Innocence Read Online Free

in the galley, cooking, when I return. He looks up as I descend the steps, wordlessly acknowledging me before I walk into our bedroom and change out of my grimy clothes.
    Crumpled on the floor next to Jay’s bunk is a pair of black polyester trousers, a stark white shirt, and a black nylon blazer—school uniform.
    I think about lying down on my hammock and watching the birds through the skylight in the ceiling. But I don’t.
    I think about going swimming again, but I know I won’t. I put on some deodorant.
    “You started school today, then?” I emerge from the bedroom, fully aware I should have spoken to him about this yesterday. His words about not liking it here make more sense now.
    Jay nods, glancing up from the pan he’s stirring. Scallions and bacon and cubes of potato are frying. It smells like heaven.
    We take it in turns to cook, and tonight is my night, not his. But I’m not complaining. “Where’s Dad?” I ask.
    “Driving for Bosco. Said he’d be back late.”
    We eat in silence. I’m so hungry, I hardly taste the food before I swallow, only realizing at this late stage that I skipped lunch.
    After I put my plate in the sink, I grab the brown envelope from under the cabinet in our room and nip over to the Tavern. The envelope contains the meager savings I’ve managed to accumulate over the past couple of years. I buy a bottle of Coke at some overly extortionate price and take it back to the boat. I hold it out to Jay, feeling the heat of my sunburn glow.
    “Will you tell me about school?” I ask quietly.
    But instead of saying anything, he throws his arms around my shoulders, almost clinging to me.
    We curl up on the sofa together, Jay’s back against my chest, and he tells me how rubbish his day was. The school is huge, much bigger than any either of us has been to before.
    “I hate it,” he breathes.
    But I think what he really hates is being with people. He’s shy, and he’s never really had to face it. I understand that.
    “We used to talk about finding Mum,” he says tentatively. “You said we’d save up and one day we’d have enough, and you’re earning money now.”
    He shifts to look at me, pinning me with his eyes, the color of them changing with the light.
    Finding Mum is something we’ve talked about a lot. “You think Dad is letting me keep the money I earn?”
    I hate that Dad has so far given me nothing. And I hate that I’ve done nothing about it. I can’t hold Jay’s gaze. Instead I pull him in tighter and rest my head against his shoulder. “We will. I’ll get enough and we will go.”
    “Soon,” he pleads.
    “Soon.”
     
     
    T HE FOLLOWING day, Jay comes and sits outside with me as I wait for Finn. The morning is cool and hazy, the scent of fresh-cut grass in the air. It’s going to be hot later on.
    Jay runs his hand over the sunburnt skin of my neck. “Looks sore.”
    “It is.” I smile wryly, and he lifts his hand away.
    “Hey!” I call out to Lorne as she appears out the door to the Tavern with her book.
    She smiles uncertainly.
    “She wearing the same uniform as you?” I mouth to Jay.
    Looking down at his oversized blazer, he nods.
    “Want me to introduce you?”
    The death glare he gives me makes me smile.
    As Finn pulls up to the curb, I give Jay a quick one-armed hug.
    “See you later.”
    He nods tightly, and I know he’s watching the car until we disappear.
    Finn has the radio on loud today, and we’re nearly at the house before I muster the courage to talk above it. I clear my throat. “Is there any way I can earn a bit of money without my dad knowing?”
    The traffic has slowed right up, and though the car is still coasting along slowly, Finn turns and looks at me appraisingly. I feel my face heat up and fiddle with the frayed hem of my work shirt so that I don’t seem rude by not meeting his eyes.
    “Maybe,” he says after a while, still sounding like he’s thinking about it. “Might be something.”
    He doesn’t say anything