litlinks 2022

Truth Be Told

by Patrick Wenholz, Canberra High School

Dad said it was their fault. That if they hadn’t been arguing in the back seat he wouldn’t have been distracted. That he would have seen the red light. That he wouldn’t have hit the old lady.

He continued driving; headlights slicing the blackness. Tyres hissing on wet asphalt.

Her sister spoke first. “Dad?” Her voice, normally so strong, was barely a whisper. Each streetlight they drove under revealed the silvery tear streak inching down Lisa’s cheek.

“Dad?” She tried again. “Shouldn’t we…”

“What? Just give me a sec.”

As June felt the car slow, she became aware of how hard her heart was pounding. The car came to a stop at the side of the road. The robotic click of the indicator echoed above the soft purr of the engine. The sisters looked wide-eyed at the back of their father’s head. They both flinched at the harsh sigh that raced from his lips. He spun to face them, eyes glowing.

“I don’t know how many times I’ve told you two …” he growled through clenched teeth.

“I know, Dad. You’re right. We’re sorry.” June didn’t know how her big sister managed to stay in control. She felt as though her voice was trapped in the pit of her belly, never to rise again.

“Okay,” Dad breathed, that warm voice the girls loved showing signs of returning. “We’ve got to go back. You’re right.” A smile threatened to touch his lips as he added, “I’ve taught you well.”

June’s mind couldn’t help flicking to the countless times he’d intoned The truth will set you free when catching her in a white lie.

The car leapt to life as Dad did a U-turn. Three sets of eyes peered at the traffic lights looming out of the darkness ahead. Hunched forward, their eyes swept over the glistening road. She wasn’t there.

“Where did …”

“Shhh!”

Silence crept over the car. Neither girl dared break it. With a clunk the engine stopped, and Dad pulled out the keys. “We’d better check she’s …okay.”

Hesitantly, they stepped out into the cool night. June felt the mist on her cheeks. Chills inside and out. The girls’ father stepped into the middle of the road, squinting at the asphalt.

“Can you see anything?” Lisa called, still standing by the side of the car.

“No … I don’t think… Maybe this could be blood. Come have a look? Please.”

After a couple of the longest seconds, Lisa pushed off the car and walked towards Dad, June trailing her like a shadow. They could barely see the inky, silvery trail their father’s quivering finger was pointing at.

“It’s too dark to be blood, Dad.”

“There’s just not enough light here. Come on, girls, we’ll look over here.” Dad was trying to adopt a commanding tone but wasn’t fooling anybody. Least of all himself. He stopped on the curb, squinting into the eucalypt grove that bordered the road. He raked his fingers through his thinning hair.

“Dad.” He flinched as June’s voice squeaked behind him. “Are you sure we should … It’s just so dark and …”

“June!” He hadn’t intended to speak so harshly. Calmer this time, “Sorry, June. I know, but it’s the right thing to do. Plus, we’ve bushwalked through here many times.”

“Yeah, in the daytime.” Lisa was regaining her famous attitude.

“Geeze, Lisa, what’s the difference?”

“Um, it’s kind of obvious.”

Before they could discuss the matter further, a shrill screech pierced the night.

“What the hell?” June shuffled backwards.

“June, get off the road. I’m not having you run down too. Not that … I barely…”

“Was that her?”

“I don’t think so. Probably one of those cuckoos we hear about but have never seen.”

“Cuckoos?”

“Yes! You know, the long-legged things.”

“Bush stone curlews?”

“Yes, those. Thanks, June it’s good to be accurate.”

“Sorry, but …”

“Well, it’s not human… There!”

Both girls followed their father’s outstretched finger. He was pointing at a pale, grey-haired figure, kneeling beside a gleaming ghost gum.

“Hi. Hello…” Dad’s voice quavered as he gingerly walked down the grassy slope towards her. He crouched before her, gently placing his hand on her forearm.

“Dad? Is she …” Lisa asked as she felt June pressing up against her back, hoping her big sister would protect her from the sight in front of them.

