All I had in my pocket was my phone. I stopped and looked into the car. The man wore a blue button-up shirt and a jacket. He looked really concerned.
‘You shouldn’t be out here so late,’ he said.
I shrugged.
‘Why don’t you get in? I can drop you off wherever you need to be.’
I shook my head and stepped back. He leaned across and pushed the door open.
‘It’s smart to be careful. There are some creeps around. Come on. You had a rough night?’
My feet were so sore and my head was still throbbing and I was really tired. I just wanted to sit down and rest. I got in. The car smelled like cologne. The man looked at me and smiled.
‘I’m Neil,’ he said.
I didn’t say anything.
He talked a lot while he drove, but I wasn’t listening. The car was so quiet that I fell asleep. When I woke up we were in Kings Park, surrounded by trees. He had stopped at a lookout. I could see the city through the windscreen.
Neil took his seatbelt off and shifted around in his seat. It was dark, but his face was lit by the dashboard.
‘So what’s going on with you?’
‘Nothing,’ I said.
‘Why are you out on your own so late?’
I shrugged.
‘How old are you?’
‘Fourteen.’
He raised his eyebrows and nodded slowly. He was looking at me strangely. He reached across and pulled my hoodie back to see my face. He brushed his hand against the cut on my jaw, but I turned away.
‘What happened to you?’
‘Nothing.’
He rubbed my shoulder. He kept looking at me.
‘You’re so beautiful, you know that?’
I stared straight ahead.
‘I want to help you out. I’m going to give you two hundred dollars, okay?’
I nodded. I was so tired.
He showed me the money in his leather wallet. Two green notes.
‘Would you like that?’
I shrugged.
‘Do you think you should give me something too?’
‘I don’t have anything.’
‘Of course you do,’ he said. He rubbed my shoulder some more, then he slid his hand down my chest and onto my lap. I didn’t move. He started squeezing me. The leather seats creaked as he dipped his head down. He tugged at my pants. I could feel his stubble. Then it felt wet and warm and weird.
I looked around the car. There was a football club logo on his keyring and a packet of mints in a cup holder. My mind went outside my body again. I wasn’t really anywhere. I could see all the lights in the city buildings. I thought about the people who had to work in those offices at this hour. They were probably the cleaners. The lights went blurry, and I must have fallen asleep again, because I flinched when Neil shifted back suddenly. He was touching himself. His face was red and he was breathing quickly.
‘You don’t like it?’
‘Not really. Sorry.’
I buttoned up my jeans and looked out the window. He stopped touching himself.
‘Get out.’
‘What?’
‘Get the fuck out of my car. Think I’m paying for this shit?’ He zipped his pants and tucked his shirt in, then he started the car. The radio came on. The song playing was ‘Summer Rain’. He put his wallet back in his pocket.
‘Go! Now! Get the fuck out.’
‘Okay. I’m sorry.’
I got out. The second I shut the door, he reversed and then drove away fast.
I walked down a dark road until I found a lawned area with a view of the city. I sat down on a bench.
I didn’t feel that bad about the money, because I had stolen a watch from the centre console. I took it out of my pocket. It was heavy and it had a French name that I couldn’t make out. I put it on and it slid down my arm. I had never worn a watch before.
I fell asleep on the bench and I was woken by sprinklers. I got up quickly and ran. I sat on some concrete steps near the War Memorial and watched the sun rise over the hills. It was pretty nice.
I decided to give myself one last day.
I checked the time on the watch because my phone was out of battery. It was six forty-three.
There was a cafe nearby but it was closed. I found a tap on the side of the building and tried to scrub the make-up off my face. It wasn’t until I ran my wet hands through my hair that I remembered it wasn’t long anymore. The water made the cuts on my scalp sting, and short strands of hair came away in my fingers.
I walked towards the city. I passed people doing tai chi and exercise boot camps. I stopped to pat a dog that sniffed my feet. The owner didn’t notice me, she just tugged the lead and kept walking.
At the station, I hopped a train. The carriage was full of schoolkids in uniform. I pulled my hood over and put my head down. Every time I heard them laugh I worried that it was about me.
I got off at Cottesloe. I walked past big houses and across a golf course to the beach. I took my shoes off and walked along the sand until I found a quiet spot where nobody could see me. I took off my clothes down to my underwear and wrapped the watch and my phone inside my hoodie. Then I dived into the ocean. It was cold and rough. My cuts stung in the salty water. I grabbed handfuls of sand and scrubbed my body and face.
I looked at the horizon and thought about swimming towards it as far as I could go, until I was too tired to swim back.
I floated around for a while, then I got out and put on my clothes and walked up to a grassy bank. I lay down on a patch of grass and slept with the sun on my back.
When I woke up it was afternoon and there were more people around. Someone was cooking on a barbecue nearby and the smell made me hungry. I saw a woman sunbaking on the beach in a white bikini and big sunglasses. She stood up and walked towards the water. She moved so confidently. I stared at her breasts and her hips and her thick legs and her oily brown skin. Then I got up and left.
I took the train to Fremantle. The markets were open, and I stole a red apple from a grocer while he was bagging nectarines for an old lady. I ate it under a tree in the park, and I threw the core to a bunch of seagulls and watched them fight for it.
Time always went slow with no money or anywhere to go. Sometimes I went to the library because it was a quiet place where nobody paid any attention to you. My favourite thing was to sneak into the movies. There were a few ways to get in without paying for a ticket. One was to find a ripped stub from the bins outside, then sneak into the bathroom. When I came out, I would hold up the ticket and walk straight towards the usher and pretend I was in a rush to get back to the movie. Or, if it was busy, I would slip in behind a big group.
Today there wasn’t even anyone attending, so I walked straight through. The movie was just starting. It was a remake of Beauty and the Beast. The costumes were really nice. I felt bad for the Beast, who was lonely and trapped inside a hideous body. I was happy for him when the curse got lifted.
When it was over, I slipped across to another cinema and watched a sci-fi film that was halfway through. The best thing about that movie was the tub of popcorn I found in the back row.
The next movie was a historical romance. It was really boring, so I stopped paying attention. Instead, I thought about Vic. I pictured him back at the overpass, standing in the same place, having his last cigarette again, all on his own. I imagined him falling and hitting the road below, and the thought upset me so much that I gasped.