Cool Bananas (3 page)

T
he next morning at breakfast, Claudia almost attacked her cereal. She was hungry, and that surprised her. Only a few days ago, her mother had nagged her, ‘Don’t
pick
at your food.
Eat
it.’

‘I
am
eating,’ Claudia had answered. ‘See? There’s food going in my mouth.’

‘You eat like a bird,’ her mother had said.

‘No, I don’t. Birds pull worms out of the ground.’

This morning, Claudia looked across at
Grandpa. She could imagine
him
saying something like that about worms.

Grandpa looked up from his paper. ‘Rabbits are a ridiculous price. When I was a boy we chased them and caught them for fun.’ A glint came into his eyes. ‘Do you know how to catch a rabbit, Claudia?’

Her mouth was full, so she simply shook her head. Catching rabbits was not on her list of Fun Things to Do. Fun was going to the movies, to a party, or rollerblading.

‘You hide behind a bush and make carrot calls.’ Grandpa lifted the newspaper up. It shook slightly.

Is he laughing behind there?
Claudia thought.
Lucky he laughs at his own jokes. Otherwise no-one would.

At least he wasn’t grumpy. Not like Mum. Claudia felt guilty. It wasn’t Mum’s fault. She worked hard. She travelled a lot. She looked after the house and garden. Well, she paid the gardener. But there was always so much to do and not enough time. When Mum came home from work, she was too tired to talk much.

But Claudia had her videos and books. And she had computer games.

She noticed Grandpa’s strong fingers holding the newspaper. They were freckled, with fat knuckles. Claudia wanted to ask him a question. It was on the tip of her tongue, but it wouldn’t come out.

Claudia’s mum hardly mentioned Grandpa. And, apart from the nose-picking story, he hadn’t spoken about her much either. He had lots to say about everything else though.

Claudia had received postcards from Grandpa. Forty-three of them. She kept them in a box. Twice a year, on her birthday and at Christmas, Grandpa rang up. But the calls were brief. Claudia never knew what to say to him. She was always relieved to hang up.

Other kids that Claudia knew were often at their grandparents’ houses. But not her. She wanted to know why.

C
laudia sat on the swinging chair on the balcony. It was raining lightly. She had a book on her lap, but she hadn’t started reading.

Grandpa stepped onto the balcony. ‘I’m going next door to light Mrs Chang’s incense. She has arthritis, so I help her out sometimes. Want to come with me?’

‘Can’t she get up?’

Grandpa scratched his head. His hair sprung up untidily. ‘Yes, but she can’t reach her toes.’

Claudia frowned. ‘What does that have to do with incense?’

‘Mrs Chang has high blood pressure. So she burns incense between her toes.’

Great. Two crazies, living right next door to each other.

Anyone who had something on fire so close to their feet was sure to have high blood pressure.

‘Are my teeth clean?’ Grandpa stretched his lips.

She gave him a two-second glance. ‘They’re okay.’ Some things, like Grandpa’s false teeth, were better at a distance.

‘Good. Mrs Chang might want to suck face.’

M
rs Chang was small, dainty, and bright-eyed.

She took Claudia’s hand. ‘Welcome to my home. Are you hungry?’

‘No, thank you.’

Claudia’s cereal had digested hours ago, but she was shy about eating here. And if Mrs Chang stuck burning sticks in her toes, what sort of food would she serve?

Mrs Chang shook Grandpa’s hand.

So the teeth checking was wasted. Was he
disappointed? Claudia wondered if Grandpa had been teasing her. She couldn’t work him out. He laughed when he shouldn’t. Then kept a totally straight face when he made a joke.

‘I will prepare something to eat, little one.’ Mrs Chang toddled into her kitchen as if Claudia hadn’t spoken.

Claudia looked around. Mrs Chang’s flat was decorated with waterfall drawings and sheets of Chinese writing. There was a chirpy bird in a bamboo cage.

Mrs Chang returned carrying a tray with three glasses of orange juice and a plate of flat, round cakes.

‘Moon cakes,’ she said. ‘They have bean curd in the middle. Many years ago, rebels hid secret messages inside them and passed them to their friends.’

Secret messages were cool, but bean curd? Claudia hadn’t heard of making cakes from vegetables.

Gingerly, she bit into a moon cake. It was sweet and moist.
I’d better have another one to make sure,
she thought. Three moon cakes later, she was certain. They were delicious.

Grandpa licked his fingers. ‘Cool bananas.’

‘No, it’s bean curd,’ said Claudia.

Grandpa grinned. ‘Do I detect a sense of humour under that thoroughly-brushed hair?’

Claudia shrugged.

‘My dear Mrs Chang,’ said Grandpa. ‘That was a magnificent feast.’

Mrs Chang took off her sandals.

Grandpa picked up an incense stick from the sideboard and slipped it between Mrs Chang’s toes. He lit it with a match. A thin stream of smoke drifted upwards.

Maybe that sweet smell relaxes her,
thought Claudia.

‘Do you know that a quarter of your bones are in your feet?’ said Grandpa. ‘Now, please allow me to carry your rubbish downstairs, Mrs Chang.’ He tilted his head to one side. ‘Never put off till tomorrow…ah…anything you might forget.’

‘Anything you can do today,’ said Claudia.

‘That’s right. If you don’t do it today, you might forget.’ Grandpa carried Mrs Chang’s rubbish downstairs.

Claudia looked at Mrs Chang through a thickening cloud of incense smoke.

Mrs Chang smiled. ‘I am so happy you are here. Your grandfather is a kind man. But he is lonely. Sometimes he is sad.’

Sad? Grandpa had bounced with excitement since she arrived. He was in the swimming club. He said he had lots of friends. It was hard to imagine him sad.

Mrs Chang leant forward to whisper, ‘He talks about you often.’ ‘He does?’

‘We all need family.’

If that’s true, then why has he stayed away from us for so long?

T
he next day, Grandpa said, ‘The waves are too high down at the beach. Let’s go up to the rooftop pool and spa.’

Suspiciously, Claudia watched him.
Had he guessed?

But his face showed nothing unusual.

Grandpa lifted the top of the childproof gate and she followed him into the pool area. The water sparkled in the sun.

‘You have to be careful beside a pool in case
you fall…aah.’ Grandpa pitched sideways into the water. A huge splash shot up.

Claudia giggled. He’d fallen in on purpose. Things like that didn’t surprise her any more.

She arranged her belongings neatly in a line on a plastic table. Then she stretched out on a lazy-boy chair. She tilted her hat forward to shade her eyes.

‘Come on in,’ Grandpa called from the pool. ‘Water’s perfect.’ He splashed like a whale. Deliberately.

She shook her head.

Grandpa climbed out, dripping water all the way to his towel. ‘You
can
swim, can’t you?’

‘Of course I can,’ she answered in a more cranky tone that she intended.

He shook himself like a puppy. Drops of water flicked over Claudia. She sighed loudly.

As Grandpa sat on the chair next to her, Claudia detected movement. She turned her head, but couldn’t see anyone.

‘Someone’s watching,’ she whispered to Grandpa.