Broken (46 page)

‘Hannah –' Mattie smiled, amused despite herself – ‘what does that prove? It's a bandaged hand, and there might be
nothing
underneath the bandage.'

‘You're right.' Hannah frowned and put the camera down. ‘Undo the bandage.'

‘Is this really necessary?'

‘Yes.' Hannah already had hold of the end of the bandage and was unravelling it gently. She rolled it up efficiently and very soon Mattie's palm was exposed, with a deep purple-lipped laceration running across it diagonally that was smudged with dried blood and crusty antiseptic.

‘There you go,' said Mattie, flinching as the fresh air chilled the open wound.

‘Jesus.' Hannah held the hand gently. ‘I think this needs stitches, Mattie.'

‘Just take the photos.'

‘Okay it's your funeral.' Hannah raised the camera again and took a series of shots from different angles. Then she put the camera away in her bag and sat down opposite her sister, who was rebandaging herself awkwardly.

‘Happy now?' asked Mattie.

‘Do you want me to do that?'

‘No, almost done.' Mattie wrapped the last section around her palm and then tucked the end in. ‘There we go. Good as new.'

‘Bastard.' Hannah shook her head with a sort of wonder. Then she looked at her sister grimly. ‘Now tell me what happened. Everything.'

Mattie took a deep breath. This was what she'd wanted to avoid, because it wasn't like Hannah could help, or make a difference. And this time the load wouldn't be any lighter for sharing – if anything it would be heavier, because then she would have Hannah's condemnation on top of everything else. But apart from all that, and despite all he had done, telling anyone anything that put Jake in such a horribly bad light still made Mattie feel disloyal, humiliated and plain foolish.

‘Come on.'

‘Okay then.' Mattie frowned at Hannah's impatience. ‘He came in when he dropped the kids off and said he wanted a chat. To set me straight about a few things. But what it really amounted to was a series of threats. Like he's already studied up on the court system, and child support and all that, and is going to use it all against me. Take me back to court all the time. Quit his job if I go after child support. Just generally make life pretty miserable.'

‘He won't get away with that.'

‘Why not?'

‘Because, well, the system won't allow it.' Hannah looked doubtful. ‘Will it?'

‘Actually I think it might.' Mattie hefted herself out of her chair and went over to the fridge to retrieve the manilla folder that Jake had dropped off. She selected the personal account he'd particularly emphasised and passed it over to Hannah wordlessly. Mattie sat down again while her sister read it. She sipped at her coffee and just wished that this was all over. Everything.

‘Jesus.' Hannah said when she'd read it. ‘Where did you get this?'

‘Jake. He dropped it off the other night.'

‘He's trying to scare you.' Hannah put the sheet of paper down. ‘Don't let him.'

‘Too late.' Mattie smiled and shook her head. ‘And there's more. He said that if I ever went for other than shared custody, or tried to take the kids off him, he'd shoot through with them one weekend. And the only way I'd ever see them again would be in a casket.'

Hannah's eyes widened. ‘You're kidding. He means he'd . . .' She shook her head. ‘No, he wouldn't.'

‘Probably not, but he gave me a detailed explanation of why so many men do away with themselves and their kids after a marriage bust-up. He said simply doing away with the wife isn't as effective. You need to hit her where it hurts, and then leave her to live with it.
That's
effective.'

Hannah was still looking at her disbelievingly. ‘But he wouldn't actually –'

‘Who's to say?' Mattie snorted. ‘I wouldn't have thought he'd do
any
of this but I was wrong, wasn't I?'

‘You need to ring the police.'

‘God, Hannah.' Mattie sat back in her chair and frowned at her sister with irritation. ‘You've got this amazing trust in the powers of the police, haven't you? Have you ever thought that they might just make things worse? Actually force his hand? Besides, what are they going to
do?
They'll get my story and then he'll just say I'm lying. And he can
be
very
persuasive. I should know. Which reminds me, did Stuart go around to see him the other day?'

Hannah looked at Mattie evenly and then dropped her gaze. ‘Yes, he did.'

