The Good Daughter (20 page)

I shouldered my backpack and left.

Brian was waiting for me at the bike-shed. ‘How did it go?'

‘Mum won't give me any money because she wants me to go back to blonde.' At Brian's blank look I elaborated. ‘It's a wog thing. They're all try-hard Anglos and only believe that hair dye should flow one way, from brown to blonde.'

‘You can always go to the party as Poison Ivy.'

I shook my head. ‘I'm not letting her win.'

‘What are you going to do?'

‘I'll wait.' I'd snuck into her purse and lifted five dollars from the Bank of Bahra this morning. Within a week or two I'd have enough.

‘But your hair.' He lifted his hand helplessly to my cap.

‘It'll keep.' I was already sick of people telling me this was a tragedy.

‘Okay,' Brian said, obviously unconvinced. We walked to the oval and met up with the rest of the group.

My disguise didn't last the first period. ‘Ms Omerovic, please remove your cap,' Mr Singh, my science teacher, commanded from the front as soon as I sat down.

‘Can I please keep it on?'

He smiled. ‘Take it off now or go to the principal's office.' He hated me because I didn't do any homework and I hated him because he was a crap teacher, so we were even. I removed my cap. Everyone gasped. ‘Perhaps if you paid more attention to science you would have had a better outcome,' Mr Singh said.

‘I was aiming for this look.' I pulled my hair out of the ponytail. The only way to win was to show no fear.

Mr Singh turned to the whiteboard.

‘What the hell did you do?' Gemma whispered loudly.

‘Nothing.'

‘Ms Omerovic if you persist in disturbing the class I will have no choice but to call your mother.'

‘She's taken,' I shot back.

There was silence for a second, before the class exploded into laughter. At lunchtime I was the eighth wonder of the world and the whole school tracked me down to check out my hair.

‘I wouldn't be caught dead like that,' Dina pronounced loudly. People in the next suburb would be over to perv soon.

‘I'm not a wuss,' I retorted. Honestly, she was the shallowest person I knew. How anyone could believe we were friends escaped me. Dina flounced off, Gemma in tow.

‘You're so brave.' Brian said. ‘I would have faked pneumonia rather than go out like that.'

I couldn't help feeling disappointed in Brian, but tried to push it away. ‘What's the big deal? It's only hair.'

‘It's more than that,' Brian got excited. ‘Hair is an expression of our individuality.'

‘It's just dead cells.' On this subject, it was clear that we'd never understand the other's point of view.

‘Perhaps the question is why you don't think it's important?' Jesse weighed in as the mediator.

‘When you have a Mum like mine, public embarrassment is a waste of emotion. When she's sick she can be like a kid and when she's healthy she's not much better, so I don't find this shit,' I waved my hand at the school, ‘important.' Staring at Brian and Jesse, I added, ‘I only care what people I respect think about me.' Jesse watched me like I'd just performed a cool trick. Our eyes locked and I had to look away.

‘You really don't care if other people like you or not…' Brian sounded incredulous.

‘Not if I don't like them.'

Brian glanced at the buildings behind us. ‘We're different.' There was such a naked look of longing on his face. ‘I'd give anything for people to think I'm cool, but they know I'm a loser.'

‘You
are
cool,' I blurted. I was already out of my depth. I sought Jesse's support, but he still had that goofy look on his face. ‘You dress nicely and your hair is always perfect.' I forged ahead anyway.

Brian smiled sadly. ‘No, you're cool, Sabiha. Because you don't give a shit about what those idiots think of you.' He walked away.

‘But—' I protested.

‘Leave him.' Jesse held my arm. ‘He needs to be alone.'

‘I didn't want to make him feel bad.'

‘He does that himself,' Jesse said emphatically. I propped myself next to him on the table. We sat in silence. Brian was always a buffer and we were hardly ever alone together, so it felt a bit weird. ‘He's right, you know,' Jesse finally said.

‘About what?'

‘You are cool.'

There was something in his eyes that made my heart speed up. ‘Thanks,' my voice came out in a whisper. His head dipped towards me. I clenched my hands tight on the table and blushed. ‘The bell's about to go.' I jumped off the table and bent to get my backpack, hiding my face. After what seemed like forever the bell rang.

