Review of Australian Fiction, Volume 15, Issue 4 by Kim Scott

Author:Kim Scott
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781922171900
Publisher: Review of Australian Fiction

Rich sat on his veranda with a smoke in his hand. He felt a sudden chill through to his bone. He rose up out of his chair, pulled his brown jacket closer to his chest and walked out to the side of the house as if looking for someone. By late afternoon Cleon had not returned home. ‘That boy hasn’t come home yet, Rich’, said Flo with concern in her voice. ‘I know’, he replied. ‘Geraldine, where that boy said he was going?’

‘With his mates, dad’, she replied, busily changing her newborn Tre’s nappy as she prepared to feed him.

By now, it was past the normal time Cleon would have come home. At around seven that night their concerns heightened as he had not returned and they tried to think where he might have gone to. ‘He never stays out this late, Rich, where could he be?’ Flo called to Rich as he sat outside having a smoke. He was worried but wouldn’t let her see his concern. ‘I’m worried. You know he never stays away this long,’ she said.

‘I know, Flo,’ Rich replied. ‘I’ll ring Jay’s mum and see if he’s there,’ he said quietly

standing beside the table where the phone is. Flo waited anxiously beside him to see if there’s any news. Rich’s call to Jay sheds no light on where Cleon might be. That night, some of the boys come around and tell Rich of the chase in the suburbs. One of the boys was at the fish and chip shop and described the ute that chased Cleon. He had thought that Cleon would have gotten away as the driver looked off his face. Then another boy said how Cleon had been chased by some people in a ute and was seen by people being chucked into the back of the ute. With this news Rich knew that his boy was in serious trouble and was afraid that harm had come to him. He rang the police and told them what he had heard about the chase. He was put through to missing persons but was told nothing could be done until the person was missing for twenty four hours. By now Rich was desperate. He drove around Langford looking for his son but found no clue to his whereabouts. He knew where the people lived who owned the ute so went to the house to ask if Cleon was there. ‘No’ was the response. They hadn’t seen the boy.

Anxiety for his son’s safety is pushing Rich to action. His boy had never stayed out late without telling his mum and dad where he would be. He only ever went with his mates. Rich is driven to contact the Department for Community Services then the police. Because of the talk in the community, he is anxious that the police talk to the people with the ute. Young people have already described to him what they saw: Cleon being thrown into the back of a ute. A terrible fear is biting at Rich’s stomach and he is desperate to find his son.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.