Free The Red Cardigan by J.C. Burke Page A

Your hair looks good like that, Evie. Alex, you should try wearing it up like that. I’m on my mobile if you want me.’
    â€˜Yes, Mum. I have done this before.’
    â€˜Don’t forget to put the lasagne in the oven for the boys.’
    â€˜No, Mum.’
    â€˜Okay.’ She blows them a kiss. ‘Will you be here when I get home, Evie?’
    â€˜Probably not.’
    â€˜Well, bye, girls.’
    â€˜Bye.’
    Fifteen minutes later Alex’s brothers arrive home.
    â€˜I was not,’ yells Tom, slamming the front door and stomping into the kitchen.
    â€˜You were so,’ follows Dylan, chucking his bag on the floor. ‘What’s to eat?’
    â€˜Good afternoon, Dylan,’ Alex says.
    Dylan grunts. ‘I’m hungry.’
    â€˜What’s up your bum?’ asks Evie. She loves the brats.
    â€˜A dick, that’s what’s up his bum,’ calls Tom from the fridge.
    Dylan runs at him and thumps him on the back. They end up rumbling on the kitchen floor. When Alex thinks Dylanis about to successfully strangle Tom with his school tie, she butts in.
    â€˜Get up off the floor, boys,’ she yells. ‘What’s your problem, hey?’
    â€˜Dylan said I was acting gay on the bus,’ pants Tom, smoothing down his hair.
    â€˜Well, you were,’ spits Dylan. ‘Dancing and singing like bloody Kylie.’
    â€˜What were you singing?’ Alex asks.
    Evie bursts into laughter. ‘Yeah, which song was it?’
    Alex starts singing. ‘I bet it was “It’s in your eyes”.’
    â€˜Shut up,’ shouts Tom. ‘I was just singing.’
    â€˜And dancing,’ adds Dylan. ‘I can’t wait for high school. I’ll never have to catch the bus with you again.’ He walks past Tom and pulls the stool from under him.
    â€˜You bloody dickhead,’ shouts Tom. He chases his older brother through the house.
    â€˜Another lovely afternoon at the Lester household,’ Alex says. ‘Would you like to move in with us, Evie?’
    â€˜I like it here. You know that.’
    â€˜Oh, to be an only child like you!’
    â€˜Swap any day.’
    â€˜Come on, let the brats commit homicide in peace.’
    Â 
    Alex’s bedroom is everything Evie’s isn’t. She has a four-poster bed with pink lacy curtains. Her teddies still sit on the windowsill and her walls are covered in posters of forgotten pre-teen idols.
    â€˜So are you going to try?’ Alex asks.
    â€˜I don’t know. What do you reckon?’
    â€˜Well, you could sketch me while we talk.’
    â€˜I suppose.’
    â€˜Maybe you could see if the face …?’
    Evie can guess what Alex is suggesting. She has already considered the experiment but it’s one she will do on her own.
    â€˜So should we try it?’
    â€˜I’m not sure, Al.’
    â€˜It mightn’t happen this time.’
    â€˜But maybe it will.’
    â€˜Attitude, girlfriend.’
    â€˜I know, I know.’ She hesitates for a second. ‘Al? If I tell you something, do you promise not to think I’ve gone completely psycho?’
    â€˜Of course I won’t.’
    â€˜I think …’ Evie presses her fingers on her lips. She is afraid of hearing the words herself. She wants to tell Alex. Alex has become good at handling this stuff, she accepts it’s part of their friendship. How lonely her life would be without Alex. ‘I think,’ she starts again. ‘Shit, Al, this is going to sound so ridiculous.’
    â€˜Just tell me, Evie.’
    â€˜I think someone is trying to like, tell me something.’
    â€˜Who?’
    â€˜I’m not sure. ‘I think I might mean like …’
    â€˜Like who?’
    Evie presses her fingers against her lips. Harder this timeso she can feel the ridges of her teeth. ‘Like, like – a dead person.’
    Alex screams but recovers quickly. ‘Sorry,’