Because I Hear the Voices

Chapter 10

“He fainted?”  Corey squealed with laughter and Giles jumped up throwing his arm up to his forehead in an exaggerated version of an Edwardian lady swooning, bringing tears of laughter to my eyes and delighted barks from Batty’s dog basket in the corner of the room.

 Devlin stared angrily at us and then turned himself around in the chair and pretended to be interested in a cookbook he was reading, proving that he clearly hadn’t recovered from the night before and the frantic trip to the vet and the three hours of nail biting, hand ringing worry before we heard the sound of a familiar canine bark. 

 The phone began to ring, and since Devlin was clearly choosing to ignore everything and everybody at the moment, I dragged myself up from my beanbag and raced into the kitchen to pick it up.

 I bit back my laughter and then proceeded to answer the phone with my usual ditty.  “Hello, Dr Love’s counseling hotline.  How may I direct your call please?”  As usual I was met with a brief moment of stunned silence.

 “May I please speak to Sean Achias,” I winced as the woman at the end of the line asked politely for me, mispronouncing my name.

 “Speaking”

 “Oh.  Well, Mr. Achias my name is, well it was Belinda Matthews, and I found out from my Aunt the other day that you wished to contact me over the McNealy case.”

 Momentarily stunned I felt my palms start to sweat as I tried to organize my thoughts and figure out what to say.  “Yes that’s right, Ms, ah, Matthews.  Um, sorry I hadn’t expected your call so soon.  I have been trying to contact you for a year now and only just managed to get in touch with your Aunt on Saturday, she led me to believe it might be a while before she’d have a chance to speak to you about the matter.”

 “I haven’t spoken to anyone about this since the police took my statement and I was reluctant to even call you at all, but my Aunt explained to me that you were looking at the McNealy case to tie up some loose ends.  I’m sorry but what loose ends could there possibly be?”

 “Well, its, ah, not exactly something I can discuss over the phone.  Perhaps we could meet somewhere for coffee or something to discuss the matter?”

 “Got any place in mind?”

 “Ah, well, um...” I stumbled, drawing a complete blank because she had managed to catch me off guard again by agreeing straight away.  The truth of the matter was I hadn’t thought this far ahead and since everything up to now had taken so long to come about I hadn’t thought that I’d need to worry about this quite so soon.

 “Well if you feel like a drive north, I could perhaps meet you at the café in Maple Vale next Sunday afternoon; say 3 o’clock if that’s ok with you.”

 “Yeah, um, sure that will be great, thanks.  So, Sunday then?”

 “Yes, Sunday.”

 “Ok then, well…um,” my eyes darted around the room, as I struggled to comprehend our conversation.

 “How about Bye?” she softly chuckled. 

 “Oh yeah, thanks, bye.”

 I heard her low chuckle echo and then the phone went dead.  Excitement boiled in my stomach and I raced to the living room, bounding over Giles and Corey who were playing computer games again and lit over to where Devlin was still sulking.

 “Oh someone got lucky, hot date tonight hey?” Corey asked.

 “Dev, she rang.”

 Sighing, Devlin put down his magazine and looked at me with disinterest.

 “Who rang?"

 “Belinda.  Belinda Matthews, she agreed to speak to me Dev, this Sunday.”

 “Belinda Matthews? Why does that name ring a bell?” a puzzled look appeared on Devlin’s face.

“T.R.  She’s the witness.”  

 “Holy s**t Sean, so is she coming here or what?” Devlin asked, too excited to remember about his dented pride.

 “Maple Vale, she wants to meet me there.  So, um”

 “You wanna borrow my car?”

 “No I want to know if you’d, um, come with me?”

 Devlin stopped smiling at me suddenly, as if he just remembered important plans he had for the weekend.

 “Oh you don’t have to come.  If you are doing something with Kaeli, that’s fine, don’t worry about it,” I began, trying hard not to show the nerves I felt at the prospect of meeting Belinda, or whatever her name was now, alone.

“It’s not that man.  It’s Batty; we can’t leave him here on his own.”

 “So we’ll take him with us, get him out to see the world, expand his horizons,” I said trying not to sound as desperate as I felt.

Devlin lifted his head to look at me, a grin spreading across his face.

 “ROAD TRIP!”

 *                                  *                                  *

 Since it was decided that the utility would be too cramped Devlin somehow managed to convince me to bring along Corey and Giles if only for the use of their van, although for the life of me I don’t remember exactly how it was agreed.  Still pondering this turn of events, I zipped up my overnight bag, patted the pocket of my pants where I’d put my mobile after searching for it for half an hour and went out into the hall to grab my toothbrush from the bathroom.

