Broken (32 page)

‘Daddy!' Courtney hopped forward.

‘You bitch.' Jake stepped inside, staring straight at Mattie, and slammed the door shut behind him. It sounded like a cannon, and the unit shook with its force. Courtney stopped, her eyes widening. She flicked a nervous glance at her mother and then back to her father.

‘Kids, into the bedroom.' Mattie waved a hand at them urgently as, despite herself, she retreated a step. Out of the corner of her eye she saw Courtney back away and she guessed – hoped – that Max had also left with her.

‘You bitch,' repeated Jake, without taking his eyes off her. ‘You told your sister, didn't you?'

‘My sister?' Mattie stared back, confused.

‘Yes, your fucking sister. You remember? The tall nosy one?' Jake leant forward as he spoke and his voice shook with barely suppressed fury. ‘The one who rang me tonight and gave me a lecture on criminal fucking behaviour!'

Mattie felt a surge of anger at Hannah for putting her in this position, and then the anger was almost immediately displaced by fear as Jake thrust his face at her. She recoiled, staring at his eyes which, although his face was blurred by close proximity, stood out darkly. Deep pools of cold implacable rancour. She dropped her gaze and noticed, at the corner of his mouth, a bead of spittle that stretched as he spoke and then condensed when he paused. She watched it, hypnotised.

‘How
dare
you, you conniving piece of
shit
. How the hell do you think I felt getting lectured to like that? Especially when I thought we were . . .
Christ!
What a fool I've been! All this time I thought you were on my side! When you've been running around backstabbing me every
chance you get! How long's this been going on, hey? How long?' Jake's hand whipped out and grabbed Mattie by the upper arm, shaking her. ‘Well? Answer me!'

‘It hasn't,' whispered Mattie jerkily. ‘It hasn't at all.'

‘Don't give me that.' Jake stopped shaking her and instead dragged her a few inches towards him and then thrust her away hard and let go, so that she tumbled backwards, landing on her behind by the passage doorway. She stared up at Jake and, as he started towards her, she attempted to crawl away, crab-like.

‘Leave me alone,' Mattie said, but it came out so low that she barely heard it herself.

‘Do you know what you've done?' Jake shook his head, almost as if he was bewildered. ‘Do you have
any idea
what you've done?'

Mattie stared up at him and, through her fear, felt a rush of guilt, and pity. ‘I didn't –'

‘Oh, yes you did. You've fucked everything up.
Everything
.'

‘No I didn't.' Mattie shook her head fiercely as she swallowed the guilt and tried to resurrect the resentment that had helped her justify telling Hannah and Hilda. ‘It was
you
, not me.
You
fucked everything up with your insults, and your fists, and your chokings. So leave me alone. It's over.'

Jake frowned at her as if he didn't quite believe what he had just heard. A tic appeared under his left eye, pulsating softly beneath the skin. Then, after several moments of silence, he took a step backwards and pointed at her contemptuously. ‘What did you say? It's over? Is
that
what you want? Christ, look at you. On your back as usual. You're
pathetic
. You need help.
Serious
help. So, sure, I'll leave you alone. But I'm taking my kids with me. Max! Courtney!'

‘No!' Mattie found her voice and, using the doorway frame as leverage, got to her feet rapidly. She shook her head with determination. ‘You can't take them!'

‘Watch me, bitch. Now I'm going to go get their schoolbags and if you know what's good for you, you'll just go hide somewhere. You're good at that.'

Mattie stared at him as he strode away through the kitchen to the
laundry, where the schoolbags were kept. Her legs were trembling so hard that she thought the floor should have been shaking too. She couldn't believe what was happening, just couldn't believe it. He
couldn't
take the children. It was so
wrong
, so
unjust
, that it seemed impossible.

Within what seemed like seconds, Jake was back. He placed the two schoolbags at the front door. With amazement, Mattie saw that he had also thought to collect the two clean polo tops that had been hanging on the drying rack waiting to be ironed. She dragged her eyes away and was then brought up short by something else. While getting the bags, Jake had pulled his windcheater sleeves up to his elbows, revealing his forearms, which were covered with long, livid scratches all the way down to the back of his hands. The scratches had clearly been treated with ointment at some stage because each was bedded among smudges of faded red, which made them seem even angrier.

