On Phillips Cay by Francis Nash

Author:Francis Nash [Nash, Francis]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Whitefox
Published: 2024-05-16T00:00:00+00:00

13

Maxwell’s Puzzle

As Methuen filed out of the clubhouse, followed by the Taylors, Myron held up the notebook that had been left on the bar counter for people’s comments. Across two pages he had written, with a red felt pen, GET REAL!

Elizabeth, walking behind with Lottie, looked over at Myron as he held up the book. ‘Can I suggest something?’ she asked, walking right up to him, her head close to his face, ‘Write that in soap on your bathroom mirror … so that you read it every day!’

Myron, shocked, not least by the intimacy of the interaction, remained silent, until Elizabeth walked off. He then angrily bawled out, ‘You ain’t seen anything yet,’ stirring a round of raucous laughter from those around him.

Bliss had not joined her father and mother, having chosen to stay behind and help the local staff rearrange the furniture. As she and Julanna carried in the last table from outside, Myron strolled over to her, holding out a drink.

‘I saw you sitting there, saying nothing during the talk. Do you go along with all that?’

Bliss looked up from repositioning a chair and replied sharply, ‘Along with what?’

‘All that shit about working with the Chinkies.’

Bliss stopped what she was doing and stared at the swaggering individual in front of her. ‘The only shit is what comes out of your mouth.’

Myron straightened up, his eyes bulging. ‘Wow, young lady, where did you learn words like that? I’ll tell you what, don’t worry that little head of yours about these big issues. Go back up the hill to Mummy and Daddy and let the real patriots sort this mess out.’

Bliss folded her arms and, trembling with indignation said, ‘Fat chance of you or any of your crowd sorting out anything. Just when your country needs a united front, you and your pals are going to cause chaos.’

‘Someone needs to teach you to respect your seniors,’ Myron sneered angrily.

‘Don’t patronise me. I doubt whether your education went any further than the closed gates of your private school or the boardroom of your father’s company. The lens through which you see things is even narrower than mine.’

‘Uh! Guess that’s my cue to leave. Good knowing you – not!’ he said, putting up a single finger in the air and walking away.

Within a few minutes, Myron and his supporters had gone, as had the local staff – taking the extra chairs back to School House. Still seething inside – though angrier with herself than with Myron, for her loss of control – Bliss went over to the bar, poured herself a glass of wine and then, taking the half-empty bottle with her, slumped down on a chair. She had come to realise that her outspokenness was something new that was emerging within her. Before this latest flare-up, there had been other angry responses: remarks made to Lianne on the Clipper and, shortly after they arrived, a succession of arguments with her parents. She had come to view these unaccustomed outbursts as one might react on discovering a new arm or leg growing out from one’s body.

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