Read Online The First Week by Margaret Merrilees - Free Book Online Page B

whole house is full of shit now. It feels terrible.’
    Sam spoke quietly. ‘We can do a cleansing. Come on Ros, it’ll be okay.’
    But Ros was crying now. ‘What if it was our fault? Something went really wrong here.’
    â€˜No.’ It came out with more force than Marian had intended. ‘No. You mustn’t think like that. It’s … I don’t know. It goes back further than this.’
    She stopped. Did she believe it? These girls … smoking marijuana, going on protests. Asking for trouble.
    Every bone in her body ached. My Charlie.
    He was somewhere in the city. Locked up. And she had to work out how to find him. And then … would they let her see him? Visitors once a week, or was that just on TV? She should do something. The lawyer, Mr Ingerson, tomorrow. He’d know what to do, be able to get her in to see Charlie.
    If she wanted to see him.
    She pushed that thought away. Charlie needed her.
    But there was something she had to understand too.
    â€˜Why? Why would he …?’
    Ros shook her head.
    â€˜We should talk to Lee.’ Sam said.
    Lee again.
    â€˜Yes.’
    â€˜I’ll take you next door if you like.’
    â€˜Yeah,’ Ros said. ‘You go. I need a sleep before work.’
    The two houses were mirror images of each other. Instead of going out of one gate and in at the other, Sam stepped over the low fence between the two yards. The soil was compacted on either side. It was a well used path.
    Sam tried the handle of the screen door. It was locked so she tapped on the metal frame and called. ‘Lee? You home? It’s me.’
    A figure appeared behind the screen. After a few moments of rattling, the door opened, the woman behind it standing back against the wall to let them in.
    â€˜Sorry,’ she said. ‘We’ve been locking it … since yesterday.’
    Marian followed her in to the living room.
    The woman was Aboriginal. No one had mentioned that.
    They wouldn’t think it mattered, probably.
    But it did.
    Lee perched on the edge of an armchair. She seemed surer of herself than either Ros or Sam. Older. Her skin wasn’t all that dark really, when you looked at it, and her eyes were no blacker than Sam’s. It was her nose—that was how you knew. But not just that, it was the combination. Brown skin, the nose, the big dark eyes, the wavy brown hair. You could always tell.
    The room was a surprise. It was different from the other house. What was it? Nothing was new or expensive, but things looked right together. The armchair was the same material as the cushions on the sofa.
    Marian realised that Lee was watching and her face grew hot. ‘Nice room,’ she said.
    â€˜Thank you.’ The tone was dry and Lee wasn’t smiling.
    The heat spread through Marian’s body.
    Sam sat forward. ‘We were trying to work things out. Sunday night. Marian wants to know what happened.’
    â€˜Yes,’ Lee said. ‘Me too.’ The dry tone again.
    â€˜What was Charlie upset about?’ Sam asked.
    â€˜I don’t know.’ She glanced at Marian, then focused on Sam. ‘I’ve been over and over it with Ben. It’s not like there was a row or anything. Charlie didn’t say much, but you know what he’s like.’
    Sam nodded. Marian looked from one to the other. What did that mean? What was he like?
    â€˜I just thought he was a bit low,’ Lee said. ‘We had a smoke, played cards, then he took off. We thought he’d gone home. So what happened?’
    Sam dropped her head forward. Her shoulders sagged.
    What happened? The question was an invisible weight in the room.
    â€˜How do you know Charlie?’ Marian asked Lee, to break the silence.
    â€˜Lee’s got family near Katanning,’ Sam said.
    â€˜It was chance,’ Lee said. ‘Someone at a party told me where he grew up so I introduced myself. I was