Chapter 15 : Thursday after school

“Miss Freeman?”

The voice seemed a long way away, but not loud. It was like someone was talking to me from the other end of a big empty hall.

“Rebecca Freeman, can you hear me?”

Yes, I could hear her. I didn’t recognize the voice. I didn’t feel like responding. But I could hear her.

“Rebecca, it’s time to wake up now.”

Wake up? Was I asleep? I sure felt warm and comfortable and cozy and relaxed. As Mum often said, I was as snug as a bug in a rug. Maybe I was asleep.

A hand gently gripped my shoulder and gave me the tiniest of shakes.

“Wha... ? What is it?” My voice sounded weak in that same big empty hall. I could hear it all croaky and hoarse and confused – just like Tara sounds like when she’s woken up from a deep, deep sleep.

“It’s time for you to get moving.”

The voice was gentle but I still didn’t recognize it. I had no idea who the woman was or where I was. I turned my head and looked towards the voice but my eyes weren’t working properly. I blinked my eyes several times and a blurry figure started to come into focus. I think I might have been dreaming, but I couldn’t remember the dreams. All I had were the after effects of images that had flashed in front of my eyes and then were gone.

“Where... ?” My voice, still croaky and weak, wasn’t far away anymore – it was right there next to me.

My eyes came into focus and my brain reminded me at the same time. It was the school nurse and I’d been lying on the bed in the nurse’s office at school.

“ ... oh!” I felt embarrassed. I’d gone to sleep at school! How could I do that? Oh no! What sort of idiot am I? I worried that they’d all laugh at me because of that.

“Is it time to go to lunch?” My voice was still hoarse but at least the confused sound was gone ... mostly.

“No, dear, you slept right through lunch period. It’s nearly the end of the day and it’s time for you to go home.”

Damn! I’d slept for hours! The nurse offered me a plastic cup filled with water and I sipped at it, trying to get the frog out of my throat.

“You were out like a light as soon as your head hit the pillow. Have you not been sleeping well lately?”

“I guess. I woke up about three this morning and couldn’t go back to sleep.” My voice was soft but at least the croak was gone. Damn frogs!

“Well, that explains it!” Her concerned face got replaced by a beaming smile as if she’d solved all the problems of the universe.

A light blanket had been put over me while I slept, so I had to push it off before I could sit up. I’d slept in my clothes and I rubbed a sore spot on my tummy where I’d lain right on the button of my jeans.

“I phoned your mother and suggested she come to pick you up but she said if we didn’t mind that we should let you sleep. I’m also to tell you that your brother will meet you here after school lets out so don’t catch the bus.”

“Oh! Okay!”

I swung my feet down to the floor and immediately trod on my shoes. Apparently I’d taken them off before I lay down on the bed but I didn’t remember doing that. I busied myself putting my shoes on, and then the nurse handed me a wet cloth so I could wash my face. The warmth and wetness of the cloth felt good and helped me to finish waking up. The nurse took back the cloth and swapped it for a small towel so I could dry my face.

“Do you have a brush with you? You might need to have a quick go at your hair before you face the world.”

“Oh thanks!” I looked around and spotted my bag that Liz had brought with us when she brought me here. I dug out my brush and sat back down on the bed so I could start working on my hair.

“You should know that I’ve seen the memo from Miss Webster about you. Also I have a copy of that information from your father about Lambrecht’s Syndrome that I’ve read and put into your file. If you have any problems at school, or you want to talk to someone, please don’t hesitate to come and see me.”

“Oh thanks!” I kept brushing my hair. She wanted me to talk to her but I couldn’t even remember her name. Most people just called her nurse! Wait no they didn’t, it was Nurse W ... something. Wendy? Whitney? Wanda? That was it, Nurse Wanda. I couldn’t remember ever hearing a surname that went with it. Maybe she only had one name, like Cher. Or maybe her surname was Wanda and her first name really was Nurse. I giggled a bit to myself about that.

My giggle turned into an “oops!” as my tummy rumbled loud enough for Nurse Wanda to hear.

“I guess I slept right through lunch!”

“I guess you did!!” She smiled gently at me then fished around in a drawer. “I have a supply of energy bars here. Are you allergic to peanuts?”

“No ma’am!”

“Good! These days we have to ask!” Then she tossed me a Balance Bar, which I managed to catch left-handed without fumbling. Yes! I thanked her and dropped both the energy bar and my brush into my lap while I pulled back my hair and tied it with my scrunchy. Then I tore the wrapper off the Balance Bar and bit off such a huge mouthful that I had to cover my mouth with my hand while I ate it.

