Lost Girls (23 page)

He could see he
had taken her by surprise. She appeared unsure what to make of his
offer. He decided he would not torment her. If she just wanted
money he would give her money. He opened his wallet and pulled out
two fifty dollar notes, saying. “It’s fine, if you want to do your
own thing and eat alone then you can have this.”

She shook her
head emphatically. “No, that is too much. For that I would give you
a full night. Maybe it would be nice if you were to buy me lunch. I
really like Thai and Chinese food. But what I most like is that
Spanish food that they bring on little plates, lots of different
things, they call it Tapas, I think.”

Mark gave her
his best grin. “Tapas it is. I saw a place, a street back, just
around the corner. Shall we go there?”

Now she gave
him a genuine smile and it lit up her face and made her look almost
pretty, it pushed away the street girl desperation. He could see
that with nice clothes and grooming she could have been a looker,
she had good features and a kind face hiding behind her
scruffiness.

He said to her,
“I suppose, if we are going to have dinner together, I should
introduce myself. I am Mark. My surname is unpronounceable so
everyone calls me Mark B. Is there a name I can call you?”

She replied, “I
am Josie.” She did not proffer a second name and Mark did not ask.
Everyone was entitled to their secrets.

He held out his
hand and she somewhat reluctantly took it. “It is nice to meet you,
Josie.”

She just nodded
in reply.

So they walked
down George St, side by side, not really talking. When they came to
the restaurant the doorman looked at Josie’s scruffy clothes and
face, as if to refuse entry. Mark passed him a twenty dollar note
and winked. The man nodded, minimal thanks, and let them pass.

They went
inside and were shown to a table in the corner, placed in an
unobtrusive position. The waiter asked what they would like to
start with. Mark indicated a beer and raised an inquiring eyebrow
to Josie. She mumbled, “Coke.”

The waiter
returned with their drinks and two menus, handing one to each of
them. Mark took his and looked at it for a minute. Then he looked
across at her. She was gulping her drink, not looking at the menu.
He caught her eye, inquiring, “Do you want to order something?”

She shook her
head. “No, you can choose, I don’t know what half these things are.
I can’t read too good. I only came to one of these places once with
a man. He chose, but I liked it and him.”

So Mark chose a
wide selection from the menu, he was hungry so he figured if he
ordered what seemed enough for two that would be plenty.

As the food
came Josie started eating with a ravenous intensity, taking double
what he ate. She had said nothing further. Soon all the food on the
table was gone and they were waiting before more came. Mark looked
up and asked her. “Did you enjoy that, Josie?”

She just
nodded.

He asked her,
“Would you like another drink?”

She nodded
again.

He reached out
and put his hand over hers.

She looked up,
curious. For a second it seemed she would pull her hand away but
stopped.

He said,
“Josie, I am trying to be your friend. It would be easier and it
would make our dinner more enjoyable if you talked to me as well.
If you don’t want me here, why don’t I just pay the bill and leave
you to finish the food? You can keep the change. He placed two
hundred dollars on the table and started to push back his chair to
stand.

Her face looked
suddenly vulnerable, as if she did not know how to react to
kindness.

She looked at
him with something more than defensiveness. “OK Mister, I am not
real good at talking, when I am not asking for something, but I
will try. I don’t have much practice in making polite
conversation.”

Mark said, “How
about I tell you something about myself and you, in turn, tell me
something about yourself.”

She nodded so
he continued. “My father was a drunk and a bully. He used to beat
up my mother. She committed suicide when I was seven. Then I
learned how to survive by stealing from shops until I was caught
when I was twelve. They sent me to a remand home, which was like a
prison, only worse, and where the warders did awful things to lots
of the little boys. I ran away when I was thirteen.

“At that time I
learned how to survive on my own by being strong and tough and
never letting anyone put something over me.

“Now I have
plenty of money and just a few good friends. Mostly I live far away
from here in the outback, in a place called the Northern Territory.
Have you ever heard of the Northern Territory?

She replied,
“Everyone has heard of the Northern Territory, Duh!”

Mark continued,
“I have told you something about me, now it’s your turn.”

He looked at
her face. There seemed to be a struggle going on inside it. Then
her face hardened again. She stood up, spilling drinks. “Thank you
for the food, Mister. It was really nice. And I know you are trying
to be kind. But I learned long ago to tell nuthink to nobody. So I
will just leave now and say thank you.”

Josie tried to
step to the side, feet tangling with the table legs and spilling
more drink.

Mark reached
out and took her wrist. “Josie, you can leave in just one more
minute, but first you made me a promise to tell me something about
you, anything you like; it’s up to you. Now you need to sit back
down for that one minute and keep your promise. After that you can
leave, or I will go if you prefer.”

Mark watched
another struggle on her face which ended with her sitting down
again.

“OK, fair is
fair. My Mum is a drunk and druggie. I ran away from home when I
was eleven. She used to make me do sex things with the men who came
our home, so they would give money to her. Mostly it was things
like sucking their dicks. But one day a man gave her a lot of
money, said she could keep it if he could fuck me, proper. He said
he liked it doing it better with a fresh young girl like me than
with an old bag like her.

“She took the
money and he told her to go away for an hour. He brought me into
the bedroom, and told me I was not to cry out so other people could
hear or he would hurt my mother. He made me lie on my back with my
legs apart, while he pushed and pushed until he managed to get his
dick inside me. It really hurt me; I was bleeding and crying
quietly when my mother came home. She told me to have a bath and
get over it. She was high with drugs from the money.

