Winter Solstice Part 2
Jayden shivered. ‘We’ve got hours to wait.’ Heswitched on the TV. The opposition leader was saying something about nuclearpower and renewables. His mouth seemed to move free of the rest of his face.‘These arsehats wanna kill us all,’ said Jayden. He’d finally enrolled to voteafter a summer saturated with Friendly Jordies videos.
Mattshrugged. ‘Turn it up, then Mr Man can’t hear us,’ he said and so Jayden did.
‘Maybewe should get a room at the pub,’ he said, ‘and a counter meal by a raging fire.’
‘Yeah,maybe some old geezer will play an Irish fiddle and we’ll all sing and raiseour beers.’ Matt chortled. He was starting to warm up. Whatever was botheringhim during the drive seemed to fritter into this more recent drama. ‘Morelikely is the local chapter will get wind of us being here and run us out oftown.’
Theysat for a few hours on the double bed, watching culture wars and other warsplay out on the TV. Jayden had a bag of kangaroo biltong and Matt, two bags ofSamboy chips and their makings were several tiny sandwiches which theygainfully imagined was a complete food combo.
‘Thisis bizarre,’ Matt said at one stage, ‘watching the news on telly. Like, youhave no choice about what comes next. You can’t just click on it or click pastit. It’s …’ here he held his palms, fingers outstretched, in front of his face‘ … it’s just like right there you know? Right in your face. Kidsgetting blown up. Homeless. No choice.’ He leapt up and stalked around theroom. ‘Let’s go outside for a smoke.’
Themoon was rising above the karris when they went outside to the car. Matt hadchopped up the weed during the drive so Jayden packed the first cone, filledthe juice bottle with water and handed it to Matt. ‘Here you go, now chill thefuck out Matt.’
Ataround midnight, they drove away from the mill house, heading south towards theEllis Creek Road. Jayden looked sideways at Matt. ‘Want some M?’
‘Fuckyeah.’ Matt was looking at his phone. ‘This guy Mr Man has just put us up onFacey.’
‘What?How did you find him?’ Jayden’s stomach stirred, turning.
‘Wasn’tthat hard. Had a look around town. Who’s renting out. I’ll read it to youright? Think he knows my Dad.’
‘Wellthat makes sense.’
‘Why doyou say that?’ Matt looked at his phone again. ‘Why would you even think heknows Dad?’
‘Hejust had this …vibe. Like your Dad. Sorry Bro. It’s something I thought when Isaw him.’ Jayden hated this. Pale karri trunks flashed by in the headlights ofhis tinny car and he wished he could slow, pull over the car and make all thisright.
‘Ok. Here’swhat he said.’ Matt read from his phone. ‘“Just got a couple of young punk pickers turn up at my house. Anyonein?” ‘
‘Jesus!What’s his user name?’
‘ShroomDaddy! Ha ha ha. What a fucking idiot.’ Matt started poking at his phone.
‘Canyou call your Dad?’ Jayden asked. A four wheel drive overtook them, whitedashes on the road glaring in the headlights. It slowed ahead of them on thebend.
‘Ican’t call Dad,’ Matt said. He was really shaking now. Jayden tried toconcentrate on the road. Dark shapes of micro bats flittered across hiswindscreen. They crossed the other bridge that demarcated the town, a thwompas the little Toyota crossed the bridge.
‘I reallyfucking love poaching’, his mother had told Jayden, on a night when they werealone on a river, sitting in a tinny with several metres of hidden net beneaththem. Drowned corks and lead weights trained on subterfuge to the bottom.Jayden was ten years old and his Mum was training him, even then. ‘Look. Lookaround you! Everything is honest her,’ she whispered, her black curls blowingaround her head, ‘You’re on Earth. There’s no cure for that. That’s theplaywright, you know the guy?’ She began pulling up her illegal nets and pilingthem into the deck of the boat. Jayden could remember her sudden, angry brownhands moving as fish fell all over the checkerplate and her unmeshing fish intoboxes. ‘There is no cure, son. We’re all fucked,’ she said. ‘Still, ain’t thismoon alright?’
‘Themoon’s coming up,’ Jayden said.
‘Dad …Dad,’
‘Whathappened Matt?’
‘Dad.Last night.’ Matt collapsed into his phone. Jayden checked him as he wasdriving.
‘What?What?’
‘Dad,he drove into this bloke last night. He fucking killed him. He was at a BPservice station. He saw this guy, he swerved and then he killed him. They sayit was deliberate.’
‘Jesusfuck. Okay Matt. Let’s stop. We need to talk about this.’ Jayden was putting onhis indicator.
‘No no,no!Keep going.’
‘Honestly, it’s your Dad.’
‘MyDad, yeah. My fucking Dad.’ Matt shook his head. He was still looking at hisphone. .’Let’s go to Ellis Creek Road.’
