Brother

Not much ever happened in Flame Tree Bay. It was the quintessential country town with one road in and one road out. Vineyards and rolling green paddocks surrounded our population of a thousand, with herds of black and white cattle always by the road to welcome you back or say goodbye. Drive ten minutes south, you’d find yourself at the beach with the Indian Ocean at your feet and if you went four hours north, you’d find yourself in the big city.

If you didn’t farm, you were a part of the tourism industry and for my friends and I, getting out and moving north was the main goal. I loved the Bay, but knew I wasn’t supposed to stay here forever. Just like the tourists that come and go during the summer.

“Honey, have you seen the ad Mrs Johns put up in her window yesterday? You know it will guarantee you work in the peak season!” Mum swooped the second I entered the kitchen for breakfast.

Summer jobs were big business around here. If you got in early enough, you could get something easy that paid well like a cushy retail job with Mrs Johns. The only time people went into her clothing store was during the winter months when the prices weren’t hitched up to match the tourist season. If you left the job search too late, you’d be stuck working in one of the restaurants or cafes where you really earned your money thanks to long hours and rude out of towners.

“Isn’t Jasmine guaranteed that?” Favoritism also ran riot amongst the locals and Jasmine Baker had a lot to thank her Mayor mother for.

“No love, she’s out of here until November. She left last weekend on that Europe trip!”

How could I have forgotten? It’s all anyone had been able to talk about for weeks. While we were dealing with a winter cold that hadn’t moved on, even though Spring took over the calendar, she was going to be enjoying the last of the European summer.

“Oh that’s right! Yeah, maybe I’ll put in an application then.”

The front door slammed shut and heavy steps had the old wooden floorboards of our hallway creaking as my brother Danny came in. “What are you applying for?”

He didn’t look at either of us, going straight to the fridge and grabbing the bottle of juice, Mum groaned as he took a gulp. “Come on Dan, I raised you better than that!”

“Whatever.” He retorted, proceeding to burp loudly. “What are you applying for?”

It was more an order than a question and sometimes even I find it hard to imagine that we’re not only related, but twins. We had the same dark hair; inherited from our dad, but that was about as far as any resemblance went.

“Since you asked so nicely, Mrs. Johns shop is hiring for Summer. Are you going to pick up that apprenticeship Baz has at the garage?” I carried on eating my cereal, not letting his attitude bother me.

The only thing that Danny showed any interest in was cars and Baz had always supported my brother with this. The fact Danny’s best friend was also Baz’s son probably helped. Thanks to his lack of social skills and respect for his elders, few of the locals were willing to take a chance on Danny.

“We talked.” He answered roughly, and as he came by me, the distinct smell of pot hung off his clothes. Mum was going to flip if she got a whiff of that.

“Talked? Danny, why didn’t you say anything?” The second she left her place by the toaster her face scrunched up in disgust. “What is that smell?”

He sniffed his jumper and shrugged, “Laters.”

“Were you out all night?” Mum chased after him and the argument that was bound to follow was no surprise. Instantly she bombarded him with questions that we had all heard a hundred times before.

Where were you?

What did I tell you about going out on a school night?

Danny, answer me!

Why are you going to bed, you have school in an hour!

“School will be there tomorrow, get off my case!” The slamming of his bedroom door came from upstairs and I glanced up at the ceiling where the chaos went on above me. A few minutes later, Mum returned looking beyond stressed.

“Mum, he-”

“Don’t Sarah.” She put her coffee cup in the sink and walked out, still talking as if I was following her. “I’ll be home before you today, we’re having dinner as a family. Make sure he is here!”

He was Danny and family dinners never ended well. Dad would yell, Mum would get upset, Danny ended up storming out and I was the one left doing the dishes. Apart from that, our family wasn’t anything out of the ordinary. Dad was an electrician and serviced the majority of the south. Mum worked at a local hotel as head chef, which had her doing long, random shifts, and Danny and I were in our final year of high school.

We lived comfortably, if not a little modestly two streets back from the ocean. From the outside, our home wasn’t overly impressive; just a standard two-storey beach shack in desperate need of a make over, much like what the rest of the street was filled with. If you climbed onto the roof you could see the water or the fireworks when the Spring Festival was on, but my favourite thing about our house was the white picket fence I helped dad put up two summers ago. Mum had planted roses all along it and I couldn’t wait to see them in full bloom again.

