The Serpent's Skin Erina Reddan (affordable ebook reader .TXT) 📖

job back. Said he hadn’t taken my “temper spike”,’ I quoted up my fingers best I could given the roses, ‘seriously. But there was a lot of talking to be done about my head, my future. It was either that or the fine Scotch I took him.’

‘He’s such a softy when it comes to you.’

‘I learned from the best of us.’ I winked, nudging her.

She grinned.

‘How’s Ahmed?’

‘Fine.’ She said too quickly, before grinning again. ‘Okay, you were right. And he was right. We do see more of each other.’ She screwed up her face into mine.

‘So make sure you bring him to Mum’s birthday.’

‘What about Tye?’

‘Course.’

‘I just don’t want to bring Ahmed if there’s going to be any shit.’

‘There’s always shit, Philly. What family did you grow up in?’

Outside the hospital, Tessa opened the car door for Dad and went around to supervise Tim and Philly putting his things in the boot. I put the roses on the back seat.

‘Need my wallet, love,’ said Dad to me. I separated the plastic bag full of Dad’s wallet, cheque book and glasses, and put it on his lap. ‘I’ll be finding her rosary beads,’ he said, his voice low and with an edge. ‘No need for you to come.’

I kept mine all cheery. ‘I don’t mind, have a dig around.’

‘You don’t come anywhere near my place.’ He stabbed the air. ‘You hear?’

‘Yeah, sorry about the last time,’ I said, still all sunny.

He balled his fist and tapped his knee. ‘I’m serious, I don’t want you there before that Sund’y with the others. And after your mother’s birthday dinner, not one word more! Only doing this bullshit so you’ll keep your trap shut. Forever! You hear me?’

Tessa opened the driver’s door. ‘All set?’

I slammed Dad’s door and stood with Tim and Philly to wave them off.

CAUGHT

It was on.

At Dad’s, I turned the key off in the Austin and the engine cut. Tye and I looked at each other, and for a moment I didn’t want to get out of the car. He reached across the red of the leather seats to squash my hand. But it was too hot for long sitting so we got out and unpacked the food. I’d figured out where Philly had got her ‘sausage casserole, et cetera’ from when I’d asked Marge for some help with cooking a meal for Mum’s birthday. No worries, she’d said. Just cooked up a whole lot for Philly the other day. That was Philly’s other superpower: she might be all OCD straight lines, but she got stuff done by thinking in crooked ones. That originality is what would take her straight to the CEO’s office one day in the not-too-distant future.

Tye went ahead up the path. I leaned against the car, squinting at the old place for what might be the last time. The sun sharpened its edges against the angles of the house; its rusting roof, its listing walls.

I grew up in this shithole. Now I was living in another. In that second I got it. It had been penance. The next second I got something new. I was going to move out.

Tye stopped to see where I was.

‘Marge and me are moving out together.’

‘I never thought I’d see the day,’ he said, dramatically raising the back of his hand to his brow.

I laughed. ‘It’ll be okay if she’s doing the cooking.’

‘You’d better factor in a fold-out couch for Rat-Tail and Rocco sleepovers.’

I screwed up my face, but actually even the idea of having Rat-Tail over felt good.

I picked up the basket, peeled off from the Austin and went up the path to join Tye. We went through the laundry and into the kitchen. Into the low hum of ordinary… Okay maybe not everyday ordinary: it had that Christmas, dressed-up feel. The table had been brought out into the middle of the room to fit us all and a small table added at the end. Philly had brought her white dinnerware, which put the seriousness into things.

I navigated through the pointy branches of greetings and cheek pecking and held tight to the dive of Georgie into my arms. Wondered briefly what it would be like to have my own little Georgie equivalent.

I caught the look Tim and Shelley swapped between them as I was holding Georgie, but I couldn’t read it.

Tim gave Tye a hearty handshake like he was trying to cram a lot more meaning into it than the average. Tye gave back in kind, matching Tim’s serious. I loved that about Tye.

‘Nice curtains,’ I said, surprised that I could do ordinary, too, and my voice got stronger. ‘Very lemony.’

‘The old man’ll have em down quick smart after this,’ said Tim. Tessa swatted him with a tea towel. ‘You know he likes a clear line of sight to the road,’ Tim reminded us. We all knew. Liked to see what was coming at him.

The curtain lifted with a small breeze fanning out over the matching new laminex on the bench. I felt a spit of annoyance with Tessa for even trying to give the old place a facelift, as if that could make a difference to everything. But I realised I was doing the same thing. Bringing in the new, just in a different way. She was wearing Mum’s cameo on her blouse and I winked my approval at Philly, jerking my head towards it. She winked back. It would be Tim’s turn next.

Somebody had put candles in front of the framed photos of Mum on the bench. Even the one Dad had kept hidden from us all those years was there.

I got my head down and worked with Georgie and Ahmed to thread serviettes through the white chrysanthemum rings I’d made, while Tye joined Philly and Tessa at the kitchen bench. Philly passed him a knife and chopping board, and dumped a pile of piled carrots on top.

Ahmed helped Georgie rainbow more chrysanthemums on each plate while