Dragging her fingers along the mantle piece she checked, making sure not one speck of dust was visible. Not that it mattered. He'd find some flaw in all that she had done and then he'd get angry and then…she stopped in her tracks, picking up a photo of her long dead mother. How she missed her so, the only person in her life that had actually meant something and had been able to do something about her father. She used the edge of her thumb to trace round her dark brown hair, her auburn eyes, her pale complexion and high cheekbones. Her lip trembled but she soon stopped herself from crying, the door had just slammed.
Placing the photo in the exact position from before, she began packing up her cleaning materials before he started, she had learned over the years that it was best to get anything and everything out of his way. Standing beside the sofa she dropped the bag to the floor hoping to conceal the fact that it was not in it's rightful place. Absolutely everything in their house had a 'rightful place' as he liked to call it and everything must be there or all hell was let loose.
Entering the room he had a presence about him, an air of supremacy and dominance. Only a fool would challenge him or his ways. He carried out his usual inspection all the while she was standing , her heart thumping so loud she thought for sure he was going to hear it. He stopped and stood where she had stood, picking up the same photo. She imagined him to be thinking the same as her, three years today, three years since they had last seen her, heard her laugh, she even missed the times they had cried together…she felt the tears forming as his face crumpled. A break through, finally she was going to see some emotion from him, well, another emotion from hatred. She tried to decide what action to take, should she embrace him? Then again, should that not have been his job? The decision was made as he threw the photo towards her, narrowly missing her head by an inch or two. She heard the smashing of glass and the faint thud as the silver frame hit the floor. Turning, she saw what had once been the last reminder of her mother, now another victim of this man's anger and hatred of the world. She could take it any other day, she had grown use to it, the threats, the language, the constant put downs but not that day, not her mother's anniversary.
"I hate you", she said with such honesty that it frightened her even more than the situation she was faced with.
"Good", he grinned back, "That makes it so much easier, Hellene."
Grabbing the nearest photo he again threw it at her with such force that it created a hole in the wall. She knew that it is now or never, grabbing the photo of her mother she folded it carefully and slipped it into her jeans pocket as he busied himself throwing the remaining photos. Running from the room she knew she had surprised him, it wasn't rational behaviour for her, out of the routine. He took a moment to realise what was actually going on before he was after her, pounding down the street she turned sharply and leapt into awaiting taxi. Thankfully her mother had had many good friends, one of which was employed within the driving business. He didn't need to ask if she was alright or where she wanted to go. He already knew. She was going to find her brother.
As he drew up outside the house her breath caught in her throat, it was nothing like she had imagined.
"I thought he was a copper?" She asked in awe.
"He is", Gavin, the cab driver, seemed just as surprised as her, "You gonna go up then?"
"I dunno", she squirmed in her seat, "What if he doesn't like me?"
"How could he not?", Gavin smiled one of his well known winning smiles, "On you go…or would you like me to come as well?"
"No, no", she is quick to answer, "I can do this myself. After all I am ten years old now!"
Gavin nodded and handed her his lucky rabbits foot. She held it by the actual key ring, she wasn't exactly a fan of holding a dead part of an animal which had been stuffed and then sold on. I guess you could say that she didn't like putting a price on an animal's head…even if it was only a little rabbit.
Chapping the door, she fixed her hair band and then stood straight, waiting for him to answer. Eventually a young blonde woman came to the door wearing a towel. She looked down on Hellene and smiled.
"Hello", she said somewhat surprised.
"Hello", Hellene replied, hands clasped behind her back, "Is my brother home?"
"That depends on who you're brother is…are you sure you've got the right place sweetie?" The blonde bent down, till she was crouched directly in front of the visitor.
"I'm sure. Is my brother here?"
"Hold on a sec and we'll see", the blonde tapped the end of Hellene's nose, "Would you like to come in and wait?"
Hellene nodded and eagerly ran into the large apartment. She gasped when she saw the interior but it wasn't long before she was sat on the sofa, eating ice cream from the tub. The blonde woman didn't even seem to mind that she was slouching and could easily dribble the chocolate flavoured treat onto the rug.
"Why don't you wait here while I go and get dressed", the blonde left the room, quickly throwing on any old thing. She then crept into the hall, after checking the girl was ok, and dialled his mobile number.
"Hello?"
"Hey", she whispered, "When are you coming home?"
"Soon…why are you whispering?"
"I need you home straight away. I've got a little problem."
