Chapter 20: Well, Shit

It was a fairly short walk from the playground through to the point where I turned onto Alder St. The sun had set and it was beginning to get dark. As I turned to walk down the footpath along the side of Alder St, I looked forward and saw a bunch of cop cars with flashing lights parked in the street outside my house.

“Well, shit,” I said. “It looks like they’re raiding the house, again.”

It had been more than a year since the last time they raided us. I remember that day very well. Fortunately, Jackie only had her personal stash in the house at the time. We’d seen the cops coming and Jackie met them at the door while I ran to flush her pills down the toilet. The cops pulled everything apart but didn’t find anything. Once they were gone, Jackie was furious with me for flushing her stash. Go figure.

I slowed my walk and watched carefully. Frodo and Samwise flanked me, walking with their heads high and their ears pricked.

I stopped well short of my house. Between the streetlights and the lights from the cop cars, there was plenty of light to see what was happening. I could see Merv’s ute in our driveway, but I couldn’t see Merv. I couldn’t see Jackie, either.

A cop was standing beside his car. I think he was there to keep other people away. A couple of neighbours were near him, gossiping with each other and trying to see inside the house.

I crossed the road and walked up to the front door of a house four places short of mine. Samwise stayed at the gate and watched while Frodo stuck to my side. The main door was open but the screen door was closed and locked. I knocked on the metal frame of the screen door.

“Hello?” I called into the house. “Is anybody home?”

“Coming,” came faintly from deep inside the house. A moment later, a middle-aged woman with curly brown hair came bustling up to the door. She was wearing a knee length floral dress with a house coat over the top.

She smiled when she saw it was me, and reached to unlock the wire door. “Jacinta, sweetheart, how nice to see you.” She opened the door and stood back for me to enter.

“Hi Maisie. How’ve you been?” I said, responding to her smile with a smile of my own.

“I’m good, Jacinta. What’s with the outfit? Do you work at Maccas now?”

I grinned. “That’s right. Today I’m Isabelle, the trainee.” I pointed at my name tag.

She ignored my comment and gestured to the back of the house. “Well come on through. Marcus will be thrilled to see you.”

I stopped where I was. “Maisie, can I get you to do me a small favour?”

“Sure, sweetheart. What do you need me to do?”

“Something’s going on at my house,” I said. “The place is crawling with cops and I’m kind of scared to go there, in case they’re after me. They’re probably raiding the place for drugs, but it could be anything.”

I grinned at her. “Maybe my life of crime has finally caught up with me.”

She gave me a look. “You want me to act like a nosy neighbour and find out what’s going on?”

I winked at her. “I know that would be completely out of character for you, but you’d be doing me a favour.”

She laughed. “Out of character, my arse,” she said. “You do say the wildest things.”

We grinned at each other.

“Sure, I can do that,” she said. “Will you sit with Marcus until I get back?”

“Of course. I’d be delighted. I’m always happy to spend time with my favourite little man.”

Maisie pushed her feet into some shoes and bustled her way out through the front door. I followed the hallway down to an open area where a kitchen was only separated from a living/dining area by a kitchen bench.

“Hey Marcus,” I called out as I entered the room. “Guess who’s come for a visit.”

I stopped and posed with my arms out and up high.

The boy sitting at the table looked up and gave the biggest smile. “Jacinta!” he shouted and held his arms out, asking for a hug. I went over to him and gave him a hug.

Marcus has Down Syndrome and he’s the happiest little person I know. He gets upset sometimes, but most of the time he’s as happy as Larry.

“What’s this?” he asked, pointing at the uniform I was wearing. His speech is awkward, but I’m so used to listening to him that I never have any problem understanding him.”

“It’s a McDonalds uniform,” I explained.