“I’ve got the day off.  Why?”

“I’m having a barbeque at my house and I want you to come.”

This surprised me; we weren’t exactly friends.  “Ah, sure.”

She laughed.  “I know that we don’t know each other very well but I’d like to get to know you better.  You up for it?”

When she put it like that, I realised that I’d like to get to know her more too.  I didn’t have a lot of friends in Brisbane yet.  “I’m in.  What do you want me to bring?”

“Just yourself and anything you want to drink.”

“How about I bring some cake too?”  I’d make one of Mum’s red velvet cakes.  They were always a hit at parties.

“Sure, honey.  That sounds great.”  She started searching through her bag again, retrieving her phone.  “I better go otherwise I’ll be late for work.  Thanks for the coffee.  I’ll probably see you tomorrow.”  Swiping her keys off the counter, she turned to leave but then looked back at me.  “Thanks for listening to me whinge.  I don’t have many friends in Brisbane so it’s nice to have you.  I’d better get your phone number and then I can text you my address.”

Smiling, because she’d said what I’d been thinking too, I rattled off my number for her.  She keyed it in to her phone and then thanked me one last time before leaving to go to work.  I was really looking forward to Sunday now; meeting Madison’s family and friends would be fun if they were even half as nice as her.  Her boyfriend, J, intrigued me; I wasn’t sure what he did for a living or why he was away for so long, but the way that Madison talked about him made me think he was a nice guy.

Chapter 5

Scott

Juggling a tray of steaks, a tray of sausages and a huge bottle of tomato sauce, I strode through J’s front door and down the hall towards the back of his house.  Out of the corner of my eye, I vaguely took in the paint tins on the floor near the back door and the pile of paint chips on the kitchen table.  Madison must have gotten her way; she wanted to repaint the house but I knew that J hadn’t been keen.  She had him wrapped around her little fucking finger.

I placed the food on the kitchen bench and surveyed the back yard where they had everything set up.  J had a large undercover area outside; it was usually where we liked to drink and shoot the shit but now that Madison was around, I could see more of these barbeques happening.

“Scott, you made it,” Madison said as she approached the back door from outside.  “Did you bring the meat?”

“Yeah, you want it outside now?”

“Not yet.  Why are you late?”  She slid the door open and came inside.

“I had to deal with Lisa’s cat again.  That fucking cat has a death wish and it doesn’t help that Michelle couldn’t give a shit.”

Madison started pulling food out of the fridge and then said, “God, I dislike that woman so much.  What happened to Monty now?”

I leant against the counter.  “He got out of the house when he should have been inside.  Then he climbed a fucking tree and I had to get him down.”

She started laughing.  “You climbed a tree?” she asked.

“Yes, I climbed a tree.  The fucking cat jumped down so it was a waste of time.  Anyway, Lisa caught him and got him back inside.  So, crisis averted, but I had strong words with Michelle.  That bitch really needs to get her shit together.”

Madison went quiet and I knew what she was thinking.  I reached out and lifted her chin so she was looking at me rather than the floor.  “You’re nothing like her.  You’re working on your shit, handling it; she doesn’t give a fuck.  And she should because she’s got a kid.  Okay?”

Nodding, she said quietly, “Yes, but I still feel like she just needs someone to help her; someone who cares enough to show her what she’s doing.”

I shoved my hand through my hair.  “Christ, we’ve done that.  Nash, Griff and me... we all tried to get her to own up to her shit before we fired her.  The thing is, if someone doesn’t want help, there’s not much anyone can do.  She needs to hit bottom before she’ll see it.  Either that or she’ll be dead without ever seeing it and I hope to God that doesn’t happen for Lisa’s sake.”

“But at what point do you give up on someone?  Would you have given up on me?”

“No, but you wanted help and took it.  And you’re my sister.”

“Doesn’t Michelle have any family who are looking out for her?”

“I don’t know, but if she does, they’re not around.  I’ve only ever seen her junkie friends hanging around her house.”

“Maybe I should go over and see her; try and get her some help.”

My sister had always been a bleeding heart.  “Sure, but don’t be surprised when she spits in your face or tries to screw you over.”

She finished getting the food out of the fridge and I was just about to help her take it outside when Nash came through the back door.  “Hey, motherfucker, where you been?”

“Getting meat for your sorry ass,” I replied, taking the beer he passed me.

“Stoney’s brought some girls along and they seem ready to party, so you need to get outside because you’re a cranky fuck when you go this long without a hit of pussy.”