"Such as?"
"You'll see when you get here", she noticed the girl standing near by, some chocolate dribbles visible down her chin.
"Are you calling my brother?", she asked loudly.
"Who's that?", he said down the phone, becoming more and more confused.
The blonde placed her hand over the speaking piece and asked the girl to go and sit in the living room, saying she would be through soon. She then returned to the phone call and finished it quickly. He was coming home as soon as, but until then the blonde could do nothing other than keep her entertained.
"I'm sorry about that", she strode into the room grinning, "It was an urgent call I had to make. You know, I've been thinking, how about you tell something about yourself? I don't even know your name!"
"My brother doesn't know my name either", Hellene looked away glumly, "I won't tell you anything about me that he doesn't know!"
"Ok…", she tried another approach, "How about I tell you some things about me? That way, you might feel like talking about you, at the very least you'll feel a little more comfortable."
The blonde looked at her expectantly and she nodded. Might as well make some conversation until her brother came home.
"Right, well, where will I start? My name is Kerri Young and I'm police officer…"
"Like my brother!" She blurted out.
"Yeah…that's correct. The man I live with is a policeman", Kerri began to wonder if maybe she really was a relative of him but she couldn't possibly be his little sister. If she was, why hadn't she ever been mentioned?
"I only know a couple of things about my brother", Hellene used her fingers to mark off the information she had listed in her head, "He's a copper, he's lives here, he, um, he…that's it. That's all I know."
Kerri nodded and carried on reeling off personal information, eventually she got around to why the girl was here, how she found the address and why she was so desperate to see her brother. Hellene remained her stubborn self, refused to reveal these facts, folded her arms and turned her back to Kerri in order to demonstrate that she was no longer interested in talking. Kerri sighed resignedly and went to the window where she saw Dale getting out of his car.
"He's here", she watched as the girl sat straight up. She looked excited yet worried about what would happen, she was perched on the edge of the sofa, staring intently at the door and as soon as it opened she run up to it, took one look at Dale and began babbling about anything and everything. Her name was Hellene, she was his sister, she got his address from a letter, she had moved out, she wanted to live with him…Kerri tried to hide her giggles as Dale tried to shake off the youngster. Eventually, once she had used much of her energy, she left go of his arm which she had been clinging to and dropped to the floor, grinning widely.
Dale looked to Kerri and asked what was going on. Kerri pulled him aside and briefly explained what she knew about the kid. Sam didn't seem that impressed.
"She could be anyone, just some girl off the street pushing her luck because she got some info on a local bobby."
"I don't think so. From what she said to you I think she's genuine. Maybe you ought to go talk to her?" She gave him a push in Hellene's direction and he, bit by bit, got closer to her.
"You're Hellene right?" She looked at him and he literally took a step back in surprise.
"God", he whispered, "You look just like her."
"Who?", Hellene tilted her head and frowned. Dale gulped.
"My mum", he slumped down next to her on the sofa, "You're like a younger version of my mum."
"That's cause she was my mum too", Hellene spoke almost comfortingly.
"Was?"
"She died, three years ago", the same glum look from before came over her face and she looked to the floor. Dale put his hands to his face.
"Dead?", his lip trembled, "When did that happen…what happened?"
"Three years ago. I don't really know what happened. How come you weren't told?"
"I don't know", Dale ran a hand through his hair and breathed deeply to fight the tears, "Look I don't mean to be rude but you have to leave. You've got to go home now."
"Why? I don't want to go…I want to live with you."
"You can't", he paced in front of her, "For god's sake I don't even know you and you don't me, it wouldn't be right for you to live here. I'm not your parent."
"But you can be! I looked it up, if I don't want to stay with dad anymore then I can come here and stay because you're my next of kin and you can look after me."
"No I can't", he paced faster, "You have a dad, he'll look after you. Do you still live in a house in Simpson Street?"
"Yeah…"
"Right", he stomped towards the phone and dialled the number which had once been his own, "Hello? Dad?"
It felt strange for him to be saying that name again. He hadn't spoken to his father since the day he left home and it had only been his mother whom he had written too. Unfortunately he had put a stop to them communicating and she was too weak to fight. It had been well over eight years since he had heard his mother voice or read her handwriting, at least he understood now why he hadn't heard of Hellene's birth and his mothers death.
