Tiddas by Anita Heiss Read Free Book Online

child.
    â€˜I was serious, I thought you might get something out of it.’ Xanthe wished she’d been more blatant about Nadine’s toxic waste needing to go.
    â€˜Oh relax, I was kidding. You know me well enough to know I couldn’t cope with all those people in a room andno bar in sight. That’s my idea of torture, really. Really!’ She shook her head, crossed her legs and sipped her drink. Izzy and Ellen shook their heads as well, but for a different reason.
    Hating any form of conflict, Veronica spoke up. It was time to change the subject. ‘April really is a lovely time here in Brisbane, isn’t it? The humidity drops, it’s easier to sleep and I love walking around The Gap at dusk. Everything is just more comfortable.’
    â€˜Oh yes! Definitely! Thank God!’ came the chorus of agreement after the steamiest summer on record.
    â€˜Spring is gorgeous here too. I have this great bloom of dark and light mauve outside the back window come late September,’ Xanthe shared her passion for the calmer weather.
    â€˜The yesterday, today and tomorrow flower,’ Nadine stated knowingly.
    â€˜That’s it,’ Xanthe said, remembering hearing its name from a neighbour not so long ago.
    The women had settled in comfortably for the night with their usual banter regarding what was going on in each other’s lives. The book could wait, as it often did.
    â€˜Well, I have some news,’ Ellen chimed in enthusiastically.
    â€˜You’ve met someone?’ Xanthe asked.
    â€˜Why do you all think any news I have is always man related?’
    â€˜Because it usually is!’ Izzy said with a chuckle.
    â€˜Which reminds me,’ Ellen continued. ‘Why hasn’t Spencer set me up with one of his friends? It’s a recession; I don’t care if he’s a coloniser. I told you last month I wasabout to do something drastic. I might just take on a reconciliation project with a pom!’
    â€˜I think suggesting you’ll date someone as a last resort based on where they come from is racist, so why don’t you just get on with your news?’ Nadine who was, like Xanthe, in an inter-racial relationship, had a very short fuse when it came to people who joked about mixed marriages. And as she got more sloshed, Nadine’s fuse got shorter.
    â€˜Fine,’ Ellen said, rolling her eyes like a chastised teenager. ‘My news is that after a year of post-flood sleeping on other people’s couches, including yours, Nadine – thank you very much – I am finally moving into my own place. I’ve settled on a property!’ She clapped her hands as if applauding her own achievement.
    â€˜Yay! That’s great! Finally!’ the tiddas responded in a chorus, most of them out of the property-buying loop that Ellen was in. Her sex life was usually her main topic at book club get-togethers.
    Ellen burst into song, crooning the chorus from one of her favourite Stevie Wonder songs, ‘Signed, Sealed, Delivered, I’m Yours’.
    â€˜Not that ugly place in Kangaroo Point?’ Nadine slurred, remembering when she went house hunting with Ellen and they found an old building that they imagined had previously been nurses’ quarters for St Vincent’s Hospital.
    â€˜Yes, the ugly place on Main Street. But it’s not going to be ugly for long, just on the outside. I’m going to go full steam ahead with some serious renos and turn it into my own little paradise. Just like Xanthe and the col– I mean Spencer did here.’
    â€˜Cheers, it’s great to hear good news.’ Veronica raised her glass in a genuine toast to Ellen, although inside she was crying. Her divorce papers had been delivered that day and she hoped she wasn’t weighing the entire room down with her mood. She didn’t want to ruin the moment with her own misery. ‘You’re a first home buyer, congratulations.’
    â€˜I can’t