Wrath by Anne Davies

we’re used to about40 kids in the whole school, and there are nearly 400 at Geraldton.”
    I have to say I was a bit excited too. It felt like a big step, as though I was actually starting to grow up. I was starting to think Mr Squires might have been right after all, but then something happened that pulled me right back down to earth again.
    It was Gary’s birthday, and I was at his place for the night along with the boys in our class. We were lying around on sleeping bags in his old shed, and we had pizzas and cool drinks and a stack of DVDs. We’d already watched two, but they were pretty stupid.
    â€œHave you got The Hunger Games ?” I asked.
    â€œNah,” said Gary, squinting at me with his good eye. “Wish I did.”
    â€œI’ve got it,” I said. “I’ll nick home and grab it.” I was already halfway out the door. Katy wasn’t home that night either—she’d gone over to stay at her friend’s place—but Mum would be able to let me in. I jogged slower as I got close to home. Bugger, she must be out. There were no lights on anywhere, but Reid’s car was in the drive. They must be there unless they’d gone out somewhere close—maybe to Mrs Brockman’s.
    I walked up the side of the house in the darkness and tried the back door. Yahoo! It wasn’t locked, so I opened it, ducked into my room and grabbed the DVD.
    As I was feeling my way out the back door again after I’d flicked off the light, I froze. Mum’s laugh came high and clear from her room. A man’s laugh, low and gruff, chimed in with hers. There was no light under the door. His laugh. Mum’s room. Within a heartbeat, it was all clear. I wasn’t stupid. I knew what was going on.
    I moved as quietly as I could, and once I was safely outside, I leant against the back wall and slid down till I was sitting on the ground. My heart was hammering, my thoughts were whirling around and my stomach was churning.
    As I calmed down, one part of my brain was telling me, Well, what did you expect? Dad’s gone, Ray Reid’s here all the time, they go out every weekend, and they like each other—so what? and while I knew this was all very sensible, that thought was soon pushed away by a rage of disgust that had no words at all.
    I got to my feet and walked slowly to Gary’s. Surprised, the boys swivelled their heads and looked at me as I came through the shed door.
    â€œJeez, Luca, where’ve you been? We thought you must have decided to stop home or you got into trouble with your mum or something.”
    â€œNo, I just took ages to find the DVD. Let’s watch it now.”
    They all chorused agreement, and I handed the disc to Gary. A few boys wriggled over, and I settled down amongst the chip wrappers, the empty cans and the smell of pizza to watch the movie. I don’t think I saw any of it. I was too busy with my own sickening movie running through my head.
    Ray Reid was still there when I got home in the late morning the next day. He was stretched out on the veranda in Dad’s cane chair with his big, bare feet on a stool. Mum was near him, and they were drinking coffee as they read bits of the Sunday paper. Mum looked up as I came through the gate. “Good party, love?”
    I nodded curtly and kept walking towards the door to go inside, but her voice stopped me.
    â€œLuca, could you just come and sit here for a minute, please?”
    I frowned, dropped my bag loudly on the step and sat down on the edge of the veranda. As I did, Katy came wandering around from the back yard, munching an apple. Mum turned.
    â€œKaty. Good. Sit down for a sec.”
    Katy finished the apple, even the core, leaving just the woody bit at the top like I always did, flicked it into a bush, plonked down beside me and leant back on the veranda post.
    â€œWhat’s up, Mum?” she said, licking her fingers.
    â€œNothing’s up,” Mum said,