"Dad, it's Dale…look will you shut it and listen? Hellene's here. Yes, Hellene. The sister who you didn't bother to tell me about, yeah that's the one", Hellene, who had been quite up until then, grabbed hold of his leg and began begging to let her stay.
"I don't want to go home", was what she wailed over and over again as she clung to his trousers, sobbing in-between the words. Dale simply looked irritated by the interruption and when he finished the call he lifted her from the floor and put her on the couch.
"I don't want to go home", she screamed again, "Why don't you like me?! Why don't you want to me stay with you." She flipped at that moment and lashed out at him. Dale was shocked at this sudden burst of violence and he forgot who he was dealing with when he pushed her off him. She fell backwards and smacked her back off the corner of the coffee table. It seemed to sink in a minute or two later and Hellene screamed…really screamed, this time. Dale tried to check her over but she wouldn't listen or sit still so instead she found solace in Kerri's shoulder and just before 'the blonde' took her to the bedroom she glanced towards Dale. She said she hated him, really, truly hated him and Dale believed her.
Smithy's father, Damien, arrived not long after the kick off. He said nothing to Dale, only lifted Hellene who had hid herself behind the plant pot, and went out the door. Hellene persisted that she wanted to stay but it was to no avail. Dale told her he would be in contact before the week was out and she could maybe come and visit some time.
"No, point", she said while being taken down the corridor, "I'll be dead before tonight is over."
Sam frowned at the comment but let it pass. He retreated in doors where he himself wept on Kerri's shoulder over the loss of his mother, he had, after all, three years of grief to make up for.
Over the next few days, Dale didn't have the courage to call or go and see Hellene. He was convinced she really hated him and as he thought back on that night, he could see it from her perspective. He detested growing up around his father but at the very least he had his mother, the one who provided the good memories of his childhood.
He remembered how it felt to see Hellene properly for the first time. A younger version of his mother, that was what he had called her. Unfortunately he didn't know that for sure as he hadn't taken the time to get to know her, he had rushed her out his door when she was the one who had made effort to get to his house. He put the phone down. She would never forgive him, he had most probably scarred her for life by the way he reacted and so he wouldn't call that day. Maybe the next.
The next day came and went but Dale didn't call. The week was out and still no contact had been made. In fact, the next time he saw his little sister was when a body washed up on the shore, Hellene's body. There was no need for an investigation, it was clear to him who was responsible and his father had given a confession as soon as he turned up on his doorstep. Dale just couldn't believe that she had told him what was going to happen and he had done nothing.
"I'll be dead before tonight is over." And she had been.
Placing the photo in the exact position from before, she began packing up her cleaning materials before he started, she had learned over the years that it was best to get anything and everything out of his way. Standing beside the sofa she dropped the bag to the floor hoping to conceal the fact that it was not in it's rightful place. Absolutely everything in their house had a 'rightful place' as he liked to call it and everything must be there or all hell was let loose.
Entering the room he had a presence about him, an air of supremacy and dominance. Only a fool would challenge him or his ways. He carried out his usual inspection all the while she was standing , her heart thumping so loud she thought for sure he was going to hear it. He stopped and stood where she had stood, picking up the same photo. She imagined him to be thinking the same as her, three years today, three years since they had last seen her, heard her laugh, she even missed the times they had cried together…she felt the tears forming as his face crumpled. A break through, finally she was going to see some emotion from him, well, another emotion from hatred. She tried to decide what action to take, should she embrace him? Then again, should that not have been his job? The decision was made as he threw the photo towards her, narrowly missing her head by an inch or two. She heard the smashing of glass and the faint thud as the silver frame hit the floor. Turning, she saw what had once been the last reminder of her mother, now another victim of this man's anger and hatred of the world. She could take it any other day, she had grown use to it, the threats, the language, the constant put downs but not that day, not her mother's anniversary.
"I hate you", she said with such honesty that it frightened her even more than the situation she was faced with.
"Good", he grinned back, "That makes it so much easier, Hellene."
Grabbing the nearest photo he again threw it at her with such force that it created a hole in the wall. She knew that it is now or never, grabbing the photo of her mother she folded it carefully and slipped it into her jeans pocket as he busied himself throwing the remaining photos. Running from the room she knew she had surprised him, it wasn't rational behaviour for her, out of the routine. He took a moment to realise what was actually going on before he was after her, pounding down the street she turned sharply and leapt into awaiting taxi. Thankfully her mother had had many good friends, one of which was employed within the driving business. He didn't need to ask if she was alright or where she wanted to go. He already knew. She was going to find her brother.
