Ride On

Chapter XXIX: Your Mother Should Know

I took a bus home. Actually I took a few buses home. None of them went straight to Sydney from Newcastle so I had to make a few stops. On the rides home I kept going over that morning. I gave Angus his shirt back and he groggily slung it over his shoulder while wishing me a safe trip home. Cliff happened to be in the lobby getting a few pastries and said goodbye. Everyone else was still in bed sleeping. I had to leave before the tempting cinnamon swirls became my transport. 

I made it back by lunch time and I was starving. My mum and dad were at the table eating sandwiches. They both stared at me.

I was still in my bra and mini skirt. I crossed my arms around my middle. 

"Where have you been?" Mum asked. "We waited half the night for you to come home."

"I didn't have as much money on me as I thought for a taxi," I said quietly. I had to measure my words carefully. "I ended up getting a hotel with some other girls who were there." 

That wasn't a total lie. Sandra and Cathy both stayed at the same hotel. 

"Are you hungry?" My dad had just finished his food and made to stand up. 

"I'll make myself a pizza." Nothing sounded better than pepperoni at that moment. 

"How'd you get home then? A short taxi ride doesn't cost that much." I couldn't let them get too suspicious. 

"I took...a bus." Just one bus. One bus for one short ride home from a nearby hotel. That's exactly what happened. 

"Did Bon pull his pants down?" my dad asked. "No, Angus, right? Did Angus do that?"

I was flustered. "No, he didn't, actually."

"Oh. That's too bad. You wanna get your money's worth."

"You must have slept in if you got home so late. You're probably exhausted from all these concerts." Mum stood up with her plate and followed Dad to the kitchen to put it in the sink. She wasn't wrong.

"I'll probably take a nap after I eat." And after stuffing myself on one mini pepperoni pizza I did just that.

********

It was late autumn. Leaves were falling, it rained almost every day, and yours truly caught a nasty cold. 

Rosemary had the same cold and she stayed home that day. Although it made my job easier without her there, I missed her. She really felt like my own child. 

The other two, not so much.

Luckily Daisy went on vacation with her family to Europe so it was just Charlotte today. She was much quieter without someone to instigate trouble. Mum turned the television on for her to watch while she baked bread. It was bucketing outside so even without my cold I couldn't garden. I was too tired to read and the particular cartoons Charlotte liked to watch weren't fascinating enough to me. So I headed back to my bedroom sneezing the whole way.

If my rubbish bin had been overflowing before, it was spouting like a fountain now. I had a huge pile of laundry to take care of and rainy days were good days to get chores done. 

Eh. Maybe when I was feeling better. 

I put an AC/DC record on and lay down. They had released their newest one called Powerage and it was easily my favorite so far. Even better, Angus was on the cover. 

I can't believe I sneezed on it.

I drank a glass of water as per Mum's instructions and gnawed on my bottom lip. Papers were scattered all over my bed again ever since I came up with a new idea for a novel. Whether or not it came to fruition was debatable but I simply had to write it down. I wondered if it was the same for Bon. Pages of songs but only some of them making it to the album. I tried writing songs once. 

...I think I'll stick to novels.

Right after my record finished playing I heard Mum call me from the kitchen. I hastily scurried off my bed and stubbed my toe on the way out. Limping, I saw my mum holding the phone out to me. "It's for you."

I took it from her suddenly nervous. "Hello?"