CHAPTER 3 THE REALITY
"Hugo."
After venturing down to the beach in search of Joey, she ran into Hugo who was jogging up on to the sand after a surf. She found him extremely attractive as he wiped his face dry but her thoughts were only on Joey. And this annoyed her.
"Out for a walk?" he placed his surfboard down and draped his towel over his shoulder.
"I'm looking for Joey. Have you seen her?"
"Yeah, I thought I saw her up on the bank a bit further down. Hope everything's okay."
"Yeah, it's fine. Thanks." Charlie began to walk off but Hugo stopped her.
"All that stuff with Robbo wouldn't have been easy to take for her. She's lucky to have a good friend like you."
Charlie nodded. "It's all good. I'll seeya later."
"Charlie." He touched her arm softly. "What are you doing tonight?"
She paused. This was her moment to put all this stuff with Joey behind her. She found Hugo attractive and could easily fall for him. Why not give it a go?
"Nothing at the moment."
"Would you like to have dinner again? I thought last time went well."
Charlie smiled and nodded. "I'd love to. Meet you at the Surf Club at seven?"
Hugo smiled. "Look forward to it."
Charlie ventured down the beach a bit further. She smiled to herself. Maybe this whole Joey mess was a complete mistake. Maybe she was just responding to Joey's feelings for her. Hugo was a nice guy. He was smart and funny and extremely attractive. She could easily get used to him.
The rocky, isolated string of beach line was where Charlie saw two figures. One looked like Joey. Hugo had said she was down here. The other was standing over her. Was that Robbo? This thought made Charlie's heart begin to pelt against her chest like a hammer.
"Joey!" Charlie picked up the pace and jogged to where she found Brett giving her an earful.
"Stay out of this!" Brett pointed his finger menacingly at Charlie and she stopped in her tracks a few steps away.
"You disgust me," spat Brett kicking sand at her.
"Oi!" Charlie lunged forward and pushed him to the side.
"This does not concern you!"
"What the hell is going on?" Charlie looked down at Joey's terrified figure and then back to Brett.
"The trawler business. The one in Yabby Creek. It pays good money but this little insolent pig would choose some girl she's met over a good job! Don't you think it's wiser if she chases her dream rather than a little lesbian fantasy?"
"What does it matter to you anyway?" Charlie outstretched her arms. "You disowned her the minute you threw her out of your house. I think she can make her own choices."
"Just rack off," Brett cursed. "This is none of your business." He grabbed Joey harshly by the wrist and yanked her to her feet. "Now get your bags. We're moving to Yabby Creek."
"Hey what a minute!" Charlie intervened. "What right do you have telling her what to do? She's not a kid!"
"Yeah well she's my sister! I think I have more of a right then you do!"
"Let me go…" whimpered Joey, completely defenceless.
"Shutup and get your bags."
"The money's for you, isn't it?" Charlie questioned.
Brett scoffed. "What are you talking about?"
"You don't want her to be happy. You just want her for her money."
"Get outta my face." Brett dragged Joey roughly behind him.
"What do you need it for? Drugs? Alcohol? I know your sort, Brett. You couldn't care less about Joey. We found that out when she was raped."
Joey was on the verge of a breakdown. She was emotionally and physically drained and fighting off a male was something that only brought back the pain.
"Let her go, Brett."
Brett ignored Charlie and continued down the beach. Joey looked back, her eyes pleading with Charlie.
"Brett stop!" Charlie instinctively grabbed him roughly by the shoulder and wrenched his arm from the grip on Joey.
"What the hell do you think you're doing?" Brett lunged at Joey and struggled against the two girls until he unleashed a blow across Joey's face. Joey fell to the ground and Brett stood for a moment looking at what he'd done before unclenching his fist and taking off in panic.
"Jo…" Charlie knelt down and helped her sit up.
Joey was distressed and the incident with her brother brought back memories of what Robbo did to her.
"Hey, its alright." Charlie wrapped her arms around Joey trying to comfort her. She'd been affected by the blow, Charlie could tell, and it definitely wasn't the right moment to say anything about Hugo.
"He was so angry… I… I should've listened to him," Joey gasped through heaving sobs. She buried her head in Charlie's shoulder, not wanting to let go of the one person she loved. The one person she could still trust.
"You did the right thing. You should not have listened to him. He had no right to tell you what to do. And he certainly did not have any right to hit you."
Charlie felt Joey's grip around her waist tighten. She wasn't letting go of her in any sense of the word.
