You Had It Coming by B.M. Carroll (best fiction novels .TXT) 📕

Bridget sits down next to Ethan, who pauses the show he’s watching to give perfunctory answers to her enquiries about school and his general well-being. Cara is more receptive when Bridget pokes her head inside the front room.

‘How’s it going in here?’

‘Hey, Mum.’ Cara looks up from her work, flicking her hair out of her eyes. ‘Getting lots done. Just about to take a break.’

‘Can I get you anything to eat or drink?’

‘Nah. Dad made me something earlier. I can wait till dinner.’

Bridget feels a wave of appreciation for Shane. ‘How about we lock in some time on the weekend to get those shoes?’

‘I promised Gina I’d go shopping with her. She’s going to help me with shoes and I’m going to help her choose a dress. Then we’re popping into that student travel place, to see if we can get a deal on flights for schoolies … Actually, I meant to tell you there’s a party Saturday night. Could either you or Dad give me and Gina a lift?’

Bridget is struck by what an intensely busy time this is for her daughter. Studying to an extent she never has before, managing her blossoming social life, and making travel plans for when the exams are over. This is exactly the stage that Megan Lowe and Jessica Foster were at when they met Thomas Malouf and Dylan O’Shea. That intense period of life suddenly juxtaposed with sexual assault, and everything – their exam results, their friendships and social networks, their futures – jeopardised as a result.

‘Sure, I should be able to do that,’ she says, planting a kiss on the top of her daughter’s head.

It comes to Bridget later that evening, while she is doing the washing-up. An argument breaks out between Cara and Ethan over some ‘borrowed’ earphones.

‘I can’t believe you just helped yourself. I’ve spent the last half-hour trying to find them. For God’s sake, Ethan.’

‘Mine are missing. I needed to listen to something for school. I was just about to put them back.’

‘What happened to asking before taking? Stop going into my room and helping yourself to whatever you want. You have no right.’

‘Stop overreacting, okay? It’s just earphones, that’s all.’

Cara proceeds to detail the violation of human rights from her brother’s trespassing and ‘theft’, and something occurs to Bridget. Since time began, siblings have entered each other’s bedrooms, taken each other’s things. The storage facility might have been in Thomas Malouf’s name, but what was stopping Leo from ‘helping himself’ to the space? But instead of ‘taking’, he could have left something behind: tools of a crime.

One other thing about siblings: they nurse their grievances passionately. Cara can recall every slight from Ethan from the moment he was born, and vice versa. Bridget is the same with her own brother and sister. Nothing gets forgotten, or fully forgiven; it’s all dredged up whenever there’s an argument.

Did Leo Malouf bear a longstanding grudge? Was he resentful about testifying at the trial? What was the true cost of his testimony? A lifetime of guilt and unhappiness? Continued ‘bullying’ from his older brother? Did William Newson put pressure on Leo in any way? Was the fifteen-year-old a willing witness or a reluctant one?

Katrina specifically said to ease off on overtime but old habits die hard. Bridget hurriedly dries her hands and grabs her phone. Shane steps in to referee as she composes a text to Dave and the rest of the team:

Let’s take a closer look at Leo Malouf.

46

MEGAN

Her shift finishes at 6 a.m., just as the sun is rising. It started off busy: the pollen count was high and asthma sufferers everywhere needed extra help. Usually a nebuliser is enough to open up the airways. Witnessing someone gasping for breath can be worse than blood or tissue exposure: breathing is the essence of humanity. It’s always a huge relief when the nebuliser starts to take effect.

After the busy start, things settled down: a woman with chest pains, a teen with mental health issues, then nothing at all. Megan and Kaz spent the last few hours watching reruns of old comedies, and filling themselves with caffeine and sugar to stay awake; sometimes being quiet is more taxing than being busy.

Now Megan is in the car, on the way home, and the city is waking up. Early-morning joggers bouncing along footpaths, traffic thickening on the city-bound side of the road. Down in Melbourne, Seb’s flight has already taken off. He’ll be at the house in a couple of hours, to help the removalists … and to answer her questions. An AVO: what the hell?

Megan hasn’t broached it with her mum; she barely sees her when she’s on the graveyard shift. There’s a strong possibility Roslyn doesn’t know and Megan certainly doesn’t want to be the one to tell her.

She is suddenly tired. Really, really tired. The rape, the trial, the continuing reverberations. Twelve years later and it’s still going on, sucking her dry.

One of yesterday’s asthma cases was particularly bad: a young mother who was at her usual gym class when she started to have trouble breathing. They tried a nebuliser, then a steroid, then an injection of adrenalin. She was still coughing, wheezing and worrying about her family.

‘I need to go home,’ she rasped. ‘My kids …’

‘Don’t talk, just breathe,’ Kaz said. ‘Breathe …’

Megan’s head is spinning. Surely, she had the right to know about the AVO? What happened was obviously because of her, for God’s sake! What did Seb do to Thomas Malouf? Why Thomas and not Dylan?

Don’t think, just breathe. Don’t think, just breathe. Breathe …

Seb gives her a big hug when he arrives. She hugs him back, while silently asking the question: Do I even know you? He’s dressed for Melbourne weather: jeans, boots and a heavy jacket. He discards the jacket on the back of a chair.

‘Freezing and pouring in Melbourne this morning. Sydney is like being in a different country.’

‘Sounds like you should move back,’ Roslyn says chirpily. She has taken