The Mission (7 page)

Tasha paused as she reached for the car keys. ‘Are you sick?’ she joked.

‘Ha ha.’ Jaz smirked.

Tasha cast her eyes over Jaz’s shirt and then shrugged, as if giving up over her daughter’s choice of attire. Jaz preferred Adidas, Lonsdale and the Bad Boy MMA clothes to her mum’s preference of Lisa Ho and Alex Perry.

‘Dad’s at work but we’ll be back this afternoon.’ Then Tasha put on the biggest pair of Gucci sunglasses Jaz had ever seen and walked out the door, calling for Simon. They hid half her face, they were that big.

Simon came running down the stairs. ‘Hi, sis, bye, sis,’ he said as he ran past.

‘Hey, what are you going to get?’ she asked him as he paused by the door. That was the most running she’d seen Simon do in the last month. He may have tended toward the computer geek, like his dad Paul, but Simon also had Jaz’s coordination. He could play sports, was quite good at it, just chose not to. It was a waste. But Simon did adhere to their mum’s fashion tastes, which was evident with his designer jeans, polo shirt and expensive leather shoes.

‘The new Final Fantasy game is out, and the latest iPhone.’ He shot her a grin like he’d just won the lottery. ‘You want anything?’

‘Actually, can you get me a skateboard?’

Simon screwed his face up. ‘Say what? Punching people isn’t enough, now you want to hurt yourself on a skateboard,’ he teased.

‘Ha ha. Just go and ask for one that would suit me, please? I don’t care what it looks like, just as long as it’s a good one. Okay?’ Jaz hoped Simon didn’t bring back some pink or fluoro one. But it didn’t really matter. It was just an idea that had occurred to her, a way to get closer to Marcus. She didn’t want to look like a complete fool on a skateboard, so practice she must.

‘Righto sis. I’m sure I can manage that.’

‘Thanks Si.’ As her half brother left the house, Jaz felt the warmth of love for her brother. He was a good kid. It made her think of his twin sister Becky and how much different life would be if she had survived. Would she have been more like Jaz or like Simon? Knowing she would be visiting her grave soon made her feel sad and wistful.

‘Back to work,’ she said to herself. She grabbed a Coke from the fridge and a chocolate bar from her mum’s secret stash behind the flour tin in the pantry, before heading up to her room.

Automatically she begun to put away the folded clean clothes her mum had left on her bed. Her room was no longer a cave of darkness and mess. Now she loved leaving her heavy dark purple curtains open, letting the light fill her large room. The carpets and walls were grey and the room was accentuated with deep purples and black. She’d realised, after seeing Ryan’s spotless organised home, that if she wanted to be treated like an adult then she had to behave like one. Her messy room had been the first thing to fix.

Jaz put her Coke and snack on her study desk and caught her reflection in the full-length mirror. Marcus’s shirt looked good on her. She lifted the material up so she could smell the earthy male scent. Spending time with Marcus would be good. It would keep her mind off missing Ryan. Closing her eyes, she inhaled one last time before taking the shirt off and finding Ryan’s jumper, which she still had. It no longer smelt like him and had been washed many times, but it was as close to him as she could get.

‘Okay, where did I leave that book?’ Pulling open the drawer of the study desk, she found the copy of the
Vampire Academy
that James had given her. Then, with a piece of paper and a pen, she began the long task of recording today’s events for her boss. She knew the basics of what she wanted to say. ‘Have made contact with target. Have phone number and will meet again soon.’ Only it wasn’t that easy to find those words in the book. At times, Jaz forgot she was looking for a certain word and found herself actually reading the book, getting totally swept up in Rose and Lissa’s story. Who knew searching for words like ‘contact’ and ‘target’ would take so long?

Next time she caught up with James she’d have to ask if they could switch to an ebook. Then she could just search for the word she needed and ‘boom’ there would be the page number. It would save them both heaps of time.

Jaz heard voices from downstairs and was surprised to see it was well after lunch. Her stomach groaned as if to remind her food was needed to function. She’d just been so engrossed in her task.

