Screw Loose (25 page)

Visiting Heath's turf was another way of saying sorry for what he had done. But he was anxious about what he was getting himself into. Would Heath's parents give him a hard time for being the gay boy who stole their son? And then there were Heath's four siblings. Little kids smelt and asked nosey questions.

His phone vibrated.

‘where ru?'

‘ginifer,' he messaged as the train slowed down at a station.

‘not far.'

The doors slid apart. ‘ferals getting in,' Joshua responded.

A couple, each with a pillow and a bag, flopped into the seats opposite him and slumped together. The guy slipped his arm around the girl's shoulders and closed his eyes.

‘u scared?'

‘no. gf picking nose.'

‘her nose or his?'

The guy was humming without an iPod, eyes still closed.

They both had bare feet. Joshua sniffed but smelt nothing.

Clean ferals.

The train was racing along again. The guy handed a bottle to his girlfriend, who swigged and handed it back. The carriage smelt like booze.

‘feral opens scotch.'

What would St Albans be like? He imagined crowds waiting at the station to bash him senseless because his shoes looked gay.

The train was slowing again. The ferals started to stir, and around the carriage people stood and shuffled towards the doors. St Albans. Through the window, he caught a glimpse of Heath on the platform, and his heart bounced.

The train stopped and the crowd surged against the door.

People knocked him and didn't apologise. Joshua went with the flow and was pushed through the door onto the platform.

Heath saw him and called out, ‘Dude! Josh!' They gave each other a rough kind of guy-hug as people flowed around them.

No public kiss, praise the Lord. And that was it. Safe in St Albans.

They made their way out of the station. Indians, Vietnamese, Lebanese, Greeks, Fijians, Somalis – the whole United Nations seemed to be pushing through the barriers. Heath walked close beside Josh, deliberately bumping him and occasionally smiling. No
Bored of being bored
T-shirt this afternoon.

Heath flicked Josh's ear affectionately and bumped against him again. ‘Thought you'd be too scared.'

‘What did your parents say about me staying?' Joshua asked.

‘Nothing much. My oldies are Poms. We have visitors all the time.'

They waited at the boom gates with a crowd of noisy people, then after the train had rattled through they were pushed across the tracks into the shopping strip in a wave of chattering people. He could hear Indian music.

‘Hey,' Josh whispered. ‘That's the ferals up ahead.'

Heath craned his head above the crowd, then yelled, ‘Hey, Lissa!'

The feral girl turned around and searched the crowd with anxious eyes.

‘That's my big sister,' Heath said.

‘No kidding?'
Crap!
Another stuff-up!

He and Heath caught up to them. They formed a group in the centre of the footpath and people pushed around them.

‘Wazup?' Heath asked.

His sister smiled half-heartedly. Her teeth needed attention.

‘Been for a holiday,' she said, ‘down St Kilda.'

‘Seen Mum?' Heath asked.

The boyfriend looked really out of it, his eyes wandering and his body restless.

Lissa shook her head, then moved closer. ‘Hey little brother, could you spare us a couple of dollars?' She looked over at Joshua, and his hand moved instantly to his wallet. He needed to show he liked her.

‘Nah. Gotta go,' Heath said, and Lissa turned away. Heath grabbed Joshua's arm. ‘Let's go,' he said angrily.

No one said goodbye. Joshua allowed himself to be dragged through the crowd, realising that he didn't really know Heath at all. ‘Um, sorry about saying … earlier … um, ferals…' he stammered.

‘S'okay,' Heath said. ‘They are druggies.'

‘I need to tell Mum I haven't been stabbed,' Joshua said. That was the wrong thing to say, too! But he flipped open his phone.

They sheltered in a doorway.

Heath waited, staring at him. ‘Your hair's got a bit of curl to it,' he said.

Joshua nodded and put his hand on his head. ‘Mum. I'm in St Albans.'

‘Everything all right?'

‘It's like Singapore.' Keep her calm; she liked Singapore.

‘I doubt it. Don't go out at night, please, Joshua; and be back early tomorrow. Do you know about the sleeping arrangements?'

‘Mum!'

Heath was watching him and exaggeratedly mouthing his replies to his mum.

‘Did you remember your toothbrush?'

‘Mum, I'm a big boy now.'

Her voice changed. ‘Joshua, I saw your friend Angelo in the park an hour ago. He was with Zeynep, and she was dressed in
your
clothes: your coat and beanie and those silly low-rise jeans. Why was she wearing your clothes?'

Heath was staring at his lips.

‘She's disguised.'

‘What? Why?'

‘Angelo's football club told him not to associate with Zey, so she's disguised. She wears my clothes so they can go out together.'

‘What? She's pretending to be you? Angelo is not really coping with his sexuality, is he?'

He groaned. ‘It was my idea, Mum!'

Heath had his hands to his face and his mouth open in mock horror.

‘They were kissing, Joshua. In your clothes!'

‘So?'

‘Well, for a moment I thought Angelo was kissing you!'

‘Mum! I should be so lucky.'

‘Joshua!'

Heath was pulling faces.

‘Move on, Mum.'