I was waiting at Liz’s locker when she arrived after the last class. We hugged and she teased me gently about having come up with two different ways to get out of class in one day. All I could do was laugh that off. We dug her bags out of her locker and went to a bathroom so she could change into her leathers. It didn’t take long, but as always I marvelled about how different she looked in the black leather pants and black jacket. Her jacket had a little design on the left breast which was a copy of the big design her dad had on the back of his favorite jacket. The whole effect made her look ... sexy. That was a new thought. I tilted my head and watched her as she packed her school clothes into her bag. The leather pants clung tightly around her bum and hugged her legs. Definitely sexy!

Together we went to the front desk to collect her helmet then went outside to the front steps to wait for her dad and my brother.

There was no sign of either so we stood off to the side, out of the way of the streams of kids pouring down the steps, and chatted while we waited.

Hannah Fargo was standing nearby with three cronies and she looked Liz up and down with a sneer.

“I bet you think dressing like that makes you tough.”

Liz stared coldly back at Hannah. “I dress like this because I’m about to get on the back of my dad’s bike and I don’t want to have scars for the rest of my life if we get knocked over. Wearing leathers doesn’t make me tough. What makes me tough is that I don’t need to make puerile comments about how other people look to hide my own insecurities.”

A bunch of people standing nearby all laughed and clapped and whistled at that. Hannah had first looked confused, I figured there were at least two words in there that she didn’t know, but as soon as the laughter started she realized she was being insulted and started walking towards us with a glare on her face and clenched fists.

Liz wasn’t finished. “The other thing that makes me tough is I don’t need to punch you to prove that I’m better than you, but if you come over here and attack me I will punch you and you will get hurt.”

I knew that Liz wasn’t making empty threats though I doubted if many others at school knew it. Her father had been teaching her how to fight for years. She always looks so pretty and delicate but if I was a betting person I’d put money on her in a fight with nearly any kid in the school – girl or boy. The thing was, she somehow managed to avoid getting into fights. She’d given one boy a bloody nose a year ago when he grabbed her bum but everyone at the time had assumed it was some sort of fluke.

Liz stood there looking calm and watched Hannah stalk towards her. Somehow that calm waiting got through to Hannah and she stopped before the two of them came within reach of each other.

“Fuck off Lizzie! Lizzie the Lezzy!”

Liz burst out laughing at that. Then she turned her back on Hannah and bent down to pick up her bags and helmet. Liz glanced at me and we headed down the steps to meet her dad who was roaring up on his big motorbike.

“That’s right, walk away you pair of fucking dykes! Look at them, fucking carpet-munchers...” The torrent of filth cut off abruptly as the teacher supervising the pickup point came walking up the stairs to investigate the shouting.

Liz was angry, really angry! I could tell by the stiff way she held her head and shoulders while she walked. I couldn’t think of anything to say so I walked right beside her with my head up and did my best Little Miss Normal impersonation. I reached out one hand and took one of her bags, managing to give her a little squeeze on the hand when I did so.

I was so amazingly impressed with what she’d done. I wish I could stand up to people like she did. I knew those words were bad words for lesbians and I knew that Hannah was screaming filth at us because Liz had stood up to her and Hannah hated anyone doing that to her.

Liz’s dad had stopped the bike right in front of the steps and whipped his helmet off so he could greet us. He’s a big bear of a man with a stomach that pushed out the front of his leather jacket. Dad and Dan are both big but he’s even bigger. Hugging him is like trying to put your arms around a giant oak tree, but that’s what Liz and I rushed to do. He greeted us and started to ask about our day but Liz cut him off and asked him to get her out of there.

A sleek bright yellow sports car had pulled in behind him and beeped its horn. Mr Davidson waved at it and yelled “Hold your horses!” while he and Liz opened the pannier things on the bike and started squeezing Liz’s bags inside. When that was done, Liz turned to me and we hugged briefly. She grabbed both my upper arms and looked me straight in the eye:

“Don’t let Hannah Fargo get to you Bec. She’s an idiot with a big mouth.”

I shrugged at her. I’d been listening to Hannah making comments like that to me and others for years. Sometimes it got me down but mostly I tried to ignore her. Also, I was fairly sure I wasn’t a lesbian.

We’d just started the usual goodbye, see you soon routine when we were suddenly distracted by a familiar voice yelling “Hey.” We looked over at the yellow sports car and there was Dan leaning against it with a big grin on his face. The two of us squealed and ran over to him. He got hugs from both of us as well ... an only slightly smaller oak tree and not so much stomach.

Liz and I were totally amazed at the car. I don’t know anything about cars and what brands they are and stuff like that, but this was very bright yellow and low to the ground and had no roof and looked very sleek and stylish and expensive. I could feel the eyes of hundreds of kids, including Hannah Fargo, staring at us with envy.

