The Family Tree (30 page)

Kate was just putting away her things from the weekend when she heard the front door slam. She froze for a moment, frantically trying to remember if there was any chance she had left the door open, and then rushed from the room. Immediately coming face to face with Angie.

‘
God!
' Kate put a hand up to her chest. ‘You gave me a heart attack!'

Angie grinned. ‘I have that effect on people. It's my overwhelming personality.'

‘Wait a second.' Kate could feel her heart still beating rapidly underneath her hand. She took a deep breath. ‘I though you weren't back till tomorrow?'

‘Yeah, but I've spent a week there and nary a burglar in sight. So I've called it quits.'

‘Oscar's rung for you. Twice.'

Angie rolled her eyes. ‘I know. I spoke to him before. He's just panicking about the house. Now, to more important things, are you hungry?'

‘What are the choices?'

‘Well, yes,' said Angie slowly, but with a smile. ‘Or no. Just the two, I'm afraid.'

‘Very funny. I mean what did you have in mind?'

Angie turned and started walking down the stairs, talking over her shoulder. ‘Fish and chips and a bottle of wine. To celebrate Easter.'

Kate followed her. She could feel her heart still throbbing but suspected it was now more apprehension than surprise. On the bottom step sat Angie's handbag, a bottle of chardonnay and a loaded shopping bag. They carried them into the lounge room where Angie unpacked a fat parcel wrapped in butcher paper and a tub of coleslaw.

‘Dig in!' she announced, opening the chardonnay. ‘And note that the fish is grilled not fried. Much better for the waistline.'

Kate grinned. ‘But of course.'

They ate in silence, pausing every so often to smile companionably or to take a sip of the wine. It started to rain lightly, bringing a rhythmic patter that seemed to enclose the house within its beat. Kate knew that she was postponing the inevitable, that the subject had to be broached at some stage, but for now welcomed the food as an excuse.

‘Want to go in the spa?' asked Angie suddenly.

Kate stared at her. ‘Are you serious?'

‘Of course I am. Come on, it'll be fun!'

‘But it's raining!'

‘So? The spa's enclosed anyway. Where's your sense of adventure?'

Kate waited a moment, half expecting Angie to renege, and then nodded reluctantly. After all, if this was what it took to relax Angie, then it would be worth it. Ten minutes later they had both changed; Angie into bathers, over which she wore a loose purple and pink striped singlet top, and Kate into a white T-shirt and black bike shorts. They brought along the bottle of wine, glasses and a towel each. Angie also carried her handbag.

‘What are you bringing that for?' asked Kate, nodding towards the bag.

‘You'll see.'

It was quite cool outside, the drumming of the rain considerably louder against the perspex roof of the enclosed area. Kate shivered. ‘You're mad.'

Angie grinned. She folded back the spa cover and then tugged it off. Warm steam rose from the surface of the water, enhanced by the chill of the early evening. Kate hung her towel over the back of a chair and then sat down on the edge of the spa and gingerly lowered one foot into the water. It was immediately enveloped within liquid warmth. She put the other one in and then sat there, sipping her wine as she watched the ripples settle.

Angie went over to the table and started rummaging through her handbag. ‘And now for our Easter present.'

‘If it's chocolate, I'm afraid I'll have to pass. I couldn't eat another thing.'

‘No, not chocolate.' Angie's voice bubbled with humour so Kate glanced over curiously just as her cousin held up a small plastic zip-lock bag about one-fifth full of what looked like dried oregano. She waved it from side to side. ‘Ta da!'

Kate's mouth fell open. ‘Is that . . .? No, it can't be.'

Angie beamed proudly. ‘Found it in Mel's old room, at the house. How long has it been since you had any of this, hey?'

Kate was finding it hard to move beyond her amazement that Angie was standing before her waving around a zip-lock bag of marijuana. ‘I didn't know Melissa was into . . . that.'

‘I don't think she is, not really. Otherwise it would never have been left there.'

Kate looked at the bag dubiously. ‘How old is it?'

‘I don't know. Couple of years, I suppose.'

‘Then how do you know it's okay?'

