Dare You (2 page)

One hand on the top, the other holding the door open, Khaden stared into the fridge. Cans of beer, a bottle of flat cola, a yellow block that looked more like soap than cheese and a limp carrot on the tub of margarine. Khaden sighed and rubbed his rumbling stomach.

He closed the fridge and opened the freezer. Just as tragic—empty ice trays, something covered in frost and a few loose peas.

‘I’ll shop tomorrow.’

Khaden jumped at the sound of Mike’s voice. The freezer door slammed. ‘Yeah, okay.’

Mike placed two pizza boxes side-by-side on the kitchen table. ‘Supreme, no anchovies or mushrooms, right?’

‘Cool.’ The smell of his favourite pizza made Khaden’s stomach rumble even louder.

Mike flipped back the lid of the other box. ‘And Meat-arama.’

Taj’s favourite. Khaden took a slice of Supreme and, with his finger, snapped the string of cheese linking it to the rest of the pizza.

‘Where’s your brother?’ asked Mike, sitting at the table.

Khaden shrugged. ‘Haven’t seen him.’

Mike nodded and shut the Meat-arama lid. ‘Hey Khade, do you remember that time we went to Queensland?’

Khaden looked up. Remember it? That was the best time ever. When Khaden was in Year Seven, he, Mike and Taj had spent a fortnight at the Gold Coast. It was the first and only time Khaden and Taj had been on a plane. They stayed at a resort near the beach and did all the tourist things—hung out at the resort’s pools, visited the theme parks, surfed, and took jet boat rides and fishing trips. If Khaden had to name his favourite memory, that whole holiday would be it.

‘Yeah, I remember. It was cool.’

‘What was the name of the place we stayed at?’ asked Mike.

‘Something Sands.’ Khaden studied his dad’s face and wondered where this was going. ‘We had a room with a balcony.’

‘Golden Sands, that was it.’ Mike grinned.

‘Why did you want to know its name?’

‘I was thinking maybe we could go back there, you know, for a holiday. Just the three of us.’

Khaden froze, mid-bite of his pizza slice.

‘Maybe when you finish school for the summer, if I can find flights. Or Easter, next year.’

The back door slammed. Taj strolled into the kitchen. ‘Hey.’

‘Have some pizza.’ Mike nodded at the box. ‘Meat-arama.’

‘Ate at Salena’s,’ said Taj, pouring a glass of water and leaving the room.

The computer chimed its start-up song.

Mike pushed back from the table and took a beer from the fridge. As he ripped it open, something in Khaden’s chest deflated.

TV ads, the crash of pots and pans and Archie’s laugh drifted down the hall to the study. The whole idea of having the study at the front of the house was so it would be quiet. Another great Dad plan gone wrong.

I pulled the chair up to the computer and opened the browser.

‘You going to be long?’

Harrison leaned against the doorframe, hands jammed in his pockets.

‘Use your laptop,’ I said.

‘Being upgraded for next year.’

‘Oooo, big scary VCE. School captain can’t fail, can he?’

‘You’re hilarious, Ruby.’ Harrison walked around to stand between the desk and the bookshelf crammed with Mum’s whodunnit novels and Dad’s boring roads and local government books.

‘Standing there won’t make me hurry, Harrison.’

‘Yeah it will. You’ll crack it and storm off. Five minutes, tops.’

My skin felt tight and my scalp prickled. ‘Whatever,’ I said trying to sound cool. I opened Facebook.

‘Facebook sucks.’

I opened MySpace in another window.

Harrison snorted.

Teeth gritted, I went to YouTube.

‘Looking for Dream Team videos?’ He scoffed. ‘Lady boys.’ He kicked the desk in a steady rhythm.

I pushed back from the computer, hissed, ‘I hate you,’ and stormed out of the study.

‘Four minutes, twelve seconds,’ Harrison yelled after me.

‘What took four minutes?’ asked Dad, standing in the hall outside his bedroom.

I folded my arms. ‘Nothing.’

Dad’s tie made a swooshing sound as he pulled it free from his shirt collar. ‘Everything okay, Ruby?’

‘Why wouldn’t it be? I’m going to help Mum with dinner.’

Dad snorted. ‘There’s a first.’

‘Like you’d know.’