Jesse jumped off too and stood so that we were almost touching. We stared at each other. ‘Saved by the bell,' he said.

Sprung
. My heart was pounding. ‘We'd better go or we'll be late,' I said.

He stepped aside and let me lead. As we made our way to our English class I was excruciatingly aware of him beside me, of our arms almost touching as we walked. I wanted to move away, but was too scared and uncomfortable.

I stopped in front of the toilets. ‘I'll meet you in class.' I hid in the stall, sitting on the toilet seat, my head in my hands. What was I going to do? Somehow I'd stuffed things up with both Brian and Jesse.

When I got to class the teacher was writing on the whiteboard. ‘Sorry,' I muttered to Miss Partridge as I passed. Oddly, she smiled back at me, instead of reprimanding me. I sat next to Jesse and avoided looking at him.

‘As you all know the
St Albans News
has been running a weekly feature publishing articles from each school in the district,' Miss Partridge announced. ‘It is with great pleasure that I congratulate two of our very own students, Sabiha Omerovic and Jesse James.' The class clapped as Miss Partridge handed us a copy of the newspaper.

I flipped through the paper and found our articles on page thirteen. ‘We did it!' I exclaimed. We'd handed in our articles, but the newspaper hadn't notified us that we would be published. I wriggled with joy then gave Jesse a hug. His hands moved to my waist and he pulled me against him. When his body pressed against mine I gasped and met his gaze.

‘Congratulations.' He leaned down and brushed his lips against my cheek.

‘To you too,' I whispered, letting go.

His hands moved from my waist slowly, a lingering caress through my T-shirt.

After class, I packed up my bag, my whole body off-centre, my head floating separate from my body. I snatched glances at Jesse who was surrounded by students congratulating him. He caught me looking and smiled at me. I nodded and rushed to the bike-shed. I unlocked the padlock in record time and only after I'd wheeled the bike off the school grounds did I feel I could breathe properly.

I didn't know what was happening between Jesse and me, but I didn't like it. We were friends and had to stay that way. Friendships were thin on the ground and I couldn't jeopardise them with pointless flirting.

When I got home my legs trembled from the pedalling. ‘Mum,' I yelled as I burst through the back door.

Mum ran from the living room. ‘What's wrong?'

‘I got published!' I handed her the newspaper. ‘Read it, read it!' I jumped around her.

‘What's the noise?' Dido came into the kitchen, Safet beside him.

Mum opened the page and held it up for him to see. ‘Sabiha got published in the newspaper.'

‘Good, good,' Dido said.

‘What did you write about?' Safet asked.

‘About the building of the mosque.'

‘Congratulations,' he said.

‘I'm very proud of you,' Mum said as she hugged me. I followed her into the living room. While they drank their coffee I sat on the floor and watched TV. ‘I'll frame the article so everyone can see when they come to visit,' Mum added.

‘I'll take a copy to the mosque tomorrow,' Dido said. ‘Show everyone how my grand-daughter is promoting Bosnians.'

I smiled. The phone rang and I picked it up. ‘Dido, it's Adnan for you.' I held out the phone.

Dido hung up after a few seconds. ‘Put it on “The Price is Right”,' he demanded.

I switched channels. ‘What's going on?'

‘Adnan's on TV.' Dido peered at the screen.

‘Typical,' I muttered.

We all watched the television in silence. He was the third guest to get a chance to compete for the prize. ‘We hear you've led an interesting life,' the host asked. ‘Your family came to Australia from Bosnia?'

‘Yes, Larry,' Adnan spoke into the microphone. ‘My family had to leave Bosnia as refugees and we came here when I was a child. We lost our house and everything. Neither of my parents could get jobs in their field here and now work as cleaners to put me through school.'

‘What would you like to win?' Larry asked.

‘A car, of course.' Adnan grinned into the camera.

‘I think we can help with that.' Larry gave him a cheeky smile.

‘That's right, Larry,' the voiceover guy broke in. ‘Adnan you're playing for a new car.' The camera panned to a shiny blue car. A model in a sparkly gold dress waved her arm and flashed her teeth.

