Last Ride by Denise Young

Author:Denise Young [Denise Young]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9780730443346
Publisher: 4th Estate

His dad had caught some disease from the dogs. Hydatids or something. He was home all day long for a couple of weeks, watching TV and bossing Chook round. Ever since Dianne left, he’d been in a foul mood. When he got home from the pub and found her gone, he went ballistic, throwing open cupboards and drawers and pulling stuff out, as if she was hiding in there. Then he made Chook put everything back.

Chook missed her too, her smell of flowers, her dancing, her laughing. He even missed her and Bev lying on the bed. He didn’t miss the fights, though.

At lunchtime one day a few weeks after she left, the phone rang. His dad picked it up and Chook saw him listening for a moment. Then he punched it down hard.

‘Fuckin shitheads.’

‘Who was it, Dad?’

‘Dunno. They hung up. That’s the second time this week that’s happened.’

Chook had a feeling it might be her. She said she’d ring as soon as she got settled. He picked at his food, suddenly not hungry.

‘Eat up,’ his dad said. ‘That’s bloody good food I cooked for you.’

He’d roasted lamb shanks in the oven for hours on very low heat with some baked potatoes. Chook pulled the white flesh of the potato apart, smothered it in butter and put a little on his fork. He willed the phone to ring again, concentrating on it with all his might. When it did, he snatched it up before his dad could reach for it.

‘Hello.’

‘Hi, kiddo, it’s me.’

He was so happy he couldn’t speak. His dad asked who it was. He didn’t answer, holding the phone tight against his ear as if it was part of him, bending his head, listening.

‘I’m back up the coast. Got my old job back. Listen, my mobile number is 0403 629 84—’

She didn’t get any more out before his dad grabbed the phone off him and shouted: ‘Don’t ring again. Fuck off!’

His dad slammed the phone down. Chook tried to hide his disappointment that he hadn’t got all of the number.

‘Has she rung you before?’

Chook shook his head, trying to remember what he had got of it, saying it over and over to himself under his breath.

‘Don’t you lie to me.’

‘I’m not,’ Chook said.

‘Fuckin cheek, trying to contact you. If it happens again, tell me.’

Chook nodded. He wouldn’t, though.

His dad went muttering on about Dianne having a fuckin cheek and other worse things, like how he wasn’t going to get pussywhipped by a slut like her and how she’d tried to cut his balls off, but Chook had stopped listening. He could have told his dad how she loved him. How she loved them both, but his dad wouldn’t believe it. That was his problem. He never believed anyone cared about him. Still muttering and cursing, Kev turned the tap on violently and started running water into the sink to wash up, shouting at Chook to hurry up and finish eating.

At least Chook knew where to find her now.

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