Dan leaned down close to the two of us and whispered, “It’s not really mine, I borrowed it from a friend at college, but I thought it would help make tonight a bit special for you.”

I gave Dan a big kiss and then hugged him again while standing up on my toes so I could whisper “thank you thank you thank you” in his ear. Liz squeezed in to hug me from behind and said into my ear how lucky I was and how she was insanely jealous. I stayed stuck in the middle like the filling of a sandwich and felt very loved.

Mr Davidson revved his engine with a roar and Liz yelled a quick “see you tomorrow” at me. She quickly put her helmet on and then swung her leg over the back of the bike so she could take her place scrunched up behind her father. He waited until she’d fixed the strap on her helmet and got a secure grip on his belt before giving us a quick wave and then roared away into the traffic.

Dan opened the door of the car for me and I stepped in, even though I could have jumped over the sides like they do in movies. I wriggled a bit, tucked my bag under my feet and then sank down into the incredibly comfy seat. Dan handed me a pair of sunglasses so nothing would blow into my eyes. I put them on, rested my arm on the side of the car and tried to look casual. There was a whole bunch of students standing around staring at the car. I guess in some places, cars like that are pretty normal and people see them all the time, but around our school they were unusual enough that it was drawing a crowd. With so many people staring, I think normally I would be trying to hide round about now, but Little Miss Normal takes these things in her stride so I sat there and tried not to let my grin split my face in half.

Dan revved the engine with a roar and I could feel the vibrations right through the floor and the seat. It wasn’t like everything was shaking, but I could certainly feel it all the way down my back and around my bum and under my legs. Wow!!! Dan pulled out onto the road and we headed off. A few of the kids waved and I flipped my hand into a little wave back. Then I wondered why they would wave at me when mostly they ignored me or made fun of me. That was weird.

There was wind blowing around the windscreen and pushing my hair around. I was glad I had it tied back or it would have been going everywhere. The engine was loud and the traffic noise was loud too, so talking to Dan involved talking past all of that, but it was still okay to talk, as long as you talked loud. The other thing was that I was sitting lower than normal. So for example, when we stopped beside a truck at some traffic lights, I was looking sideways at the wheels of the truck. That was weird. The truck driver was friendly though. He leant out of the window and smiled at me and did a whistle at me. I never got whistled at by truck drivers before. Dan said he was taking the long way so we could enjoy the drive. I sure was enjoying it. The feeling from the vibrations of the engine was a bit like sitting in those massage chairs they have in furniture shops that everyone always tries out but no one ever seems to buy – but maybe on a low setting if you get what I mean.

I asked Dan about the car and he told me its name. Half of its name was letters and numbers so I pretty much forgot it straight away, but I listened as Dan told me more about the car. I liked watching Dan talk and explain and get excited about how many CCs were inside the engine – I had to ask what a CC was but then Dan explained it and what he was saying made more sense. I guess I was more interested in watching him and hearing him talk than in actually understanding what he was saying. I wanted to know more about what Dan was interested in and this was the way to do it.

I asked Dan if he wished he owned a car like this and he rolled his eyes and trailed his fingers over the steering wheel.

“I’ll admit that I’m loving driving this today and it’s all very exciting. I suppose every guy has dreams about having an amazing car that impresses everyone. But I don’t expect to ever be able to afford something like this. I’m going to be an engineer, not a lawyer.”

“An engineer like Dad?”

“Dad’s an electrical engineer, that’s why he works at the power plant. I’m doing structural engineering, that’s more like bridges and roofs over stadiums and things like that.”

“Oh!” See, I was learning stuff. I hadn’t even known there were different types of engineers. Dad never really explained what he does at work. He just points at Homer Simpson and says “I do that, but I do it better,” and then he laughs – Dad laughs a lot when The Simpsons are on. I used to worry when he said that. I didn’t want him coming home with radioactive bar things sticking out of his back pocket because I was scared we would all get radioactive and glow in the dark. Then I worked out that his power station wasn’t nuclear so I figured out that wasn’t going to happen.

We talked a bit about famous bridges and how they used different ways to hold up the middle bit. I found I could understand and join in that conversation pretty well. Dan explained things really well and I found it interesting to think about how some bridges were held up by wires strung from the towers and others were held up by arches underneath and so on.

Round about then, Dan pulled into a little car park and said “We’re here!”

I looked around and went “Huh? I thought you were taking me home.”

He said “Nope. Mum’s meeting you inside that door. This next bit is her birthday present for you so enjoy it. I have to get back to college for a team meeting about tomorrow’s game. I’ll collect you from home at six. See you then.”