‘And?'

‘And that's not going to help. I'm sorry.'

‘Just tell me what happened. Come on, I won't get upset.'

‘Okay.' Hannah sighed and finally looked up, shaking her head. ‘I'm so angry with him but . . . well, he went around there on Thursday night all riled up about everything and came back saying how there's two sides to every story and we shouldn't get involved. It seems they sat out on the patio and drank beer and chatted. And Jake denied everything.'

‘Everything?' asked Mattie. ‘What about picking the kids up early? Coming around here? The magpie?'

‘Apparently he only picked the kids up because they had a doctor's appointment and he only comes around here when he's invited. And according to Stuart, Jake had no idea about the magpie stuff until he told him, and then he was really concerned. Says that you've got a habit of leaving the windows open and he's been worried about it for ages.' Hannah flipped her plait forward and started playing with the ends. ‘And he also said you've got a drinking problem, and mood swings and a tendency to fabricate. He even said you'd been known to self-injure. Not often, but every now and again when you were really depressed. He said you need help.'

‘I need help?' Mattie closed her eyes and felt a smile tug at her mouth.

‘Yes. And that the real reason you left was because he was insisting on you getting some, because he was worried about the kids.'

‘God. He's good, isn't he?'

‘I'm not sure how much Stuart believed, but it was enough to convince him he didn't want to get involved. I'm sorry, Mattie. He thinks you need counselling as a family.'

‘See what I mean?' asked Mattie. ‘If Jake can convince Stuart, who
knows
me, then what hope do I have with the damn police?'

‘Wait till he sees these photos.' Hannah narrowed her eyes in a
manner that boded ill for her husband. Then she clicked her fingers. ‘What about
his
family? What about telling
them
, or showing them the photos?'

Mattie paled at the thought but then, as Hannah watched her expectantly, she made herself examine it from every angle before shaking her head. ‘No, they'd never believe me. He's their bright-eyed boy. And he'd just make something up, like with Stuart. He's very good at it, you know. I think he even convinces himself.'

‘Still think it might be worth a shot,' said Hannah stubbornly. Then she glanced down at Mattie's hand. ‘And you haven't said how you got
that
hurt.'

‘Oh, it happened towards the end.' Mattie looked down at her hand as well and wiggled her fingers. ‘See, Max got in trouble at school for being aggressive, and he got suspended. So Jake was telling me how this was all my fault too, when I sort of lost my temper and told him a few home truths.'

Hannah nodded approvingly. ‘Good on you.'

‘Easy for you to say. Unfortunately, Jake doesn't take home truths very well so he . . .' Mattie waved at her face. ‘And a coffee cup got broken and I fell on it. Hence the hand. But the worst this time was . . .' Mattie hesitated, unsure whether she should confide this part.

‘What?'

Mattie sighed, and went on. ‘The worst part was that Max came in and started hitting his father on the back telling him to stop. And I thought he was going to get hurt so I hauled off and punched Jake full in the face. But that made him go backwards and he knocked Max flying against the wall.'

‘Jesus! Was he hurt?'

‘Luckily no. But you should have seen Jake's face. I know you won't believe me, but he was absolutely appalled at what he'd done. So he left.'

‘So it's okay for him to beat up on you, but he draws the line at the kids?'

‘Something like that.'

‘What a hero,' said Hannah bitterly.

Before Mattie could respond to this, there was a sharp knock at the door. She and Hannah stared at each other, and both rose from the table.

‘I'll get it,' said Mattie. ‘You stay here.'

She left her sister standing by the table, looking worried, and went into the lounge-room to answer the door. Both children were looking towards her and she smiled at them reassuringly as she undid the deadlock. It was Hilda.

‘Hello there. Just thought I would pop in and –' Hilda stopped and stared aghast at Mattie's face. ‘Oh my What happened?'

‘I'm fine, Hilda, really Hannah's here too, so you may as well come in and have a coffee with us. And I've got that Whimsicalities stuff too, so I'll give you your order.'