It looked like he had been caught in barbed wire, or had to force his way through some type of prickly bush, although Mattie knew neither of those was the truth. She blinked, to break her gaze, and then looked up at Jake's face. He was waiting patiently, watching her stare at his arms and take in the damage. And even though he was displaying no emotion, Mattie thought she saw his eyes smirk, and suddenly she recalled Hilda, and her cat and mouse analogy. It was all deliberate. He was playing with her.

The instant her face set, Jake took a step forward. ‘Max! Courtney! Get out here!'

‘No!
No
!' Mattie instinctively jumped into the centre of the doorway to stop him getting past. ‘It's
my
day! Mine!'

‘Who gives a fuck?' asked Jake, almost politely.

‘Get out,' she hissed, her voice tripping over her emotions. ‘Get out of
my
house.'

Jake paused for a second, looking at her with astonishment. Then he laughed again. ‘
Your
house? That
I
paid for, you mean. Now move it, you fucking backstabber. Move it or I won't be responsible for what happens.'

Mattie stood her ground, her growing rage not quite masking her fear. She shook her head. ‘No. You're not taking them.'

‘Have it that way then.' Jake reached out in an instant and grabbed her by the hair, dragging her towards him quickly and up, off the ground. Her hands automatically shot up to rip at his, trying to loosen the hold, but the pain was unbelievably excruciating. It actually felt as if she were about to have her entire scalp torn off. As her eyes teared up, blurring her vision, Mattie whimpered even while she kicked and clawed at him with every bit of strength she could muster.
Go for the balls, that worked last time. Or go for the arms, they're already damaged
. Then the doorbell rang.

Jake let her go, quickly, and she fell against the wall with both hands on her head. He stared at her narrowly. ‘Don't answer that.'

‘I will,' said Mattie in a croak, although she didn't move. Couldn't move.

‘Police!' came a deep, masculine voice from outside the door. ‘Open up!'

Mattie's mouth gaped as she stared back at Jake and was suddenly, and strangely, pleased to see that he looked equally shocked. It gave them something in common. He took a step towards the door and then stopped.

‘Police!'

Jake started moving again, walking purposefully over to the door and opening it wide. ‘What can we do for you?'

‘We've had a report that there was a disturbance here, sir.'

Mattie leant against the wall and straightened her scarf automatically as she peered past Jake and saw two police officers, a male and a female, at the door. They were both exactly the same height but the male was older, and more heavy-set. The female had wispy blonde hair pulled back severely under her hat. Both exuded confidence, and authority, and purpose. And Mattie's heart flipped with intense relief. And humiliation.

‘I can't imagine why,' replied Jake, with his charming-Jake voice.

‘You haven't been having an argument with your wife then?'

‘No, not at all. That is, we were discussing some things, but it
wasn't
an argument.'

‘Ma'am?' The policeman leant to the side so that he could see Mattie clearly. ‘Can you verify that?'

Mattie came forward, thinking quickly even though her head was throbbing so hard it felt like it might explode. She made her face smile, just slightly, from one police officer to the other. ‘That's right, only a discussion. And my husband was just leaving anyway'

‘I see.' The policeman glanced at Jake's arms and then looked at him expectantly.

‘That's right,' said Jake tightly.

‘Well, in that case, we'll walk you out to your car. Thanks for your time, ma'am.'

The policeman stepped back so that Jake could leave the unit, and then walked with him down the path. The policewoman, though, hung back and looked at Mattie.

‘I have some pamphlets on –'

‘Oh no.' Mattie smiled tightly. ‘It's nothing like that. And I'm sure it'll be fine.'

‘Okay.' The policewoman shrugged slightly, gazing at Mattie expressionlessly. ‘Your choice. If you have any more problems, just call.'

Mattie nodded, and watched her join her colleague by the police car. They spoke to Jake there for a few moments and waited while he climbed into his Commodore and drove away. Then they left too. Mattie watched their tail-lights disappear over the rise and then closed the door, leaning against it while she tried to come to grips with what had just happened. And the price she might have to pay for it.

