Discovering Stella (18 page)

He
leaned forward and rested
on
his arms. “Why?”

“Because I got too close and because she really fucking likes me
too,”
I said,
trying
my
best to hide the disappointment I felt.
“She’s
too scared to take a chance.”

“Why is she scared?”

Holding
my
glass in
front
of me while leaning
on my
elbows, I swirled the remainder of
my
drink before pouring
it
down
my
throat.
“I
don’t
know exactly.
But
I need to lay off
for
a while.
Give
her
some
space.”

“I
don’t
like this,” he said, snatching up
my
glass.
“I
wish
you’d
just tell me what
she’s
hiding.”

“Listen, I
can’t.
I
can’t
betray
her
confidence like that. And I
don’t
blame
you
for
not
liking it,
but
we got no choice. And to be honest, I
don’t
entirely know what
it
is
she’s
hiding.”

Todd
paused, appearing to decide whether
or not
to pour me another drink.
“Where’s
your truck?
You’re
not
driving
home,
are you?”

I smirked.
Todd
was a good
guy.
Good enough
for my
sister,
not
that she’d let me have a say in the matter. Regardless, I was glad
someone
like him was looking
out for
her
when I
couldn’t.
“I’m
not
going
home.
I’ll sleep at the workshop tonight, so I’ll walk,” I explained, indicating he should keep them coming.

He
shook his head and rolled his eyes.
“Wimp.”

“Fuck
off. I like sleeping at the
shop.
And anyway, I have to be there first thing
for
a
delivery.”

“Fair enough.
So
...
without you
telling
me what
exactly hap
pened
at
the
river,
do
I
need
to
give
her
a call and
check
up
on
her?”

“Yeah.
Probably
a good idea. Make sure she got
home
all
right.
Her
foot was still
sore.”
The thought of Stella hobbling painfully through the bushland triggered a wave of guilt to pass though me.
Fucking arsehole.
You
should’ve at least convinced her to let you drive her home. Shit, you could’ve fucking carried her if you had to.

 
“All
right, I’ll give
her
a
call
in a minute.
But
first, if
you’re
gonna be sucking them down
all
afternoon and night,
you
need
to
eat,”
he nagged, frisbeeing me a
menu.

I caught
it
and
put it
down, knowing what I wanted to
order.
“Tell
Buck I want a parma and chips and
some
of that cheesy cauliflower shit he makes. Lots of
it.”

Todd
chuckled and headed
out
the back. “Sure thing.”

*
 
*
 
*

In the
hours
that
followed,
the
pub
quickly filled with locals.
Sun
day night was
one
of
the
busiest
nights.
It
was the
end
of
the
week
end
and
Bone
Dry
would
always
play
a
couple
of
sets. Leigh,
plus
Jack
and
Dave
— the two
other
members
of
the band —
were
setting
up
in
preparation
when Vicky
walked in.
Can this day
get
any worse?

“No
trouble, Lawson. I mean
it,”
Todd
warned, knowing I was
not
in the mood to be dealing with
her.

“Just
keep
her
the fuck away from me and
we’re
cool,”
I said,
bitterly.

He
indicated I
lift
my
glass so that he could wipe the bar
top.
“Yeah,
well
it’s
a
bit
late
for
that.
She’s
heading your way right
now.”
Fuck!

“Hi,
Todd.
I’ll have a rum and Coke,
please,”
she stated con
fidently,
taking
up the seat beside me.
Her
evil
voice
and sheer presence made
my
skin crawl.

“Fuck off,
Vic,”
I said
as
politely
as
I could, refusing to break the fixed stare I had
on my
glass.

She
laughed,
but
I could tell I’d hurt
her
feelings —
not
that I really cared.
She
hadn’t
been too concerned about mine when
her
mouth was wrapped around Leigh’s dick.

“Hey,
what’s
with the crankypants?” she said in a mock-child- like
tone
of
voice.

I spun my stool around so that I could face the room, catching a shit-eating grin from Leigh, a grin I wanted nothing
more
than
to wipe off his face.

“None
of your business.
I’m
no longer your concern. The sooner you get that through your head, the
better.”

