House of Sticks Read Online Free PDF Page A

eyebrows go up as he put on a silly voice. She saw the open-mouthed focus of her children, the clean glow of their freshly bathed faces. The way their heads rested against his jumper.
    â€˜ Little pig, little pig ,’ growled Doug, ‘ let me come in .’
    The poor man , Bonnie thought. He must be so lonely . The image came to her of Doug as a child, lining up with his raggedy brothers and sisters to take their twenty-cent pieces. Heading out into the cold streets of the country town. Doug running, young and lithe, eyebrows not yet grizzled nor face cragged and pitted with the life that was to come.
    She waited for a break in his reading. ‘Excuse me.’
    â€˜Yes, Missus Bonnie?’ Cracking that sly grin.
    â€˜Would you like some soup?’
    â€˜Yes, please, Missus Bonnie.’ Bobbing his head.
    â€˜Well, it’s ready now.’
    Louie tapped the page. ‘Read, Douggie.’
    Doug looked at Bonnie. There was a pause, just the burr of the heater.
    â€˜Read, Douggie,’ said Louie.
    â€˜As soon as you’ve finished your story.’ Bonnie went out and back down the hallway.
    â€˜I got an email from Mickey.’
    Pete turned from the washing-up. ‘Yeah?’
    â€˜She wants me to do some recording with her. Must be doing a new album.’
    â€˜That’s great.’
    â€˜Yeah.’ Bonnie picked up a missed glass and took it over, slipped it into the sink. ‘It is, isn’t it. I should do it.’
    â€˜What do you mean?’ Pete rinsed the glass and put it down on the folded tea towel. ‘Of course you should do it.’
    â€˜It’s just …’ She sighed. ‘Yeah, of course I should, it’s just that I don’t know how easy it’ll be to leave Jess. It should only be a couple of days’ work but, you know, I’ll need to feed her. I could take her in with me, but what if she cries? And she’ll distract me.’
    â€˜You could leave her with me. Couldn’t you express? How many feeds is she having?’
    Bonnie took the dishcloth and wiped down the table. Her earlier excitement was gone. She thought of expressing milk, the whole tedious business, endless boiling of pots of equipment, waiting for a chance to sit down with the pump, trying to time it right so there was still enough for the actual feeds. ‘I don’t know, Pete,’ she said. ‘It all seems too hard.’
    â€˜Bon.’ He pulled out the plug, turned towards her. ‘You should do it. It’s an opportunity. People need to know you’re still out there. Available.’ He pulled down the sleeves of his shirt. ‘I think it would be really good for you. Worth the effort.’
    â€˜Yeah, I know.’ She tossed the cloth on the bench. The tension of the dinner, of putting up with Doug and his yammering and gesticulations, of riding the alternating waves of pity and irritation — it all sat in her, dragged at her, pulled her down.
    â€˜Did you reply? Did you say yes?’
    â€˜Not yet.’
    â€˜Well, I think you should. Get the dates and then we’ll work out how to deal with the kids.’
    â€˜Okay.’ She went to him, leaned into his chest. His arms were warm. She could hear his heart beating. Behind him the last of the water gurgled out of the sink and then there was nothing, the precious quiet of one of their short evenings.
    She ran herself a bath. As it filled she moved in and out of the bathroom, tidying, doing things now because she knew that afterwards, her body warmed and loosened by the hot water, all she’d want to do was crawl into bed. She kicked the scatters of dirty kids’ clothes into a pile, bundled them into her arms and took them to the laundry. She picked up all the bath toys and stuffed them in their net bag and tried unsuccessfully to stick its exhausted suction cups onto the tiles. She flossed and brushed her teeth. She looked in the mirror. Stood for a moment.