 Of course Kaeli had hit the roof about going on the trip.  According to her, I should be going alone, after all I was a big boy now, and I could have gotten a plane up and back.  It didn’t matter to her that uni had finished for the year, what we were doing was frivolous and childish.  Devlin had reasoned that it was a guy thing, that it was a matter of loyalty and friendship.  And it might have worked too, but for the very simple fact that Corey was going on the excursion as well.  Devlin had tried to smooth things over, but somehow Kaeli seemed convinced that the whole trip was a devious plot for Devlin to go out and sow his wild oats.  This statement had only convinced Giles that he’d been right all along, and Kaeli was actually mentally challenged.

 “Hey Sean, did you see what Dev’s packing?  The blasted bag weighs a ton, and the rich pretty boy has to take his damn camcorder so he can document the trip.  Now he is talking about picking up food from the market before we head off.  You’ve got to talk to him Sean.” Giles whined at me from the doorway.

 “Stop whining man, it is so unattractive.  No wonder you can’t get a girlfriend,” Dev retaliated as he sauntered down the hallway.

 “Actually the market thing was my idea Giles,” I interrupted before a full-fledged slanging match could commence.  “Dev’s got his esky and tent, so since we are camping under the stars for a couple of nights I thought we should get supplies.  You know beer, munchies, that sort of thing.”

 Instantly Giles’ face went from a scowl to smile, as he processed this new and enlightening information.  “In that case,” he began before turning out into the hallway, “let’s get moving!”

 Shaking my head I watched him leave and when I caught sight of Devlin streaking past the door on his way to get something he had forgotten from his room, I hurried after him.

 “Why?”  I asked in a strained voice.

 “Why what?”

 “Well I get that in order to use their car, we have to take them, but why do we have to leave today?  It’s Wednesday, which means 2 whole days and 2 whole nights of hell, and that’s only getting there.  It only takes about 18 hours to get to Maple Vale, why go sooner and suffer longer?”

 “Adventure Sean, you know, getting in touch with nature, spending time with your mates around a campfire, sharing outrageously made up s*x stories, drinking, laughing and picking up some chicks, although I think that Corey might have other ideas.  It’s the ultimate call of the young, man.” Devlin said as he slung one arm over my shoulder and waved the other one in front of us in a long sweeping motion, trying to inspire a spark of enthusiasm within me.

 “This from the guy who is practically engaged to his ‘red haired sss’,” I sniggered.

 “There ain’t no harm in looking,” he informed me pompously, swinging back around to continue his frantic search.

 “Did you tell Kaeli that you’d be looking?”  I asked innocently.

 “Shut up Sean,” he replied, throwing one of his science textbooks that had to weigh a ton over his shoulder and straight into my stomach.

 On impact I doubled over as the air was knocked out of my lungs, and tried desperately to gather another gasping breath.  Chuckling weakly I made my way to the door.

“Sean, is it alright?  I mean us going sooner?” Devlin asked concern creeping into his voice.

 I stood there at the doorway and pretended to ponder the situation before replying.

 “I am not sharing s*x stories with you guys.”

 “Ha!  Like you’d have any to share anyway!”

                                     *                                  *                                  *

 We left Brisbane at nine o’clock in the morning laden with the necessities of the trip and about two cartons of beer.  The landscape that zoomed past us out the window went pretty much unnoticed by everyone, because we were more interested in telling jokes and stories and singing karaoke style to the music that blasted from the van’s many speakers. I was given the task as navigator, which I quickly relinquished, to Devlin after I had managed to get us lost without even leaving Brisbane.  We had to make several urgent pit stops for Batty’s sake as well as Giles’, who seemed to have the weakest bladder of anybody I had ever met.

 It was dusk as we neared Rockhampton, and Devlin had begun counting down the distance to our overnight destination with relish and enthusiasm, squealing with delight every time he saw a small green sign on the road, with the letter ‘R’, announcing the town being 10 kilometers closer.  Suddenly a large roundabout loomed into view.

 “Holy Mary, Mother of God!” Giles whispered in awe as he decelerated, it seemed, out of respect for the giant statue of the white bull which commanded our attention from the middle of the roundabout.

 “Christ that’s realistic,” Devlin stated, his wide eyes glued to the scene in front of him.

 “Yeah, he’s even got balls.”

 “Corey!” we all shouted in protest, stunned that she even had the gall to look there.

 “What?  I’m just saying…..”

 “No,” I begged cutting her off.  “Just don’t go there.”

 “Babies” she giggled, delighted that she had thrown even Giles with her remark.

“So we turn right and then what?” Giles asked trying to get off the subject.

 “We’ll have to find somewhere we can pitch the tent,” Devlin replied taking control of the situation.  “There’s supposed to be a caravan park somewhere on this road that allows tents.”

 “There it is,” Corey announced pointing across the road to a sign that advertised for caravans, tents and cabins.

 “We could get a cabin,” I exclaimed delighted in the idea of not having to sleep on the floor that night.  “It would be less than $10 each.”

 “Excellent!” exclaimed the twins in front.

