Gith by Else Chris

Author:Else, Chris [Chris Else]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 978 186979219 0
Publisher: Random House New Zealand

7

ON SATURDAY MORNING Pita Ratene came over as usual to man the pumps for the day, and Gith packed her bag for her visit to the farm. After that we pretty much stood round waiting for Ma. Gith seemed happy about the trip. I reminded her about the puppies and she laughed. Perhaps a dog of her own would give her something to think about, as Ma said. It might add a bit to our security too.

Ma was there around ten-thirty, and by eleven Gith was belted in to the little blue Honda and they were gone. It felt weird afterwards. In six or seven years this would be the first night Gith and I had not been in the same house. Part of me felt free, like a burden had been lifted, but another part was just lost. I made myself a sandwich and had a cup of tea, mostly because I couldn't think of anything better to do, and then I went for a walk.

I popped in to see Len and Kath. Len seemed a lot worse physically but better in himself. He smiled in a tired sort of way and talked about the garden. His roses were in full bloom and he liked to smell them every day. I said I would come and do some weeding for him, given that everything was starting to get a bit overgrown.

'Thanks,' he said, 'but not to worry. The weeds come and go like everything else.'

When I left, Kath came out to the gate and told me they were arranging for Len to go into the hospice in Palmerston North. Any day now, she said. Would I keep an eye on the place while they were gone?

'Sure,' I said. 'No problem.' Thinking that it sounded like they were going away on holiday when the truth was that she would be the only one coming back.

It was a fine summer day. The sky was blue with puffs of white cloud, the air warm. I walked from Len and Kath's place to the corner of Maungaiti Road. The same bunch of kids were there, squashed together on the bench. One of the boys was swinging from side to side on a telegraph pole. He poked his tongue out at me. I did the same to him. A kid on the bench laughed.

'Yo, Fat Man,' one of them said.

I pretended not to hear and tried to figure out where I should go. I could keep on along the main drag, past the café. I could stick my head in and say hello to Brenda. The thought of her gave me an odd sort of feeling but I knew I should be ignoring that. Just because Gith wasn't around didn't make it right.

I crossed the road and headed off down Anzac Street. The Domain was on my left, houses on the right. After about a hundred metres I came to St Peter's on the corner of Church Street.

It's made of stone and a smaller

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