Bleak City (12 page)

It was warm outside, so she opened the window to air the room out, which took more than a little effort, and she had to be careful, she didn’t want to break the frame or the glass, because then she would have to get a glazier in and that would be just another thing on the list of things that needed to be done. The windows were tending to stick on that side of the house, and Lindsay worried if that meant the frames had been twisted. Did that mean there were problems with the foundations? Kevin hadn’t said, but there were a lot of things he wasn’t saying about the state of the house. She wished he would just tell her, the worrying about what might be was getting to her. If it was bad, at least she would know, and be able to deal with it. After all, they had insurance, if the house was so badly damaged that it needed to be rebuilt, the insurance would take care of all that, as well as where they would live while the house was being rebuilt. But they hadn’t yet been assessed and didn’t know if they would be going over the EQC’s $100,000 cap.

It was a dry day, so Lindsay stripped Jack’s bedding, threw the sheets and duvet cover in the washing machine and put the duvet inner and pillows on the washing line to air out, careful to keep them away from Kevin’s toilet emptying gear. She pulled the red rubbish bin up alongside the open window of Jack’s bedroom to make it easier to toss out the rubbish. It was heavy, all that broken plaster, and with the exposed laths Jack wouldn’t be able to use the closet, so she used a bungee cord to tie the doors shut. She vacuumed the floor and wiped down the walls, which resulted in the room smelling much less dusty, but she really wanted to air it another couple of days, then give it a good vacuum again before setting it back up for Jack.

From the lounge, she heard the end of
Finding Nemo
, then some music. She checked in on the three of them. Alice was playing videos off YouTube on the laptop, just funny things that were making Olivia and Jack laugh.

‘We’re going to go for a walk,’ Alice said. ‘Just down to the river, then I’ll come back and make dinner.’

Lindsay said that would be fine, just to make sure they all had jackets on and to be back in time for dinner. Lindsay went outside to bring all of Jack’s bedding back in and was distracted by the state of the garden. It would do her good to put in a few minutes pulling out the weeds she could see from the kitchen window. A few minutes turned in to half an hour and she had cleared the beds at the back of the house, which she couldn’t actually see from the kitchen window but that she always thought about. Because they were right there, under the window she was looking out of. She went out to the washing line and grabbed the washing.

If Alice wasn’t home, Lindsay didn’t know what she would do, trying to keep up with the house, the kids, the paperwork and the sheer exhaustion. She would be struggling to cook, that was for certain, and resorting to takeaways.

Cooking was pretty much Alice’s thing now, she had learned a lot from her great-grandmother in the weeks she had stayed with the old woman. Lindsay had always found the great-grandmother aloof and disapproving, and Andrew had been almost frightened by his grandmother, at the very least, intimidated. But Alice and the old woman had clicked, and Lindsay wasn’t sure if she felt comfortable about that. There was something cunning about her, and Lindsay didn’t want Alice to pick that up, or be exploited by it.

Alice had become especially good at vegetables, roasting them or braising them in stock and butter. Lindsay had never eaten such flavourful vegetables, and even Olivia and Jack were getting better at eating their veggies. Lindsay had never been much of a cook, she was too busy trying to work and raise Alice and then, when she married Kevin, keep the house going while also taking on the books for Kevin’s company. So she hadn’t had any skills to pass on to Alice, for which she felt negligent, but she was too tired to dwell on it for long, she had things to do. There was always something more to do.

The logburner for instance. Damn. It was nearly five o’clock, she needed to get on to that today, to find out when they would be able to heat the house properly. It was supposed to take only six weeks and it had been more than that. She found the paperwork and dialled the number.

After being passed around to two different organisations, Lindsay still didn’t have an answer. The second man she talked to took her number and said he would check it out in the morning and call her back. She hung up, then realised she didn’t have his name, so she couldn’t follow up if he didn’t ring her back. Damn. She would have to start again in the morning.

The phone rang again. Hopefully it was the guy, calling back to make sure she had his name and number. But no, it was the police, calling for Alice. Her car had been retrieved from the carpark building she had left it in on the day of the February quake, she would need to bring proof of ownership and ID to get it back. Well it was something.

