Baby Teeth: Bite-sized tales of terror Read Free

you know we love you,’ Susan said. ‘You know that, right?’
    Maria nodded.
    â€˜Well, because we love you, Daddy and I want to buy a big house for you to live in. Don’t you want a great big bedroom? Don’t you want a pool?’
    â€˜Yes.’ Maria’s voice was no more than a whisper. ‘But you can’t chop down the tree.’
    â€˜Peanut, I know you love it, but it’s only a tree. When we move into our new house there’ll be lots of trees.’
    â€˜It’s Bobby’s tree. If you cut it down he won’t have anywhere to live.’
    â€˜Bobby can come and live with us in the new house.’
    â€˜No. He can’t .’ Maria moved so quickly the back of her chair didn’t hit the floor until she was halfway up the hall.
    Susan stood, but Paul grabbed her hand. ‘Wait. The book says not to give in to tantrums.’
    Susan sat back down again. Maria’s door slammed shut.
    â€˜Who’s Bobby?’
    â€˜Her imaginary friend. Soon as she comes home from kindy she runs straight out to the tree. Even yesterday, in the rain. I took a coat out to her, but she was already soaked. Ran her a warm bath when she finally came in.’
    â€˜She does this a lot?’
    â€˜Every day for the past three weeks.’
    Paul shook his head. ‘I should have known that.’
    Well, if you’d come home on time once in a while . Paul looked at his plate. He wasn’t hungry either.
    Maria screamed again. Susan put down her knife and fork and stood up.
    â€˜Honey,’ Paul said. ‘The book—’
    Susan was already halfway across the room. ‘Fuck the book!’
    *
    â€˜W hat’s his name again?’
    â€˜Bobby.’ Susan leaned in the doorway, a cup of coffee in her hands.
    Paul considered the tree. It was a big pine, maybe twenty years old. Pine wasn’t protected. He didn’t have to worry about a neighbour dobbing him in to the council like he’d get with a pōhutukawa. Sticky sap, needles all over the grass. Nobody gave a shit about pine trees in the suburbs.
    He tried to imagine what the section would look like, when they were all done. The original house would stay where it was. He’d bowl the fence on the other side, run a thin driveway all the way to the back. Neither of the houses would have much garden but people didn’t care about that any more. The tree was right where the living room would be. Or was it the tiny bathroom they’d sneaked in on the ground floor? Whatever. Build another house, sell both, buy a third. The Auckland guide to climbing the property ladder. They’d been lucky enough to buy one of the last houses in the street with a decent-sized section. The back lawn was so valuable it might as well have gold buried under it.
    Maria peered around the back door.
    â€˜Hey baby,’ Paul said. ‘Come and sit on the grass with me.’
    Maria shook her head and hugged her Care Bear.
    â€˜I was just talking to Bobby.’
    Maria looked up. ‘You were?’
    â€˜Yes. We’ve been talking about the tree. I told Bobby that if he let us cut it down he can come and live with us in the house. And when we move to the new house, he can come too. Would you like that?’
    Maria stared for a long time. Paul kept up the smile until his cheeks hurt. You’re a bad man, lying to your own daughter. Even by your standards, this is shit . But it wasn’t any worse than telling her about Father Christmas or the Easter Bunny, was it?
    â€˜So, I’ll go get everything ready.’
    Maria didn’t move. A tear rolled down her cheek.
    â€˜Come on, Peanut,’ Susan said. ‘Let’s go back into the house. It’s going to get pretty noisy.’
    Paul put on the safety goggles and the earmuffs and the ridiculous arm and leg protection the man at the hire shop had insisted on. The chainsaw started on the first pull. Even with the earmuffs, it was