Free Double Exposure by Brian Caswell Page A

transition. I don’t know if I’ll ever move beyond my fixation with reliving other people’s dreams from the safety of the breathing dark …
    *
    The lights rise and the people begin to move: a human river, washing down the aisles towards the exit doors, each element of the flow whispering opinions, discussing moments, looking for a place to toss the rubbish; or staring up as they move, to catch the names scrolling slowly up the screen and into oblivion.
    Beside her, Cain sits watching the credits, looking for familiar names among the support cast and allowing the identities of the second unit and the special effects teams to wash over him. Or is he just listening to the score, allowing the mood of the film’s final moments to linger a while longer, slowly diffusing through him before he makes the break and stumbles back into the real world?
    Dave comes in to clean up for the next session. His blonde hair is hacked into an untidy shag, surfer-style. The reluctant westie with dreams of the beach.
    She asked him once if he ever got to surf.
    â€˜Not enough,’ was the reply. ‘Too busy.’
    There was no malice in the response, just a slight regret in the shake of his head. For Dave, the long hours of study and the shifts at Hoyts are the means to an end. The taste of salt, the sun on the sand and the exhilaration of a running surf are memories that sustain him.
    The hairstyle is the reminder that all things are temporary -even separation.
    She smiles at him and he rolls knowing eyes towards Cain, who hasn’t noticed his presence. They all know of Cain’s obsession. It is a running joke behind the candy bar and in the coffee shop after a shift, and in recent weeks she has been a part of the banter. A surrogate member of an elite assembly.
    Shamerin who has such beautiful eyes, but never learned to take a compliment. Nilgun with her dark, exotic looks, who smiles at the jokes, but mostly maintains her silence – and her mystery. Sarah and Sara – similar in name, opposites in personality. Cesar the Serious. Kyle the Cool. And Sanja, who can change her hair-colour at will but not her mania for the rules, and is free with her opinions of the shops you would or wouldn’t be seen dead shopping in.
    Dressed in their yellow and blue and black, they are both a cross-section and a sub-culture and Cain is a different person when he is with them, like he draws something from their energy, while they draw something from his presence – and she loves being there among them.
    Following Cain’s lead, they have all adopted Ty, sneaking him lollies and chocolate bars, taking turns to hold him or play with him, and the kid loves the attention. Naturally.
    Even Amy – irrepressible, unpredictable Amy, who can joke with them all, then within a moment assert her authority with a movement of the eyebrow or a subtle alteration in her tone – when it comes to Ty, all her authority melts and she turns a blind eye to her staff’s frequent lapses.
    The credits end, the screen goes blank and the ubiquitous Corrs CD cuts in mid-bar over the PA, shattering what was left of the lingering ambience.
    â€˜Ready?’ he asks, as if he has been waiting for her.
    They stand and make their way out into the deserted corridor.
    â€˜He paid and I handed him his ticket, then he gave me this.’ Leonie fishes in her bag and pulls out the silver and leather bracelet and tosses it on the table. Leonie is the baby of the group and her innocent enthusiasm is contagious. ‘Just like that. “This is for you,” he says, tosses it down next to the eftpos machine, smiles and walks off.’
    Cain is sitting with his arm around T.J.’s shoulder on one of the lounges in the coffee area, and a small group of the others has formed, following the shift-change, filling up the seats around them.
    â€˜Does that count as a tip?’ Sanja asks. ‘Because –’
    â€˜Have you