‘We're playing the grocery game.' Another model stood behind a fake cash register. There were five items on a stand. A packet of Edgell frozen peas, a Cadbury chocolate tray, a can of Friskies cat food, Impulse deodorant, and a can of Heinz baked beans. ‘To play this game, Adnan, you can buy any of these items, but you need to spend a minimum of $10.00 and no more than $10.50,' the host explained. The figures appeared on the register just in case we didn't understand the sophisticated maths. ‘If you succeed, the car is yours! And what a prize it is.'

The studio audience went crazy, yelling at Adnan and exhorting him to buy their lucky combinations of items. He didn't look at the audience. ‘The chocolate, please,' Adnan said coolly. The model rang it up. The register flashed $6.50 on the display screen. ‘Deodorant.' The register flashed $8.55. ‘Cat food.'

The register hit $10.05 and the theme music played. ‘Congratulations Adnan. You've won yourself a car.' Bits of confetti fell from the ceiling. The model in the gold dress led Adnan to the driver's seat of the car. The camera moved to a close-up of him. ‘Adnan will be competing for the chance to win the showcase on the other side of this commercial break.'

As usual that bastard had outdone me.

‘Look at what my grandson did!' Dido shouted. He tried calling Auntie Zehra, but their phone was engaged.

I groaned. How big would his head be now…After the break he and the woman who won a holiday stood behind two desks.

‘The showcase you're competing for is valued at between $52,000 and $53,000. The person who guesses the closest amount receives the showcase.' The host opened an envelope and read the amount, which then appeared on the screen for the viewers to see.

Adnan and the woman took turns guessing the price of the showcase, while the host indicated if it was higher or lower. I sat on the floor biting my knees as Adnan inched closer to the correct price. ‘Please, please,' I prayed. ‘Please don't let him win.' When Adnan missed out by $10 to the woman, I sighed my relief, while Dido and Mum shouted their disappointment. ‘Thank you,' I whispered.

The phone rang and Dido answered. A big grin broke out on his face. ‘That's my grandson Adnan. The movie star of our family. He's going to do well for himself.'

I folded up the newspaper with my article in it and went to my bedroom. The phone rang all night and Dido kept answering, his voice full of joy as he expounded on his grandson's qualities.

At school the next day Adnan was greeted like a celebrity. ‘They taped it a month ago and I was waiting for the episode to air,' he explained.

‘You were so lucky,' Dina said.

‘Luck had nothing to do with it,' Adnan said. ‘I went three times before I was picked to appear as a contestant. It took me that long to figure out how the system works.'

‘What system?' Brian asked.

‘They want people who have an interesting story. One time I told them I was an orphan, but I think that was too sad for them, so I pulled it back a bit.'

‘You deceived people,' I said.

Adnan lifted an eyebrow. ‘I gave people a story they wanted to hear.'

A mob gathered around him. Everyone wanted to touch him as if his good luck would rub off. I grabbed my backpack and left. Someone called my name and I turned to see Jesse running towards me.

‘Was your mum happy about the article?' he asked.

‘For a whole five seconds, until Adnan the star made his debut appearance.'

‘They're all hoping they'll get a ride from him.' He glanced over his shoulder and so did I. The crowd grew. ‘Once they realise there's nothing in it for them they'll back off. There's no way Adnan will spoil his car with that rabble in it.'

‘So, was your family happy about the article?' I asked.

‘My sister got me a cake. It was all right.'

‘That's so kind,' my voice was high-pitched as I tried to cover up the thickness in my throat.

‘There's light at the end of the tunnel,' Jesse said.

‘What?'

‘No one will be talking about your hair any more.'

Jesse and I had lunch under the elm tree in front of the car park. It was the first time we'd properly hung out together. We talked about books we liked and shared opinions on storylines of our favourite TV shows. ‘Why is this the first time it's been only the two of us?'

Jesse carefully peeled back the Gladwrap from the other half of his sandwich. ‘I got the feeling that you wanted to be alone with Brian.'

I winced. ‘Brian and I are just friends,' I exclaimed, putting my sandwich down. ‘Nothing more.' I put my hand on his arm.