Totally Out of It
I was off the planet for the rest of evening. Escaping from the clutches of a ski-masked psycho will do that to you. If it wasn’t for Brad Pitt I’d have been mincemeat. I remember Dad making me sit down at a bus-stop as I cried, ‘I pushed him down the stairs!’
‘Who did you push down the stairs?’ asked Dad. Who knows what he imagined happened, what with me in hysterics and running around the town in the dark. ‘The man in the mask!’
‘A man in a mask? Who do you mean Stacey, what happened?’
By the time I explained everything to him Dad was ready to go into the Video Saloon himself. ‘I’ll punch that punk’s lights out!’ he said.
‘No, he’ll kill you!’ I cried, grabbing Dad. I’d become slightly unravelled by this stage. I felt like there was a great big ugly gargoyle loose inside my head, stomping around and smashing things up, making everything dizzy and awful.
Because neither of us had a mobile phone that actually worked Dad decided to go to La Porchetta’s and call the police. They still hadn’t turned up at the Video Saloon so the emergency alarm mustn’t have worked.
When Dad came back he hugged me hard. ‘I’m so sorry for what I said in the car to you when you bought the shoes,’ he said. ‘I’m so stupid. Anything could have happened to you tonight…I’m so sorry Stacey, I’m so sorry. You’ll be okay, I won’t ever speak to you like that again.’
I let him hug me until a police car turned up about five minutes later. Both officers went to investigate the store as soon as Dad told them what had happened, but they returned shortly after. ‘It’s locked, we can’t get in,’ one of the officers said, a big guy with a crew cut. ‘We’ve rung someone to get down here and open it up. The perpetrator could still be inside. We don’t want to break the glass just yet.’
‘But I didn’t lock it,’ I said.
‘Do you have a key?’ asked the other officer.
I nodded and searched my pockets. I couldn’t find it. ‘I must have dropped it or I could have left it in the lock,’ I said, ‘I can’t remember.’
Crew Cut looked at his partner, a man with a flat nose, like a boxer. ‘Could explain why it’s locked. The perpetrator may have gotten themselves a key.’
Then they asked me a load of questions: what happened, what did the intruder do, what did he look like, how did he get in the store and did he try and hurt me? I tried to answer them the best I could, standing outside in the cold and feeling my knee throbbing like an engine.
‘What I’d like to know is why you were left there alone in the first place,’ said Dad. He wasn’t happy that Vince left me alone to lock up.
I told him it wasn’t Vince’s fault. I had agreed to lock up so Crass could go to a party. Flat Nose said he’d contact Vince immediately about the break in. There could be money stolen. Meanwhile, I’d better go home and rest my bruised knee. He’d call tomorrow if there were any developments or further questions.
They took us back to the station to fill out a statement and told us they’d drive us home. Just as Crew Cut, or Officer Miller, as he introduced himself, was asking me more questions Flat Nose popped his head in and said, ‘Got in and checked the premises, no sign of a perpetrator. Doesn’t seem to have taken anything – the till was unopened and untouched. I’ve put out an APB and sent around a few cars to see if we can spot anyone.’ ‘He’s going to have a nasty head wound,’ said Officer Miller.
‘He bashed his head all the way down the stairs,’ I said. ‘I thought it would have knocked him out.’
‘I’ll alert the boys, keep them up-to-date,’ said Flat Nose.
So he’d got away. Pity. I wanted to know who the creep was. Then I wanted to kick him in the nuts again.
On the way home Dad said he didn’t want me to work at the Video Saloon any more. I think he was more freaked out than I was. I feebly protested about needing the money, but he cut me off. ‘You’re too young to be working in a store alone. Anything could have happened to you.’
‘But Dad, I need a summer job!’
‘I’ll see what I can do at the hardware store,’ said Dad. Then he sighed. ‘Stacey, I’ve already lost your mother. I don’t want to risk anything happening to you.’ So that was settled. Once my mother came into it there was no turning back. Goodbye job.
Dad didn’t talk about Mum all that much. He thought about her, though. More than I did. When he sat in his chair staring at the TV I knew he was reliving memories of their time together. He kept her inside his head, like a digital camera full of pics, looped over and over.
I guess he’ll never get over her.
Vince phoned me up the next day and said he was angry about what happened. He kept on saying, ‘A terrible thing to happen to such a young girl!’ and then threatened to sack Crass: ‘I’ll hang him up by his bloody ears!’
I wish he had sacked Crass. He deserved it. I hope a night out with Toni was worth what I went through. Even worse, I was going to have to unpack paint tins all summer because of her.