Max appeared in the passage doorway, staring at her wide-eyed. ‘Was that the
police?
'

‘Did they take Daddy away?' Courtney was crying, and plucking at the hem of her pyjama top in agitation. ‘Will we ever see him again?'

‘Oh god.' Mattie felt ill, and weak. She sat down where she was, on the carpet, and held out her arms wordlessly. Both children ran over, Courtney folding herself neatly onto her mother's lap and Max kneeling by her side. He reached out a hand and tentatively ran it down her arm, as if he were trying to console her.

‘Did they put handcuffs on him?' asked Courtney, her face still crumpled.

‘No, of course not.' Mattie started to shake her head but her
headache intensified so she stopped. ‘No, someone rang them to say there had been yelling here, so they just stopped by to make sure everything was okay.'

‘Aren't you allowed to yell?' asked Courtney, her brown eyes huge.

‘You're allowed to yell, but sometimes when people yell, they also get nasty, so the police just check to make sure everyone's okay'

‘Then why'd Dad leave?' Max shifted himself to get more comfortable.

‘Because I asked him to.'

‘Oh.'

‘And there's something else.' Mattie took a deep breath, reluctant to continue but knowing that she had to. Things had changed. ‘Did you hear Dad call you?'

‘Yes.' Courtney flashed a look at her brother. ‘Max said to hide, so we did. In the wardrobe.'

‘And we heard you tell him he couldn't have us,' said Max, admiration creeping into his voice.

‘He was very upset, otherwise I'm sure he wouldn't have done that. The last thing either Dad or I want is for you two to be caught in between everything. But what I need to tell you is the reason he was upset.'

‘Why?' Courtney twisted around, curiosity overtaking concern.

‘Because he's a bully' said Max quietly.

‘No, well, that's something different. The reason he was upset was that Hilda from next door heard us on Sunday night, and she saw the –' Mattie hesitated and then ploughed ahead – ‘the bruises on my neck today. And she told Auntie Hannah, and Auntie Hannah rang Dad and told him off. So Dad is upset because other people know that he . . . well, that he didn't behave very well.'

‘Did Auntie Hannah call the police too?' asked Max, his eyes fixed on her.

‘No, that must have been someone from around here who heard us.'

‘Oh.' Max fell silent for a moment. ‘Are you going to Dad's tomorrow night?'

‘No. Definitely not.'

‘I don't want to either. Do I have to?'

‘I'm afraid so.' Mattie reached out and ran her fingers through his thick, messy hair. ‘You have to realise that Dad misses you heaps when you're with me. Just like I do when you're over there. We
both
want you. So it wouldn't be fair for you to stay the whole time with me, or with him.'

‘What about what's fair for me?' asked Max, frowning.

‘Look, honey, I know it's hard. The thing is, we're trying to do the best we can by everybody. And children need their father as well as their mother. That way you get balance. And without me there, there won't be any fighting. That'll be good, won't it?'

‘Yeah.' said Courtney, slipping the scarf off her mother's neck and draping it around her own. ‘I'm
sick
of the fighting.'

‘Me too.' Mattie rolled her eyes.

‘Mummy, is your hair falling out?' Courtney held up several strands of dark brown hair. ‘It was on your shoulders.'

‘And there's some on your back too.' Max peered behind her.

‘Must be stress,' said Mattie lightly. ‘And now it's bedtime.'

‘What about hot chocolate?' Courtney wrapped her arms around her mother and peered up at her winsomely.

‘With ice-cream!' added Max.

‘Hot chocolate?' Mattie laughed, surprising herself. ‘It's bedtime, you monsters!'

‘But we're upset.' Courtney kissed her on the cheek. ‘And you
always
make us hot chocolate when we're upset.'

Mattie lifted Courtney off her and stood up, groaning theatrically with the effort. Then she narrowed her eyes at the two children. ‘You two are a pair of opportunists. But all right, I'll make you a hot chocolate. Then bed!'