3
The fatigue hit him when he still had about 100km to go, and it was raining hard. He stopped and bought a cup of bad coffee from the fast food place at the petrol station and turned the radio on loudly. But he still struggled to focus on the road, his physical and emotional exhaustion as well as the weather blurring his vision, and the sign to turn off the national road towards Marshall Bay was a relief. For the last part of the trip he thought of nothing but just getting there without falling asleep at the wheel. At last he drove into the town, hardly noticing anything, just focusing on remembering how to get to Jill’s house. He drove past Marshall Bay Community Church on the main road and turned left parallel to the beach. Then one quick right turn and he was there.
It was almost six in the evening and already getting dark as he parked in the quiet street outside Jill’s house. Nothing much had changed. There was still a wire fence covered by a climbing creeper, and in the rain and semi-darkness he could just make out the bench under the tree. There was a light on in the lounge window. He sat for a second, gathering his composure as the rain beat down onto his car. More than five years ago he had said good bye to Jill right here and walked away, heavy with disappointment. Now he was back, and she was waiting inside for him. What an eternity had passed between.
He picked up his bag and his phone from the passenger seat, pulled the hood of his sweatshirt over his head and opened the door. Despite the hood he was pretty wet by the time he got to the front door. Under the porch roof, he stamped the water off his shoes and the door opened. And there she was, the warm glow of the light behind her. Her hair was longer, lighter, her face older. Her expression welcome, concern, warmth. Genuine honest warmth, and he knew that however crazy coming here might look to anyone else, it wasn’t crazy at all. If his family and his friends thought he was out of his mind, they would be wrong. This was exactly where he needed to be.
Two hours later, Jill found her warm spot on the couch under the blanket again. Alex had eaten a few bites of supper, talked to Simon for a few minutes, to her for even less, and had gone straight to bed. She hadn’t heard a sound from behind the door since then. She had cleaned up the dishes and set out some breakfast, and now she reached for her phone to call Anya.
“You will never guess who is asleep in my spare room right now,” she said to her friend, who was living in PE now.
“Probably not,” replied Anya. “A homeless person? Is that why you’re talking so softly?”
“I’ll give you a clue. It’s a guy, and you would definitely want him on your volleyball team.”
There was silence for a while. “I think I know who you mean but come on, Jill. Did he arrive in the black BMW with surfboards on the roof racks?”
“No. He arrived in a white 4x4. No surfboard on the roof racks.”
“What? You’re serious.”
“I am. He looked as if he hadn’t slept for days. As if he’s been crying, Anya. He messaged me this afternoon to say he was on the way here and now he’s passed out in Aunt Bert’s old bed.”
“Oh, my goodness, Jill! He didn’t tell you what was wrong?”
“No, he was so tired he crashed straight after supper. But I think he will.”
“Maybe he committed a crime or something.”
“I hope not. I could be harbouring a fugitive.”
“But to your house, Jill? Surely he could go to a hotel or something? It’s very odd.”
“It is. It’s so weird to see him again.”
“Is he still gorgeous?”
“Anya!”
“What? He was totally gorgeous when he was seventeen, and I can’t imagine he’s anything less now.”
“Anya, he looks the same but as if the weight of the world was on his shoulders. I wasn’t thinking handsome. More like haunted.”
“Wow, Jill. You were going to have a quiet start to the school holidays before your trip, and now you’re going to play counsellor to a hot guy with a problem. A hot guy who used to have a serious thing for you. Some girls have all the fun.”
Jill laughed. “Good thing I know not to take you seriously. But no, hanging out with Alex wasn’t what I had planned for the next few days. And I doubt he came for counselling.”
“Well, I will be waiting with great interest for an update. Poor guy. If I was there I could cheer him up. Maybe I could get him to sokkie with me again.”
“Anyone would cheer up with you around, Anya.”
They chatted for a little longer. After Jill put down the phone she sat for a while, thinking. What could possibly be wrong with Alex? A break-up? Surely not. He wouldn’t come to her about that. He didn’t look sick. Maybe someone close to him had died. Or he had done something terrible. The look on his face had been something like fear. Grief, and fear. She opened her laptop and tried to settle down to some work. She was working on cutting down the copy in a long booklet for a retirement village into a shorter pamphlet. It was fiddly work and she had hoped to submit it the next day. Better finish this now, she thought. Tomorrow she might be busy.