Half an hour later I headed upstairs, carrying the mug full of coffee as if it was some kind of precious cargo. Stopping in front of Danny’s door, I knocked once before going in. Loud snores greeted me and shaking my head I navigated my way over to the bed, stepping over shoes, clothes and who knows what else that had been thrown all across his floor.

Pushing away empty coke bottles and red bull cans, I sat the coffee on the bedside table and opened the curtains. The snoring stopped, a raspy cough taking it’s place as Danny slowly woke up.

“Why do you do this to me?” He groaned, putting the pillow over his head.

“Because I’m your sister and you’ve scared our mother off to work early.” I snapped back, going over to his bed I pulled off the doona that he had wrapped around himself and waited for his attack.

“Fuck. Off. Sarah!” He kicks his legs out reminding me more of a three year old chucking a tantrum than a seventeen year old.

“No. Get your ass in the shower. If you want to sit in Paul’s shed smoking pot and I dunno, watching porn all night, fine. But it’s Monday and we leave in twenty minutes.” I sound like mum now, always nagging him.

“I’m not going to school.”

“Yeah, you are!”

The yes, no argument lasts for another five minutes before he gets up and dramatically throws his pillow at me. I catch it, launching it back as he reaches for the coffee.

“I’m not like you, I hate school!” He mumbles, but at least he is up. “All those judgmental fucks.”

“I don’t exactly love it either Dan. What if you suddenly decide what you want to do next year and it all revolves around you getting to graduation? Exams start in like three weeks, don’t ruin your life because like for the majority of teenagers, high school sucks.”

“Whatever.”

He walks out and thankfully it’s to the bathroom. I give him some space and sure enough he comes down freshly showered and in new, clean clothes.

“So you driving again?” Danny points to the keys in my hands and I don’t bother answering.

Because of Danny abusing what rights we had to use the spare car before school holidays we had to go back to catching the bus. Thankfully Dad had gotten over it in time for the final term because I don’t think I could handle that bus anymore.

Since our town is one of the smallest along the coast, we have to travel half hour to the next one over where the high school is located. Due to the growth in population we finally had the lower grades moved out to their own primary school last year, but it didn’t change the fact we still had to make the journey.

We don’t talk during the drive as Danny gets in a few extra minutes of sleep instead and once I’ve parked the car, I slap him across the chest to wake him up. With a groan he rubs his eyes and looking around in a daze, sighs before getting out. Instantly it’s as if we don’t know each other and Danny pushes past me as he rounds the car.

“Yeah, bye!” I call out sarcastically, rolling my eyes.

“Guess what?” Rachelle greets, scaring the life out of me as she sneaks up from behind.

“Whenever you start a Monday morning off with that, I’m almost scared to ask.” As much as I love her, my best friend had a way of finding out all kinds of gossip; especially that kind you don’t want to know.

She ignores me and continues her rambling. “So you know how Dad said they sold the old Millington property last month? Well he was talking to Mum this morning and apparently he had to go out there to get something signed by the new owners now they’ve moved in. The guy has three boys. Two of which are starting at school today!”

New kids, well in particular new guys, are always a big deal. We all grew up together and in a town where everyone knows everyone and their business, dating isn’t really high on the priority list around here. So two new guys at school definitely explained why she was bouncing along beside me and had her voice at such a high pitch, only dogs could hear it.

That said, I’m instantly looking around for anyone who looks out of place. They would have to be in our year for her to be so excited, or at least one of them had to be.

“Looking for something?” She teases.

“Anyone seen them yet?” I ask, ignoring her last comment.

Rachelle only smiles, before shaking her head. Her long black ponytail sways from side to side with the movement. “Nope!”

We make our way to our first class and take our seats in the middle of the room. In a strange turn of events, everyone avoids the back as the teachers like to make sure you’re paying attention by subjecting you to the hardest of questions pop quiz style. In the front rows, they can typically see what you’re doing and so the middle is neutral ground.

By the end of the class, we know the new kids aren’t in our history class. They’re also not in biology in the period that follows and by lunch, I’m beginning to think Rachelle got her information wrong. It wouldn’t be the first time.

“So I was just in gym,” Becky takes her seat at our table, out of breath and a slight hint of pink on her dark cheeks. She either actually participated in gym class today or ran here. “And you’re not going to believe what I saw!”

She ran here, and instantly Rachelle buys into our friends gossip. Becky smirks, taking a deep breath before getting out her bottle of water. “Sarah, you didn’t tell us Danny had made some new friends!”

