Calypso Summer (18 page)

‘Did Santa come?' Run asked, seeing Christmas wrapping all around the Christmas tree in the lounge room.

‘Yeah,' said Millie,‘he bought me clothes, tea set, ummm … teddy bear.'

‘True?' said Run.

‘What did Santa bring you Vance?' I asked, ruffling his hair.

‘A bike!' he said, his eyes almost popping out of his head. ‘And some clothes, and some cars.'

‘Deadly. Well let's see what Uncle Calypso and Uncle Run have got you fellas then,' I said as we walked into the kitchen where Mum and Evelyn were preparing our lunch. It was already hot as and they were sweating from all the cooking and that.

‘Merry Christmas,' they said, coming over to kiss Run and me. Run gave Mum a big sweaty hug.

‘Let's see what we got for everyone then.' I handed a parcel to Millie and read out Vance's name on another. Vance took the parcel, sat down and started ripping the wrapping off, flat out.

‘This one's for you Millie,' Run said. Millie hugged Run and took the present before starting to unwrap it.

‘Wow! A cricket bat,' Vance said, waving it around in front of him. Evelyn pulled Millie out of his way.

‘Deadly, that's a deadly bat,' Run told him.

It was a little Slazenger cricket bat, an exact replica of the one I'd wanted when I was Vance's age.

Millie's eyes lit up when she opened her present, a Lorax doll.

‘Oh would you look at that,' Evelyn said, all smiles.

‘It's kind of ugly isn't it?' Mum said and Evelyn put her finger to her lips telling her to shut up.

Run had bought Vance a really good soccer ball and Millie a Little Mermaid costume.

‘Thank you,' Evelyn said, kissing Run and me again.

‘Don't be thanking us yet,' I told her reaching into my backpack and pulling out a box-shaped present. ‘This one is from Run and me, Mum. And Evelyn, this is for you,' I said handing her a small parcel.

Mum and Evelyn carefully unwrapped their presents.

‘What is this thing?' Mum asked when she got the wrapping off.

‘It's a little portable DVD player so you can watch films in your bed and that,' said Evelyn. ‘They're deadly … and so is this!' she said when she unwrapped her iPod.

Run gave Mum and Evelyn a sarong each and these really neat necklaces. You could tell they weren't cheap too.

‘I almost forgot,' I said taking a gift from my bag and handing it to Run. Run pulled a pair of Nike sunglasses from the wrapping and said, ‘Pretty!' when he put them on.

Vance came back into the kitchen with his new bat and a ball. ‘Can we try the bat Uncle Calypso?' he asked.

‘Sure,' Run and I said in unison.

‘But what about your presents?' Mum asked.

Mum and Evelyn went into Mum's room as I grabbed the tennis ball from Vance and began bouncing it. They handed Run and me two envelopes with ribbons around them.

‘I think I know what these might be,' I said, thinking it was a voucher for the record store.

‘You reckon?' Evelyn said.

I was the first to see what was inside. ‘Oh, gees,' I said, ‘I wasn't expecting these,' waving two tickets to the big West Indies versus Australia day–night game on New Year's Eve. ‘That's just the best.'

‘Too deadly,' said Run, ‘but why'd you get me two tickets?'

‘We got two for Calypso and his girlfriend, thought you might want to take Robbie or something,' Evelyn explained.

We kissed Evelyn and Mum and then Vance said, ‘Come on, can we play cricket now?'

‘Only if you're batting,' Run reckoned before he raced out into the backyard with Vance, Millie and me close behind.

°°°

I pulled the tray of Oysters Kilpatrick, a recipe I'd seen in one of Evelyn's
Women's Weekly
magazines, out of the oven and placed
it on Mum's table. Run and Evelyn were cracking bon-bons with Vance and Millie when I warned the kids not to touch the tray they were on.

‘Oh, Calypso, they smell delicious,' Mum said drinking the last of her iced water and smacking her lips.

‘Hurry up Calypso, woman's starving 'ere,' Evelyn reckoned. ‘Good thing there's all this lovely food.'

Evelyn was right, the feed was lovely. There were oysters, ham, prawns, crabs, a roast chicken, rice, bean and tossed salads and Evelyn and Run were dishing food onto Vance and Millie's plates.

‘Oh, I like that,' Mum said after scooping one of the oysters into her mouth.

