Breaking Her Rules

Chapter 43

Dad finally answers the phone at four in the morning, and by this time I'm so dead tired that even a hard deck chair seems like a logical place to sleep. They discharged my mother from hospital and took her straight to the police station, so Dad goes there and tells me to wait for him to call.

Lucas is at my house, and we sit on my back deck and watch the sun come up over the pool. I want to sleep, but I know that if I actually go and lie in bed I won't actually be able to sleep. Too much has happened in this one night, and I need to wait until Mum and Dad get home.

At about seven Dan emerges from his room, remorsefully hungover, and goes to the kitchen sink to fill up a jug of water. He sees Lucas and me sitting on the deck and stops and stares.

'Where did you guys get to?' he asks.

'Long fucking story,' I say. 'How are you feeling?'

'I think my brain is actually splitting in two,' Dan says. His hair is loose and messy around his shoulders, and he's wearing a band shirt backwards.

'Did you go out?'

'Yeah, Jen and I went clubbing.'

'Jen and you?' I ask. 'Did she sleep here?'

'Uh, yeah,' Dan says, rubbing his head. He glances at Lucas. 'Did you sleep here?'

'Haven't slept yet,' Lucas says gruffly.

'Uh, Mum drove us home,' I say.

'What?' Dan says, placing the jug on the island counter and walking towards us. 'Was she alright?'

I shake my head. 'The car is written off. She went to hospital for shock. She's alright, but by the time they did a blood test in the hospital her blood alcohol content was still high. She's going to have to go to court. There's going to be a big fine, loss of license, and they threatened jail time but I think Dad said that if they get any decent lawyer she won't be going to jail since it's a first offense.'

'Fuck,' Dan says, leaning against the sliding door. 'I am too hungover to deal with this right now.'

I cross to the kitchen and grind fresh coffee beans. Just the sound of the grinder makes Dan close his eyes, but he doesn't say anything because he appreciates me making coffee for him.

I look up at Lucas. 'Want a coffee?'

'Desperately,' he says.

I realise I don't know how Lucas takes his coffee, so I make three flat white coffees. Lucas takes it without a word and the three of us sit on the back deck, silently sipping at our drinks.

When I'm just drinking the dregs the front door swings open and Mum and Dad walk in. Without a word Mum walks straight to their bedroom. Even from the back deck I hear her slam the door.

Dad walks out to us on the deck. 'You two okay?' he asks Lucas and me.

'We're fine,' I say. 'We were just a bit shaken. How's Mum?'

'Fine,' Dad says. 'She's just furious at herself and she wants to take it out on me, and you. You really shouldn't have asked her for a lift home.'

'I know,' I say. 'But the trains were all finished. We should have just caught a cab.'

'Right, well I'm going to bed,' Dad says.

'Wait,' I say. 'Uh, can it wait for a bit? I have something to talk to you about.'

Dad looks suspiciously between Dan, Lucas and me, but Dan shrugs his shoulders as if to say that he doesn't know anything about it.

And that's when I realise I have absolutely no idea where to start. How do I tell my father that the lead singer of his band is not dead?

'Uh, we met Two Soap Dolls tonight,' Lucas says.

'Really?' Dad says. He sits down across from us. The sun is starting to heat up the back deck, and Dad rolls his sleeves up, showing off his tattoos.

'Yeah, we talked to Augie Porters,' I say. 'See, well, I figured something out about Augie. I realised that when Augie was younger he actually knew George Addison.'

Dad frowns.

'Well George and Augie wrote some songs together, after the band broke up. I think Augie was hoping that George would start a new band. But then George died.'

'Right,' Dad says.

'We figured out why the police were trying to get you,' Lucas says. 'Why Forrester was trying to get you. He read your excerpt and he saw that you wrote about playing a guitar, right when George killed himself. George's guitar. You felt guilty about it because you were playing his new guitar when George was jumping off a bridge.'

'Well,' Lucas says. 'The police report from the night of George's death doesn't mention a guitar. The guitar wasn't in the apartment when the police searched it. There was a suicide note, but no guitar. When you were in the apartment, there was no suicide note, and there was a guitar.'

'What are you saying?' Dad says.

'George was in the apartment after you left,' I say. 'He didn't jump off the bridge. I think he wanted to, but he decided against it. He just left instead. He left a note, and he took his guitar.'

'Em, Lucas, this is ridiculous. What are you suggesting? I don't think you know about what you think you know.'

'Dad,' I say. 'Trust me on this. Please don't talk down to me. Tonight we met George Addison.'

'What?' Dad says, standing up so that his chair grates on the deck floor. I look over at Dan and notice that he's staring at me too.

'He's alive,' Lucas says.

Dad walks to the kitchen and grabs himself a bottle of water out of the fridge. He takes a huge swig of it before walking back towards us. 'I think maybe you're suffering a concussion from the accident or something,' Dad says to me.

'Don't,' I say tersely. 'George Addison is alive. He's living and working with Augie Porters as the band manager of Two Soap Dolls. And now he knows he has a daughter. Lexington Davids. He thought Claire terminated the pregnancy. But she didn't. Lexington doesn't know who her father is, but now George knows he has a daughter. Plus, it means Forrester can drop all charges on your case.'

'Wait a minute,' Dad says. 'The band manager of Two Soap Dolls? I know that guy. I worked with him a few years back, last time the Dolls were touring around Australia. Big beard?'

'His name's Scott Richard,' I say.

'So you're saying this guy, Scott Richard, is actually George Addison in disguise?' Dad asks me, perplexed. 'You're saying George made up a whole new identity?'

'We met him tonight,' I say. 'He's George.'

There's a huge pause in the conversation, and no one says anything until Lucas stands up. His chair grates against the floor, making everyone look to him.

'I think I'm going to go home,' he says.

'I'll drive you,' Dad says.

'No, it's alright,' Lucas says. 'I'm fine to walk.'

But Dad stands up. 'I'll drive you. I have a few things to discuss.'

Lucas glances at me and then nods to my father. Dad follows Lucas out the front door, grabbing his keys on the way.

I look at Dan to find that he's staring at me.

'You have so much explaining to do,' Dan says. 'But right now, I'm going to go back to bed and see if Jen is awake.'

'Right,' I say. 'Well I might see if I can sleep.'

I grab our coffee cups and put them in the dishwasher then head to my room. I couldn't even be bothered having a shower, so I just strip down to my underwear and climb into bed. I stare at the ceiling, waiting for sleep.