I freeze. Rachelle gasps, punching my upper arm, hard, and the other trio of our group sit down in time to see our reaction.

“Explain!” Helena demands, dropping beside me.

“Yeah, she looks like she saw a ghost, or at least Mr Taylors g-string,” Peta points at me and the others laugh at her joke about our chemistry teacher and his, underwear preferences, “and Rach, don’t leave your mouth open like that. You’re supposed to be a lady!”

Wendi says nothing, but she rarely does.

“Sarah was about to tell us about Danny’s new friends!” Becky grins.

All eyes turn to me. “I don’t know, you know he doesn’t even acknowledge my existence here unless it’s to copy our math homework or if he needs money for lunch!”

“Maybe you need to change that and go find- oh my god! Here they come!” Peta practically screamed, ducking down behind me as Danny and his friends looked our way.

“I agree. Go Sarah! Please!” Rachelle begged.

They looked like trouble. Danny was the closest thing to a juvenile delinquent Flame Tree Bay had, but there was something about these guys, that told you stay away. To my horror, they all came over.

“I need lunch. Got money?” Danny snapped, ignoring the girls who despite fearing him like the majority of the school all had ridiculous crushes on the bad boy. Well that bad boy liked to steal my pink snuggy on cold nights when watching TV and had a phobia of bunnies.

“Maybe if you hadn’t-”

“Sar, come on. I’m hungry!” He groaned. Had he not been ‘with his boys’, he would have had the manners to say please, thank you and hello.

It was then I noticed one of the new guys looking at me and the fact he had the curling tip of a tattoo coming up from the collar of his school jumper startled me. You had to be eighteen to get a tattoo, and this boy looked barely fifteen.

“Who are your friends?” I ask with a bit of attitude.

Danny is hating this, I can feel his frustration. With her back to the group of guys, Rachelle winks at me, clearly appreciating my efforts.

“They’re the Blakes.” It’s all he says and beside the one with the tattoo, the other guy is worse.

He’s tall, taller than Danny and his sibling, and built like a thirty year old, not someone who is seventeen like his face would tell you. I can’t stop the shiver that runs up my spine, and looking at Danny, he rolls his eyes and starts to walk away. Obediently, his group start to follow.

“Pleasure as always Sarah!” Danny’s best mate, Jake winks as he goes with them. I stick up my middle finger, which only has him blowing me a kiss in response. Danny whacks the back of his head as he catches up and it’s over.

“Wow. Did you see Big Blake? God, I want to be held in his arms until-” Rachelle starts.

“Sorry, he’s too busy holding me!” Becky swoons, the pair of them watching the group disappear down the side of the cafeteria.

“I don’t see it at all.” I admit, they just kind of creep me out. Wendi nods and I’m glad I’m not alone.

“Little miss goody two shoes!” Peta teases, “but did you see Little Blakes eyes? I could stare at them all day!”

And that’s how lunch was spent, with my friends debating on which brother they’d want to do more than just gossip about. We didn’t see any of them for the rest of the day and what I wasn’t expecting was to find Danny waiting by the car when it was time to go home. Usually he skips out after fourth period, or lunch, and yet here he was.

“If you want money, no. I got a twenty to last me until-”

“I don’t want money. Can I drive?” He asks in a weird moment of normalcy.

“No. Dad will kill me, after he kills you.” I get in and so does Danny. Unlike the drive in, he doesn’t sleep this time.

“So you and your friends were pretty interested in the Blakes,” he fishes and I sigh a little too dramatically.

“They were interested. Dan, I think you should stay away from them. There is just something about those two I don’t like!” I admitted.

“I was going to tell you the same thing. I mean, they’re all right, but I don’t want my little sister around them.”

“Little sister? Who was born first?” I pinch his leg, making him cry out more in surprise than pain. “But it’s sweet to know you care!”

“You know I do Sarah, but I got an image to maintain!”

“How is acting like an ass an image?”

“You got the brains, I got the brawn!” He laughs.

“What can you tell me about them. You know Rach will be grilling me the second I get home because she saw you get in the car.”

“Um, the little one is Joe. He’s a year younger than us, and I only saw him at lunch. From what Justin tells me, he’s pretty messed up. They lost their Mum a couple of years ago, never been the same since. Their Dad thinks moving them down here is a good idea, and their older brother Michael, got out of jail a couple of months ago.” He pauses, “don’t tell her that though.”

