Read Online Screw Loose by Chris Wheat - Free Book Online

old man guffawed and Khiem chuckled. Craig hoped she wouldn’t make too many comments like that.
    The front cover of Dingo Girl flashed up – a picture of Matilda with a rabbit in her mouth. She had given Craig a copy, but Craig didn’t read books, so he’d passed it on to Khiem to read for him. It had been written by a journalist and Mrs Grey together. Khiem said it was probably all true.
    â€˜Do you remember how you felt when your mother and father left you behind in the desert?’
    â€˜No. I was just a pup … baby.’
    The interviewer smiled. ‘Do you still think of yourself as a dingo, or do you think of yourself as a girl?’
    â€˜A girl.’ Matilda looked agitated. ‘But I had dingo brothers and sisters, so I’m loyal to the pack. You have to be.’
    â€˜How did you communicate with your brothers and sisters?’
    â€˜You just know things together. You don’t talk. You see things, you get a sense that there’s food, and you go after it.
    Sniffing and stuff. You know their smells. I know your smell.’
    The interviewer laughed uneasily.
    â€˜Did you bark?’
    â€˜Dingoes don’t bark. I can howl, but.’
    â€˜Would you give us a demonstration?’
    She laughed, looked off screen, then shook her head.
    â€˜Did you ever think to yourself, Maybe I’m not like these dogs – I look different, I feel different ?’
    â€˜Not really. Sometimes I wished I had fur. And a tail. I like tails.’
    Craig groaned. It was going to be a tough day at school tomorrow.
    â€˜And what did you eat?’ the interviewer asked.
    Matilda flicked her fringe. She had once told Craig she’d eaten a camel. You couldn’t tell how true this was, of course.
    â€˜I’ve eaten a horse, sheep’ – she was counting them off on her fingers – ‘kangaroo, feral cat, fox, rat, wallaby and camel.
    Da-dah!’ She laughed.
    Craig’s father laughed, too. ‘No wonder you had trouble with her in Subway,’ he said.
    â€˜What was the hardest thing for you to adjust to once you were found?’
    It seemed to Craig that the interviewer was trying to get Matilda to say something stupid.
    â€˜Toilets and knives and forks were pretty hard. Cats every- where, too – little bastards. And I like raw meat, so I can be a bit of a problem at barbeques. I can catch tennis balls in my mouth.’ She beamed.
    Craig slapped his forehead and banged his head on the floor.
    Khiem was avoiding eye contact.
    â€˜And I don’t like lookers and pointers and tourists.’
    Matilda was often mobbed by tourists who tried to stand next to her while their friends took pictures. A Dingo Girl cult had exploded in Japan, and many young girls had begun acting like Matilda; some had started wearing false tails to school.
    â€˜What’s the best thing about living in a city?’ asked the interviewer.
    Matilda rolled her eyes upwards, bit her bottom lip and let her head fall back. ‘No more fleas!’ she announced.
    â€˜You idiot,’ Craig whispered.
    His old man was laughing and banging the back of the couch.
    â€˜Shut up,’ he hissed at his father.
    â€˜Do you have a boyfriend?’ the interviewer laughed.
    â€˜Please no!’ Craig cried. The basketball guys would never let him forget this.
    â€˜There was one dog used to sniff me a lot, I was pretty keen on him.’
    â€˜ SHUT UP !’ Craig yelled at both his dad and Matilda.
    â€˜I wouldn’t take that, Craig,’ his father said, throwing his empty can into the KFC wrappings. ‘I’d find that dog and have a little discussion.’
    â€˜Do you have a human boyfriend?’ asked the interviewer.
    â€˜I’ve got one now.’
    â€˜Please God ...’ Craig felt sick. Matilda was nodding vigorously.
    â€˜And how does he cope with having such a … special girlfriend?’
    Craig held his breath. His whole body