One Dead Seagull (7 page)

I
walked
past
Ker
r
y
’
s
bedroom
on
my
way
to
Den
’
s
and realised
why
she
hadn
’
t
unlocked
the
front
doo
r
.
She
was
lying
on
her
bed with
headphones
on
and
Jesus,
her
cat, curled
up
on
her
stomach.
Her
thumbs
were
curled
to touch
the
tip of
her
second
fingers
and
her
eyes
were
closed.
I
could
smell
the
sandalwood
incense
that
she loves
and
faintly
hear
the
music.
Sounded
like
waves
on
the
beach.
W
eirdo.

‘Hi
W
ayne,’
she
said
softly
and
I
jumped.
She
sighed and
opened
her
eyes.

I
apologised
for
disturbing
her
and
Jesus
lifted
his
head
when
I
spoke.

‘Oh,
I
had
finished
anywa
y
.
How
are
you?’

I
told
her
I
was
okay
and
she
motioned
for
me
to
sit
down
at
her
desk
chai
r
.
Asked
me
if
I’d
had
any
more dreams.

‘No.
No
more
poxy
dreams,
just
sleep.’

There
was
half
a
minute
of
uncomfortable
silence
and I
thought
I
had
better
go
and
wait
for
Den
in
his
room.
She
sat
up
and
Jesus
jumped
onto
my
lap,
pinning
me to
the
seat
and
purring like
he’d
just
got
a
new
set
of batteries.

‘Did you
hear
the
full sto
r
y
about
Mr
Richards?’
she asked
as
she
clicked
the
stop
button
on
her
W
alkman.

‘
Y
eah.
W
ell,
no.
Mandy
Masterson
told
me
one
sto
r
y about
Richo and
Kylie
Simpson.
She
reckons
some
of
her mates
heard
Mr Johnson
on the phone to somebody telling
them
all
the
details.’

‘Heard
that
sto
r
y
.
.
.
that
Richo
’
s
the
one
who
got
Kylie
pregnant?
Sounds
a
bit
off
to
me.
Mandy
is
a
bonehead.’

I
nodded
.
Sh
e
migh
t
sa
y
som
e
stupi
d
thing
s
bu
t
sh
e
isn
’
t a
bonehead
.
Sh
e
give
s
m
e
a
bon
e
i
n
th
e
pants
,
though.

‘I
was
mates with
Kylie
right
up
until
the
week
before she
left
and
she
didn
’
t
know
she
was
pregnant.
She
was
like,
four months
gone
or
something
like
that.
I
can
’
t believe
that.’

Must
be
time to leave.
I
started
patting Jesus a
bit roughly
hoping
he’d
get
the
hint and
jump down.
He seemed
to
like
it.

‘When
I
ovulate,
right
in
the
middle
of
my
cycle,
I
get seriously
horny
and
if I
haven
’
t
been
drinking enough water
then
I
get
wicked
pains
in
the
guts.
I
reckon
I’d
kno
w
I
wa
s
pregnan
t
th
e
mont
h
befor
e
i
t
actually
happened!
Can
’
t
believe
that
people
can
be
so
ignorant
about
their
bodies.’

I
heard
the
toilet flush.
Thank
God.
I
stood
up
and
Jesu
s
obligingl
y
droppe
d
t
o
th
e
floo
r
.
Ker
r
y
started
laughing.

‘
Y
ou
must
have
needed
the toilet pretty bad,
huh

W
ayne?’

I
looked
at
my
crotch
and
it
was
covered
with
cat
hair and
wet
spots.
My
face
got
hot
and
I
left
brushing
the
hair
and
fishy-smelling
spit
off
my
pants.
Dumb
cat.

Dennis
closed
the
doo
r
,
and
put
a
CD
on—The
Feral Pigs,
title
track
from
their
Nasty Piece
of
W
ork
album.
Slash metal
is
soothing
to
the
soul
sometimes.

‘Ker
r
y
said
Rebecca
Hanson
’
s
having
a
party
tonight.
Her
mum
and
dad
have
gone
to
Brisbane
or
something.
I think
we
should
go,’
he
shouted
over
the
music.

Den
’
s
not
exactly
a
party
animal.
Rebecca
’
s
mates
with Mandy
and
Che
r
yl
and
that
group.
She
might
be
there.
Mum
would
probably
let
me
go
if
Ker
r
y
and
Den
were
going.
I
asked
him
if
his
mum
and
dad
knew
about
it.

‘
Y
eah.
Mum
’
s
driving
us
and
picking
us
up.’