Pushing off from
my stool,
I left
her
at the bar to
opt
in
on
a game of pool with
some
of the local retirees — they were much better
company.

“Larry,
you
still here?” I gave the
old
dude a slap
on
the back. “Doris is gonna be
one
unhappy
lady,
you
know?”

He
chuckled
happily. “Nah, s
he’ll be so busy knitting
for
the great-grandkids, she
won’t
even notice
I’m
not
there.”

 
“Sure,
you
keep telling yourself that,
old man.”
Pulling a two-dollar coin from
my
pocket, I placed
it
down
on
the edge of the pool table, indicating I wanted to play the winner in the next game. “So, which
one
of
you
blokes
am
I going to beat?” I teased.

“Always
the little smartarse,” Don piped in. “When
you
gonna grow up and get yourself a decent woman? Make your ma
proud
to look down
upon
you.”

I raised
my
eyebrow at the cheeky
old-timer.
Despite him mentioning Mum and whether
or not
she’d be
proud
of me, Don was harmless.

Just
as
I was about to answer,
Larry
jumped to
my
defence. “Steady
on,
Don. Lawson has found a new lady friend,
haven’t
you, Lawson?”

“I
have?” I questioned with a curious smile.

“Yes,
that pretty little brunette.
Todd’s
sister,
or
was
it
his cousin?
What’s
her
name?”
He
clicked his fingers a
couple
of times. “Stella.
Yes,
Stella.” He
nodded with pride.

“Well,
fuck me. That sure
as
hell
didn’t
take
you
long,”
Leigh added, stepping up beside me and placing his hand
on
my
shoul
der.
“Nice
piece of arse that Stella
is.”

Don looked up from his
bent-over
position
at the table, pausing before
taking
his shot.
“Watch
your
mouth,
son,”
he warned.
“That’s
no way to
talk
about a
lady.”

“You’ve
got
exactly
zero seconds to
remove
your
arm,
Leigh,”
I
said
calmly,
despite
calm
being
the
furthest
from
what
I was
feeling.

Leigh dropped his arm and swigged his
stubby.
“Jeez, ease
up.
And
don’t
you
go acting high-and-mighty with me, Don.
You’ve
got the filthiest mouth in this
joint.”

I laughed, nearly choking
on
my
beer
as
I took a drink. “I’d say that award goes to
Vicky.”

Larry’s eyes widened
as
did
Don’s,
but
Leigh’s remained steadfast
on
mine. “Let
it
go, mate.
What’s done
is
done.”

“I’m
not
your fucking
mate,”
I said angrily, turning to face him. “Mates
don’t
screw their mates’ girlfriends.”

“How
many times do I have to tell you? I was off
my
fucking face. I thought she was
some groupie chick,”
he
bit
back.

Todd
appeared, stupidly placing himself in between Leigh and me. “Is there a
problem
here?”

I
didn’t
answer, because, truth be
told,
I
didn’t
know if there was a
problem or
not. On
one
hand, I could easily
shove
Todd
out
of the way and pummel
my
fists
into
Leigh’s face;
on
the
other,
I could just
as
easily
walk
out,
go back to the workshop and pass
out on my
couch. Either
way,
I was
happy.

“All
good,
Toddy boy.
Lawson and me were just catchin’
up.”

Todd
turned to face Leigh and got right up in his grill.
“Don’t
fucking patronise me. I
don’t
want any trouble,
you
hear?”

“Loud and
clear,”
Leigh answered, flaring his eyes and smiling sadistically.

Todd
turned and gave me a
keep-your-fucking-cool-he’s-not-
worth-it look. I nodded
my
understanding before he began heading back to the bar.

“Hey,
Todd,
where’s
that hot-as-fuck sister of yours tonight?”

That fucking does it.

In less
than
a few seconds, I managed to cover the pool table in
beer,
give Leigh a bloody nose and
broken
tooth, and cause
some
serious damage to
my
hand. The fight that then
broke
out
had Leigh and me
on
the
floor,
me straddling the fucker, Don and
Larry
cheering me
on,
Todd
shouting
for
us to ‘break
it
up
or
take
it outside’
and me sporting a
sore
fucking eye.