Ash Arising by Mandy Hager

Author:Mandy Hager [Hager, Mandy]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9780143772446
Publisher: Penguin Random House New Zealand
Published: 2013-04-08T00:00:00+00:00

JEANNIE DISHES OUT A MEAL of baked beans and scrambled eggs on vege fried rice, an odd but strangely tasty combination. While the others chat and catch up, I’m starting to crap about how I’m going to pay for everything — and everyone. Last time I looked there was less than two hundred bucks left in Dad’s account, and mine was completely empty.

Later, while the others do the dishes, and Mikey takes a much-needed shower, I pull Lucinda aside.

‘Where are things at with money? I’m assuming the insurance company’s still refusing to pay out?’

‘Yes, they are, sorry. As soon as they got a whiff that Sean had prior knowledge of the risks, they pulled the plug. I tried to appeal, but it’s hopeless. They’re not going to budge.’

‘What’m I going to do? I’ll lose our apartment as well if I can’t pay the rates and insurance. And how are we going to buy food and pay the bills here? I can’t even rent the apartment out. The building rules don’t allow it.’

‘I’ve had a quiet word with Erich’s lawyer. He’s very sympathetic — has a wife from Fiji, and hates how everyone from the UPR is being demonised. He’s agreed to release all the rental income from the other house in Ngaio to you, even though the legal transfer hasn’t gone through yet. The money’s been accumulating since Erich’s death, so he handed that over, too. I have it in cash, just over four thousand, and the house is rented for six-fifty a week, so he’ll keep collecting that and pass it over as you need it.’

‘Is he allowed to do that?’

‘No. But these are unprecedented times and Erich’s intention was to help you, so his lawyer’s fidelity is to that instruction.’

‘Wow. You must’ve been running to sort all this. But will the tenants be able to keep paying that kind of rent, with everything that’s going on?’

‘They’re a good bet for now, both long-term locums in the ED at the hospital. If people like them lose their jobs, we’re all pretty much doomed. There’s no shortage of patients.’

‘You’ve got the money here?’

She nods.

‘Can you give some to Simon and take a bit for yourself as well, to cover your costs?’

‘Nope. Forget it. Both Simon and I are fine.’

‘But that’s—’

‘It isn’t negotiable. We’re all in this together.’

It’s a lot to take in. My mind is being pulled in about a hundred different directions at once. I let the rest of the evening flow over me, content to sit by the fire as Mikey directs a rowdy game of Charades with the others. Around nine, they head off to bed, leaving me and Lucinda to watch the latest news.

I turn the TV on, sound low, and switch through to a twenty-four-hour news channel. Chandler’s eyeballing a reporter, manicured hands clasped on the desk in front of him, a poncey-pink silk handkerchief that matches his tie tucked into his suit pocket; he’s refusing to respond to questions about me, except to stress that I was legally detained and now considered on the run.

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