Crashing Down (21 page)

‘Right.'

‘So I think, this isn't the toilet, and then I hear them calling that lunch is ready. And I'm still bursting for a wee, and then I think, maybe this
is
a
toilet and this is how the Chinese go.'

‘Vietnamese,' Lucy says, starting to laugh — she knows exactly where this is going now.

‘So I think, okay, and I drop my knickers, climb up on to this sink thing and pee.'

‘Oh my God.' Lucy can't stop laughing. ‘You peed in their sink?'

‘Shut up.' Lydia is flapping her hands wildly again. ‘It gets worse. I'm perched there, peeing, and it's, like, total relief. You know, when you think you might pee your pants and then you make it in time? But then the next minute I hear this horrible creaking noise and the whole sink starts to wobble. And the next minute the friggin' thing breaks away from the wall and I'm thrown across the room.'

Lucy is hysterical now; in fact, she thinks she might pee
her
pants.

‘So the bloody pipes explode, there's water spraying all over the place, and I'm almost unconscious where I've smacked my head into the wall.' Lydia rubs a lump on the side of her head. ‘Then it gets worse.'

‘How?' Lucy says, catching her breath. ‘How could it get any worse?'

‘I'm really groggy, can't sit up. There's a friggin' hammering on the door — they must have heard the noise. And then the bloody door bursts open. And there is Mr Tan and Mrs Tan and behind them some friggin' uncle and JD's little grandma.' Lydia looks like she might cry.

‘Oh, Lydia.' Lucy tries to stop laughing. ‘What did they say?'

‘Nothing. They all just looked at me. I don't know what was worse. That I'd broken their sink, or that Mrs Tan knew I was peeing in it. Or …' And Lydia waves her hands again frantically. ‘That Mr Tan saw my virginia.'

‘Oh, Lydia.' Lucy bites her lip, tries not to laugh, but can't help it. She explodes into peals of laughter. And Lydia does, too. They hang on to each other, gasping for air. ‘Too funny,' Lucy says finally, wiping her tears away.

‘How can I ever show my face there again?' Lydia says.

‘It's not your face I'd be worried about showing.'

‘Stoopppp,' Lydia whines. ‘It's not funny.' ‘Oh, come on, it is.' Lucy grabs her arm. ‘Look, it'll be forgotten in a while.'

‘How long do you think?' Lydia says, as they carry the bags down to the car.

‘I dunno. Five years would be my guess. Or when the Tans move out.'

Georgia arrives and starts putting her stuff in the car.

‘Awesome,' she says. ‘I'm so excited. Leavers, finally! Where are we meeting the boys?'

‘At the servo,' Lucy says.

‘Boys?' Lydia looks horrified. ‘Who? What boys?'

‘Al and Ben,' Lucy says. ‘And Mr Tan is bringing JD down for a couple of days. He's meeting us there, too.' She bites back her smile.

‘Mr Tan!' Lydia shouts.

‘Better get it over and done with, Lyd,' Lucy says.

‘What are you two talking about?' Georgia says, frowning. ‘Hey, Lyd, how did the date go?'

‘Oh, Georgia!' Lydia grabs her arm and takes her over to the shade of a tree and starts retelling the story.

Lucy heads over to her parents. ‘Back next Monday,' she says, hugging her mum. ‘We've got enough food to feed a small African village — if they could survive on Doritos and Tiny Teddies.'

‘Drive carefully and text on the way,' Mum says. ‘I don't mean text while driving. I mean …'

‘I know, Mum.'

‘Don't forget to stop and have a break from driving,' Dad says, hugging her hard.

‘Have fun,' Mum says.

‘An adventure,' Dad says.

‘Yeah.' Lucy smiles at them both.
How weird is this?
She is going off for a week to have fun. After the last few months, it seems incomprehensible.

‘Be careful,' Dad says.

‘I will. Don't worry.'

‘We will,' Mum says. ‘It's part of the job description.'

‘I'll be fine.'

Georgia is clinging on to Lydia, laughing so hard she can barely stand.

‘Another Lydia story?' Dad says, nodding at them as they approach.

‘Yep. Tell you when I get back. Funniest one ever.'

She gets in the car and starts the engine. ‘Right.' She looks at Lydia and Georgia. ‘Ready?'

‘Totally,' Georgia says. ‘Turn up the tunes.'

Lucy plugs the iPod in and cranks up the volume.
‘Let's do it,' she says as they pull out of the driveway and head down the road.

the end

WACE — Western Australian Certificate of Education
ATAR — Australian Tertiary Admission Rank

The authorship of the poem Lucy recites, page 243, is disputed.

Quote page 272 from
To Kill a Mockingbird
by Harper Lee (first published 1960).

As always I'd like to thank my family, friends and my colleagues at Sacred Heart College who allow me to bore them tirelessly with my characters' latest high jinks. Thanks particularly to Mum, Jane, Savannah and Lou (always my first readers) and Willow, for putting up with egg and chips. Thank you to my team of lawyers, particularly Aunty Joy and my cousin Sophie, your input was greatly appreciated. Cate Sutherland and Amanda Curtin, thank you for helping turn a rather shoddy manuscript into something well-polished; your professional eyes never let me get away with anything (and while I curse you at the time, I am eternally grateful!) Thank you Lydia Binky Boo and Georgia, for providing me the inspiration to write two of my most favourite characters, and a shout-out to my girl band, who always remain supportive. And finally, thank you dear reader, by doing what you do, you allow me to do what I love.

Kate grew up in Perth's northern suburbs. She has a degree in English and Art and a diploma in Education.

Kate is the author of three other award-winning novels for young adults:
Destroying Avalon
(2006), winner of the WAYRBA Avis Page Award for older readers and the Western Australian Premier's Book Award for Young Adults;
In Ecstasy
(2008), winner of the Australian Family Therapists' Award for Children's Literature; and
Beautiful Monster
(2010), named a 2011 White Raven, selected from newly published books from around the world as especially noteworthy by the International Youth Library in Munich, Germany.

You can find more information about Kate and her work at

katemccaffrey.wordpress.com

First published 2014 by
FREMANTLE PRESS

25 Quarry Street, Fremantle, Western Australia 6160

www.fremantlepress.com.au

Copyright © Kate McCaffrey, 2014.

The moral rights of the author have been asserted.

This book is copyright. Apart from any fair dealing for the purpose of private study, research, criticism or review, as permitted under the Copyright Act, no part may be reproduced by any process without written permission.
Enquiries should be made to the publisher.

Edited by Amanda Curtin.

Cover designed by Ally Crimp.

Front cover photograph by Aleshyn Andrei.

Printed by Everbest Printing Company, China.

National Library of Australia
Cataloguing-in-publication data

McCaffrey, Kate, 1970– .
Crashing down.

ISBN: 978 1922089 85 4 (pbk.)

A823.4

Publication of this title was assisted by the Commonwealth Government through the Australia Council, its arts funding and advisory body.

Fremantle Press is supported by the State Government through the Department of Culture and the Arts.