With that he kissed me, booted me out of the car and tossed me my school bag before he roared off into the distance.

“Huh!”

I waved rather forlornly at the disappearing exhaust pipe. I’d kind of been enjoying talking to Dan and hadn’t expected it to end so abruptly. I guessed that since I would see him later and have the whole evening with him I shouldn’t be too upset.

I shrugged to myself and then I turned around and looked at the building Dan had pointed out. It was a health spa and beauty parlor. Dan had said this was Mum’s present for me. Awesome! I’d never been to one of those places but they sounded like good places to go to. The only thing I worried about was that I heard they were expensive so I hoped Mum hadn’t sent us broke by bringing me to this place.

I went inside and saw Mum sitting on one of the comfortable lounges in the foyer. I went up to her and we hugged and kissed and said our hellos. Mum asked how I was feeling and I said I was fine. I guess I must have looked excited at being in there because she hugged me again and whispered “Happy Birthday” into my ear. She went up to the desk and told the elderly lady that we were ready and the lady took us through a door to a little waiting room.

The waiting room had floor to ceiling windows on one wall that looked out onto a tiny garden. Inside the windows were some more plants and a small fish pool with a tiny waterfall that made little tinkling water noises. There was a group of three business women in snappy dress suits sitting in one corner gossiping quietly and two middle aged men sitting at a table and reading newspapers. We sat in comfortable chairs and the lady gave us cups of chamomile tea to drink while we waited. Then she told us there would be about a ten minute wait and left us alone.

Mum and I chatted about stuff and Mum explained how she’d intended to give me a voucher for this place on my birthday but then I ended up having this date with Dan so she decided it would make the night even better if I got a bit pampered getting ready for it. Also she said that it gave her and me some alone time together, which she thought I might need after all the stuff that had happened this week. I wasn’t ready to go all deep and meaningful so I tried to think of something to change the subject.

A nicely dressed woman entered through a different door and approached the two men. She politely asked them to follow her, and then she turned and left by the same door with the two men following her. We stopped chatting and watched this happen. I guess I was a bit surprised to see men in there, I kind of had the impression that only women went to a place like this. Mum said she thought men needed back massages as much as women did.

Listening to Mum talk I’d noticed that Mum’s accent was a bit stronger than normal, so I had to ask. “Hey Mum, have you been talking to Nana today?”

“Yes sweetie, she came over and we had a nice lunch together. Now she’s at home sitting Angie for me so I can be here with you. How could you tell?”

“I have my ways!”

She looked at me suspiciously. “Did Nana tell you she was visiting me today?”

“Nope! I haven’t talked to Nana since last Friday night.”

“Hmmm. Come on Bec, talk to me. How did you know?”

I grinned at her, a bit cheekily. “A girl has to have some secrets, you taught me that!”

“Oh for goodness sake! I meant you should keep secrets from other people. Mothers are exempt, didn’t you understand that?” She slapped her forehead in pretend frustration. “I’ve raised a ninny. She thinks she’s supposed to keep secrets from her own mother. What am I to do?”

Realizing she wasn’t going to get it out of me that way, she changed tactics and started glaring at me, “I have ways of making you talk!”

For once the glare didn’t frighten me, so I grinned at her some more. “You’re pretty smart, you’ll figure it out.” I’d lost count of how many times Dad had said that little phrase to me, with Mum nodding and grinning her evil grin beside him. It was nice to use it back on her for once. Maybe now she might find out how frustrating it was.

Mum started giggling and shaking her head at me, then that started me giggling. In amongst all the giggles, I suddenly realized something important. The two of us were behaving more like me and Liz than like me and Mum. Somehow, without even trying, we were hanging out together like two friends. I didn’t know you could do with that with your mother. Wow!

We started back up chatting about trivial stuff and then watched as the same woman came back and collected the three business women. At around about the same time, the elderly lady from the front desk led in a pair of young women about twenty years old or so and served them the standard chamomile tea. They immediately sat down and started flipping through a pile of fashion magazines.

They ignored us so we went back to chatting with each other. Mum said that she’d had two phone calls from the school about me during the day and told me that was some kind of record. I only knew about the nurse phoning when I went to sleep, so I mentioned that. Mum explained that Miss Webster had also phoned and told her about me having been kicked out of class for drawing. I had my bag with me so Mum made me pull out the series of pictures I’d drawn and show them to her.

Mum looked carefully at the pictures and I could see an expression of concern come over her face. I cursed myself again for doing that drawing and decided that from now on I was only going to draw pictures of little birdies sitting in trees. She looked up and looked right into my eyes, “Honey, it’s important that you tell me how you’re feeling.”