My days of primary school had come to an end, and with it came my favourite holiday: Christmas. This year, most of our family from down the east coast came up to sunny North Queensland for the week. Some gathered in Ronnie’s spare rooms, mum’s parents stayed at our house, forcing April and I to share my room, and the rest had to book a hotel.

We were a relatively large family, especially on dad’s side. We had my parents’ siblings, our grandparents, our cousins, our great aunts, our second cousins, and so on. Ronnie’s son even came up for a visit, dropping in briefly here and there.

A myriad of traditional Italian and stereotypical Aussie dishes made their appearance across that week. Ranging from Nonna’s homemade gnocchi and dad’s terrible rendition of spaghetti bolognese all the way to pavlova, a BBQ by Ronnie’s pool, and the obligatory leg of ham for Christmas lunch.

On Christmas day, after having our fill from an early lunch, the adults cracked open the beers just as it ticked over to noon. The sun was blazing down in full force as April and I lounged with our cousins by the pool, the younger ones splashing in the chlorine-filled water. 

Studying my skin through the lens of my sunnies, I wondered how long it would take for me to get a sunburn if I didn’t get up to reapply my sunscreen.

“I have an idea,” April said quietly to me. “But you need to follow along, okay?”

I nodded, watching April closely as she pushed herself to her feet. At fifteen, her womanly body had certainly come through, curves accentuating, cleavage bound to catch the attention of teenagers.

She held a hand out to me, and I took it, getting to my feet alongside her.

Dressed only in our togs and thongs, we walked over to our parents, April pulling up a chair right by our mum with a sweet smile spreading across her face. I leaned on the back of her chair, eyes flickering between the two as April worked her magic.

“I got a text from Steph earlier,” April started. “She wants to know if we can hang at the skatepark.”

Mum frowned and said, “It’s Christmas, April.”

Even from where I was standing, the smell of alcohol on mum’s breath wafted over. It wouldn’t take long until she was giggling at every non-funny joke my uncle Frank tried to tell. 

“Yeah and me and May are bored as hell. The little ones have the Wiggles on inside and the pool is getting too warm.”

“Go hang with your cousins in the pool or pull out a board game.”

“Mum, they’re all still in primary school.”

“So is your sister.”

“I’m in year 8 next year!” I retorted, very proud to be going to high school with April soon. “And I agree. They’re lame. They still like dolls and stuff. We’re too big for that.”

Craning her neck to look at me, April shared a laugh at me. My parents didn’t have to know that we spent this morning playing with the new doll Uncle Frank had gotten me for Christmas.

Mum sighed, clearly on the way to caving. “It’s a long way to walk.”

“Only half an hour. And we will run some of the way. Not across the highway, of course.”

“I can’t pick you up if something goes wrong. We’ve all been drinking too much.”

“Nothing will go wrong. It will be fine. And we will make sure we are back by six.”

Mum’s eyes flickered between us, lips pressing together. “Tony? What do you think?”

“Huh? Yeah, whatever you think dear,” he slurred, cracking open another drink.

Sighing, mum replied, “Back here by five.”

“Thanks mum!” we cooed, both hugging her.

“And put more sun-safe clothes on and some sunscreen.”

“Yup! Of course!”

With boardies and a shirt thrown over our togs, a new layer of sunscreen greasing up our skin, and a hat fixed to my head (April is apparently too cool for one, but I had to), we were out the door, skipping our way through Ronnie’s suburb towards the highway.

When we first used to make this trek from school, I would complain incessantly. But now the walk was second nature. The sun prickling against my neck, sweat already beading across my upper lip, April held her hand out for me as we waited for the green light to cross the main road.

“We aren’t really going to the skatepark, by the way,” April said when we had crossed to the other side, safe on the footpath.

“We aren’t?” I asked, looking up at her, squinting even behind my sunglasses.

She shook her head. “Definitely not. It’s way too hot for that.”

“So where are we going?”

Grinning over at me, she replied, “I’m going to Anna’s. And you’re going to Evie’s. Merry Christmas.”

“What?” I exclaimed. “But I’ve never been to Evie’s.”

“We have enough time to walk there, hang out for a good chunk, and walk back without the parents ever catching on so I thought why not.”

