“Well?” Greg demanded.
“I-I-I j-just…I w-was talking—”
Greg looked up and when he saw them standing by the fence, his face twisted into a snarl.
He didn’t know anyone was watching him,Sam thought. Beside her, Nicole hid her face in her hands.
“What are you girls doing here?” Greg asked. He was trying to be nice but his smile was hard and shiny as a new coin.
She knew if she told the truth, Scott would get in trouble, but she didn’t want that to happen. “We were asking Scott if he wanted to play with us.”
Greg didn’t seem to believe her. He looked at Nicole. “Is that true?”
After a long moment, Nicole pulled her hands from her face. “Yeah. We wanted him to play water balloon hopscotch.”
Greg’s forehead smoothed out. He looked down at his son. “Isn’t that nice?”
“Yes,” Scott muttered, his cheeks white as chalk.
“Very nice,” Greg repeated. “Well, thanks for asking, girls, but Scotty needs to help me with something inside.”
“That’s ok—”
But before Nicole could finish her sentence, Greg had his son by the collar and was hauling him into the house and slamming the door. Properly this time.
“What a bunch of weirdos,” Sam muttered.
“Weirdos,” Tabby agreed. She’d waddled over to the fence during the confrontation and her shiny eyes said she might cry at any moment. Sam picked her up and carried her away. “Don’t go near their place again, okay, Tabs?”
Tabby’s blue eyes were huge as marbles. “Why not fighting? Why didn’t you fight the boy?”
Sam kissed her nose. “Because his dad wreaked it, but it’s okay. Okay?”
“Okay!”
“That was nice,” Nicole said. “You not telling on him.”
“He knows not to come near us now and if he does it again—”
“Fight him!” Tabby shrieked. “Fight him!”
That night their mum wasn’t home for dinner. When Nicole asked where she was, their dad mumbled something about Nanna Ruth. He looked so tired, they all tried to be extra good, clearing the table and washing the dishes. Later, Sam was sitting at her desk drawing a dragon when she heard a tap on her window. Thinking it was a possum, she ignored it until the taps grew so loud they scared her. Picking up her scissors, she headed for the window. To her shock, Scott Sanderson was perched in the gum tree outside, looking like a big, fancy, boy bird. “Hello. Can you please let me in?”
Sam was so impressed by how high up he was, she opened her window without thinking. Scott Sanderson carefully brushed the leaves and bark from his clothes before climbing inside. He was wearing another collar shirt, a tie and smooth brown pants.
“Why do you wear such weird clothes? You look like you’re going to a wedding.”
Scott Sanderson’s cheeks went pink. “My m-m-mum picks my clothes.”
“Well she should pick cool, normal stuff.” Sam pointed to her Sailor Moon t-shirt and jeans. “See?”
“I-I-I guess, I’ll a-ask her.”
Sam stared at her visitor, his pretty face, mussy hair and fancy clothes. She knew it was rude but she had to ask. “Why can’t you talk properly?”
“Because I have a stutter.”
“But you weren’t stuttering when I first saw you. You started when your dad came out.”