‘Good, hey?' I agreed.

‘Mmmm, they're nice,' Mum said again and then grabbed the tongs to fill her plate with all of the other things we had.

‘I wonder what all the rich people are doing?' Evelyn asked as she chewed on a juicy prawn.

‘I reckon,' said Run.

‘Mum, can I have some more chicken?' Vance asked.

‘Me too?' asked Millie.

‘What's the special word?' Mum asked, waving a drumstick in her hand.

‘Please,' they both said crawling up real cute way.

‘I got some good news,' I decided to tell them.

‘What, you got more presents for me?' Evelyn joked.

‘Aunty Janet and the mob said they'll get some of the bush medicine things for me and tell me about them.'

‘True?' Mum said, ‘and what about that cousin of yours, Vic, what's he got to say for himself … itching you all up like that?'

‘He's alright. He reckons it was just a joke … You know, he did say to only try one little bit but I threw the biggest mob of those seeds into the bath.'

‘What seeds?' Run asked.

‘Doesn't matter,' I said.

‘So when you heading up there next?' Mum asked.

‘Will be heading up there tomorrow. While everyone is there, you know. You wanna come?'

‘I'll be resting up but you should head up there with Calypso too,' Mum said to Run tapping him on the hand. ‘They're your mob too you know.'

‘Maybe,' Run said before he shoved some ham into his mouth.

‘The other thing, Clare wants us all to go around to her parents' for a party later today, we're all welcome. So what you reckon?'

‘That'd be deadly,' Evelyn said, ‘Maybe Clare could cut my hair.'

‘It's Christmas Day, Ev,' I said growling her.

‘Only joking Calypso, settle down.'

°°°

Clare kissed me and led us all straight through the house. Everyone was gathered in the backyard. As well as her parents, Frankie and Linda, there was her brother Jamie. Steph and her husband were there too and a girl I figured must be their daughter. Jamie walked straight up to me and shook my hand.

‘How you going Calypso, gee they're some real dreads you got there. Good to meet you bruz,' he said as he stared at my dreads.

‘Merry Christmas,' I replied. ‘This is my cousin, Run,' I told him and he stopped staring at my dreads and shook Run's hand.

Frankie jumped out of his chair as soon as he saw Mum, walked up to her and gave her a kiss and hug. ‘Good to see you Aunty Audrey, been a long time 'ey?'

Clare's mum grabbed her husband by the arm and said, ‘Before you get gasbagging, Frankie, let me introduce everyone.'

Evelyn, Run and the kids stood there looking shy as Linda introduced them all. Steph's husband was John, and their daughter, Cleo. I couldn't help but laugh to myself when Linda said Cleo's name. Run lifted his new glasses off his face for the first time to get a proper look at her. He gave her a polite nod and I knew what he was thinking. I had no idea that Steph had a daughter. I just thought Cleopatra's Mirror was named after the Egyptian woman. I could tell Run was keen on Cleo straight up. I couldn't blame him either, she was pretty, very pretty, with long, straight, jet-black hair held in a ponytail. She was wearing these big earrings and a dress thing over shorts with slip-on shoes.

‘Alright, you mob,' said Frankie, ‘Merry Christmas and make yourself at home. The drinks are in the esky and there's food. Calypso, you should try the snapper under that cover there mate … lovely stuff,' he said nodding in the direction of the long table they'd put out.

‘Thanks,' I said.

When Jamie started speaking with Run and me I was surprised to hear Mum tell Frankie she wanted a shandy. I'd never seen Mum drink alcohol before. She must have been real nervous, hey. Clare whispered to me, ‘Come and meet Steph's husband John. I'm dying to give you your present but first I want to get Evelyn chatting with Cleo and Steph.'

When Clare took Evelyn by the arm to speak with Cleo and Steph, John stood from his chair and firmly shook my hand. He had sandy hair, a big bushy moustache, a beer gut and his skin was real weathered. I could see the veins in his nose. ‘I owe you a beer young fella,' he said reaching into an esky.

‘I'm right thanks John,' I said politely.

‘Sure mate?' John asked, looking all surprised.

‘Yeah, I'm right.'

‘Well anyway, you know I owe you one,' John winked.

