The Sweetest Little Thing

Chapter 2

Welcome to Mount Isa, that's what the sign read as I sat in the bus terminal waiting for the Greyhound vehicle to arrive to take me to the somewhat remote town of Flindersville, Queensland. I almost wished I had the money to just pick up a hire car and drive to the town myself but instead I was being forced to take a smelly old bus. I leaned back into the chair and stared out the window. This seemed like such a short trip when I was younger but now it was this long drawn out eight-hour drive by bus and I couldn't believe that after eight hours I was now only just pulling into the small town of Flindersville. Ten years, it had been ten years since I'd been here and I can't say I miss too much of this place. There were no traffic lights, they had a small corner store, a bar and an internet café that was extremely popular from the view I had as we drove by. It was such a tiny town yet I recall it being a lot larger than it appeared now. I guess when you're little you tend to think everything is bigger, brighter and prettier than what it really is. I closed my eyes and tried to focus on what I was going to do next in this clusterfuck called my life. My mother wasn't talking to me, at least not until I apologized for my big mouth running away with me but honestly she needed to not be so swayed by the evils of life. I only spoke the truth and if she couldn't take that then she was delusional. To be married for more than thirty years and then to throw it all way when some unforeseeable speed bump in her prim and proper life sent everything into a spiral...clearly for better or worse, for richer or poorer meant nothing to her. I couldn't respect a woman who abandoned her husband when the going got tough. She was a hypocrite; always telling me how my father was her world, how there was nothing he could do that would make her love him any less. She adored him for giving me her but I knew it wasn't true since my father was more a hands-on parent then my mother ever was. My mother never thought of others, no she had been a selfish bitch since the very day she was born. I still couldn't see how my father ever thought she was the perfect woman to marry, to have a kid with. I silently groaned, I couldn't believe my mother was actually an unfaithful cow. That information wasn't exactly forth coming at least not from her mouth; no my father had been the one to divulge that my mother for the better half of the last month had been seeing a guy who by the way happened to be a year older than I. The bus jolted forward jerking me towards the seat in front of me, shuddering such thoughts from my mind. I braced myself as I looked out the window. I was finally here, after many hours I'd arrived at the small bus terminal in the township of Flindersville. Small towns, there was something about them that I don't know fascinated me but also frightened me. I guess I was such a city chick at heart and the mere thought of coming to a remote town made me shudder a little. I guess I was nervous, scared even. The bus pulling into the curb and immediately everything turned into a flurry, raised voices and people dashing to get their overhead baggage in order to disembark the bus a little quicker. Slightly odd since this was a small town and I was positive the population couldn't be more than what was on the bus but maybe I was wrong maybe this was a hip town that had grown since I last was here. I sat back in my chair and observed the fuss of the other passengers. I wasn't in a rush and I'd happily let everyone else get off the bus before me, after all I couldn't have grandma and Ida behind me complain about the state of the tiny unclean toilet on board any longer. How could two women have so much to say about a toilet was beyond me. Not that I'm complaining but in such a small space everyone's gossip was aired like dirty laundry. It was near impossible to not listen in on people's conversations. Like the guy up the far back corner who according to Ida had apparently been run out of the last town he lived in and now he was being bussed off to Flindersville to live with an Aunt who was known around town as a hardass. I smiled as I turned my focus to the view outside the window; this town was familiar in some way yet completely unfamiliar all at the same time. It was almost picture perfect with its blue skies and manicured gardens, even the way the sun's rays shone down warming my skin was perfect. Bronzed skin...I wasn't vein but I loved having bronzed skin and thank goodness I still had a fake tan in place and knew it would at least last a couple more days before it would fade away. The thought made me cringe because I knew I'd become white...pale...pasty gross. I wasn't superficial in anyway but there was something about glowing bronzed skin that made me feel a hell of a lot more confident in myself and considering what was happening in my life and what I was about to do confidence was something I felt I desperately needed. I was nervous as hell but excited nervous too and it was because I feared the unknown and fear made me scared. I feared what was happening back in Melbourne, what my father was going to have to do in order to keep his family afloat. I couldn't help but wish that he'd taken my advice and come here with me but he couldn't and I knew he couldn't. I swallowed the lump stuck in the back of my throat. Maybe this was my chance to escape, to cease an opportunity to rekindle with my family, a family I hadn't seen in more than ten years but they were my family none the less. I loved coming here when I was younger, I guess this was always my little exciting adventure. I was fourteen the last time I was here and I remember that summer as if it was yesterday. I couldn't do it, I couldn't think of that summer because that was the summer my heart was broken and it wasn't by a guy it was by my mother. The cruel hearted bitch had shattered my world and I guess I've never forgiven her for making me feel so insignificant. Our relationship has never been the same and I knew now for certain that it never would be. Lucky for me I'd learnt over the years to put up walls, to make sure that no one could hurt me the way her words had, the way her words sometimes bare a sting. The thing was she apparently believed I wasn't pretty enough, smart enough and cool enough to attract boys...clearly I just wasn't good enough in her books, I hadn't actually noticed that all her words her supposed lectures they were all meant to steer me in the right direction. They were meant to mould me into a woman who supposedly had confidence in herself, who took pride in her appearance. She'd managed to ingrain certain qualities into me, the appearance thing for starters...the trip to the best cosmetic surgeon when I was eighteen to procure myself a lovely set of breast well as much as I'd like to take the credit for giving myself something that I now loved it was her idea, the little nit picking the whole take pride in yourself had finally driven me to seek out medical help. It was frustrating to think about it all, I just thank the lord I didn't care what she thought anymore, that I'd finally grown a backbone and started to show grow as a human being, to show not only myself but others a different side to me. I do believe that if I didn't take a stand then I'd still be hiding in the toilets eating my lunch friendless like I once did in high school. Speaking of friends, I needed to call Peyton to let her know that I'd made it to Flindersville safely otherwise she'd worry about me. I pulled out my smart phone and dialled her number, she instantly picked up. "Hey babes, you arrived yet?"she asked. "Yeah the bus just pulled in,"I replied. "So...are your hot cousins there to greet you. What do they look like all grown up...? I bet they're....""Peyton,"I scowled. "Sorry, I just remember Mason being this incredibly sexy guy,"she remarked. "Oh come on Pey, the last time you saw Mason he was fifteen and you were thirteen, "

