Another brilliant piece from a GUNNAS WRITING MASTERCLASS writer
All the windows are down so that the January heat fuels the already escalating tension in the car. Her little sister Kath and cousin Rita talk excitedly in the back seat about the days ahead and don’t notice her mounting anger towards Steve. He squints his eyes, dragging on the cigarette in his mouth while his handiwork on the gear stick shifts the car between lanes in an edgy, rapid-fire dance that makes her catch her breath.
Slow down Steve. This isn’t fun or smart, you’re showing off. Stop it.
Hey, relax. I know what I’m doing.
Well, do it on your own. My sister’s in the car.
Steve is 19 years old and he’s supposed the be the adult amongst them, but she, five years younger feels furious with him, repelled by his brazen risk-taking. They are supposed to be family; his mother and her father are first cousins. He’s supposed to be the adult today.
He is showing off and she is not impressed. Just like she is underwhelmed when he leans on his car, smoking indifferently and he offers a wry smile to what she believes to be a great joke, recounted by her with accuracy and skill.
She finds it hard to look away from his grease-stained nails and hardened hands. She’s seen him numerous times in the mouth of the car, outside his parents’ house, head down, hands at work, back defiantly ignoring the world.
She feels his blue hooded eyes staring at her curiously sometimes. The blackened stain, like an ink teardrop above his left cheek bone is the result of a welding accident he suffered when he didn’t wear a safety helmet. It reminds her that he does not care; that he is foolhardy and dangerous. She is drawn to him and repulsed by him in equal measure.
The city shines in the morning sun behind them. Her thighs are sweating against the vinyl seat. The smell of tar and rubber fill the car while it is slow on the road, stuck between other commuters as keen to get to the beach as them. She is relieved to have a break from his sped-up, frenzied driving.
She picks up the cassette case under the tape deck and asks what The Nylon Curtain means. He shrugs his shoulders, blowing smoke out of the car window where it dissipates in the hot air. He turns the volume button so that she can’t talk to him anymore without shouting. Rita and Kath pick up on the lyrics so that by the end of the song they are singing loudly, off-key and swaying wildly in the back seat.
And we’re living here in Allentown
Steve turns the volume down and he dryly tells the girls not to give up their day jobs. She turns away so that he doesn’t see her smiling. Her sticky thighs lift off the car seat and resettle without comfort. The sun’s now on her brown, lithe thighs, highlighting the soft hairs like a field of wheat. There’s no respite from the heat, even with the windows down.
Your legs are hairy.
So? I shave the important bits. What’s it to you?
Shaving became permissible as soon as she turned 12, but only from the knee down. Her mother insisted on this arbitrary rule. She hates him even more and can’t wait to get out of the car. He is back on open road again, speeding and over-taking, speeding and over-taking without caution and with too much bravura.
Rita and Kath squeal giddily propelling themselves out of the back doors of the car after Steve parks. She waits for him to get out first, conscious of the wet patches her legs will leave behind her. The girls have already run ahead to join Rita’s parents and other cousins who have set themselves up on the beach earlier in the day. She helps him collect towels and bags from the boot of the car.
Got any new jokes, he asks her as they walk towards to the beach.
What is Bruce Lee’s favourite drink?
No idea, kid.
Wataaaaaaah!!
That ironic smile again. Why does he tease her like this. She decides not to talk to him any more for the rest of the day. She really does hate him now.
Her cousins are happy to see her. She and her sister join them every summer for a few weeks in a beach house they rent in Safety Beach. She and Kath commute from the country where they live. Steve is not always present at these family gatherings, but she was secretly excited that he would be picking them up at Spencer Street Station this time and that they would spend time together. But the drive has disconcerted her and she feels confused and upset and loses herself in the lunch preparations and sandwich making. She turns to Carmel, Rita’s sister, who is a year older than she is.
Why is your brother such a dick these days?
What do you mean ‘these days’? He’s always a dick.
He thought he was Sterling Moss on the drive down here. I thought I was going to vomit.
She had no idea who Sterling Moss was, but she had heard her mother say this about her father’s driving.
He’s just frustrated because he doesn’t have a girlfriend.
Really? He doesn’t have a girlfriend?
Well, not one he would be inclined to bring home.
She and Carmel have covered their bodies in coconut oil and are sunning themselves at the edge of the sand which is becoming sodden with the incoming tide. She notices grains of sand dotting the surface of her skin and she brushes them away. They stick to her hands defiantly.
Do you think he’s had sex?
I have no idea, but he’s pretty sure he’s had sex in his own head. Who cares anyway? Have you had sex?
Not yet, but I went with a guy at school last year. My friends dared me to kiss him which I did. Then he dropped me. But, I haven’t had sex. What about you?
Are you crazy? Do I look like I want to get pregnant?
I know, but aren’t you curious?
I want to wait for the right guy. For the guy I marry.
Ok.
Carmel gets up to dip herself into the cool water. She’s glowing red and mumbles something about heading under the umbrellas where her parents are snoozing.
I’m going for a walk. I’ll join you later, she tells her.
Her feet grip the rough edges of the rock pool while she peers into the water, spotting little crabs and necklaces of seaweed.
I heat up, I can’t cool down
You got me spinning
‘Round and ‘round
‘Round and ‘round and ‘round it goes
Where it stops nobody knows
Every time you call my name
I heat up like a burning flame
Burning flame full of desire
Kiss me baby, let the fire get higher
Abra abracadabra
I wanna reach out and grab ya
Abracadabra
Abracadabra
What are you doing?
Ow! She turns so suddenly her foot catches on the rough edges of the rocks.
Nothing. You shouldn’t creep up on people like that.
You shouldn’t act like such a weirdo.
Get stuffed.
She turns her back on him, kneeling and cupping the cool sea water to her forehead and her cheeks. He sits next to her, letting his legs dip into the rock pool. She unwinds and mirrors him slowly, losing her balance and grabbing his outstretched hand. They sit without talking, the only audible sounds their breathing, the voices of children and the unstoppable waves.