Without Consent Read Online Free PDF Page B

at them. The bus wasn’t crowded, and his mother chose a seat near the back. He sat behind, just like he had when he was younger and they’d gone to town. After what seemed like hundreds of stops, they got off in the middle of a group of shops.
    Geoffrey stared at the traffic buzzing past. It was so much busier than Fisherman’s Bay: more cars, more trucks, more people. Horns honked and tires screeched, just like in the movies. Everything seemed so noisy—much too loud. And the place smelt like diesel. The air stank, nothing like the salty air at Long Bay Jail. His mother led him by the elbow, past a library and a bank with an armed guard outside. Geoffrey flinched when he saw the man and suddenly wanted to be back home.
    “He’s just here to protect the bank,” his mother said.
    A few doors along, they entered one of those church donation places, with clothes, toys and blankets. Behind the counter a pretty girl looked up and smiled at them. Geoffrey stopped and watched. He liked her face. She didn’t stare at him or yell, or run away, not like the people outside the prison when he came out. Her long, blonde hair looked soft and he wondered what it smelt like.
    “How about this one?” His mother suggested a denim shirt from a long rack of men’s clothes.
    “All right.” Anything was better than green tracksuits, he thought.
    Sorting through another rack, Lillian presented him with a number of pairs of long pants and held them up to his legs. The smiling girl added a couple of black T-shirts to the collection and asked if he wanted to try them on behind a sheet-curtain at the back of the store. Inside, he saw a mirror and stripped to the pair of white Y-fronts his mother had bought. He could hear the pair chatting outside.
    “You don’t often see a mother and son shopping together,” the pretty blonde declared.
    “Yes, well, we thought we’d spend some time together for a change. He’s been through a very tough few years.”
    “Let me know if I can help,” the shop assistant said.
    Geoffrey chose the striped shirt and tucked it into black jeans; a bit baggy in the backside, but the right length. One glance in the mirror and he proudly opened the curtain for approval.
    “They’ll do, let’s try the others,” his mum said.
    He wanted her to say how good he looked, but she kept quiet.
    The girl smiled again. “The shirt matches the blue in your eyes,” she said, leaning forward to catch his gaze. “They’re amazingly blue.”
    Lillian flapped about, shoving Geoff back into the changing room. She kept handing clothes over the sheet until he was sick of being a shop dummy.
    An hour later, Geoffrey had more clothes than he’d ever owned, in two large paper bags. He handed over sixty dollars and the girl gave him five dollars change. “We have some hats and baseball caps over there that just came in, if you’re interested.”
    Geoffrey followed her to a table but was quickly distracted by a pile of comics lying on the floor nearby.
    “I love The Phantom ! Can I look at them?”
    “Of course,” she said, blonde hair swishing as she bent over, exposing the tops of her breasts under her shirt. “I used to love comics when I was a kid, especially the Archie ones. You can take the lot for five bucks if you want.”
    “Geoffrey, we need to save money for the television, remember?”
    “I want the comics, Mum. You always reckon I need to read more.”
    He’d handed over the money and collected the pile before his mother could object.
    “This is a great shop,” he said, and smiled at the girl. “I’ll come back here again.”
    It was the first time Lillian had seen her son smile in years. And it made her wish he’d never been let out of jail.

7
     
    Thank God for screw-top wine bottles, Anya thought, as she poured a glass of Chenin blanc from a bottle she’d opened a few evenings ago. After a day of meetings with the Department of Health, arguing about evidence collection techniques, Anya wanted