After that she
would let other rich men do it to me as well. It always used to
hurt me. My body was not properly grown and I only had tiny little
breasts. My mother called them pimples, though they seemed to
really turn the men on. So I hated it. One day I left and never
came back.

“Since that day
I have lived on the street making money any way I can, mostly doing
that same thing with men. At least now I get to keep the money and,
if they try to hurt me, I hurt them back worse. I don’t take drugs
or get drunk like my mother did and I try and make the men wear
protection, so I don’t catch any diseases. Sometimes they won’t or
offer too much money to make them. However I think I am still clean
that way. So maybe, when we finish eating, I can pay you back that
way. I don’t like to take something for nothing; at least I don’t
take more than the cost of a burger without paying it back.”

After that the
conversation moved into more comfortable places. Mark told her
funny stories of life in the outback and Josie told him funny
stories of life on the streets.

As they talked
Mark kept ordering food, amazed at Josie’s ability to consume. He
had eaten his fill and she had eaten double. He pushed back his
plate, and ordered a coffee for him and some small pastries. On
second thoughts he added a coffee for her, unasked.

He asked her.
“You seemed really hungry. When did you last eat?”

She shrugged.
“Even though I don’t stay with my Mum or much like her I still try
to help her. Yesterday I had one hundred dollars from the night
before, a single shiny note. I decided to give it to her. So I put
it in an envelope and put it in the post, using the last dollar in
my pocket to buy a stamp. I thought I could soon get some more
money. But yesterday was a bum day. I only got one fifty cent
piece, not enough to buy anything, everyone one else pretended I
wasn’t there.

“So this
morning, as I was really hungry, instead of asking for a dollar or
two, like I usually do, I decided to ask for five, it would give me
enough to buy a cheeseburger in one go. I hate begging. I had asked
maybe twenty people before you came along.”

Finally the
meal was done and Mark paid and left a good tip. They walked out
into the street. As they started to walk along she asked him if he
wanted her to come to some place with him, so she could pay him
back in her own way.

Mark shook his
head, “No Josie, I did not buy you lunch to get that from you. I
bought you lunch because I liked you, and then as we ate and you
told me funny stories I liked being with you. It is good for a man
and woman to be friends without there having to be sex.”

She said, “All
the other men I know only want that one thing. And once they get it
they are not really interested in me anymore, I can tell. I always
make them pay first, that way later when they don’t want me anymore
I don’t have to threaten them to get the money. But just sometimes
I meet someone I like and then it is a nice thing to do, it is not
about the money. That is what I was offering you.”

He turned to
Josie and said, “I understand that and part of me thinks it would
be really nice. But then another part of me remembers how it was
when I was poor and had to do almost anything to survive. What I
most wanted then was people who were my friends, people who liked
me without me having to do something for them. That is what I would
rather, to be your friend. Perhaps I could help you get away from
all this.

“Here let me
give you some money so at least for one night you can stay
somewhere nice and don’t have to beg.” He took five hundred dollars
from his wallet and handed it to her.

She shook her
head.

He insisted.
“Josie, I told you my story. I have been down on my luck, poor and
with nothing to eat. Think of this as an investment in your future.
You must have some dreams of things you would like to do one
day.”

He handed her a
card with a phone number on it. “Why don’t you get yourself cleaned
up and try and find a place to live. Maybe you could go to TAFE and
get a qualification so you can earn some regular money.

“I would like
to help you. So think of this money as the first step to helping
you do that. Once you work out how much you need for a flat and
some money to live off, not working in the game, ring me and I will
arrange the money. If you really want to pay it back, it can be a
loan which you can pay back one day with interest.”

He could see
her face thinking about possibilities. Finally she took the money
and the card and put both inside her bra for safe keeping. “Thank
you Mister, I might just do that.”

About a month
later Mark was in Katherine collecting mail from his mailbox. He
had a small flat in the town which he stayed in for a few days a
year. He used Katherine, more than any other place in the NT, as
his base. It was at the crossroad to the Kimberley and not far down
to the road to the Gulf and to Queensland. The road to the east of
Arnhem Land, where he had first gained his crocodile totem, turned
off not far down the highway, heading up through Mainoru and
Bulman. Also it was not too far from here to the good cattle
country of the Barkly and VRD where he did a lot of contracting.
All in all it was a good place for a base, as he often passed
through it on his way to other places.

After he got
that opal money he had decided that it would be good to have a few
places he could call his own. He was not much interested in blocks
of land that someone had to maintain. But a flat that could be
locked up and left without anyone to care for it suited him. So
when he was in the NT he had places in Katherine and Alice Springs
which he used when he needed them. The rest of the time they gave
him a place to store things. He never rented them out because some
of his things were private and he did not want others snooping
around. Since he had found that big stash of opals he had money
aplenty without needing to get rent. He did not need to work but he
liked the purpose and satisfaction it gave him.

He had got to
Katherine the day before yesterday and last night was his second
night here. He planned two more nights here before he headed out to
the VRD and on to Halls Creek for a series of jobs. His post office
box in Katherine was the place where his phone bills and other
business correspondence came.

So, not having
checked it for more than a month, he thought he should call and
clean it out. There was a man he paid a few dollars to do this when
he was not around, but today he would attend to it himself.

He almost
tripped over a girl who was sitting on the steps of the post
office; she must have been half asleep the way she was sprawled out
part blocking his way to the boxes at the side. She sat up with a
start. As he did he realised with a jolt that he was looking at
Josie.

He realised
this was no accident. Somehow she had tracked him down here. He
remembered there had been a couple missed calls on his mobile that
had turned up a few days ago. No messages and he did not recognise
the number, when he had called back there was nothing at the other
end. Perhaps that had been her trying to ring him.