Angie held the bag higher and pretended to examine it. ‘Well, it doesn't have a use-by date so it must be fine. Come on, show some enthusiasm!'

‘Well, I'm sorry.' Kate shook her head and started smiling. ‘It's just that you've never given me weed as a gift before, so I was taken a little by surprise. I mean,
most
people give chocolate eggs.'

‘Huh!' Angie removed a small packet of Tally Ho cigarette papers and some matches from her handbag and then laid everything down on the cobble-stones as if playing show and tell. ‘I even stopped off and bought these. How organised am I?'

‘Scarily organised.' Kate put down her glass and reached for the bag, holding it up. She remembered the dull green-brown colour, but not the slightly yellow tinge. Or maybe that was her imagination. ‘Hmm. I suppose I'm game if you are.'

‘Excellent!' Angie topped up both glasses and then lowered her feet into the water beside Kate. She pulled a cigarette paper from the packet and laid it flat on her palm.

‘Two, Ange. You need to double it.'

‘Who's the expert then?' Angie laughed as she extracted another one and passed them both over. ‘In that case, you can roll it.'

Kate took the papers and then joined them together before opening the little bag and removing a large pinch of marijuana. She placed this on the papers and then picked out the larger bits and flicked them back into the bag, which she placed to one side. Next she started lightly rolling the papers between her fingers, until she had a thickish cylindrical shape.

‘I'm impressed,' commented Angie, watching with interest.

‘My misspent youth. Have you got a business card or something?'

‘Sure,' Angie jumped up and went over to fetch her handbag.

Kate carefully licked the glued edge of the joined papers and sealed the joint. Angie sat back down and dropped the handbag, passing over a bookseller's business card which Kate read quickly and then laughed. ‘
Mary Jane Books
? How appropriate!'

‘I thought so.'

Kate tore a strip across the card lengthwise and rolled the thin strip between her fingers, fashioning it into a coil that she then slipped into one of the open ends of the joint as a filter. She held up the finished product smugly. ‘Would you look at that?'

‘I always said you had a memory like an elephant,' said Angie, passing the matches over.

‘Here goes.' Kate held the joint in her mouth with the tips of her thumb and index finger as she lit it and inhaled deeply, the end glowing fiery red as the marijuana crackled within. The drawback shot straight down her windpipe and immediately filled her lungs to capacity. She coughed and then coughed again as smoke spewed out of her mouth and nose only to be drawn back in as she gasped helplessly.

‘So much for being impressed,' said Angie matter-of-factly, taking the joint. She put it to her mouth and took a mild, experimental puff before taking another, slightly deeper one. ‘Mmm. Try not being so greedy.'

Kate took a gulp of wine, feeling the liquid wash away the smoky residue. She gave one last barking cough and then wiped her watery eyes. ‘Great present, Ange. What's for next year? Arsenic?'

‘A bad workman always blames his tools.' Angie took another drag and closed her eyes as she held the smoke. Then she expelled it gently from her nostrils.

‘Show-off.' Kate took it from her and tried again. This time she was more restrained and felt the smoke travel sedately down to her lungs, where it wafted for a few seconds before journeying back. In a far more civilised fashion.

‘So . . . are we going to talk about it?' asked Angie, still with her eyes closed.

‘Talk about what?'

‘You know. My mother.'

Kate turned to stare at her. ‘So you
did
know.'

‘In a manner of speaking.' Angie opened her eyes again and looked at Kate. ‘But what I
don't
know is why you suddenly asked Auntie Faye about her.'

Kate took another slow drag, buying some time. ‘It wasn't exactly like that. The conversation just sort of headed in that direction. And I was curious.'

‘
Very
curious from what I hear.' Angie took the joint from Kate and flicked some ash off onto the decking. ‘Do you know, it feels a bit like you went behind my back.'

‘
I
went behind your back! How do you think
I
feel, finding out you've known for . . . well, how long
have
you known, anyway?'

Angie passed the joint back over. ‘Almost thirty years, I suppose.'

