Strong Medicine Read Free

suitcase, packed my few things into another and moved back in with my mom. Lindsey was barely a year old.
    It took me ages to adapt to the cramped space again. And things only got worse when my brother and his girlfriend moved in. We were still there, living in my childhood bedroom.
    The room was dark and empty when I got up stairs. I flicked on the light switch and the weak bulb lit up overhead. There were no wrinkles in the blanket on our bed and the pillows were still plump. There was no school uniform in a heap on the floor, no book bag under the little plywood desk in the corner. I checked under the bed and in the closet. Nothing. Maybe she had left her bags in the kitchen.
    I thumped down the stairs two at a time, away from the calm of my room and back into the clamor of the household. Thomas was shouting at Sue above the sound of Petey’s wailing. I could still hear my mother’s self-righteous voice in the kitchen.
    Six bowls formed a neat line on the counter. My mother had her back to the door. Her broad hips jiggled as she filled each bowl with something brown and lumpy from a stainless steel pot. Smoke hung in the air above her head like a winter mist. A pot of rice smoldered on the drying rack next to the sink. At least that solved the mystery of the smoke. The thin lace curtains danced in the open windows. Fresh air gradually replaced the smoke.
    Johan sat at the table with a Black Label in one hand and a belligerent expression on his narrow face. He always got mean when he drank beer. The cheaper the brand, the meaner he got. This was not going to be an easy night for my mother.
    “Have you seen Lindsey?” I asked as I walked into the room.
    My mother turned around and smiled at me. Johan leered.
    “Just in time for dinner,” my mother said with a rubbery smile that was the first sign she’d already had too much to drink.
    “Ma, have you seen Lindsey? Did she come home from school?”
    “No, I—”
    “And you?” I glared at Johan. He shook his bald head and sipped his beer.
    I went over to the lounge and dragged the curtain aside.
    “Can’t we get any privacy?” Thomas said as I strode into the cluttered mess that was his home. He threw his hands in the air and pulled at his hair. When Sue fell pregnant she’d moved into the house to live with Tommy. They’d taken the couches out of the lounge and replaced them with a double bed and a cot. Two chests of drawers dominated one wall. But there were so many dirty clothes strewn through the room that I’m sure those chests were empty.
    “Have you seen Lindsey today?” I asked.
    “Not since this morning.” Thomas shook his head, his too-long hair flopping over his ears as he did.
    “Erin, Erin…” Petey walked up to me and held out his hands, asking me to pick him up. I ignored him, looked down at my watch: 18:15. My pulse throbbed in my neck.
    No, no, no! This can’t be happening. I put my hand on the wall to steady myself.
    “She should have been home three hours ago.” I said.
    “Maybe she’s just late?” Sue said. She scooped Petey up and kissed the boy’s soft cheeks, like she was rubbing his child’s presence in my face.
    “She’s never late!” I couldn’t keep the panic out of my voice.
    It was unfair, I shouldn’t have shouted at her. Petey’s little face scrunched up and his cheeks turned bright red. He was about to cry. My throat constricted and I sucked a deep breath in through gritted teeth.
    “I should do something, call her friends.” I shoved the curtain aside and left Sue with a sobbing toddler in her arms.
    My stomach churned as I headed up to my room to fetch Lindsey’s phone book. She was always home on time from netball, but it was possible that she’d gone home with a friend and forgotten to tell us. I’d phone around, find her, and she’d be back here in an hour eating dinner at the wobbly kitchen table.
    I’d have to make sure she didn’t do this again. I’d drill it into her that she must always let