. Tuesday: the day after tomorrow – what Peter and Tina used to call ‘two more sleeps’. Nora smiled. It was going to be a good week indeed.

She flicked on the jug. A cup of tea would be perfect. She placed a tea bag into the mug and reached for the milk, shaking the bottle as she took it from the fridge. Ow. That was a silly thing to do as it hurt her elbow. The bottle was empty anyway; she’d have to walk to the shop to buy some more. If she was going to go to the shop between now and Tuesday, she really ought to buy some food for Tina’s visit as well. Nora reached for her notepad and pen and wrote ‘milk’, ‘bread’ and ‘marmalade’. That would do for her, but what should she buy for when Tina comes over? Last time Tina had come, Nora bought those pink wafer biscuits filled with cream. Tina’s Johnny had eaten half the packet. He must have been about eight, maybe nine, then. How old was he now? All she knew was that he was old enough to get up to no good. Peter said that the last time he’d visited Tina he’d caught Johnny smoking marijuana behind the garage. Like father like son, Peter had said. Not that it mattered to Nora, mind you. It would be lovely to see Tina regardless.

Underneath ‘marmalade’, Nora wrote ‘pink wafer biscuits’. Hopefully, that would be enough to eat. If it wasn’t, Tina could always have some feijoas. Nora had most of an entire bag, after all. Bert would have been impressed if he were still here. He would have laughed and said, ‘My Nora, always got an eye for a bargain.’ His laughter would have been infectious, and before long, Peter and Tina would have been laughing as well. Bert was good like that – always up for a laugh.

That reminded her: the phone was on the hook, wasn’t it? She wouldn’t want it to have slipped out of the cradle by accident, like that time she’d missed Bert’s call to say not to keep dinner for him.

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