I laughed to myself, remembering Gary's scheme with the corncobs and John getting all sexy with Steph. Thinking of Gary spending the day alone I said, ‘Yeah, okay, I might just have one beer.'

‘Good fella,' said John, opening the lid of his esky, reaching into the ice and withdrawing a cold stubbie.

I twisted the lid open and took a swig of the beer as John slapped me on the back and Linda turned up Australian Crawl playing on the stereo. I was happy seeing that Mum was happy, the kids playing in the backyard, Run talking with Jamie, and Evelyn standing with a glass of wine in her hand and obviously having a good chat with Steph and Cleo. I couldn't remember the last time I'd seen Evelyn chilling out.

Clare walked up behind me and took my hand. ‘Don't drink too much,' she said. ‘We're going to Aunty Janet's bright and early remember? Can I steal him for a sec?' she asked John.

‘Yeah, sure,' John said, winking at me again. ‘Watch him though,' he joked.

I placed the beer on the table and grabbed my backpack. Clare took me into her room. There was a present on her bed wrapped
in green paper with a red and gold bow. ‘I've been dying to give you this,' she said.

I took my present for her from my bag and said, ‘Can't wait for you to open this too.' I handed Clare the present and it was wicked seeing her so happy. She had the biggest smile on her face. I liked being in Clare's room too. There was a double bed with this brightly covered bedspread and big cushions and she had nice furniture like this really cool mirror with silver around the outside with patterns. It was Indian or something, like her big set of drawers, bedside table and chair. Her perfume was all around me … lovely. Then a pin board full of photographs caught my eye and I went to check it out.

‘What's this?' I asked, running my finger over a black and white photograph of the angel on top of the Semaphore clock tower.

‘They're just some photos that I took. A bit of a hobby,' Clare told me as she began opening her gift very slowly, picking real carefully at the sticky tape.

‘A hobby? They look proper professional.'

‘Thanks.'

‘Come on, hurry up and open that up,' I teased. Clare ripped the wrapping paper off, slowly prised open the box and when she saw the pair of sterling silver earrings and necklace with gemstones she gave me the hottest kiss.

‘Wait up, I've got you another gift,' I said taking a square package from my bag and handing it to Clare. ‘This time, rip it open like flat out way.'

Clare took the present and ripped it open like I told her. ‘Oh my god,' she said when she saw the new camera lens I'd bought
her, a fisheye or something it was called. ‘How did you know how to get me this?'

‘Evelyn told me to ask Steph what you were into.'

‘Calypso, it's just too much. Open your present now but I'm telling you it's nowhere as good as what you got me,' she said taking the lens from out of the box.

I picked up my present off the bed and began untying the bow real careful way, to tease Clare.

‘Oh, come on,' she said. ‘You can do better than that, just rip it open.'

I couldn't believe what I was holding in my hands when the paper dropped on Clare's floor. It was an old style West Indies one-day international cricket shirt, grey with a maroon collar and flanks, with the one-day international logo of stumps and ball on the breast. I didn't know what to say. It was just the deadliest.

‘Look at the back.' Clare took the shirt from me, unfolded it and showed me the back. Across the shoulders written in bold maroon lettering was, ‘Calypso', and down the spine was the number ‘1'.

I knitted my hands into my dreads with a huge smile spreading across my face. ‘Do you like it?' Clare asked pulling at the short-sleeved shirt I was wearing.

‘It's got my name on it and everything.'

‘Well try it on,' she said unbuttoning my shirt. ‘See if it fits.'

I ripped my shirt over my head and Clare put her hand on my bicep, saying, ‘wit-wooo.' I pulled the top over my body and looked at my reflection in Clare's silver mirror.

‘It's perfect.'

Clare pulled me by the shorts and pulled me on top of her and we started kissing like crazy. She put her hands up the back of my shirt and pulled me into her. I didn't want things to stop but I could hear our families in the backyard, Frankie and John pissing themselves. I pulled away from Clare.

‘Your old man's gunna come in and string me up by the nuts any minute now. We need to get back out there.'

‘I know,' Clare said before laughing. ‘I mean, he's not going to do that, but you know, we better join the others.'

Clare grabbed her new jewellery and we walked out into the backyard. ‘Is that Calypso or Viv Richards, the Master Blaster?' Frankie called out when he saw me. John put his fingers in his mouth and wolf-whistled.