A Call from the Dark by Adam Deverell - HTML preview

 The End of Summer

I stood in aisle five of the Handy Hardware Barn trying to find where 65mm chipboard screws were stacked. I knew a lot about Aisle Five: Screws and Nails. I always seemed to be here, stacking shelves and emptying boxes. Four weeks straight without a let up. Dad was at the tradie counter, which he now managed, talking and laughing with the men in their overalls who smelt like wood and white glue. I hadn’t seen him so happy for a long time. He had finally made the step up and accepted a full-time job again. It didn’t pay so much, but he was happy. He’d kept away from Dave’s, he’d managed to keep his downer moods under control (although Christmas wasn’t a barrel of laughs – he gets melancholy remembering the beach barbecues we used to have) and he’d even talked about heading back to Lakes Entrance for some fishing. He said I could bring Skye along too.

Then he got me a summer job here, six hours a day, stacking shelves. I started two days after Christmas. Stacking shelves. How awesome. Skye was working at the cinema behind the candy bar, which would have been way better than this. It made me totally jealous. Topps had gone off to Cairns snorkelling with his family and playing with his new iPod Touch he got for Christmas. I don’t even want to think about that.

It was almost the end of the January holidays and it was a stinker outside. There was no air-conditioning and no air in the Handy Hardware Barn. My shirt stuck to my back and my bra felt like a thick elastic band. The visor I had to wear to pull my hair back from my face didn’t help things at all.

I sighed and dug into the box of screws again. I almost wished I was back at The Video Saloon. It had closed down just a few weeks ago. One day all the stock had just disappeared, the place left with just the white Formica shelving and the dirty carpet. I never realised how dirty that carpet was until I’d been forced to crawl over it with Topps. The Knocked Up poster was still stuck on the door.

The store was going to become a Westpac bank, apparently.

I was surprised, even though I shouldn’t have been. The Video Saloon was almost deserted after the articles in the paper. People just didn’t go there anymore. Topps went down to take a look one time and said Vince was the only one working behind the counter. There were “FOR LEASE” signs stuck up on the window and tables of DVDs and videos laid out in the store. Vince was selling off his stock.

I felt sort of bad that I had helped wreck Vince’s business, even though Detective Rooks assured me Vince had plenty of irons in the fire. But he wasn’t involved in the piracy. Crass and Robert were though. Not only that, but Robert was charged with assault. I know because Detective Rooks had phoned Dad and spoken to me as well.

Detective Rooks had given us a run down. The piracy had worked like this: Crass rented out DVDs and game discs to Robert for free, Robert copied the covers and discs and Crass picked the copies up and returned them to the basement of the store. Robert would then return them legitimately to avoid suspicion. They had moved into importing and selling games, karaoke discs and adult movies from the Eastside Market. They then sold the discs over the counter to a select number of customers and they also had a mailing list. Detective Rooks had found a substantial amount of pirated discs in the store basement. More than enough to justify charges.

Luckily he didn’t mention how he’d been tipped off.

Not only had Crass and Robert confessed to importing and burning pirated movies and then selling them over the counter and to local markets, but Detective Rooks said that Robert had admitted he was the intruder in the store. He’d blamed Crass, who had apparently organised it all to scare me into quitting. It had worked, but obviously it went far further than Crass had anticipated.

Dad had been so angry after Detective Rooks had called. ‘I hope they get their arses kicked nice and hard,’ Dad has said grimly.

They were both out on bail and would be up to the Magistrates Court in a few months. If the assault charges stuck, Robert could be in more trouble than that, according to Detective Rooks. He was pretty sure they’d get a suspended sentence and a fine for the piracy – but the assault charges were more serious. It meant jail. And it meant I’d be called as a witness. Getting up in front of court had totally freaked me - it still does - but Detective Rooks told me to be calm and worry about it when the court case came around. Easy for him to say.

Vince had been apparently blind to it all. Detective Rooks had said Vince had threatened to kill Crass during questioning. It made me think that if I has gone and told Vince about Crass when I first found the pirated gear none of this would have happened – but what if he was the mastermind? Topps was certain Vince was in on it right up until the end.

I had seen Robert again, during the post-Christmas sales. He didn’t see me. He was hunting through the bargain bins at an Electronic Boutique store, his arms full of discount computer games. He was mumbling to himself. He still wore his black coat and long, greasy ponytail. He looked a bit off his head, to tell you the truth. I wonder what would have happened if I’d have confronted him? Asked him why he’d done what he had. I sort of felt sorry for him.

Crass disappeared around the New Year. Daryl Landon told Topps his brother had told him Crass was working the lobster boats in Queensland. Obviously he didn’t want to hang around and face the music. I’m not sure if that’s true or not, but it’d be hard work on the boats. Crass would be hating it. I wondered if he’d be back for the court case. Probably not.

Caitlin looked spooked in the days following the article in The Herald-Sun. She never spoke to me again. Just looked at me with vacant eyes, obviously wondering if I’d had anything to do with the raid. She tried to look fierce, sort of angry, but it never worked. She just looked scared, wondering if she’d get a call from the police and her precious university place would disappear. I doubted it.

I gave the shelving space a quick wash before I restocked it. This might sound silly, but I was imagining the dirt and grime on the shelf was every awful thing that had happened during the past year. And I was washing it all away, picking up each ugly germ and bit of grit to leave a gleaming, clean slate. I loved how something so dirty and dusty could look so new so fast. Perhaps it was a metaphor for my life?

With the upcoming court case I couldn’t put this behind me yet, but it was a new year and I was ready to face whatever came my way.

Dad came walking down the aisle, inspecting the shelves like he always did just in case I’d stuck the tapping screws in with the wood screws. He gave me a smile and a quick salute.

‘How are things going?’ he asked.

I held up a packet of rivets. ‘Just riveting,’ I joked.

Dad laughed and gave my arm a gentle squeeze. ‘Well Stacey, what do ya reckon? We’re both stuck together in an oversized shed full of wheelbarrows and paint tins and we’ve got a tough few months ahead of us. Reckon we can handle it?’

‘Just you and me against the world, Dad.’

Dad gave a wry smile. ‘I just hope the world is ready.’