“I won’t.” I promise, “but I’m serious Dan. Don’t hang out with them.”

“Don’t worry, they’re not that bad. Justin is alright, his brother just has some issues. Aren’t you the one telling me to make more friends?”

“I meant with people who will be a good influence on you. Why do I sound like Mum?”

“Because you spend so much time listening to her rules and trying to be the perfect daughter, you’re turning into her! Look, they’re having a party at the place Friday night. Come! Be social and actually have some high school experiences before you graduate!” Danny enthuses.

“Getting drunk and throwing up in front of everyone in our year isn’t my idea of a good time. Thanks for the invite.” I mumble sarcastically.

“Can I put you down as driver then? Jake’s brother is out of town till next Sunday.”

I groan, but agree. Last time he didn’t have a lift, he walked and that ended up with a pathway of broken letterboxes marking his journey home. How he didn’t get charged by the police for vandalism was beyond me.

“If I do, you have to be good at dinner otherwise I’m also going to tell Dad what happened to the hose from the backyard!”

“Deal.” He reluctantly answers through gritted teeth and he keeps his promise.

The following morning, I’m awake just before dawn. Downstairs I can hear Dad making coffee so decide to put my time to good use and get dressed to go for a run.

“Morning sweetheart! You’re up early!” He greets with a smile.

“Couldn’t sleep. Big day today?” I ask while putting on my trainers.

“Should be done by twelve, that’s if Billy turns up!”

“Well I hope he does. Does that mean you’ll cook dinner tonight?”

He laughs, “Your Mum is off too, so that won’t happen.”

We walk out the front I do a few stretches as he gets into his van.

“Bye Dad!”

“Bye Kiddo!” He waves just as the street lights turn off and the first sign of the sun rise breaks on the horizon.

I start to run. Britney Spears is blasting in my ears as I head down towards the beach and mornings like this make being awake so much easier to deal with. The ocean is perfectly flat in such a way, it’s almost like someone has put a sheet of glass over it. Seagulls fight over something near one of the bins that need emptying badly and I smile at Mrs. Rogers and her chocolate lab as I pass them.

Making my way towards the jetty not actually safe for use, two old men take the risk and sit out near the end of it with their fishing rods in hand. Never mind the do not cross tape at the gate, because it’s their spot and has been since the jetty was constructed forty two years ago. I’ve heard the story a few times now.

A pelican lazily floats by and I stop at the park bench to take a breather. Spring is finally here, you can feel it in the air and taking in a deep breath as I use the bench to help me balance as I stretch. Something else is in the air though, different to the warm promise of a season change and the saltiness being by the ocean provides.

It’s perfume; a rather spicy, masculine cologne to be specific. It’s then I feel the tap on my shoulder and with a squeal, I spin around losing the ear buds and Britney.

“Sorry, I didn’t mean to startle you. I tried calling out a couple of times, but you must not have heard me.” He boldly reached over and hit the pause button on the iPod I strapped to my arm as if to prove his point.

I don’t know this guy. He isn’t a local and his eyes narrow at me as I realize I’m staring. It’s kind of hard not too. Something about him terrifies me, yet I can’t move away. The faint slither of a scar can be seen on his cheek, but the rest of it disappears under his beard and the husky edge to his words snaps me out my trance.

“You dropped this, Bright Eyes.”

I look at his hand as he extends it to find my headband there, and instantly I reach up to touch my head. It’s gone.

“Oh! Thank you.” I practically snatch it off him and end up wrapping the band around my wrist.

He says nothing else, walking back up the path to where the shower and taps are. He is older than me, and his whole appearance is unkempt, with shaggy dark hair that needs to be cut. It’s then I realize he is shirtless, and turning on the shower, his toned back is facing me. There are a few pink scars interrupting the smooth perfection of his skin, and lowering my gaze again I can’t help admire the way his board shorts cling to his legs and the shape of his backside.

I think I’m the one who needs the cold shower.

Putting my ear buds back in and taking Britney off pause, I turn to keep running desperate to put as much distance between me and Mr. Hot Pants as possible. The fact I then catch sight of the terrible two from school heading his way keeps me in place. The younger one, Joe hands my headband returner a towel and Justin glances my way. I try to smile, though I doubt it looks that way and give a small wave before starting to run again.

That has to be the third brother, the one who has been to jail. It hits me then, I’ve met all the Blakes and Rachelle is not going to let that go if she hears about it. The solution to that is simple; she just can’t find out and neither can Danny.