And then there was the fact that he lived in Brachen, where people promised to pay but weren’t clear on when. Arty types. They were fine with concepts but try to get them to deal with reality … He’d have more luck building a house out of water. Meanwhile the bank wanted cold hard cash, and he’d gone through all his, leaving him with rapidly accruing credit-card debt and a house that would soon be taken away. He had four weeks to make a payment or that was it.
Default. And the fault’s all mine.
He snorted at the dumb joke then cursed himself for his stupidity. He needed to start calling in the invoices and chase up the people who had well and truly exceeded his thirty-day terms. But the thought of doing that had him gripping the railings along the walls.
‘You alright there, Bruce?’
He looked up to see Mrs Farrah in her dressing gown and pulling an IV on a stand. Her hair was coiffed, a natural grey that had a tinge of purple, and she was as thin and wiry as ever. Bush-hardened, unkillable, and if not for the location and the drip, he wouldn’t have believed she was ill. He’d gone around to her house the day before to deliver an invoice, and her daughter told him she’d gone into Shoalhaven for a few days. The invoice was still on the dash of his car.
‘Can’t complain, Mrs Farrah. Violet said you were in here. How are you doing?’
‘Nothing to worry about. I should be out soon. I’m glad I ran into you. I wanted to thank you for the wonderful job you did on my kitchen cabinets.’
‘My pleasure.’ It had been an easy enough job and he’d agonised over charging her, but Ed Greenleaf would have charged twice as much, if not more. Though Bruce had been stretched for time, he hadn’t wanted to let her down. He would have done the work for free but Trudy insisted on paying. Even so he’d undercharged. But now to see her in the hospital … That was one debt he wasn’t going to chase up.
‘And don’t forget to send me your invoice.’
‘Sure, just don’t worry about paying it until after you’re well and truly better.’ Hopefully by then she’d have forgotten he never gave it to her.
‘Oh, Bruce, you’re too generous. What are you doing here anyway?’
He wasn’t sure whether Sofia would want everyone to know but it took a while to think of a lie. Maybe a test of some kind? A follow-up for his arm? Visiting? Yes, he could say he was visiting. But as he was about to give his excuse, Gabriel appeared down the hallway, looking like he’d run all the way from Sydney.
‘Just visiting, Mrs Farrah. I’ll see you later. Hope you get well soon.’ He touched her arm and hurried to meet Gabriel halfway. He’d gotten older but was by no means less handsome, perhaps losing some of the weight in his face, which accentuated the angles in his cheeks and jaw. Black hair as dishevelled as ever, brown eyes that hovered between cruel and kind, and lips the colour of crushed mulberries. He’d always appeared mature for his age, even at fifteen, but now at twenty-four he looked how Bruce imagined he would always look: like a force that would break you. Bruce might have towered over him but he felt as lumbering and oafish as a sack of flour. He pushed his shoulders back. They didn’t mean anything to each other. He was only here to pass him on to Sofia.
Gabriel’s face contorted as he looked up at Bruce, a smile that crashed and tried to revive itself.
‘Hey. How is she?’
Despite it all, Bruce wanted to hug him. They’d been close once, but when Gabriel left and took Jason with him, that had been the end of any chance at friendship. Bruce folded his arms across his chest.
‘She was asleep when I left her room. Number 816. The doctors haven’t said much to me so you might want to let them know you’re here.’
‘What happened? You found her?’
‘I’m building her a gazebo and she came out to see how I was going and then she fainted. She looked bad enough for me to call an ambulance. She’s been ill a while. You didn’t know?’ There’d been enough talk among the theatre crowd about Sofia having cancer that it was a surprise Gabriel hadn’t been aware.
‘No.’
‘At all?’
‘I said no.’
‘I guess it’s been a while since you’ve been around.’
Gabriel’s eyes hardened. ‘Is there something wrong, Bruce?’
He shrugged his shoulders, his mouth moving like it juggled marbles. ‘Not for me to say.’
‘I think you’re saying plenty. Look, thanks for being there for her, but I’m here now and I want to see her.’
‘Better late than never, I guess.’
The frown on Gabriel’s face deepened, and the plunge of those eyebrows took out Bruce’s heart. He didn’t have the right to berate Gabriel for not being there, but it didn’t sit well with him that Gabriel should be living the high life in the city while his mother was in Brachen suffering.
‘Thanks for your help,’ Gabriel muttered through gritted teeth and left to see his mother.
Whatever. Sofia was the one who was sick and you didn’t just leave family to go it alone. Perhaps Gabriel being there would make him see that he couldn’t just treat people like they were disposable. Especially family. They were supposed to mean more to you than that.
Or that’s what he always wanted to believe. His own family history would have said otherwise.
Now Gabriel had taken over, he could go but he still went back to the room and glanced in. Gabriel was leaning over the side of Sofia’s bed, his hand in hers, whispering to her. If Bruce hadn’t acted like such a jerk, he would have stuck around to give him some support, but he’d blown that from the start. Better to start as you mean