As he drew up outside the house her breath caught in her throat, it was nothing like she had imagined.
"I thought he was a copper?" She asked in awe.
"He is", Gavin, the cab driver, seemed just as surprised as her, "You gonna go up then?"
"I dunno", she squirmed in her seat, "What if he doesn't like me?"
"How could he not?", Gavin smiled one of his well known winning smiles, "On you go…or would you like me to come as well?"
"No, no", she is quick to answer, "I can do this myself. After all I am ten years old now!"
Gavin nodded and handed her his lucky rabbits foot. She held it by the actual key ring, she wasn't exactly a fan of holding a dead part of an animal which had been stuffed and then sold on. I guess you could say that she didn't like putting a price on an animal's head…even if it was only a little rabbit.
Chapping the door, she fixed her hair band and then stood straight, waiting for him to answer. Eventually a young blonde woman came to the door wearing a towel. She looked down on Hellene and smiled.
"Hello", she said somewhat surprised.
"Hello", Hellene replied, hands clasped behind her back, "Is my brother home?"
"That depends on who you're brother is…are you sure you've got the right place sweetie?" The blonde bent down, till she was crouched directly in front of the visitor.
"I'm sure. Is my brother here?"
"Hold on a sec and we'll see", the blonde tapped the end of Hellene's nose, "Would you like to come in and wait?"
Hellene nodded and eagerly ran into the large apartment. She gasped when she saw the interior but it wasn't long before she was sat on the sofa, eating ice cream from the tub. The blonde woman didn't even seem to mind that she was slouching and could easily dribble the chocolate flavoured treat onto the rug.
"Why don't you wait here while I go and get dressed", the blonde left the room, quickly throwing on any old thing. She then crept into the hall, after checking the girl was ok, and dialled his mobile number.
"Hello?"
"Hey", she whispered, "When are you coming home?"
"Soon…why are you whispering?"
"I need you home straight away. I've got a little problem."
"Such as?"
"You'll see when you get here", she noticed the girl standing near by, some chocolate dribbles visible down her chin.
"Are you calling my brother?", she asked loudly.
"Who's that?", he said down the phone, becoming more and more confused.
The blonde placed her hand over the speaking piece and asked the girl to go and sit in the living room, saying she would be through soon. She then returned to the phone call and finished it quickly. He was coming home as soon as, but until then the blonde could do nothing other than keep her entertained.
"I'm sorry about that", she strode into the room grinning, "It was an urgent call I had to make. You know, I've been thinking, how about you tell something about yourself? I don't even know your name!"
"My brother doesn't know my name either", Hellene looked away glumly, "I won't tell you anything about me that he doesn't know!"
"Ok…", she tried another approach, "How about I tell you some things about me? That way, you might feel like talking about you, at the very least you'll feel a little more comfortable."
The blonde looked at her expectantly and she nodded. Might as well make some conversation until her brother came home.
"Right, well, where will I start? My name is Kerri Young and I'm police officer…"
"Like my brother!" She blurted out.
"Yeah…that's correct. The man I live with is a policeman", Kerri began to wonder if maybe she really was a relative of him but she couldn't possibly be his little sister. If she was, why hadn't she ever been mentioned?
"I only know a couple of things about my brother", Hellene used her fingers to mark off the information she had listed in her head, "He's a copper, he's lives here, he, um, he…that's it. That's all I know."
Kerri nodded and carried on reeling off personal information, eventually she got around to why the girl was here, how she found the address and why she was so desperate to see her brother. Hellene remained her stubborn self, refused to reveal these facts, folded her arms and turned her back to Kerri in order to demonstrate that she was no longer interested in talking. Kerri sighed resignedly and went to the window where she saw Dale getting out of his car.
"He's here", she watched as the girl sat straight up. She looked excited yet worried about what would happen, she was perched on the edge of the sofa, staring intently at the door and as soon as it opened she run up to it, took one look at Dale and began babbling about anything and everything. Her name was Hellene, she was his sister, she got his address from a letter, she had moved out, she wanted to live with him…Kerri tried to hide her giggles as Dale tried to shake off the youngster. Eventually, once she had used much of her energy, she left go of his arm which she had been clinging to and dropped to the floor, grinning widely.
Dale looked to Kerri and asked what was going on. Kerri pulled him aside and briefly explained what she knew about the kid. Sam didn't seem that impressed.
