The Road Back Read Free

completed the outfit with a pair of multi-coloured basketball shoes.
    â€˜You look lovely, except perhaps for the shoes. What happened to sandals?’
    â€˜Dad, these are Converse! They call them Chuckies after the basketball player. Anyway, sandals are so, so . . . sixties.’
    â€˜Got it,’ said Chris humbly. ‘You look terrific.’
    They trawled through Chinatown, deciding which restaurant looked good. The narrow streets were crowded, full of people enjoying themselves.
    â€˜I love the palace places with all the red and gold,’ Megan commented.
    â€˜Okay. You choose.’
    Chris followed his daughter up the stairs of one of the large restaurants and into an immense room already filled with families chattering in Cantonese. As they were shown to a table, they dodged teams of waiters carrying huge trays of dishes with appetising aromas. Taking their seats, Megan’s eyes popped as she leafed through the lengthy menu.
    â€˜Dad, this menu is huge. There are pages and pages.’
    â€˜What would you like to do, Megan? Have a dish for yourself, or share dishes with me?’
    â€˜I’d like to share.’
    She took her time choosing the dishes she wanted and when they ordered the food she asked for a Sprite, eschewing the jasmine tea.
    Chris leaned his chin on his hand and studied her. ‘So, Megan. What’s next?’
    â€˜You mean at school? What do I want to do with my life? Boyfriends? Or Mum and Trevor?’
    â€˜Boyfriends? Do you have one? Someone special?’ Chris asked, his eyebrows raised.
    She smiled at him. ‘Chill, Dad. I’m just tuning.’
    â€˜Translation, please.’
    â€˜Tuning is like a flirtationship. Sort of just having someone to flirt with. A bit more than a friend, but not a relationship.’
    â€˜So are you tuning with anyone special?’
    â€˜Not at the moment, no one that’s serious.’
    â€˜And school is fine? I know from your reports that you’re a hard worker. Have you given any thought to what you want to do in your final years? I don’t expect you to have any clues about a career at this stage, unless there’s something that really grabs you. Sometimes it’s good to try different things.’
    â€˜I tell everyone who asks that I just want to be happy. They like to hear that. Sometimes I say that I want to be a lawyer, but I don’t.’
    Chris chuckled and shook his head. ‘I hated being asked that, too. The other question I hated was, “What’s your favourite subject?”’
    â€˜Easy. Commerce.’
    â€˜Really?’ He was surprised.
    Then Megan asked, ‘Can you come to my next school parents’ night? I hate Trevor coming along, even though Mum does all the talking.’
    â€˜Sure, honey. I’d like to meet your teachers. I’m glad that you like school. It’s meant to be one of the best girls’ schools in the area.’
    â€˜It’s a great school. Everyone is fantastic. It’s just a long trip each day from Newport, but I can hang out with my friends and talk about things on the bus.’
    â€˜And you like that it’s only girls? You wouldn’t rather change to a co-ed school that’s a bit closer to home?’
    Megan shook her head. ‘No way, Dad. One of my girlfriends goes to a mixed school and I can see the pros and cons, but I like where I am better.’
    â€˜Why is that?’
    â€˜She says the girls don’t want to show that they’re smart and be seen as geeky by getting high science marks or whatever. I think you can take more risks if it’s just girls. Who wants to fail or look stupid in front of the boys in the class? And my friend says that if you date a boy from school and then it crashes, everyone knows and it’s a big deal. It’s good to learn to get along with guys as friends, which would be one good thing about co-ed, but I like all-girl classes. Anyway, we do things