Read Online Without Consent by Kathryn Fox - Free Book Online Page B

of the purple dye came off on his hands. He looked up and down for somewhere to wipe them and chose a bus-shelter a few doors down. He checked his watch. She’d be coming out the door any minute now. The same time dinner got served at the prison.
    He’d only been out a couple of weeks, but his hair had already grown. He didn’t really need the cap, but he felt safer wearing it. Watching the traffic, he counted the cars going past and sang the theme from The Jetsons to himself. Nervous about meeting his girl, he mustered a mouthful of spit and landed it on the ground in front of the bench. Someone on the bench gave him a dirty look before moving. Geoff sat down. As it turned out, it was a good move. A bus came along and Geoff pretended to tie up his shoelace, so he could look up the skirts of girls getting off the bus. This was one of his favorite tricks.
    Out of the corner of his eye, he saw his girl come out of the shop and bend down, facing the shop. Approaching, he could see the thin V-shape of her undies showing under her trousers and he felt excited. Hopefully, she had that low top on too—the one that made her breasts stick out. She stood up and locked the door.
    “Are you closed?” he said, from behind her back.
    “Yeah, come back tomorrow. We open at ten.”
    “Do you have any more comics?”
    The girl turned around. “Hey, it’s you. You’re the one who came with your mum.”
    She remembered. Geoff felt his heart beat harder. “You helped me get some good stuff.”
    “Well, that’s my job.”
    She attempted to move past him, but he held up the flowers, unable to take his eyes off her chest.
    “These are—um—for you,” he said.
    “Thanks, but I already have a boyfriend,” she replied. “Look, I’m sure you’re a nice guy. Maybe some other girl would like them.” She sidestepped and started walking. “I’ve gotta go.”
    “Wait. I picked these especially for you. Don’t you like them?”
    Her heels clomped faster. “Look, I told you. Thanks, but no thanks.”
    This wasn’t the way Geoff had imagined it. She was supposed to take them. She had been nice to him when he bought the clothes. Now she was being rude.
    He hurried to catch up. “I don’t understand. You acted all nice; now you’re not.”
    “I was doing my job. What did you expect?” She stopped and glanced around. After looking him up and down, she softened.
    “If it makes you feel better, I’ll take the flowers.”
    He handed them over.
    “But don’t get the wrong idea. I told you I’ve got a boyfriend and he is really jealous. You’d better not come around again. If he catches you, he’s likely to do something stupid.”
    “They’ll die if you don’t put them in water.”
    She waved the bouquet in the air and walked away.
    Geoff followed her down to the corner and watched as she walked down the next street. Outside a block of units, the girl walked up to a rubbish bin, opened the lid and tossed the flowers away.
     
     
     
    Nick Hudson stood with his empty glass. “Another beer?”
    Geoff kept his face buried beneath his cap. “I want coffee.”
    “You’re kidding, aren’t you? This is a pub, mate. The first one you’ve been in for twenty years. Remember Pat French and Tom Bowles from school? They moved here from the Bay a few years ago and bought the place. We get mates’ rates.”
    “Geez. Did every bastard from home move here?”
    “No real choice, mate. When the mines closed up north, all the work dried up. Reckon half the Bay came here looking for a job because of the chicken factory opening up. C’mon. How about another beer?”
    Geoff dug the tip of a dinner knife into the wooden table, chiselling a divot.
    Nick sighed. “Coffee it is.”
    Geoff didn’t look up. The remains of his second schooner had sloshed out when he bumped the salt-shaker.
    He didn’t understand why everyone in prison reckoned alcohol was great. After someone got caught making moonshine, they were only ever allowed to have