‘Well … people carry knives in St Albans. This boy doesn't take drugs, does he?'

‘No, Mum! Heath doesn't!' Joshua looked at Heath and smiled weakly. ‘Got to go, Mum! I'll ring you later on.'

‘Toothbrush!'

He hung up and sighed loudly. ‘She's unstable.'

‘So what's that about Angelo? Were you talking about Angelo Tarano?'

His bionic ear was good.

‘Yep, Angelo Tarano. I'm kind of his psychiatrist. Mum thinks Angelo and I are on together.'

‘Are you?'

Joshua shook his head and smiled. ‘No chance.'

‘You should have brought Angelo, too.'

‘Not likely. It's Saturday. Angelo always watches the footy if he's not playing.'

Joshua realised that his eyes darted periodically to Heath's cochlear implant. ‘So what's St Albans like?' he asked.

Heath threw his arms wide. ‘Beautiful, downtown St Albans.'

He turned around slowly, showing off the street. An old man ducked.

‘It's very multicultural.'

‘Not like Fitzroy?'

‘Yes and no.'

They turned down a road. ‘This is it: Penshurst Road. Best road in St Albans, the old Penshurst Road. Good for burnouts,' Heath announced.

On each side of the street there were cream brick houses, lots with aluminium security shutters covering the windows.

Early-model cars were parked on nature strips, and kids yelled.

Head cocked, the occasional magpie inspected a lawn. Weaving black skid marks graffitied the road.

Heath put his fingers to his lips and made a smoking movement. ‘Do you smoke dope?'

Josh shook his head.

‘Do you like bowling?'

‘Sure.'

‘Okay, then, we can go bowling.'

‘Sure.'

They walked along the street. Joshua knew now why he liked Heath. There was something confident and
stuff you
about him.

A cool breeze blew Heath's hair away from his ears.

‘So this formal thing. Am I still helping with the tickets?'

Heath asked.

‘Sure. Please.'

‘Doesn't require much talking and listening?'

‘No, that's my job. Want to see the flyer?' Joshua reached into his backpack and pulled it out.

‘Chelsea's design, not mine.'

He handed it to Heath.

‘What do you think?'

‘What makes her think they'll mix? They won't.'

Joshua shrugged. ‘Well, it's an interesting concept.'

‘Interesting concept,' echoed Heath with a smile.

They walked in silence. Heath's hand touched his periodically.

‘This is it,' said Heath after a few minutes. ‘The mansion.'

Heath's house was much like the others.

‘Mum's cooking you something special!'

Joshua's stomach tightened. This was nerve-wracking.

They walked across a lawn with dead patches. Around the edge of the lawn were roses in tanbark. Aluminium security blinds covered all the windows, and Joshua could hear a dog barking and kids yelling from behind the house. Heath's world. Now he had to meet the parents, smell the house, eat the food, sleep somewhere. He wondered if Lissa and her boyfriend would be staying too and felt uncomfortable.

‘We're gonna have fun!' Heath announced. ‘Here's my mum.'

A pair of glasses were reflecting in the dark hall as a woman approached them.

‘Joshua. Welcome.' She grabbed his hand; hers was cold and wet. ‘Hope you don't mind a madhouse? Come in.'

Heath opened the door and Joshua stepped into the dark.

‘Did Heath tell you he has two brothers and two sisters? Hope you didn't come here for peace and quiet? Heath can sleep on the floor tonight. You can have his bed, and good luck to you. I couldn't sleep with all that scratching going on.'

Scratching? What did that mean? Fleas? Body lice? Impetigo?

‘This way to our room,' Heath said. ‘It's a bit crowded, but you'll enjoy it.'

‘No worries,' Josh laughed and felt the urge to run again.

But he wouldn't.
No way
. No matter what was crowding Heath's room, what caused the scratching, he was going in.

‘Just as well you like guinea pigs,' Heath said, pushing open the door, ‘because me and my brother breed them in here.'

He felt slightly dizzy. ‘Really? In your bedroom?'

‘Sure.' Heath put his arm around Josh's shoulder as they stood and looked at the huge guinea-pig run along one wall.

Joshua tried to breathe through his mouth as Heath proudly pointed out some of his best guinea pigs.

‘It's a beautiful sight, is it not?'

‘It is,' Josh gasped.

Heath offered him one to hold. It was much like Alf. He duly stroked it.

‘Cute,' he said. But it was difficult to speak when you were trying not to breathe through your nose. He was starting to panic. No way could he sleep in this room.

‘Like, how many in here?' he asked, his voice trembling and his throat constricting.

‘Fifty-eight now,' Heath said happily. ‘Good company at night. You're never alone.'

Joshua threw up all over the floor.

OUT OF MY
COMFORT ZONES

K
HIEM
D
AO HAD
never had a girlfriend – not one who remembered his birthday or massaged his neck. Most of his relationships had lasted one day – spur-of-the moment affairs that were forgotten as soon as some other excitement had tripped him up. He needed a deep relationship with someone who cared. He'd once watched a girl pop the pimples on her boyfriend's back: a sure sign of a deep relationship.