When I step inside the boatshed and flick on the light, a small brown gecko scurries up the white wall and ducks behind a paddle board. The booklet is on my bed. On its front cover, there’s a smiling family – a mum and a dad and two kids in a speedboat, wearing matching life jackets. I open it up and begin to read.
‘Hey.’
The voice behind me is kind of familiar, but I startle all the same.
Barry jumps up and charges. For a second I think there’s going to be trouble, but it’s a friendly charge – he pins his ears back and his tail starts flapping wildly.
I turn around and see Gem standing on the deck. To say that I’m surprised is an understatement. I’m not sure how I feel about her standing there, how I feel about her rocking up unannounced. Technically, the boatshed is my bedroom.
Gem bends down and lets Barry lick her face, starts talking to him like he’s a baby.
‘Hello, there, my gorgeous boy,’ she says. ‘You’re very handsome, aren’t you?’
I look at Barry just in case I’ve missed something. ‘Handsome?’
‘Oh, yes, you are. You’re a very handsome boy.’
Barry won’t stop. He keeps licking, slobbering all over her face.
‘Really?’ I say.
It goes on for a bit until Gem finally straightens up. She reaches a hand into her pocket then pulls out a bag of lollies and tosses them to me.
‘Sour straps,’ she says.
‘Thanks,’ I say. ‘You shouldn’t have.’
And then it’s awkward. I have no idea why Gem’s here or where she came from. She reaches a hand up and pushes the wisp of purple hair back behind her ear.
‘Can we … start again?’ she says.
I turn around so that I’m facing her properly and can’t help thinking how much worse it could have been had I got undressed for bed.
‘What do you mean, start again?’ I ask.
‘I like good starts,’ she says. ‘Good beginnings. They’re important.’
‘Right.’ I already know the answer, but I ask the question anyway. ‘What was wrong with our start?’
‘It was average,’ says Gem. ‘Mediocre.’
‘Was it?’
‘Yeah, pretty much. We should rewind, I reckon. Go back to the start and pretend we haven’t met. Do it again.’
Gem wipes her palms down the sides of her tartan skirt, then takes a few steps forward and extends her right hand.
‘Hi,’ she says. ‘I’m Gem.’
‘Hi, Gem. I’m Nate. I’m sure you’ve heard already. I’m the nephew from the city. That bloke who messed up.’
We shake hands, and Gem smiles a little.
‘I’m …’ She starts to speak, but it’s clear she’s not sure what to say or where to look. Her eyes do a lap of the boatshed and finally settle on mine. ‘I’m the girl who works in the store,’ she says.
I nod my head and it all feels weird. Not in a bad way, though. It’s a good kind of weird – interesting.
I don’t know what else to do so I lift two deck chairs off the metal hook.
‘Do you want to sit down for a bit?’ I ask.
Gem nods. I unfold the chairs and set them up on the deck about a metre apart. I turn off the light so we can see the stars, then the two of us sit down. I open the lollies for something to do and reach out to offer the bag to Gem.
‘Sour straps,’ she says. ‘Your favourite?’
‘Not really,’ I say. ‘I used to buy them when I was little.’
She nods her head.
‘So that creep in the shop,’ I say, after a pause. ‘Is he always like that?’
It’s too dark to see her face properly, but she seems to hesitate before answering.
‘I can look after myself, Nate.’
‘Yeah, I reckon you can. But I’m new here. Who is he?’
‘His name’s Marty,’ she says. ‘Marty Holland. Everyone calls him Dutchy. He’s a complete arsehole really, but for some reason everyone thinks he’s a legend, especially Marty.’
He sounds familiar. No matter where you go, there’s always one guy like that. I think back to Croxley and Jackson Sinclair comes to mind.
‘You should be careful about pissing him off,’ says Gem. ‘Marty, I mean. He’s got mates. They’re arseholes as well.’
‘I’ll be okay,’ I say.
‘That’s right, I forgot – you’re a tough guy.’
‘Not that tough,’ I say. ‘You shouldn’t believe everything you hear.’
Not knowing what to say to a girl doesn’t matter when you’ve got stars. The two of us sit there for a bit gazing up at the night sky, and I feel the air brushing soft and warm against my skin. Barry’s resting his muzzle on Gem’s feet.
‘So, how’s it going?’ says Gem. ‘With Mick?’
‘Okay,’ I say.
‘Really?’
‘Yeah. It’s early days. He’s a bit grumpy, kind of sad too, but it could be worse. Way worse. He wants me to get my boat licence and help with the deliveries.’
Gem looks surprised. ‘You?’
‘Yeah, me. Why not?’
‘I just can’t imagine you in a boat.’ Gem looks over at the jetty. ‘In that boat, especially.’
‘Why not?’ I ask.
‘I don’t know. You don’t seem the type.’
‘Here we go.’
‘What?’ asks Gem.
‘Why does everyone keep telling me what type I am? And, anyway, you don’t even know me. We just did a rewind, remember, so technically we only met a few minutes ago.’
‘I’m not telling you what type you are,’ says Gem. ‘I’m just not sure a city kid like you can handle a powerful boat like Forever One. She’s a Randell Thirty-Two – even took me a while to get the hang of it.’
‘Hang on, you mean you’ve got your boat licence?’
She laughs. ‘What?’ she says. ‘I’m not the type? You’re not about to tell me what type I am, are you, Nate?’
She’s clever, Gem. I sneak a look and let my eyes linger on her moonlit face, on the grains of sugar stuck to her lips.
She turns her head and catches me looking.
‘I hear you’ve made a new friend,’ she says.
‘Huh?’
‘Henry,’ she says. ‘You must have done something right. He doesn’t like many people, but he seems to like you.’
‘Tell me about it. I don’t think I was even that nice to him. But he’s a stubborn little kid. You know him, do you?’
‘Yeah, you could say that. He’s my brother. Well, not by blood. But that’s how I think of him.’
Gem points to the thick wall of trees that runs along the west side of the workshop.
‘Behind those trees there’s a house,’ she says, ‘It’s about five hundred metres in. Well, it’s a cottage really. That’s where we live.’
There’s nothing to see in the dark, but I look anyway.
‘So, that means we’re …’
‘Neighbours,’ says Gem.
I like the idea of that, being close to a girl like Gem. It feels like a treat so I tuck it away for later. I look out into the darkness, and I go back to the morning, back to Henry staring at the water with Barry by his side.