‘All right.' Hilda's eyes were still on the bruise. Then she glanced down at Mattie's hand and drew a sharp breath.
‘Gott
in heaven.'

Mattie ushered her in and Hilda walked past, smiling at the watchful children as she went towards the kitchen. But as Mattie started to close the front door, she saw a police car turn into the driveway and, to her intense surprise, draw to a halt by her unit. For a moment, Mattie thought Hannah must have used the intervening few minutes to ring the police. Then she quickly realised that was ridiculous. Nobody had a response time that good. She watched as a policewoman got out of the passenger side of the car and walked up the pathway towards the porch.

‘Can I help you?'

‘Matilda Hampton?' It was the same policewoman who'd come before, with her tight but wispy blonde bun. She stared at Mattie's bruise for a second and then maintained eye contact.

‘Yes, that's me.'

‘I have to serve you with this.' The policewoman held out a single sheet of paper, which Mattie took hesitantly. It looked very official, with a number of handwritten sections interspersed within more formal rows of type.

‘What is it?' Mattie started to read, but it didn't seem to make sense.

‘It's an intervention order,' the policewoman explained. ‘Against you.
Filed by your husband. It means that you are not allowed to come within a certain distance of his home or work, or any place that you know him to be. Do you understand?'

‘Not really' Mattie looked up, totally bewildered. ‘Why?'

‘Because he claims you assaulted him.' She spoke slowly, her eyes flicking back to the bruise momentarily. ‘He made a police report and then went to court this morning to get a temporary IO, which you have there. And there'll be a hearing for a permanent one very soon. You'll be notified of the date and you have the right to attend. In fact, I would urge you to attend.'

‘He said I assaulted him?' Mattie's legs felt weak.

‘Yes. And he had a nasty black eye to prove it. But you . . . look, Mrs Hampton, if he caused those bruises on your face, you should make a police report as well. At the very least you can get a joint IO. This way –' she waved at the piece of paper – ‘it looks like you're the sole instigator.'

‘Okay.' Mattie looked over at the police car, where another policewoman sat in the driver's seat, waiting patiently.

The policewoman standing on the porch followed her gaze. ‘I'd better get going. Do you understand what I've said?'

‘Yes.' Mattie nodded. ‘Thank you.'

She watched as the blonde policewoman walked briskly back down the path and climbed into the police car. Then they took off, driving up and over the bump at the gutter and down the road. Mattie looked at the form in her hand. An intervention order.
Against
her.

‘What did they want?' asked Max, who was kneeling on the couch watching the police car disappear from view.

‘Nothing much.' Mattie smiled at him mechanically ‘Just some paperwork, that's all. Nothing to worry about.'

‘Oh.' Max didn't look like he believed her. He glanced across at his sister, who was watching her mother wide-eyed.

‘Are they gonna put you in jail, Mummy?'

‘Of course not, Court, didn't you hear what I told Max? It's nothing to worry about. Really'

Max clambered back down and went to sit on the beanbag again.
He shoved Courtney roughly to one side and settled himself without glancing at his mother again. Mattie watched him silently and then shrugged. She would deal with that later. Even one thing at a time felt like more than she could manage at the moment. She went back into the kitchen.

‘I've just been filling Hilda in on the latest,' said Hannah, who was by the kitchen bench making fresh tea and coffee. ‘Hope you don't mind.'

‘No.' Mattie shrugged again.

‘Who was at the door?'

‘Police.'

‘Police!' Hannah whirled around, the plunger in her hand. ‘What for?'

Instead of answering, Mattie held the intervention order up in front of Hannah's face. She started reading it with a frown.

‘What the hell is this, Mattie? And what does it mean the complainant is
Jake?'

‘It means Jake made a police report about me punching him last night. And then followed it through with an intervention order to prohibit me from going near him, or his home or work.' Mattie put the form on the table and started to wash her hands, forgetting about the bandage until she felt it dampen. She stared at it, and then pressed her other fingers against the wet edges, to squeeze the water out. It felt even more uncomfortable now but she tried to ignore it as she slid back into her seat.