I went to move around him, but he stepped in front of me, his finger pointed at my face. ‘Watch it, Ruby.’

‘Whatever.’ I slipped past.

In the kitchen Mum was taking potatoes from the pantry. ‘Are you and your father fighting again?’ she asked.

‘Nuh.’ I opened the fridge. ‘Who drank all the Pepsi?’

‘Me.’ Archie leant over the back of the couch, arms dangling towards the slate floor.

‘Pig.’ I slammed the fridge shut.

‘Psycho.’ Archie grinned, gulped in air and did the most disgusting burp in the history of disgusting burps.

‘That’s revolting,’ I fought the urge to retch.

‘Excuse me,’ said Archie in a fake voice.

Mum smiled and shook her head.

‘Must you encourage him?’

‘Lighten up, Ruby.’ As Mum washed the potatoes, water gurgled down the sink.

‘Hey, where’s that bucket?’ I asked.

Mum held a potato under the running water and rubbed. ‘Ahhh...’

‘Thousands of litres are wasted down kitchen sinks every day,’ I said. ‘The bucket is meant to catch the water, so we can use it on the gar—’

‘I know what the bucket is for, Ruby,’ said Mum.

‘So, where is it?’

‘I used it to mix up weed killer,’ said Dad, strolling into the kitchen, wearing T-shirt and jeans.

‘Are you serious?’ I snapped.

‘Yep.’

‘I paid good money for that bucket.’

He took a bottle of whiskey from the cupboard and ice cubes from the freezer. ‘And I paid good money for your school fees. Fat lot of good that’s doing.’

‘Stuart,’ warned Mum.

Dad shrugged. ‘Just being honest, Ginny.’

‘There’s a first,’ I muttered.

‘What?’ asked Dad, his voice like the ice in his glass.

‘Environmental vandal.’

‘Add it to my list of failings,’ said Dad.

‘Bloody long list.’

‘Ruby!’ Mum dropped the potato she was cleaning into the sink. ‘Too far, young lady. Apologise.’

The ice chinked as Dad twirled his glass, watching me.

I had to get away from him, his fake cool and smirk. ‘I’m taking Mojo for a walk.’ I snatched my dog’s lead from the hook by the back door and stormed outside. Mojo dragged on her lead as I sprinted down the drive and onto the street. I didn’t stop running until I felt like I wanted to throw up. Hands on my knees, I panted. Mojo lay flat on her stomach beside me, legs and tongue sticking out.

The lyrics from that Dream Team song,
Know,
circled my brain.

Yeah, well I knew Dad’s secret. And I hated him for it.

Mum will not let up. ‘Write to your father. Write to your father.’ She’s like a crazed parrot. If only I could cover her with a blanket and shut her up for the night.

Well, Parrot Mother, here is my letter to dad.

Hands in his pockets, iPod music drowning out the cars and trucks whizzing by, Khaden crossed Warrigal Road. His fingers twitched as he listened to the lead break in Train Wrecks’
Tell Me.
If he was lucky, he’d be first home again and could play his guitar without interruption.

Khaden turned into his street which was lined with green wheelie bins, their lids flipped back as though they were laughing. He frowned, trying to remember the last time Mike had laughed. Christmas? Taj’s birthday? One thing was sure; Mike hadn’t laughed since Taj left school to become a roadie and mixer for that band.

If he’d been paying attention, Khaden would have been ready for Neris’ Rottweiler, but he was too preoccupied with the tension between Taj and Mike to realise he’d reached Neris’ fence. When Cuddles slammed into their closed gate in a barking frenzy, Khaden clutched his heart like an old man, and swore. His earbuds dropped out and
hung from his shirt towards the footpath.

‘Shut up, Cuddles,’ said Khaden.

Cuddles stood on her back legs and barked harder, eyes rolling and cables of white slag dripping from her mouth.

Khaden picked up a crushed UDL can from between tyre marks on the nature strip and chucked it at the dog’s head. Mrs Neri burst out the front door, wiping her hands on her apron and yelling words Khaden couldn’t understand.

Mrs Neri was proof that dogs looked like their owners. Her voice was a deep rumble, her teeth white and pointy, and wiry hairs stuck out of moles on her chin.