Topps was totally sympathetic. He came over the next day and brought a large block of Cadbury Fruit and Nut chocolate, which we ate in front of the TV as we watched a cheesy talk show (“My girlfriend is pregnant – should I marry her? You decide”). Topps suggested that counselling would be a good idea. He thinks I could end up suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder or something.
‘I’m not that excited about walking around in dark basements anymore, if that’s what you mean,’ I said.
‘What about nightmares?’ said Topps. ‘Or being afraid to be alone? What happened to you was the worst.’
‘It was the stupid voice the creep used, saying these totally random things, like a psycho from the movies,’ I said.
‘What did he look like?’
‘Black. All in black. And he wore a ski mask.’
‘Was he…did he have a weapon?’
‘No. No, he didn’t. I didn’t see anything, no knife, nothing.’
‘At least you gave him a good bruising,’ said Topps.
That was true. I had told him about kicking the intruder down the stairs. ‘Pity I didn’t knock him right out. Now the police think there could be someone after me.’ ‘Are you for real? Who?’
‘I don’t know. But having your own personal stalker isn’t what I wanted for Christmas. Dad is even talking about leaving town and moving in with my aunt on the Gold Coast for a while.’
Topps said he and Skye would stay with me everyday. They wouldn’t let me out of his sight.
‘Yeah, I’m sure Huffy would be real happy about us home-schooling ourselves.’ ‘I’m serious Stace, I’m gonna stay with you every day’.
‘Just bring me home any assignments from school. You don’t need to baby-sit me. I’ll be back at school soon enough.’
Still, I appreciated his offer. As I said, he’s a good mate.
He left around lunchtime and said he’d be back after he did his homework. Dad stayed with me. He wanted to talk with the police as they were going to visit later that day. When the knock on the door came, I expected it to be Topps, Skye or Officer Miller, but instead Dad came into the lounge room with Caitlin Allende.
‘A visitor for you, a friend from school,’ said Dad. He looked curiously at me, as he obviously hadn’t seen Caitlin before. Dressed in a loose, smart brown jumper and cream three-quarter pants with a large black hip belt, she could have easily passed for twentyone. He must have known she wasn’t a Year Ten.
‘Are you up for more visitors?’ asked Dad.
‘I won’t be long,’ said Caitlin soothingly. ‘I just wanted to see how Stacey was.’ I didn’t know what to say. The last person I expected to see in my home was Caitlin Allende. It just felt so weird, having one of the most popular girls in school standing in your lounge room. She’d only ever been a mythical figure you’d see on the occasional lunchtime surrounded by friends, laughing and flirting and looking beautiful. ‘Have a seat, I’ll get you a drink,’ said Dad.
Caitlin sat next to me on the sofa. ‘How are you going?’ she said, playing with her blonde ponytail. She looked nervous.
‘You heard about it?’
‘Yeah, from a…well, you know, from a friend. Don’t really know how he found out.’
‘Great. Good news travels fast.’
‘It must have been horrible.’
‘Yeah, I still feel freaked.’
Caitlin stared at our old telly, thinking about something else. ‘When I saw you and your friend at school you sort of hinted that something funny was going on at the store,’ she said, continuing to stare at the TV. The soccer was on. Someone had just scored a goal and the players were hugging each other in the middle of the pitch. I reckon sport is the only time Aussie males hug. ‘You know what’s happening at the Video Saloon, don’t you?’ Caitlin asked.
Where was she coming from? Did I really give a hint that something was up at the store? I defensively pushed myself up into the sofa, rearranged the pillows, scrunched up the foil from the chocolate wrapper. I didn’t know how to answer.
‘I really need to know Stacey. I warned you about those guys, at least I tried to, and I’m really sorry about what happened, but I’ve got to warn you about something else.’ There was a subtly commanding tone to her voice. Used to getting what she wanted. She wasn’t threatening me or anything, but I felt I had to tell her. My mum used the same technique with her students – firm and assertive. On the other hand, I didn’t want to just go and blab about what I knew or how involved I was.
‘I…I think there was some pirating going on in the store,’ I said. ‘I was just suspicious, that’s all, it’s not as if anything really did go on, or anything…’ Caitlin whistled under her breath. She looked deflated. ‘I thought so,’ she said. ‘Listen, Stacey, I’m going to tell you something. It’s private. I don’t want you going and blabbing this around the school, okay?’ Again, the command. I nodded. ‘I don’t know how much you were involved, but Crass is into pirating in a big way. And…’ Caitlin hesitated, looking at me. Seeing if I could be trusted.