“You’re the best, April!” 

Anna and Evie literally did live next door to each other, though the states of their houses were vastly different. The suburb was largely a lego land, each house only slightly changed from the next in exterior. While both houses boasted a single garage, white stucco walls, and black security screens, Anna’s lawn was freshly mowed, and the outside in pretty good condition. Meanwhile Evie’s… 

“Stick to the footpath and don’t walk in that grass,” April warned as she guided me towards Evie’s door, not wanting to let me go alone.

When we reached the screen door, I noticed the mesh was barely intact, peeling off at the edges. The door handle seemed like I could break it off with one pull.

We rapped on the metal frame, and it rattled with each thump of a fist. It didn’t take long for Evie to bound our way, big grin on her face.

“May!” she shouted, wrenching open the front door and throwing her arms around me. “Come in!”

I bid goodbye to April, who made a point of walking back down the driveway and down the road to avoid the tall grass that separated the properties. Giving her one final wave, I walked into Evie’s house.

The inside wasn’t as bad as the outside. Floors a little slippery, furniture certainly in second-hand condition, but for the most part it was tidy.

“Anna told me you’d be coming today so I spent the whole morning cleaning,” Evie beamed at me, a gap in her mouth.

“Did you lose another tooth?” I asked.

“Final one! Fully an adult now.”

“Congrats.”

“I took a ten dollar note from mum’s stash to celebrate it too. It was great. Anyway, let me show you to my room.” Hand in mine, she walked me through the house to the back, slipping into an ice-cold, dim room. 

Her single bed rested against the back wall, adorned in bright pink bed sheets. The curtains were drawn and a window rattler was on at full speed, blowing puffs of cold air while it droned on like it might break at any moment.

“Do you want me to turn that off?” she asked, noticing the way I was rubbing at my arms.

“Um, no. But can I borrow a jumper?”

She nodded and pulled a purple one—her go-to for school—out of her overly stuffed cupboard, throwing it to me. “Good, because mum doesn’t like me having it on this cold when she’s here. So I can only do it when she’s gone.”

“Your mum isn’t here?” I asked as I slipped on her jumper, smiling internally as the smell of Evie wafted over me. It felt like she was giving me a warm hug.

“No, she’s with one of her boyfriends today. So it’s just me.”

Most adults would have started to have panic attacks at this news, but at the time, I thought it was so cool that we were unsupervised, free to do what we want. 

“That’s a lot of stuffed animals,” I commented, sitting on her carpeted floor. 

“Yeah! I love Care Bears so much. I’ve been collecting them since I was little. Mum gets me a new one every year. I actually have two of this type,” she said, picking up the yellow bear. “Did you want to take one?”

“Um… maybe some other time. We are going back to Aunt Ronnie’s after and mum will be there so…”

“Ah. That’s okay. Want to play Guitar Hero? Or SingStar?”

“You have a PlayStation?”

“Duh! Mum is always browsing garage sales and asking her male friends when their kids don’t want their old consoles.”

“Let’s do SingStar!”

April smiled and nodded in the appropriate moments as I gushed to her about everything Evie and I got up to. 

We ate a whole tub of ice cream, sang our hearts out to Avril Lavigne’s Sk8rer Boi, and then watched The Emperor’s New Groove until Evie’s mum came home. 

Her mum, reeking in the stench of alcohol, was furious when she walked into Evie’s room to find us with the aircon on. Then she turned red when she spotted the empty tub of ice cream. Before Evie could possibly introduce me, Evie’s mum asked me to leave.

I hadn’t even made it down the driveway when I heard her mother’s shouts echo behind me, followed by the slapping of a hand against skin, and then Evie’s cries behind me.

At the time, I didn’t think much about it and walked over to Anna’s, hanging out with them until April was ready to walk back. Though I probably should have told an adult at that point. At least my sister.

A street away from Ronnie’s, April made me promise again that we wouldn’t let anything slip and ran through the cover story of our skatepark adventures.

In the end, the story was useless. Mum and dad were blind drunk when we got there, and nonna and nonno were oblivious to where we went as they drove us all home. The day was forgotten by the adults, but forever imprinted in the memories of April and me.