Kate froze, staring at her. ‘Thirty
years
! But that makes it –'

‘When Dad died. That's right.' Angie took a sip of wine and then reached for the little zip-lock bag. ‘I'll make another . . . whatever they're called now. Joint? Reefer? Are you feeling high yet?'

‘Not really.' Kate was aware of a slight buzzing sensation in her head, but didn't think that was the marijuana.
Thirty years!
She sucked on the joint, this time
feeling
the smoke as it permeated. Her buzz expanded and she realised she wasn't so much cross as she was curious. ‘So you went to Ballarat for Easter? To Auntie Faye's?'

Angie shook her head. ‘Not the whole of it, just Easter Sunday. I
was staying with a friend over at Bendigo but I kept thinking about something Auntie Faye said, about you, when I rang to tell her about Melissa. So I decided to pop over there and find out what was going on. You could have just asked me, you know.'

‘Okay then, I'm asking you now. Tell me about it.'

‘In a second.' Angie slipped a badly rolled joint into the bag and put it aside. Then she took another sip of her wine and clambered down into one of the spa seats, immersing her body up to the chest.

‘Shall we turn the jets on?' asked Kate, her hand hovering over the control panel.

‘Nah. Too noisy.'

Kate nodded agreeably and then took a drag before passing the last of the joint to Angie. She puffed to fire it up and then did the drawback, the end suddenly burning rapidly, right down to her finger and thumb. Angie flinched and jerked her hand back, flinging the butt into the air at the same time. It spun for a split second, sparks flying, before plummeting down into the water with a soft hiss and immediately disintegrating.

‘Pick it up!' laughed Kate, waving her feet towards the remains through the water, which immediately separated even further.

Angie grinned, reaching out to pluck some stringy, half-burnt marijuana bits from the water. She flicked them over towards the side of the spa, a spray of droplets marking their path. One piece didn't even come close to making it, instead falling back into the water only inches from Angie's still raised hand.

Kate pointed at it, her laughter building. She tried to say something sarcastic but couldn't stop laughing long enough to articulate the words. It suddenly seemed like the funniest thing she had seen for a long time.

‘Oh god,' said Angie, wiping her eyes.

Still laughing, Kate lowered herself from the side of the spa into one of the seats by Angie. The water, which had seemed warm around her feet, was gloriously hot once more of her was immersed. Kate's laughter finally started to falter into the occasional giggle as she let her arms float through the water. ‘Okay,
now
I'm hot.'

‘Who's got tickets on themselves, then?'

Kate started to laugh again but soon petered off as she remembered what they were supposed to be talking about. She looked at Angie accusingly. ‘Your mother.'

‘My mother,' repeated Angie. ‘But before I begin, let me just remind you that I'm not the only one who keeps things to themselves. So don't be a hypocrite, okay?' She paused as she glanced over at Kate's face and then took a deep breath. ‘All right then, I'll start from the beginning. And no interruptions.'

‘Stop procrastinating.'

‘I'm not. Although don't you think that word sounds dirty? Like masticating,' Angie put on a stern voice. ‘Don't know
what
I'm going to do with young Johnny. If he's not masticating, he's procrastinating. Damn kid's gonna go blind.'

‘You're doing it again.'

‘Yes, but . . .' Angie caught sight of Kate's face and her grin faded. ‘Okay, okay, I'll get started. Do you remember how I went up to live with Auntie Faye for a while after Dad died?' Angie waited for Kate to nod before continuing. ‘Well, that's when I met her. And I don't know whether it was
because
Dad was dead, or whether it would have happened sooner if I'd ever stayed with Auntie Faye before. But she always used to visit
us
. Maybe that was Dad's doing. I don't know.'

‘But why didn't you ever
tell
me?'

‘Let me finish. I'd been there a day or so and suddenly Auntie Faye says we're having company for lunch. And in comes this middle-aged couple.' Angie stopped suddenly and reached behind for her glass of wine. She took a sip and then glanced over at Kate. ‘They were so
ordinary
! Both short and plump and . . . just boring. I remember we had that bloody chicken and seafood soup and they both kept staring at me.' Angie hesitated again and took another sip of wine. ‘In fairness to him, he had this weird eye thing happening, so it probably wasn't his fault.'