Gravity Read Free Page A

dad like nothing had happened but I couldn’t stand still. I heard the bathroom door close. I excused myself and barged into Bully’s room. His arse was bare and he span as I closed the door, revealing an angry looking half-fat and a startled look on his face.
    â€˜Adam! What was . . . what did Cappo want?’
    â€˜I stacked the ute. Last night. I had to swerve . . . wallaby or wombat or something. I left the road and landed on a fence post in Chris Kent’s paddock. It knocked me out and Cappo found me this morning. He breathalysed me and I blew positive.’
    â€˜Fuck.’
    I nodded. ‘I’ve got to get out of this shit hole. If I don’t leave now then I never will. It’ll kill me.’
    Bully scoffed. ‘That’s a bit dramatic, mate. Kill you? What about footy? What about school? What about work? What about Si and your old man? Have you told them?’
    I shook my head. ‘No. I will, though. I’ll tell them later.Right now – and I mean right now – I’ve got to get out of here. My car needs a new sump. It’ll take you ten minutes to fix it. I need to borrow the Subaru.’
    He shook his head. ‘Fuck, mate. Fuck. You’ve gone mad. You’re a fucken idiot. You can’t just shit in your bed then find a new bed. You’re a fucken wuss. You can’t just run away from all that.’
    â€˜I’m not. I’m not running away.’
    â€˜Bullshit.’
    â€˜I’m not. I’m escaping.’
    â€˜Ho! Big difference.’
    â€˜There is. Fucken huge difference. To stay would be wussy. To leave takes guts. It’s the leaving that scares the shit out of me, not the staying.’
    He was still shaking his head. When he spoke again, his voice was softer and more measured. ‘Where will you go?’
    â€˜I don’t know, exactly. Melbourne. Find Mum.’
    He was chuckling then. ‘You’re a mad bastard, I’ll give you that.’
    â€˜Thanks. That’s got to be a compliment coming from you.’
    He smiled. ‘The keys are in the ignition.’
    â€˜Thanks. Thank you. Thank you.’
    He wrapped himself in his towel and followed me into the garage.
    â€˜What am I supposed to tell my mum and dad? What do I tell your old man? Will you be back before the end of the holidays? What do I say to Mick when you don’t show up for work tomorrow?’
    There was a little pile of sand on the garage floor –someone had shored up an oil spill. Bully poked at it with a bare toe.
    â€˜I don’t know. Tell them I’ve gone to Sydney. Tell them I’ve gone to look at another car and when I don’t come back, just act surprised and concerned. I’ll phone Dad in a day or so.’
    â€˜The truth comes out. You’re a shifty bastard, too.’
    â€˜It’s called self-preservation.’
    Bully laughed, but there was no humour in him.
    With my heart beating in my throat, I drove the Suba past the front of the cop shop. The patrol car had gone but I still couldn’t breathe. I grabbed my swag from the back of the ute, my cap from the seat, and drove. Right through Splitters Creek. I couldn’t look at our house. I didn’t know what it would do to my resolve if I saw Simon or Dad. I didn’t need a test like that. I left with my wallet and the clothes on my back.
    Crawling down the hill to Orbost, I could smell the cool, rotting undergrowth. I could see the trees and the road and the patches of snow but my thoughts were elsewhere. My thoughts hadn’t left Splitters Creek. They spooled behind me like cotton off the reel and every so often I’d reach the end of a thought and feel it pull tight, but I just kept driving.
    Dad would be okay. He’d be blown away when he realised I’d gone, but he’d cope. He’d find ways of looking after Simon, even get a bit of a kick out of it. The martyr. I wouldn’t miss his expressionless face or the