Everyone and Everything by Nadine J. Cohen

Author:Nadine J. Cohen
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Pantera Press Pty Limited
Published: 2023-03-15T00:00:00+00:00

It’s an unseasonably warm day and I’m hoping Lynne’s at the baths.

‘Oh good, you’re here,’ I say when I get there, handing her a paper bag. ‘I got you something.’

‘What? What’s this for?’

She pulls a giant muffin out of the bag.

‘Just ’cause you said mine looked good the other day.’

‘Oh, aren’t you a doll?’

‘I hope you’re not gluten intolerant,’ I say.

‘I’m everything tolerant.’

I laugh.

‘Except of people taking photos here.’

She laughs.

‘Thank you, love. I’m so chuffed. You’ve made my day.’

I make the most of what I know will only be a few hours of sun, if that. I sunbake, I read the silly books. I consider swimming, but I’m a bit shaken from the ocean trying to kill me last time.

I text Margot.

Do you reckon Christian Grey’s into pegging?

Ooh excellent question.

Thanks. Y/N?

The guy’s a control freak with mummy issues and a Madonna/ whore complex. He LOVES it.

This is why we’re friends.

Lynne comes and sits with me after she finishes her shift. She’s never done this before.

‘No Shirley today?’ she asks. ‘Or was she here before I started?’

‘No, she’s coming less now that winter’s hit. And she has lunch with her friends on Wednesdays.’

‘Such a lovely woman. She’s been comin’ here for donkey’s. Long before my time.’

‘Yeah, she’s great. I’m glad I found her.’

‘I’m glad you did too, love. It’s not my place, so tell me to rack off, but there’s a bit more light in you than when you first showed up here. I mean, you still look miserable sometimes but less miserable. Sorry if that’s wrong of me to say.’

‘No, it’s fine.’ I smile. ‘I’ve wondered how obvious my … state has been.’

‘Oh, us vollies see everything, and it looks like Shirley’s put some colour back in your face. And she seems all the better for meeting you, too.’

We gaze out to sea and I wonder how I could have had a positive influence on someone when I’ve been feeling this low.

‘How long have you been coming here?’ I ask her, digging around in my bag for lip balm.

‘Well, let me think. I moved to Sydney in ’91 for a job and a friend brought me here probably not long after.’

‘Where did you move from?’

‘Tamworth, love. I’m a country girl. Don’t let all this sophistication fool ya.’

She gestures down the length of her body, clad in a yellow volunteer hoodie, long baggy denim shorts and navy Crocs with socks.

I laugh as my hand grasps what I think is lip balm in the depths of my bag.

‘I love country music,’ I tell her. ‘Some of it, anyway. Townes Van Zandt, Patsy, Hank, Johnny. Dolly, obviously. And some new stuff.’

‘Well, well,’ she says. ‘Miss stylish black swimsuits loves some country.’

‘I’m full of surprises.’

I realise what I thought was lip balm is a random battery.

‘What was the job you came here for? In ’91.’

‘Teaching. Primary school. In those days you went wherever they sent you.’

‘My mum was a teacher. Mostly kindergarten and year one.’

Mum loved her job. She loved kids. She was her most animated, her most performative, when she was teaching.

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