When she saw Khaden, she changed into English and yelled over the dog’s barking. ‘Khaden. I thought it was that Tippet boy.’ She flicked her hand at the Tippet’s house across the road. ‘Ahhh,
teppisti!
Tease my Cuddles all the time. He’s a good dog.’

‘Yeah, he’s a great dog, Mrs Neri.’

She yelled again at Cuddles, who cowered and slunk to the verandah. Mrs Neri took its head in her hands and made baby noises, her hairy chin close to the dog’s.

Khaden shuddered. That thing could rip her throat out and she was practically kissing it. He had to clear off before Mrs Neri asked him in to eat pasta, or to load him up with vegetables from her garden.

‘Eh, Khaden, you want a job after school? Cash in hand?’

‘What doing?’

Mrs Neri raised both palms to the sky. ‘What do tilers do? Sit around, smoke and talk. But my Carlo and Joey, they need help a couple of hours a week.’

‘Sounds okay, I guess. I’ll go see Mr Neri at work.’

‘Nah,’ she swatted the air with her hand. ‘He’ll call in on you at home.’

‘Cool. Thanks.’ Khaden started to walk away, but Mrs Neri wasn’t finished.

‘And Khaden, not so loud tonight, eh?’

Khaden’s face flushed. He knew she wasn’t talking about his music. ‘Sure thing, Mrs Neri.’

Mum is driving me insane. I’m only allowed to go to the beach with Ruby and Khade if I write to Dad first, so here I am, sitting on the floor, back pressed against my bed, pretending to write to him.

Ever since I wrote that, I’ve been staring out the window, thinking about Ruby and Khaden. Something’s up with Ruby, I know it. She’s moody and complains all the time now, mainly about her dad. I don’t see what the problem is. I mean, Stuart’s pretty funny, and, for an old guy, isn’t bad looking, in a Robert Downey Jr way.

Ruby and Stuart have never been best buddies, not like Dad and I used to be, but they didn’t fight like they do now and she didn’t whinge about him all the time. Every time she mentions him, she pulls this face, as though she’s in pain. It’s so annoying. She doesn’t know how lucky she is. Her family isn’t all broken, her dad hasn’t lied to her and she isn’t a nanny/slave like me. Ruby needs to get over herself.

And then there’s Khaden, my guitar-playing, laid-back, other best friend. Khaden. Something has changed between us too, but not in a bad way.

Once I could have talked to Dad about Ruby, Khaden, everything, but now.
Grrrr
—life is so frustrating.

Sas, Khaden and I sat on the stone wall, our legs dangling towards the sand. Seagulls circled above, still squabbling over a crust of bread snatched from the beach. People of all shapes and sizes roasted in front of us and guys in shorts played soccer on the grassed area behind us.

The sun warmed my back, but not enough for me to want to swim in the freezing mid-November bay.

Sas’s elbow dug into my ribs. ‘Two o’clock.’

Three guys wearing long boardies and sunglasses strolled along the dry sand, watching two girls in tiny bikinis jump and squeal in the shallows.

‘The one with the cowboy hat is cute,’ I said, rubbing my ribs.

Sas giggled. ‘The blond’s hotter.’

Khaden shook his head. ‘You two are obsessed.’

‘You can talk!’ Sas play-punched Khaden’s arm. ‘You’ve been perving on Miss Purple Bikini since we arrived.’
She nodded at the girl lying on a pink towel to our right.

Khaden’s face flushed. ‘Yeah, well...’

The girl rolled from her front to her back and lifted her bottom to straighten the towel beneath her.

‘It’s not hot enough for a bikini,’ I said.

Sas leant against Khaden. ‘Go talk to her.’

‘You serious?’ he asked.

Sas nodded, her blue eyes sparkling like the ocean.

Khaden folded his arms. ‘Nah.’

‘Come on Khaden, break the boredom,’ I said.

‘Here we go,’ said Sas.

Khaden laughed.

‘What?’ I looked from him to Sas.

Sas squinted at me. ‘You’re always bored, Ruby.’

‘Am not!’

‘Yeah, you are.’

‘Bet she smells like strawberries,’ said Khaden.

‘What?’ said Sas and I at once.

He nodded at the purple bikini girl. ‘Bet she smells like strawberries.’