 “But this is supposed to be a camping trip,” Devlin whined from his seat, “We’re supposed to be communing with nature.”

 “I ain’t no Hippy,” Giles stated forcefully as he swung the car into the driveway and headed for the reception area.  He braked, jumped out of the car and flew to the welcoming door before Devlin managed to get his seatbelt off.

 “Commune?” Corey teased from the passenger seat.

“Oh shut up!” Devlin grouched as he folded his arms on his chest.

 Giles appeared then, whistling and swinging an odd shaped key in his hand as he bounded back to the car.  “Cabin number 13 guys, I asked for it especially,” he jovially announced as he climbed back into the drivers seat.

 Beside me I felt Devlin stiffen, gasp, and watched as the blood drained out of his face in fright, and I wondered if Giles knew about Devlin’s secret phobia, triskaidekaphobia.  Ever since he had watched that Disney cartoon movie ‘The Rescuers’ when he was three years old, he developed a phobia about the number 13 from a paranoid mouse in the movie, and had never been able to ever shake his fear of it.

 Corey reached over and took the key from Giles’ hand.  “That’s Cabin B, stupid,” she admonished.

 Devlin let out a slow sigh of relief.

 “Yeah, but look at it, the Capital B is nothing but a downward stroke, followed by the symbol of the number three.  So technically one could say it is just the number 13 squished together,” Giles disclosed much to Devlin’s terror.

 “I never thought about it that way,” I admitted intrigued with Giles’ analysis, not paying any attention to Devlin’s whimper beside me.

 “Yeah, you just have to learn to see things in a different way,” Giles divulged, swinging the van into the space available at our cabin.

 As I opened my door to embark, I felt a cold and clammy hand reach out to grasp my arm.  Sighing I turned around and smiled reassuringly at my somewhat horrified friend.

 “Sean,” Devlin whined, glaring at our abode with distaste and distrust.

 “Dev, this is Giles we are talking about.  The guy’s a freak show, don’t listen to him.”

 “Yeah,” Devlin breathed relaxing slightly as he took my words in.  “Sure, you’re right, ok.”  He agreed cautiously, his eyes darting around him as if expecting a mass murderer to suddenly appear from the bushes wielding some sort of sharp implement. 

 “Come on, before Giles eats all the food,” I beckoned as I hastened out of our vehicle.

 “What’s up with him?” Corey asked pulling me aside in confidence as she handed me my bag and practically dragged me to the door of the cabin to get us out of ear shot.

 “Christ I think that’s the fastest I have ever seen you move,” I declared trying to avoid the discussion about a topic I had been sworn to secrecy about.

 “Sean!” Corey growled.

 “He’s not feeling well that’s all,” I announced in alarm.  

 “Carsick?”

  “Um yeah, sure.” I agreed, too delighted in myself for my quick thinking to even pay attention to what she was concerned about.

 “Get a move on Dev!” Giles exclaimed from behind us as he practically rammed my uneasy friend through the door.

 Devlin flinched in horror and squinted his eyes closed, prepared for the worst.

 “Do you want a tablet Dev?” Corey inquired.

 “What?  Why?”  He asked the terror not completely concealed in his eyes.

 “You know for your condition, Sean told me,” Corey explained as she set about the task of finding the pills she spoke of in her knapsack.

 “They make pills for that?” Devlin asked bewildered, before catching on to exactly what she had said.  “Sean told you!”

 “Yeah you get carsick right?  Nothing to be embarrassed about, it happens all the time to me when I’m not driving,” Corey revealed as she handed Devlin a small brown tablet.

 “Um, gee, thanks,” Devlin stumbled as he looked at me apologetically.

 “I’ll get you a drink to go with that if you like,” Corey offered, heading off before Devlin could reply.

 “I’m, ah, sorry, I should have known.” Devlin admitted with redness creeping into his face.

 “That’s cool mate, no worries,” I smiled as I swung my bag up onto the top bunk with a resounding thud.

 “Yeah, right, no worries,” Devlin muttered looking at the pill in his hand clearly unsure what he should do with it.

We went to bed early that night, and got up before 6 o’clock to continue our journey.  This time, silence reined in the car, and I was able to really study the landscape of farms and bushland in heavy drought.  Until this time I had never seen Australia as a barren land, and I remembered poems about Australia that we had read in high school, and I realised that not much had changed in a hundred years.  Giles commented that everything was too isolated and he’d give a great cheer when we’d glimpse a town, Devlin was too busy sulking after he had called Kaeli from his mobile and been lectured at, and Corey was busy worrying about where we’d find the cheapest petrol.  I took Devlin’s camera from his bag and began filming the landscape and engaged Corey, Giles and finally Devlin into an interview.  We reached Townsville before nighttime; it had taken us so long because of the many long breaks during the day, but instead of stopping we pushed forward because Devlin had convinced us to continue the three-hour drive to our destination.