“I don’t know, Lisa! Dammit! Hello, ma’am?”

The old lady sighed, gingerly rising to her feet. “No, stay there. You’re okay. She’s okay!” The curlew’s cry had sounded more human than the strangled voice coming out of Dad.

“I must have had a fall.” The lady’s voice was surprisingly steady. “Dean did warn me it would be slippery. Would you mind helping me back up the slope?”

“Lisa … What do we do?” Lisa shook herself free from June’s hand which was clutching at her sleeve.

“We help her. Help, Dad. Come on.”

June watched her sister join her father by the side of the lady. She was okay. Alive. Standing. Couldn’t they just go now? A buzzing chatter from the road behind June elicited another yelp.

Breathe, June. Breathe.

She turned in the direction of the noise. Gulping in a lungful of icy air, she spied the luminous shape of a phone ringing in the gutter. Must be the lady’s. She was on her phone when Dad clipped her. Her fault, then. A good reason to just leave.

As June bent to pick up the phone, bright headlights swung into the street to meet her gaze. Pinned in the beams, her mouth dried up. Instinctively, her tongue inched out to catch some drizzle. Replenish. Great, it was snowing. The car pulled up beside her.

“Sorry. I wasn’t poking it out at …” June mumbled, peering at the driver’s window as it buzzed down. Her words were cut short by the piercing blue eyes that met hers.

“Hi, little lady. You might be just who I’m looking for.” The driver leant out the window, pinning June with his gaze. “You see, I was on the phone with me Nan when she was cut off. Not like her. She’s a long goodbye type. So, I jumped in the car and tracked her phone. Now here I am. And here she is now!”

June stepped back onto the wet grass as the driver leapt from his car. She could smell the synthetic deodorant fumes waft from him as he brushed past her. She turned to see Lisa and her father on either side of the lady who was thankfully standing without their support.

“Is that you, Dean?” She really had a deep voice for a grandmother.

“Nana?” There was a slight hitch in his voice. “How are you? What happened? We were talking and … How’d you get down there?”

“One question at a time, boyo.”

“What’d these people do to ya?” Dean’s gaze swept over Dad, who flinched as though slapped.

“These people? This is Glenn and Lisa, and I shudder to think what would have become of me if not for them. I don’t know how I blacked out this time. Maybe a slip, and down the wet grass I tumbled. But luckily for me, they noticed … How did you find me?”

“Your phone, Nan.”

“Kind of like us!” June hoisted the phone above her head as everyone turned to look at her. “We saw it glowing, then Dad and Lisa went looking.” June’s eyes darted to Lisa who gave her a barely perceptible nod. Wishing her sister’s approval didn’t mean quite so much to her, June swallowed the grin she felt brewing. Now was not the time.

Dean wrapped his arms around his grandmother, her sneakered feet on tip toes as he squeezed her tight. “Put me down, love. I’m still a bit woozy.”

“Sorry, Nan. Now, mate …” Placing his grandmother gently on the grass, Dean strode to Dad. Though somewhat shorter than him, he was an imposing presence – something Dad had never been described as. Folding his arms, he fought a losing battle to keep fear out of his face. Hard to look tough in a Sesame Street t-shirt.

“So, listen. Dean, is it? Um …” Here comes the confession, June thought.

“Mate, I owe you for finding my Nan. When her voice cut out on the phone, I just thought the worst. You know, hit and run, mugging.”

June could see Lisa’s eyes lasering into the side of Dad’s head. If he set off for the high ground now, he was in for a sharp elbow from his eldest daughter.

“Well, I …”

“Cheers, darlin’.” Dean cut Dad off, as he took the phone from June’s outstretched hand and led his grandmother to his car.

“Yeah, no worries,” Dad whispered to his disappearing back.

They watched the car’s taillights dissolve into the mist.

“So, what do we tell Mum?”

“The truth, Dad. You’ve taught us ….”

“Alright… Let’s go home.”