Putting her note into her book, she slipped downstairs. ‘Hey, did anyone bring back any food?’ she asked. Jaz started looking through the bags full of shopping, hoping to find something edible.

Tasha pulled out a bacon and cheese twist roll from a bag. ‘How did I know you’d be hungry?’ she said. ‘Please use a knife and not pick at it like a barbarian.’

Jaz was just about to pull apart a handful of the roll but quickly put it on the chopping board.

‘Here sis, will this do? S’posed to be top notch.’ Simon lifted up a skateboard. It was red and black underneath, with the word Habitat in the design.

‘Cool, cheers, bro. I like that.’ Jaz took it off him and spun one of the wheels. ‘Now I just have to figure out how to ride it.’

‘Why on earth would you want a skateboard?’ her mum asked.

Jaz shrugged. ‘Just saw some kids with one and it looked like fun. I could get to The Ring faster on it too, especially seeing as someone won’t help me buy a car,’ said Jaz, with a big dramatic eye roll.

She was about to tell her mum that she had a job and could buy her own car soon but she stopped, remembering that Pax said not to mention her job just yet and to say he was paying her now. ‘Besides, Pax is paying me at The Ring. I’m in a more permanent role, so I’ll have a car before too long.’

Tasha’s frown lines appeared.

‘Come on, Mum. You can’t keep me off the road forever. I’ll be an adult soon and you won’t have any say.’

‘I know, Jaz. I know.’ Tasha put her hand to her forehead as if she was getting a headache. ‘I’ll talk to your dad tonight and see what we can do to help. I like that you are saving for your own car, but I would still prefer to help you get something that is reliable and safe.’

Jaz groaned. ‘Please not a Volvo.’ Simon burst out laughing.

Jaz grabbed her bit of bread, shoving in a mouthful as she went outside with her new skateboard. She’d have a bit of a practice before she headed to the cemetery. Maybe Taylor would come and drive her, save her taking the bus.

Just as she was about to stand on the skateboard, she felt eyes on her back. ‘What do you want?’ she asked Simon.

‘Seeing if you stack it. Maybe I should have got you a helmet and knee pads too,’ he said with a smirk.

‘Bugger off, Si,’ she said, teasingly. Finishing the last of her bread, she pushed off the ground and rolled along on the board. Simon got bored of watching after five minutes, especially since she hadn’t stacked it, and went back inside.

With him gone, she attempted that thing she’d seen Marcus do and quickly realised it took a lot of skill to get the board off the ground, let alone as high as he had. Maybe she should watch a few YouTube ‘how to’ clips. That could be her job tomorrow.

After putting the skateboard in her room by the door, she texted Taylor and asked him if he was busy. His reply was instant.

Nup.

Cool. Can you give me a ride to the cemetery pls?

Sure. C U in 5

Jaz pulled out one of the fake plastic hydrangeas in a vase on her desk. She’d brought them from a shop a few days ago. They had a stem perfect for hiding a note in.

Jaz pulled out the coded message hidden in her book and rolled it up tightly. She slid it into the fake flower stem and plugged the end. When Taylor turned up and honked his horn, Jaz was still sitting there looking at the flower. So many things running through her mind. The message, her job and, most of all, going to the cemetery to see her sister. The last time she’d been was with her parents for Becky and Simon’s tenth birthday. It was a milestone and he’d wanted to celebrate with Becky. That was going close on five years ago now.

Shaking herself from her daze, she headed downstairs. Simon was in the kitchen raiding the same chocolate stash she had earlier on. He looked like a kid caught stealing, guilt all over his face. Simon never was good at lying or being bad. Jaz chose to ignore an opportune time to tease him. ‘Can you let Mum know I’m off with Taylor for a drive? Be back later.’

Without waiting for him to answer, she pushed through the large French doors to the side driveway where Taylor was waiting.

‘Hey you.’

‘Hey yourself,’ she replied.

Jaz put on her sunnies and slid onto the front leather seat.