After dinner, Lindsay put Olivia and Jack to bed in Olivia’s room for what she hoped would be the last time. Tomorrow she would air and vacuum Jack’s bedroom once again and set it up for him, his books on the shelves, and she would get some crates to stack his toys in. Maybe one of the supermarkets in the city would have something. She hoped so, because there really wasn’t anywhere else to try, unless she wanted to drive north to Rangiora or south to Ashburton.

Alice was in the kitchen, putting aside a plate for Kevin and putting it into the oven, which she turned on to low. He was having to go out of the city for work, nothing was happening nearby. He was on a job near Rangiora today. Maybe Lindsay could ask him to go to The Warehouse out there, or the Farmers, find something for Jack’s room. She hoped he would be home soon, there was still the chemical toilet business to go through and all the cleaning up after that. So much to do, all the time.

‘Why does Jack want to learn how to skateboard?’ Lindsay asked Alice.

Alice laughed. ‘I showed him that video,’ she said.

‘He said he wants to take his scooter down the driveway next door, see if he can jump the hump,’ Lindsay said.

They both started laughing, then Lindsay pictured tiny little Jack coming off his scooter and disappearing into a crack. She burst into tears. Alice put her arms around her, and Lindsay started really crying, sobbing, feeling her nose blocking up, her sinuses swelling. She would have to stop, but she couldn’t seem to.

Kevin’s van pulled up, and Lindsay and Alice tried to pull themselves together, but when he came inside, he could see Lindsay had been crying.

‘What’s happened?’ he said.

‘Jack wants to learn how to skateboard,’ Lindsay said. ‘He wants to jump the hump next door.’

Alice suppressed a giggle, wiping at her eyes.

Kevin gave them both an odd look. ‘Suppose I’d better do the loo.’

‘I’ve done it,’ Alice said. ‘I did it when Mum was putting Livvy and Jack to bed.’

Lindsay hadn’t heard a thing. Alice was doing so much for them and it wasn’t right. Lindsay was the mother, and now, when everything to do with the house and the quake was just getting to be too much, her lovely daughter had stepped up and helped them out. She started crying again.

‘Mum?’ Alice said, while Kevin stepped forward and put his arms around Lindsay, which just made her cry more.

The night of the big quake, Gerald and Sylvia had moved in with Andrew and his family. After a couple of days, Andrew and Michelle and the children had gone to stay at their holiday home in Wanaka. At that point, Sylvia said there was no reason to stay in the city, it was gone, everything they had known all their lives was gone and she’d had enough of the regular aftershocks. Gerald agreed, and Sylvia packed in less than an hour, proving to Gerald just how desperate she was to go.

They had flown over to Sydney to stay with their daughter Laurel and her husband. The house was big, they were made to feel welcome and there was no reason for them to leave in a hurry. Gerald’s staff in Christchurch were able to keep up with the emergency repair work that came their way and so there was no need for him to be there, for a few weeks anyway. It was good to be in Sydney, spending more time with Laurel than they had been able to for the decade she had been there. The weather was good and the city vibrant, full of life.

Gerald had made contact with the insurance company shortly after the February quake and they had said the process would be slow. That didn’t really worry him too much, there was so much damage in Christchurch, he understood that there was a very long queue. Several of them. But by May, Gerald was starting to hear unsettling news from his contacts in Christchurch about how assessments were being carried out by people with no building background. He didn’t like the idea of their house being assessed by an ex-policeman when it needed to be assessed by a structural engineer. Then there was the new Canterbury Earthquake Recovery Authority, CERA, and the legislation that went along with it. The Minister for Earthquake Recovery had been given extraordinary powers and to Gerald that meant only one thing: there was going to be more bureaucracy than ever.

He decided to take matters into his own hands with regard to their house. It was clearly a write-off, but he had not yet had any indication as to when EQC or his insurance company would assess it. He decided to engage an engineer, and now, nearly three months after the big quake, he was back in Christchurch to go up to the house with that engineer, a man called Robert.

