Pictures of Lily

Australia.

Chapter 5
     
    ‘Fuck me, you’ve stalled again !’
    ‘Piss off!’
    ‘Hurry up, would you. This is embarrassing.’
    ‘You are such a dickhead!’
    Josh is teaching me how to drive. I know, I’m clearly not right in the head. Michael has been letting me get behind the wheel on the way to work over the last week and a half, but it’s Saturday now and he’s taken Mum on a weekend break to a town called Clare in the Barossa Valley to tour the wineries. I stupidly begged Josh to pick up where his dad had left off.
    I wind down the window, but the hot air outside makes me feel like I’m in the direct airflow of a giant hairdryer so I put it back up again. Thankfully the car has air-conditioning, even if it’s not very powerful. I flip down the sun visor and instantly flinch as I remember Michael’s story about giant spiders hiding behind them. All clear.
    Someone toots their horn behind me.
    ‘Yep, I know how you feel, mate!’ Josh calls out.
    ‘Stop winding me up!’ I snap, feeling the bite of the accelerator against the clutch. The car lurches forward and we fly through the traffic-lights.
    ‘Whoa! Who do you think you are?’ Josh says snidely. ‘Michael Schumacher?’
    I’m so angry by the time we get home that I refuse to speak to him for the rest of the day. He finally comes to make amends.
    ‘Do you want to come to Stirling tonight?’ he asks, after finding me sulking in front of the telly at seven o’clock.
    ‘Not with you,’ is my blunt response.
    ‘Oh, don’t be mad.’
    I glare at the television screen in silence.
    ‘It’s Saturday night . . .’ he carries on.
    ‘Who’s going?’ I ask, thinking that if the answer involves Lou, I’ll stay right where I am.
    ‘Just Alex, Shane and a few of the guys from work.’
    ‘No girls?’ I check, because I’m not risking it.
    ‘Nup. Not unless I get lucky later. I’m joking!’ he exclaims when he sees my face. ‘Come on,’ he adds. ‘You need a drink after all those near-crashes earlier.’
    ‘Go to hell!’
    ‘Hey, get a sense of humour. I’ll even let you get me back by picking on my driving.’
    ‘I’ll pick on it on the way there. But we’re catching a taxi home, geddit?’
    ‘Whatever.’
    Stirling is a pretty town. The streets are lined with long rows of single-storey shops, set back under a shady canopy of trees. Some colonial-style buildings are built out of cream stone and have intricate wrought-iron balconies.
    The pub we go to is packed, smoky and full of drinkers. I know the only way I’ll have a good time is if I join everyone else in their game, so when Josh goes off to play pool with one of his mates and Shane drags me to the bar to do a shot of tequila, I go gladly.
    ‘Another?’ he offers when I knock back the first.
    ‘No.’ I’m trying not to wince.
    ‘Pommie lightweight,’ he jokes.
    ‘I bet I could drink you under the table.’ As if!
    ‘Is that a challenge?’ He raises two dark eyebrows at me and flashes me a cheeky smile. He’s actually not bad-looking. I don’t think I’ve noticed before because it’s hard to notice anyone else when Josh is standing in front of you.
    ‘I wouldn’t want to embarrass you,’ I reply childishly and he laughs and pulls out a cigarette packet.
    ‘Want one?’
    ‘No, thanks. I didn’t know you smoked,’ I say as he lights up.
    ‘Only sometimes.’
    ‘Does Josh smoke?’
    ‘Nah. Too much of a cheapskate,’ Shane shrugs.
    ‘Right . . .’ Shane grins and I try not to smile. ‘How long have you two known each other?’ I ask.
    He leans his elbow against the bar and manoeuvres himself closer to me. ‘About six years. We were at high school together.’
    I wonder if Shane knows how Josh’s mum died. Before I can ask, Josh himself appears.
    ‘You’re not making my little sister drink shots, are you?’ he asks, wrapping his arm around my waist and giving me a squeeze.
    ‘Get off,’ I grumble, pushing him away, but secretly craving the contact. I haven’t been held like that for what feels like a very long time.
    ‘Can we get some more shots, here?’ Josh calls to the barman. He hands one to me a minute later and I find I don’t have the will to decline.
    ‘Cheers.’ The three of us chink glasses and knock back the booze, me trying hard not to cough.
    ‘You alright, little sis?’ Josh grins as he pats me on the back.
    ‘Bugger off.’
    Someone vacates their bar stool beside us. Josh props himself against it and wraps both of