Spinning Around

Spinning Around by Catherine Jinks Read Free Book Online

Book: Spinning Around by Catherine Jinks Read Free Book Online
Authors: Catherine Jinks
Tags: FIC000000
horse?’ he asked.
    â€˜The one with the pink tail. About this big. Sort of squishy.’
    â€˜Doesn’t ring a bell.’
    â€˜No. Well.’ It didn’t surprise me. ‘God knows what she’s done with it.’
    â€˜It’s probably been given a Mafia burial. It’s probably part of that cement slab out back.’
    â€˜Maybe.’
    â€˜Or that dog next door ate it.’ Matt groaned again, rolled over, and sat up. He began to take off his shirt.
    Staring at his broad, white back, I said, ‘So how was lunch?’
    â€˜Huh?’
    â€˜With Ray? How was it?’
    I could feel the pulse in my throat as I waited for a response. When it finally came, I couldn’t believe my ears.
    â€˜Okay,’ Matt said. ‘It was good.’
    â€˜So what’s the latest?’ I’m amazed that I could even talk coherently. It was as if a heavy stone had landed on my gut. ‘Any new girlfriends I should know about?’
    Normally, Matt can’t spend half an hour in Ray’s company without picking up at least two really good stories. When they worked together, he was always coming home with tales about what Ray had said in a planning meeting, or what Ray had done with a ‘grab of John Howard actuality’. (Don’t ask me what the lingo means—I’ve never been able to sort it out.) Even after Ray’s move to post-production, his infrequent lunchtime meetings with Matt always resulted in something worth passing on. Especially since Ray was always getting involved with the most monstrous women.
    Not this time, however.
    â€˜No new girlfriends,’ said Matt.
    â€˜No funny stories?’
    â€˜Not really.’ His shoes hit the floor. Thud, thud. ‘He sent me a funny e-mail though. This afternoon. I’ve got it in my bag. Hang on while I get it, okay? It’s off the Internet.’
    Was he trying to escape? I don’t know. I don’t know anything. I’m lying here, and he’s asleep beside me, now, and I don’t know what to do. I just don’t know what to do.
    Maybe I’ll wake up tomorrow morning, and realise that this has all been nothing but a nightmare.
    Please God.

CHAPTER TWO
    Saturday
    You won’t believe this, but I didn’t say a word to Matthew about the Girl With Purple Hair today.
    Not that I had much of a chance, mind you. He works a full day shift on Saturdays—nine to five, more or less— so he was gone pretty early this morning. I was still shuffling around in my most revolting dressing-gown, mashing banana, while he was gathering up his keys and his wallet, smelling of aftershave. Give him his due, though, he did change Jonah’s nappy. And wipe the seat of the highchair. He even examined Emily’s mozzie bite, with grave attention, before pronouncing it ‘very nasty’ though not life-threatening.
    â€˜But it’s itchy!’ Emily wailed.
    â€˜I know. Poor Em.’
    â€˜I wanna bandaid!’
    â€˜What’s the magic word?’
    â€˜Please!’
    â€˜Do you want a Wiggles bandaid or a Winnie-the-Pooh bandaid?’
    â€˜Ummm . . .’
    â€˜What about Winnie the Pooh?’
    â€˜No, Wiggles!’
    â€˜This one?’
    â€˜No, Dorothy!’
    â€˜This one?’
    â€˜No, the other Dorothy!’
    â€˜I don’t think there is another Dorothy, Em.’
    â€˜You’re thinking about the dinosaur bandaids, sweetie.’
    â€˜I wanna dinosaur bandaid!’
    Somehow it didn’t seem like the right moment to raise the subject of the Girl With Purple Hair.
    It wasn’t the right moment this evening, either. Oh lord— why not admit it? I’m scared. I’m scared to ask him. Sure, a simple question might have cleared up the whole problem. But what if it hadn’t? What if he had said, ‘Yes, I’ve found my soul mate?’ What if he had walked out of the house for good , like the husband of a girl I know

Similar Books

The Mexico Run

Lionel White

Pyramid Quest

Robert M. Schoch

Selected Poems

Tony Harrison

The Optician's Wife

Betsy Reavley

Empathy

Ker Dukey