"But he's twenty-six now and I bet he still looks delicious,"she giggled. Oh my god, I was going to kill her. "Wonder if you'll get to see your high school crush,"she continued. "I better go,"I said realizing that the bus was almost empty and I needed to get off and grab my bags. Also I was over this conversation. "Say hi to everyone, even your hot uncle Scott,"she joked. I rolled my eyes, said my goodbyes and hung up shaking my head at her ridiculous comments. If Uncle Scott knew she had a crush on him, I bet he'd blush. Actually I wasn't sure what he'd do since I hadn't seen him in such a long time that I had begun to wonder if he would remember me. It was almost ten years ago and in those ten years since I'd been here I'd changed, I'd grown up and I was positive my uncle and cousins even nanna had too. They wouldn't remember me and I wasn't even sure I'd remember them. Damn, fear was a bitch and she was slowly kicking my ass. Why I felt so scared I wasn't sure, it wasn't like my uncle was going to send me packing. Besides that, it wasn't even possible since my father had given me and I suspect his brother also, the strictest of instructions and warnings. The high profile case my father was now being dragged into wasn't going to be pleasant and the media was going to be one of the harshest of critics and he didn't want me involved in it all. In fact, he didn't want me to be on social media, to read the newspapers or watch the news for that matter. Lucky for him I rarely watched the news as I preferred not to know what was happening in the world. There was too much sadness, hurt, violence and propaganda. I guess my father was a little protective of me and I usually loved his protectiveness but I tried explaining that I was a grown woman and old enough to handle what was coming his way but he insisted that I leave Melbourne for a holiday that apparently had no end date. I agreed to come here but I wondered if my decision to flee Melbourne was more because I wanted to punish my mother since she wasn't the biggest fan of uncle Scott. I couldn't understand her animosity towards anyone who was related to my father but clearly she had hatred towards the Knowles clan. This needed to be a happy reunion and for so many reason. I don't believe I could handle yet another part of my life becoming a big stuff up.