It was unnaturally quiet on Huntsbury Hill. Or, rather, all the noise was natural. He could hear birds nearby, and that was it. The day was clear but cool, a slight breeze blowing from the east. Had he not just come back from Sydney, he would have considered it warm. He could get used to that warmer weather.

He met Robert at the house in the morning, and Robert worked until well past lunch time, taking measurements and photos, asking about the materials used to build the property. Gerald could remember every beam, and made sure Robert got it all down right.

In the time they were outside, Gerald didn’t see any activity in the surrounding houses, and there were no cars going up and down the road. The hill really had emptied of people.

When the inspection was finished, Gerald was at a bit of a loss. He was staying with his mother and his flight wasn’t until the next morning, but he wasn’t quite ready to go back to her house and be mothered again. Or what passed for mothering on Marjorie’s part, which involved being fed delicious baked goods while having your life’s decisions scrutinised and judged. Sylvia should be where her husband was, Marjorie had said when he tried to explain to her how Sylvia felt about Christchurch. Gerald should make her come back to Christchurch with him.

Marjorie had always made sure their material needs were well met. They were always fed well and clothed adequately, but those domestic activities had seemed to Gerald, as he grew older, more his mother proving something rather than showing she loved them. Maternal was not a word he had ever associated with her, and feelings were never discussed. He couldn’t explain to her the grief Sylvia felt over what had happened in Christchurch, that she felt that it was too difficult, at sixty-three years of age, to start building a new life in a completely changed city. Gerald understood, he was struggling too, but it all seemed beneath Marjorie, she couldn’t seem to understand what all the fuss was about.

Alice had stayed with her for nearly two months, since the night of the February quake. It was the first time she’d had someone in her house for more than a couple of days since she had it built after Gerald’s father died. Marjorie seemed to almost enjoy Alice’s company and had taught her some cooking and baking skills, Alice had told Gerald. It surprised him, that she was being grandmotherly, for the first time he could recall. Of course she had knitted and sewn for all the grandchildren, beautiful, intricate pieces, but there was no affection in it. It had been, again, Marjorie proving something, although Gerald could never figure out what that something was.

No, he couldn’t figure her out, after all these years.

Gerald texted Alice, and she told him where she was and said he should drop by. He hesitated. He hadn’t seen Lindsay in over a decade and wasn’t sure how she felt about Andrew’s family. There was only one way to find out, so he texted that he would be over soon.

Alice hugged him, followed by Lindsay.

‘It’s lovely to see you, Gerald,’ Lindsay said. ‘You look well. Quite tan actually.’

Alice shut the door behind him, shoving it back into the warped frame with a loud bang. They all walked through to the kitchen, which was at the far end of the house. Gerald and Alice sat down at the table while Lindsay stayed standing.

He smiled. ‘You’re looking well, too.’

‘Very nice of you to say, but I’m tired and I’m looking it. Would you like a beer?’

‘We’re celebrating,’ Alice said. ‘We’re allowed to use our toilet again.’

‘I’ve already had two beers,’ Lindsay said. ‘Alice is about to start on her second. Have you had lunch? I’ll make you a sandwich.’

‘Sure,’ Gerald said. ‘That would be lovely. But no beer, thanks.’

Lindsay started making him a sandwich, snacking on the bits of salad, meat and cheese as she put it together. It had been about a decade since Gerald had seen Lindsay and overall she was looking good for her age, but she was right, the tiredness was showing. She had dark circles under her eyes, her hair was dishevelled and her clothes untidy. The Lindsay he remembered from when she had been married to Andrew had cared about how she looked, even when suffering the sleepless nights new parents experience.

She placed the plated sandwich in front of him on the table and sat down across from him, taking a sip from her beer.

‘Delicious,’ he said, chewing on the first bite of the sandwich. ‘How’s things here? Any progress?’

Lindsay shook her head. ‘Still trying to get our woodburner replaced. Major cockup at the hub, they came and did their assessment, all their paperwork and then nothing happened. I called and called for a couple of weeks before they finally tracked our file down, it had been sitting on someone’s desk. We should get it by June sometime. We were down as urgent because we have small children, I’d hate to think how long elderly with serious health problems are waiting.’