‘…and I was involved.’
‘What? How? You gave the packages to customers too?’ I gasped, before I realised I’d just implicated myself. I can be so dumb sometimes.
Caitlin folded her arms in attempt, I thought, to calm herself. She looked as if she was almost disappointed in me. ‘Stacey, have you told the police about this?’ ‘No. They’re coming around later today. I suppose I’ll tell them then. Why?’ ‘Stacey, I want to tell you what happened to me before you do. I was only there four or five months when Crass came back from his trip to the gym, like he did every weekend.’
‘Big green gym bag?’ I added.
‘Yeah. And it was that damn bag that spilt a whole load of DVDs over the floor one afternoon. Right in front of me. He’d told me he was going to the gym but there wasn’t any towels or socks in that bag. Just DVDs. At first I thought he’d gone and stolen a load of them from the store. But they were obviously pirated. I noticed straight away. So, his cover was blown. What could he say?’
‘He never went to the gym,’ I said, more for my benefit than Caitlin’s. Figures. He was unfit, and definitely not toned at all. And how health conscious was he? Spent every break smoking and eating junk food. I should have known he was lying.
‘No he didn’t, but he didn’t tell me where he had gone. What he did do was offer me a bit of work in his business. He told me he imported DVDs, sold them to a few friends, made a bit of money. Nothing big. And I really didn’t care. What’s a few copies anyway?’
‘So you helped him out? Like…like me.’
‘Yes. I…I needed the money, actually. Just two weeks before I’d done something really dumb. I was at Hamish Stewart’s spa party – he’s a university student at La Trobe now - and I drank a few more Breezers than I should have. Jumped in the spa with my clothes on. And my mobile phone.’ I looked at her with a slight grin. ‘I was spastic, okay?’ she said, over-defensively. ‘Anyway, that phone cost me three hundred dollars. There was no way I could tell my dad. I tried to get it fixed, but they said I’d have to replace it. I’m on a contract, I needed the phone. So I agreed to help Crass out.’ ‘We’re both idiots,’ I said.
Caitlin gave me a look, went to say something, and then thought better of it. She went quiet for a minute. ‘Yeah, you’re right Stacey, oh my God, we’re both so stupid!’ She covered her face in her hands; her nails were bright red and manicured. I thought she was going to start crying. Her voice had sped up and she sort of blurted out, ‘And that’s why you can’t tell the police. Because I…we…we’d both have to take part of the blame. I helped Crass sell those DVDs to his customers! I even kept a load of them at home for him, posted them, helped pack them!’
I could hear my dad in the kitchen and was hoping he couldn’t hear us. Caitlin’s voice had raised itself higher and I signalled to her to watch it. She lowered her voice again. ‘That’s why you can’t tell the police. And not only that, I think Crass could get dangerous. He…he told me if I ever told anyone about his business he’d lie and exaggerate what I’d done. Say that I was involved big-time and I’d get done in too. I don’t want a police record! I want to go to university and do law. I can’t become a lawyer with a police record! My dad would kill me!’
‘Why did Crass threaten you?’ I asked, putting my hand on her knee to calm her. It was the first time since I met her I didn’t feel like her kid sister.
‘It was after I quit. I think he got worried. Thought I would go and, like, tell the police. I remember he sounded really scared I’d dob him in – I think he was scared. But I was never going to do anything about it. I just hope some of those customers I sold the copies to forget I was involved. I knew some of them, kids from school and stuff. God, I was so stupid.’
‘My dad made me quit,’ I said. ‘I was working there by myself last night. You obviously heard about that?’
‘Yeah...’
‘I wonder if Crass is worried about me? Bad luck for him, you know, having both girls helping him out and both quitting. Something for him to stress over.’ ‘Are you going to tell the police?’ asked Caitlin. I could see in her eyes that’s what she was really worried about, not what happened to me last night. ‘Because Crass would take you down too. I…I know he would.’
‘I guess not,’ I said. ‘After all, I was involved. It doesn’t have anything to do with why I quit, it’d just be complicating things. I don’t have to talk about it to the police. They’re just interested in the intruder.’
Caitlin looked relieved. My dad came in and Caitlin told him she was going. I walked her to gate. Somehow I felt an affinity with her now, as if we were either victims – or conspirators. Both guilty of the same crime. My life felt all dark and dreary right at that moment, like everything had gone impossibly wrong. I stood by the gate in silence, watching Caitlin walk away.