‘You don’t even like strawberries,’ said Sas, frowning.

‘You’re weird, Khaden,’ I said.

‘At least he’s not bored,’ said Sas.

I should have stuck up for myself, argued with her, but I didn’t.

‘So Khaden, go find out what she smells like. And while you’re sniffing, talk to her.’

Khaden and Sas locked eyes for a moment. I looked away from them and picked at grains of sand on the stone wall.

‘Think of it as research for your essay,’ said Sas.
‘The pastoral care essay about doing stuff that scares you.’

Khaden pulled a face. ‘Sas, that essay is about challenging yourself, not making a fool of yourself.’

‘So you
were
listening,’ I said.

Khaden grinned.

‘Dare you,’ said Sas.

Khaden watched the girl stretch. I wondered what it was like to have guys stare at you like you were a plate of hot chips.

‘What’s it worth?’ Khaden’s question broke into my thoughts.

‘Apart from killing the boredom?’ asked Sas.

I gritted my teeth.

‘Yeah, apart from that.’

Sas beamed. ‘A burger on the way home.’

‘And fries,’ I added.

‘Burger, fries
and
a shake, and I’ll think about it,’ said Khaden.

‘No time for thinking my friend.’ Sas shoved him to the sand. ‘Do it now, or buy Ruby and me a burger, fries and shake. Plus, we post all over Facebook, Twitter and MySpace that you’re a big chicken.’

Khaden looked from the girl to Sas. ‘Yeah, but...’

Sas snatched my hat and tossed it like frisbee. It landed on purple bikini girl’s thigh.

‘Hey,’ I squealed.

‘Oh no, Ruby’s hat has blown off.’ Sas sounded loud and fake. ‘Khaden, could you rescue it?
Please?’
She drew out the ‘please’.

I shimmied forward to rescue it myself.

‘It’s okay, Ruby, I’ll get it.’ Khaden glared at Sas. ‘You suck.’

He had that right.

When Khaden reached bikini girl, she was sitting up, holding my hat. Khaden slipped his hands into his pockets and smiled. She smiled back and spoke, but kept hold of my hat. They looked strange—her sunbaking in a bikini and Khaden in his black skinny-legs, Ramones T-shirt and skater shoes. The cheers of the soccer guys and the drone of traffic on the main road drowned out what she and Khaden were talking about.

Khaden pointed at us. Bikini girl looked up and nodded, but still didn’t hand over my hat.

Sas’s grin faded. ‘He only had to talk to her, not get her life story.’ Instead of loud and fake, Sas sounded snakey.

‘Hey, this was your idea,’ I said.

Her jaw became tight. ‘He’s not her type.’

Bikini girl held my hat towards Khaden, who had to step closer to reach it. The girl didn’t let go straight away.

‘Check her out, she’s full-on coming on to him!’

I started to laugh.

‘It’s not funny, Ruby,’ snapped Sas.

‘What’s the big deal? It’s not like he’s your boyfriend or anything. He’s our mate.’

Sas shifted position as though the stone wall we sat on was burning her thighs.

Khaden strolled back towards us, a massive smile on his face, and handed me the hat. Hands in his pockets, he leant back on his heels.

‘You right?’ I asked, grinning.

‘Just soaking up my awesomeness. She was helpless under the Elliot charm.’

I burst out laughing. ‘You’re an idiot.’

He shrugged, still grinning and rocking back and forth.

Sas made a strange noise, like a growl.

‘Oh, and Sas, Erica smelt like cherries.’

Sas scrambled to her feet and slung her bag over her shoulder. ‘We owe you a burger.’

Khaden pulled his hand free from his pocket and wagged his finger at her. ‘Burger, fries
and
a shake, thank you.’

‘Whatever.’ Sas glared at bikini girl.

Khaden pulled himself up on the wall to stand beside us. The steps would have been easier, but then again, bikini girl—Erica—was watching.

‘Don’t even think of buying it at that dodgy place over the road,’ said Khaden.

I screwed up my face. ‘Yeah, that place is a salmonella outlet.’

‘So, we’ll stop at the one near home,’ snapped Sas, brushing down her shorts.

I had to chew the inside of my cheek to stop myself from laughing at Sas’s mood change.