Adventures of the Cosmic Woman

Chapter Nine

 'I can't raise him anyway,' Mahlia said as he Infield quickly used the keys the driver gave her to open the door and step into the little home - pre-furnished with flatpack furniture and sheets of glass for entertainment and polyester carpet and upholstering. The click-board floors were polished and new. Infield snapped on the light and stepped into the living room where the smell of fabric softener was overwhelming. Mahlia followed and swung the door shut behind her. She leaned on the archway and looked at Infield's teary eyes.

'Because of me. I know.'

'He goes to a school where kids hate him because his parents are divorced and his mother is a dyke,' Mahlia said. She looked down the still-dark hall the led to the kitchen and meals. A lot of stainless steel gleamed in the dim light that got through the windows. 'He gets quieter and more nervous every time I see him. He has bruises all the time. On his eyes or his mouth or his sides. Cuts on his legs. He trembles when I ask about his teacher but I don't ask because it's against the law to accuse the clergy of misconduct. And I pay child support so his father can get drunk and probably kill him one day.'

Mahlia said the words as though they were a grim certainty, without emotion or excitement. She moved off down the hall. Infield heard lights snapping on. She licked her lips and dabbed her eyes with her tattered sleeves and ambled down the hall past the bathroom door to the kitchen bench where Mahlia dropped a teaspoon of instant coffee into a cup while the jug hissed softly.

'We can't get him back?' Infield said in a half whimper.

'No.'

'It's not a rumor, then,' Infield said as he fear prickled up her spine. 'About you?'

'Did you want one?' Mahlia pointed at the cup. Infield shook her head. Mahlia poured her coffee and slowly stirred it as she looked down into the blackening water. 'I met Stephanie in school. University. We were both already married. We'd sneak out together. Girls could dance together as close as they liked because it turned the guys on. I don't know what changed the bouncers' mind about us that night. We'd both drank too much. Got too friendly. They beat us both up but Stephanie...' Mahlia swallowed hard. 'Got a kick in the stomach and started bleeding. We couldn't see each other anymore but I heard from people what was happening. They refused her medical treatment because of how it happened. We kept saying... We were just showing off for the boys, we kept saying. But Stephanie had seen other women more publicly. Before me. In the end they seemed to believe I was just being a showoff but Stephanie actually wanted to fuck me being the known dyke so they let her go on bleeding. She still had a broken jaw, arm, and,' Mahlia waved her arm over her body. 'When she finally died. I was still paying off my medical bills when I got hit with child support as well. So...'

She exhaled shakily and opened the fridge.

'No milk.'

She topped the cup up with tap water and set it down on the bench.

'I knew,' Infield whispered.

'Knew what?'

'You were like that,' Infield moved toward the table and pulled out one of the seats but didn't sit down. 'I was so excited to tell mum when you finally came out. It would have drove her crazy. I was excited for you to grow up in a better world than the gay kids I'd grown up with did and better than the one we were living in.... you know... like... you could have your first girlfriend and be as cool with it as if it was your first boyfriend... I wondered what she'd be like. She'd have to be smart because otherwise you'd get bored. And tough. You were fiery. Even when you were a kid. She wouldn't want to get her feelings hurt easily.'