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seem to notice. She was singing now, and waving her arms and he was
shouting at her – it was dangerous, she should come back. He tried to
reach her but he could not move. But why? Why couldn’t he move?
He felt a pressure on his arms, and tried to pull away. His dad was
holding him, he was nodding. The song was filling his ears now. Her
tone, her mouth. But she was no longer smiling.
T
he
N
ext
D
ay
Emily wasn’t at school.
He loitered around the schoolyard, peering into the rings of
cross-legged girls, leaning back trying to phase off the heat. He had
to tell her yes, yes he would go anywhere with her. They could take
his dad’s ute, and leave tomorrow before someone noticed they
weren’t at school. Yes, they would drive away and leave this town –
the smell of fish and the old lonely men – to the next town, and then
the next and work along the way. Under the stars: they would sleep,
smoke cigarettes, swim naked, make love in the back of the ute and
he would hold her and sing a lullaby in her ear. He’d promise her that
one day, no matter what, one day he’d take her to Paris – indeed the
city of love. At the end of the day he slipped out of the school gates
before Ryan could catch him and walked to Emily’s house. He
knocked gently on the front door. Nothing. He was about to leave
when the smell of cigarettes and sweat reached his nose. Her father
opened the door. He was a big man, with thick legs and a beer gut to
match. He stood so close to Jake that his stomach was almost
touching him.
‘What the hell do you want?’
‘Where’s Emily?’
‘I could ask you the same goddamn thing. The bitch took my
wallet and cigarettes and left while I was sleeping. You wait till I get
my hands on her! I’m her goddamn father, and what do I get? I’ll tell
you what I don’t ge-’
‘Where did she go?’
‘How should I know?’ He snorted. Jake turned and ignored his
hazy speech. He looked out at the murky shoreline where the greyish
water met land. It seemed so strange that on the other side of the
ocean people would speak French. He saw a couple, halfway up the
jetty. A pink cardigan, chinos. Must be tourists. The man bent over
to kiss the laughing girl. She left, he thought, she just left.
Jetty View