‘Nice flower,’ he said as he reversed out of the driveway. ‘For Becky?’ he asked.

Jaz nodded as she touched the soft blue petals. ‘Yeah, it’s been a while.’

He didn’t say anything but Jaz could feel Taylor was wondering ‘why now?’

They drove in silence, radio playing in the background and the breeze blowing in through their open windows on the warm afternoon Saturday.

‘I just got a skateboard,’ she said, out of the blue. ‘Have you ever tried it?’

Taylor turned to her at the red light and gave her a look as if to say ‘who are you?’ ‘No. Guns are my thing, remember?’ he said with a smile.

Jaz laughed. ‘You’re a guy, I just thought you might have done it at some stage.’

‘Gee, thanks, Jaz. You just made that sound like you were asking about my sex life.’ They both cracked up and were still joking about it when he pulled into the cemetery.

Taylor turned off the car. ‘Remember where she is?’ he asked.

‘I think so. I’m sure I can find her.’

‘You want me to stay here?’

She shook her head. ‘No, I’d like you to come. Please,’ she added.

The first time back to see Becky she wanted company, and her note was already hidden. Later, when she would be picking up a message, she’d go alone, but for now, she was grateful for Taylor’s presence.

Jaz took the path that she remembered, letting her memory guide her. She passed the gardener who was trimming some of the lawn and tending to a flowerbed. ‘Do you think he finds this job lonely, or do you think all these people keep him company?’ she whispered to Taylor.

‘Who knows? To me it feels eerily quiet and a little creepy, but I can’t say I go to cemeteries a lot. The last time I was here was for Mum.’

Jaz nodded as they came to stop by Becky’s grave. Taylor’s mum had passed away four years ago. ‘I’m sorry, I didn’t think to ask if this would be hard for you.’ She reached for his hand as they stared at the large headstone. It was big for such a tiny grave.

Taylor squeezed her hand. ‘Maybe we could go to Mum’s next?’

‘Of course, Tay.’ She gave him a smile before letting his hand go and stepping towards Becky’s grave. There was a little vase at the base, incorporated into the headstone. Jaz put in the flower and said a silent hello. How much different would their life be if Becky had lived? There were enough people dying from disease and medical conditions, let alone from man-made deaths like drugs and gang wars. Jaz hoped that her message inside the flower would some how be the start of something amazing. Something to be proud of and something that would help many others. She couldn’t save Becky from her fate, or Taylor’s mum, but she could certainly try her best to save others.

‘See you next time, Becky. I’ll be back,’ she said before turning to Taylor. ‘Come on, let’s go visit your mum.’

It was Tuesday afternoon and school was nearly over for another day. Jaz lent her arm on her desk and flinched as her grazed elbow connected with it. Damn skateboard. She much preferred fighting; bruises didn’t bleed and scab.

Jaz had been toying with the idea of texting Marcus, not wanting to leave it too long in case he forgot her, when she felt her phone vibrate in class. They were supposed to be using the last ten minutes to finish their essay but Jaz couldn’t concentrate. Luckily her teacher was working back through her notes, so while her head was down she slipped her phone out of her pocket and read her message.

I’m hoping you haven’t lost my lucky shirt?

Jaz felt a grin spread across her face as she realised it was Marcus. He may be her target but she found herself keen to catch up with him again.

With a glance at her teacher, she typed out a reply.

What lucky shirt? Do I know you?

She waited half a second before sending another message.

Haha just kidding. Can you afford the ransom price???

Depends what it is? Where r u now?

At school for the next few minutes.

Me too. What class?

English. ZZZZ

LOL Better than calculus. Wanna meet & talk terms of ransom price?

The siren went, and Jaz hurried to stash her things away in her bag and rush out the door with her classmates, like fish escaping a torn net. Jaz leaned against a wall, as students filtered out the hallway to the exit, to continue texting.

Sure, why not.

Cottesloe Arch Monument, it’s by the car park. Meet you in 20? I’ll bring coffee.

Sweet.

‘Why are you smiling like that?’