Page 111 of Darling Girls

‘No!’ Norah cried.

‘Here’s what we know. They were newlyweds and had just emigrated from Russia to Australia when Zara’s mother discovered she was pregnant. They were in their early twenties, and confessed they didn’t know much about caring for a baby. Zara was taken into care after a neighbour heard her crying. Apparently they’d left her home alone while they took a night class, learning English. They were told if they took a parenting course she would be returned to them, but they never saw her again.’

‘Wow.’

‘They returned to Russia a decade or so later. They’re having a FaceTime with Zara later today.’

‘I hope Scott gets extradited to Russia to face them,’ Norah said. ‘I bet they’d love a few minutes in a cell with him.’

Meera laughed. ‘I’ll see what I can do.’

They ended the call, and Norah walked back to the bar to see that Ishir had pulled them a couple of beers.

‘Larry, can you hold the fort for a few minutes?’ he asked.

Larry continued staring at the television as if Ishir hadn’t spoken.

‘Awesome, thanks,’ Ishir said. Then he turned to Norah. ‘Come on. Let’s go play with the dogs.’

And so they did.

This, Norah realised, was home.

59

ALICIA

‘What do you think your grandmother would say if she could see you now?’

Eliza did that thing where she cocked her head and waited. Alicia hated it when she did that thing. She hated Eliza’s stupid office with its calming blue paint and soft furnishings. She hated her neat grey hair and pressed beige slacks. She hated the way Eliza wouldn’t let her deflect her feelings with sarcasm. She hated the fact that, in nearly every session over the past year, she’d cried.

‘I think,’ she started, ‘Grammy would say she was proud.’

And there she went, blubbering like an idiot.

Eliza didn’t even need to push the tissues towards her. These days, Alicia just grabbed the box on her way in the door and held it in her lap. She took one now and dabbed at her eyes.

Eliza smiled her calming smile. ‘I think you’re right.’

Eliza charged Alicia $185 for making her cry, and then, like the sadist she was, Alicia made an appointment for the following week. For all of the suffering Eliza caused her, Alicia had to admit there was something addictive about the sessions. Each time she left the psychologist’s office, Alicia felt lighter.

Back home, Alicia heard the hum of life as soon as she put her key in the door. Meera was in the kitchen making a salad. Aaron was sitting at the counter, demolishing Meera’s beautifully prepared charcuterie board as if it were McDonald’s.

‘How’d it go?’ Meera asked, shaking a jar of dressing.

‘Awful.’ Alicia kissed her. ‘I talked about myself and my problems for fifty minutes. Now I feel dreadfully sorry for myself.’

‘Serves you right,’ Aaron said, ‘for forcing foster kids to go to counselling.’

‘Touché. Look, I think it might be . . . useful. I will say I feel much better about certain things now.’

‘What things?’ Aaron said, loading what must have been seven dollars’ worth of prosciutto on top of a cracker.

‘None of your business,’ she said, sitting on the stool beside him. ‘And leave some of that for me. Where’s Theo?’

‘Napping,’ Meera said, then she lifted her head slightly at the sound of movement. ‘Wasnapping.’

‘I awake!’ the little boy called. ‘Awon?’