Bleakboy and Hunter Stand Out in the Rain by Steven Herrick

secret?’
    We sit together on the edge of my bed.
    â€˜Sure. It was weeks before I told anyone Jade was going out with Nathan.’ She pats my knee. ‘Tell Aunty Beth everything.’ She frowns. ‘Have you been bedwetting?’ She realises where she’s sitting and jumps up.
    â€˜Beth! I’m too old for that.’
    She sits back down, nervously.
    Trevor looks down over Beth’s shoulder.
    â€˜I stole … I borrowed Dad’s credit card,’ I confess.
    Beth’s eyes widen. ‘Whoa, that’s much heavier than wetting the bed.’ She frowns. ‘You don’t still have it, do you?’
    â€˜No, I put it straight back,’ I say.
    â€˜After what?’ she asks, one eyebrow raised.
    I squirm underneath the gaze of my twin confessors.
    â€˜After giving some money to Kelifa.’
    â€˜Who the hell is Kelifa?’ Beth’s voice is dangerously loud. Dad might not have heard, but Trevor did and I don’t think he liked the cursing.
    I whisper, ‘He’s an Ethiopian friend.’
    â€˜At school?’
    â€˜No, on the internet.’
    She clutches my hand and squeezes. ‘Please tell me you didn’t fall for a Nigerian bank scam? They’ll max Dad’s credit card in a second!’
    She stands ready to blab everything to Dad.
    I try to drag her back.
    â€˜Do I look that stupid?’ I ask.
    She moves further to the door.
    â€˜Beth! It was CARE Australia,’ I say.
    She relaxes and comes back to the side of the bed.
    â€˜Are you sure?’
    â€˜Positive. There was a picture of Kelifa standing in front of his hut. It was smaller than your bedroom.’ I wonder whether I should tell her about his four sisters. ‘And he doesn’t have a mum.’
    â€˜How much?’ she asks.
    â€˜Pardon?’
    â€˜How much did you give?’ Her eyes narrow. Trevor looks down.
    â€˜Fifty dollars,’ I whisper.
    Beth whistles.
    I squirm.
    â€˜So this is what you were getting at over dinner.’
    â€˜I wasn’t getting at anything. It just came up.’
    She grins. ‘And Dad promised one hundred dollars.’ She whistles again.
    â€˜Could you stop whistling please, Beth.’
    She sees the anguish on my face. We’re both quiet for a long time.
    My voice wavers, ‘I’m going to tell Dad tonight.’
    Beth looks toward Trevor. ‘Did he talk you into it?’
    â€˜It’s not Trevor’s fault.’
    Beth giggles. ‘Calling the picture Trevor doesn’t make him any more real.’
    Trevor and I pretend not to hear.
    Beth stands. ‘Come on then.’ She reaches for my hand. ‘I’ll come with you.’
    â€˜You will?’
    â€˜Yeah, we’ll say … We’ll say we were fooling around on the CARE Australia site and I …’ She frowns.
    I click my fingers. ‘And I just put some numbers into the credit card box and they turned out to be Dad’s.’
    â€˜Jesse that is the stupidest idea you’ve had since stealing Dad’s credit card in the first place.’ We walk down the hallway. ‘I’ll think of something,’ she rolls her eyes, ‘something more believable.’

14
    jesse
    Dad swears, loudly. The noise of something being thrown comes from behind the door. I break out in a sweat. Even Beth looks a little pale.
    â€˜Are you wearing make-up?’ I ask.
    Beth looks at me strangely. ‘No, why?’
    â€˜No reason,’ I say. The pale face is real. It’s not fair to make her go through this torture with me, especially if Dad is already throwing things before we’ve even entered his workshop.
    â€˜Psst,’ I whisper.
    Beth leads me away from the door. ‘What now?’
    â€˜Sis, I’ll tell Dad alone.’
    Dad swears again. Beth tries to smile. ‘Nah. It’ll be okay.’ She gulps, ‘I can’t—’
    I hold up my hand and interrupt her. ‘Really,