Amazing.
Wish
my
mum
was
that
co-operative.
I
knew
I’d
have
a
bit
of
bargaining
to
do
so I
told
Den
I’d
see
him
around
eight
o’clock.
He
nodded
and
closed the
door behind
me
as
I
left.
Ker
r
y
stormed
past
as
I
came
down
the
hall
and
skidded
on
one
of
the
floor
rugs.
She
thumped on
Den
’
s
doo
r
.

‘Hey!
T
urn
it
down,’
she
screamed.

The
music
faded
from
a
roar
to
a
yell.
She
flared
her nostrils,
smiled
and
disappeared
into
her
room.

I
cleaned
up
my
bedroom.
I
know that
sounds
stupid
but I have
played
this
game
before.
I ask
for
something
and Mum
says
‘go
and
clean
up
your
room
while
I
think
about it’.
One
step
ahead
when
she
gets
home.
I
found
about seventy
dirty
socks—the
things
breed
under
my
desk.
I have
to
admit
it
felt
good
when
I’d
finished.
I
sat
down
to ma
r
vel
at
how easy
it
was
to
turn
my
mosh
pit
back
into
a bedroom.

‘Hello love,’
Mum
wheezed
as
she
passed
the
door
to
my
room.
She
stopped,
stepped
backwards
and
poked
her
head
inside
my
door
with
a
comical
expression
on
her face.

‘What
happened
in here?
Did you
smell
something
rotting?’

‘No.
Just
thought
I’d
clean
up
a
bit.’

‘Oh
yeah
..
.
nice
job.’
I
smiled.
‘Oh,
Mum?’

‘
Y
eahhh?’

‘Coul
d
I
g
o
t
o
a
part
y
wit
h
De
n
an
d
Ker
r
y
tonight?’
There
was
a
pause
for
thought.
‘Where?’

‘At
Rebecca
Hanson
’
s
place
on
the
other
side
of
Fairleigh.’

‘Ho
w
ar
e
yo
u
gettin
g
there?’

‘Gracie
’
s
takin
g
us.’

‘
W
ell
,
ho
w
ar
e
yo
u
gettin
g
home?’

‘Gracie.’

Ther
e
wa
s
anothe
r
paus
e
fo
r
thought.

‘I’l
l
thin
k
abou
t
it.’

M
y
leas
t
favourit
e
en
d
t
o
a
conversation.

Dennis
phoned
as we
were
sitting
down
for tea
and asked
if
I
wanted
to
stay
at
his
place
after
the
part
y
.
Mum
had
just
levered
a
huge
forkful
of
lamb
chop
and
potato into
her
mouth.
She
nodded
slowl
y
.
Y
es!

‘N
o
drinking
,
yo
u
hear
?
An
d
i
f
there
’
s
an
y
troubl
e
I
wan
t
yo
u
t
o
star
t
walking
.
Don
’
t
b
e
a
blood
y
hero
.
I
f
there
’
s
an
y
troubl
e
yo
u
won
’
t
b
e
goin
g
ou
t
fo
r
th
e
res
t
o
f
th
e
yea
r
.’

I
was
a
few
minutes
late
getting
to
the
Humes’
place
but they
weren
’
t
waiting.
I
wished
I
hadn
’
t
pedalled
so
hard
up
the
Garrison
Street
hill and
that
I
hadn
’
t had
that smoke before
I
left.
Dennis
had
just
got
out
of
the
shower and
his
hair
looked
like
it
had
been
painted
on.
He reported
that
the
giggling
we
could
hear
was
Ker
r
y
and Carly
getting
read
y
.
Carly
was
staying
the
night
too.
Den
’
s mum
crept
up
behind
him
and
ripped
the
towel
off
that had
been
covering
his
lower
half.

‘Whoooooo!’
she
cooed
as
she
strode
up
the
hall.
She rapped
on
Ker
r
y
’
s
bedroom
doo
r
.
‘Girls!
Come
on!
The
floor
show
has
started.’

Instead
of
freaking
out,
like
I
knew
I
would,
Den
just stood
there,
his
penis
nestled
in
curly
black
pubic
hai
r
.
It hung
to
the
right,
just
like
mine.
I
can
’
t
believe
I
noticed
that.
The
door
of
Ker
r
y
’
s
bedroom
burst
open
and
Den
bolted to
his
drawer
and
grabbed
a
pair of
jocks.
He
looked
cleaner
and
smarter
than I
did
but
he
topped
it
off
with
that
old
leather
vest
and
I
felt
at
home
again.