"She could be anyone, just some girl off the street pushing her luck because she got some info on a local bobby."
"I don't think so. From what she said to you I think she's genuine. Maybe you ought to go talk to her?" She gave him a push in Hellene's direction and he, bit by bit, got closer to her.
"You're Hellene right?" She looked at him and he literally took a step back in surprise.
"God", he whispered, "You look just like her."
"Who?", Hellene tilted her head and frowned. Dale gulped.
"My mum", he slumped down next to her on the sofa, "You're like a younger version of my mum."
"That's cause she was my mum too", Hellene spoke almost comfortingly.
"Was?"
"She died, three years ago", the same glum look from before came over her face and she looked to the floor. Dale put his hands to his face.
"Dead?", his lip trembled, "When did that happen…what happened?"
"Three years ago. I don't really know what happened. How come you weren't told?"
"I don't know", Dale ran a hand through his hair and breathed deeply to fight the tears, "Look I don't mean to be rude but you have to leave. You've got to go home now."
"Why? I don't want to go…I want to live with you."
"You can't", he paced in front of her, "For god's sake I don't even know you and you don't me, it wouldn't be right for you to live here. I'm not your parent."
"But you can be! I looked it up, if I don't want to stay with dad anymore then I can come here and stay because you're my next of kin and you can look after me."
"No I can't", he paced faster, "You have a dad, he'll look after you. Do you still live in a house in Simpson Street?"
"Yeah…"
"Right", he stomped towards the phone and dialled the number which had once been his own, "Hello? Dad?"
It felt strange for him to be saying that name again. He hadn't spoken to his father since the day he left home and it had only been his mother whom he had written too. Unfortunately he had put a stop to them communicating and she was too weak to fight. It had been well over eight years since he had heard his mother voice or read her handwriting, at least he understood now why he hadn't heard of Hellene's birth and his mothers death.
"Dad, it's Dale…look will you shut it and listen? Hellene's here. Yes, Hellene. The sister who you didn't bother to tell me about, yeah that's the one", Hellene, who had been quite up until then, grabbed hold of his leg and began begging to let her stay.
"I don't want to go home", was what she wailed over and over again as she clung to his trousers, sobbing in-between the words. Dale simply looked irritated by the interruption and when he finished the call he lifted her from the floor and put her on the couch.
"I don't want to go home", she screamed again, "Why don't you like me?! Why don't you want to me stay with you." She flipped at that moment and lashed out at him. Dale was shocked at this sudden burst of violence and he forgot who he was dealing with when he pushed her off him. She fell backwards and smacked her back off the corner of the coffee table. It seemed to sink in a minute or two later and Hellene screamed…really screamed, this time. Dale tried to check her over but she wouldn't listen or sit still so instead she found solace in Kerri's shoulder and just before 'the blonde' took her to the bedroom she glanced towards Dale. She said she hated him, really, truly hated him and Dale believed her.
Smithy's father, Damien, arrived not long after the kick off. He said nothing to Dale, only lifted Hellene who had hid herself behind the plant pot, and went out the door. Hellene persisted that she wanted to stay but it was to no avail. Dale told her he would be in contact before the week was out and she could maybe come and visit some time.
"No, point", she said while being taken down the corridor, "I'll be dead before tonight is over."
Sam frowned at the comment but let it pass. He retreated in doors where he himself wept on Kerri's shoulder over the loss of his mother, he had, after all, three years of grief to make up for.
Over the next few days, Dale didn't have the courage to call or go and see Hellene. He was convinced she really hated him and as he thought back on that night, he could see it from her perspective. He detested growing up around his father but at the very least he had his mother, the one who provided the good memories of his childhood.
He remembered how it felt to see Hellene properly for the first time. A younger version of his mother, that was what he had called her. Unfortunately he didn't know that for sure as he hadn't taken the time to get to know her, he had rushed her out his door when she was the one who had made effort to get to his house. He put the phone down. She would never forgive him, he had most probably scarred her for life by the way he reacted and so he wouldn't call that day. Maybe the next.
The next day came and went but Dale didn't call. The week was out and still no contact had been made. In fact, the next time he saw his little sister was when a body washed up on the shore, Hellene's body. There was no need for an investigation, it was clear to him who was responsible and his father had given a confession as soon as he turned up on his doorstep. Dale just couldn't believe that she had told him what was going to happen and he had done nothing.
"I'll be dead before tonight is over." And she had been.