The Near Miss by Fran Cusworth Page B

he might never be able to do again.’
    Van’s face went cold. He stood up. ‘I thought you had money trouble. Sorry for giving a shit.’
    The trembling thing stilled inside her, and became stone. Skip. How much dirty money was this? How much danger could this draw to them? ‘I don’t have money trouble. I just don’t have money. Give me this and I’ll have trouble. Cop trouble.’
    â€˜I don’t care about robbing some multinational. They rob us blind all the time.’
    â€˜Ah. An eye for an eye.’
    â€˜So when did you get all full of virtue?’
    She sighed, thought of Esme and softened. ‘Are you hungry? I could heat some lentils.’
    â€˜Are you going to take my present or what?’
    She laughed. ‘Van. Van, Van, Van. At least you’ve come back. I haven’t seen you since, hmm, since Grace and Tom’s dinner. Since you left me stranded for a lift home.’
    â€˜Oh, is that what this is all about? You had to walk home? On your little feety-weety?’
    She didn’t like him like this. She wanted him gone. ‘Oh, please. Give me some credit. Butnow that you mention it, you did turn out to be a hell of a dinner date. You sort of stole the show when you took off with another guy’s girlfriend and vanished for a month.’
    He laughed nastily at the thought of it. ‘Melbourne people. Easy to shake them up, isn’t it? With their bloody dinner parties. Man.’
    â€˜It was mean.’
    He stared at her and she shrugged. ‘He’s brokenhearted. Eddy. Her boyfriend.’
    â€˜Oh, puh! Give a fuck! Not my problem. So are you going to take this money? It will keep you living well for another good six months, at least. Very well. Or not so well, for twelve.’
    She looked at him, and at the envelope. Six months. Maybe twelve. It was a tempting stretch of time. She thought about the job she’d just applied for, parceling up letterbox numbers. She thought about the kindy mothers who had not invited her out to coffee.
    She thought of Skip.
    â€˜Nah. I’ll get by.’
    His face fell and she did not like the look in his eyes. But she had never been scared of Van, and she wasn’t now.
    â€˜What if I don’t give it to you? What if I give it to Skipper?’
    She pursed her lips and began to clear away the cups. ‘And why would you do that?’
    â€˜Well, you tell me .’
    She stared for a long time into the sink, where she ran her finger around the rim of a saucer. Then she turned around and dried her hands on a tea towel. ‘Look at the time. I have to pick Skip up from kindy.’
    â€˜I’m leaving this money for him. I have a right.’
    â€˜You think.’
    â€˜I do.’
    Why didn’t he just ask her outright? Am I Skip’s father? Maybe he didn’t want to know, for sure. Oh, one drunken night. What a fool she had been. She took the envelope and pushed it back towards his chest. She raised her eyes and stared at him with all the authority she possessed. She jingled her keys with the other hand and moved towards the door. ‘You don’t, actually. Have a right. Now I must go.’
    â€˜I’ll wait.’
    â€˜Please don’t.’
    Van sighed and walked towards the door, the movement seeming to loosen him once again. ‘You’re crazy, Melody. I know you’ve got no money.’
    â€˜The universe will provide.’
    â€˜You are such a fucking old space-cadet, you know that?’
    â€˜Go and tell your girlfriend to phone home. To do the decent thing and stop everyone worrying about her.’
    â€˜The decent thing ? My, my. Listen to you.’ They were outside now, in front of his motorbike. ‘And she’s not my girlfriend .’
    â€˜No?’
    â€˜Why are you so stubborn? Why do you stay so . . . alone?’
    â€˜I’m not alone. I have Skip.’
    â€˜Maybe that’s not enough. For