Whisper (23 page)

The last week of term is very last-week-of-termish.Everything is ramping down, slackening off. Each morning, I check with Keisha whether there's been any word from the new restaurant owner. Every morning there hasn't.

I guess we haven't given enough time yet. I know that Flick only sent the letter by registered mail last Wednesday.We're all still hoping.

Classes have become pretty boring. We're just finishing off stuff, nothing new. Lunchtimes are boring too. Keisha and Stella keep nicking off to work on something and they're being all evasive about what it is. They both do psych so I guess it's something for that.

Finally it's Friday. My bag is stacked with chips and soft drinks for our class party this afternoon.

When I get to homeroom I see that the party has started early. Everyone is standing around, drinking soft drinks and eating junk food. Keisha is standing on a chair, doing a funny dance.

It's a victory dance, I can feel it in my bones. Something has happened.

As I walk in Helena points to me, two handed. Then her hands go to either side of her mouth as she shakes her head.Like she's impressed. Like she thinks I'm special.

I feel everyone looking at me. Then they cheer. They do it with their mouths, but mostly with their hands. Semi-circles made with fists that seem to be something more powerful than just celebration. Victory.

Keisha's chair wobbles and falls as she jumps off. She doesn't pick it up. She just charges towards me.

‘I got my job back,' she signs. ‘He emailed me. Said there had been a misunderstanding and my job was still there for me if I wanted it.'

Stella comes up and stands next to Keisha.

‘A misunderstanding,' Stella repeats, pointed index fingers flying past each other in opposite directions and a ‘yeah right' look on her face. ‘One day you'll be able to deal with
misunderstandings
in the courtroom, D. I know you will.'

I breathe deeply. Breathe in the feeling. I realise that I feel powerful for the first time since I went deaf.

‘Check your email when you get home,' Stella signs.

‘Yeah, do,' Keisha giggles.

‘Why?' I ask, but they're already moving back towards the others.

I follow them to sit over near the window where the others are gathered with Helena.

Nowhere near the door.

chapter 30

To :
([email protected])

From :
Stella Hooper ([email protected])

Sent : Friday 2nd July

1 attachment

Hi D,

This is what Keisha and I have been working on.

Keisha was your body double!

Hope it makes sense to you. And that you like it.

Love, Star and Chatter.

It's weird, but I get a pang when I see their Deaf names. I wonder if I'll ever get one. I wouldn't mind it, now.

I click on the attachment to open it.

When it loads, I'm staring into a photo. Of me?

It's the photo from my facebook page, but there's a body too and it
looks
like mine. I'm juggling two glass bubbles in the air. It's only when I enlarge the photo that I see the bubbles properly. They're not just bubbles. They're transluscent globes of the world.

There's a bracelet on one of my wrists. It's a bracelet Luke bought for Keisha.

So that's what Stella meant about Keisha being my body double.

It's awesome.

I stare at the photo for ages, taking it in.

It's a beautiful image, but it also means something beautiful. I am juggling two worlds. The hearing world and the deaf world. And I am smiling, confident, as I do it.

I know this is Stella's way of letting me know that she understands. But it's more than that. She's also accepting the way I need to do things. And she's telling me that I'm doing OK with my juggling.

It's the best gift I've ever received.

I copy the file onto my hard drive and a USB, and print it out. So I will never lose it.

I write an email to Stella and Keisha, telling them how much I love what they've done.

Then I forward the photo to Ethan.

It's not long before I get an email back from him. Loads of stuff about how good the photo is. Composition. Digital rendering. That sort of thing.

I forward his response to Stella.

I can imagine her at her computer, getting all antsy that I've shared the photo with Ethan. But I will research some arguments to give to her. Like, it's an image of me, so I own a percentage of the rights maybe. I'll come up with something.

She'll know, of course, that I'm reminding her that she and Ethan have a common interest. That they might just get along if she gives it a chance.

chapter 31

I am on holidays. I wake up at noon and I don't even know what day it is until I look at my calendar. Thursday. I love this.

My school report came in the mail yesterday. It was good.Actually, it was better than good. I feel great, like I'm heading in the right direction.

I know that entrance scores vary every year, but if I keep on going like this I've got a pretty good chance of getting into law. Maybe even at Melbourne. Even in my half-asleep, half-awake state, it's thrilling, letting that sink in.

I'm tempted to close my eyes again. I might be able to take the idea back into sleep. To make a dream around it, where I'm in a courtroom and my client is sitting next to me and I'm about to make my closing argument. I can borrow the backdrop of the courtroom from
Law and Order
to get me started. I might even put Ethan in there somewhere, give him a speaking part. His voice would be velvet and sand.

No I won't. On cue, Mum comes in and opens the blinds.She's asked the family around for lunch to celebrate my results, and Nadia's coming too.

I only have time for a shower and a quick hair-straightening session before they start to arrive.

Flick arrives with the boys and two extras. I recognise the first extra as Harry's friend from his party. Alfie. There's also a little girl with plaits, one much higher than the other.

‘These are my friends,' Harry says to me. ‘A-l-f-i-e and J-a-n-a.'

As he finger spells the names, his friends look fascinated and confused.

‘Aunty Demi is deaf,' Harry explains, and it's odd but I swear he looks proud. ‘Her ears don't work. So I'm … your names … her … sign language.'

The kids look serious as they take in the information, like they're trying to figure out whether Harry's telling the truth.The little girl Jana has her head on the side as she considers me, making her lopsided plaits look even more wonky.

But when Harry skips off into the backyard, Alfie and Jana follow him to make a little skipping train.

I look up at Flick. She's not her old self. Her frilly cream top doesn't really go with her cargos, and she's wearing a pretty grotty pair of runners. It's like she's reinventing herself, and doesn't have the time or care factor to focus on looking perfect like she used to.

She tears her eyes away from the skipping kids and looks at me. She holds up two fingers. It's both the peace sign and the number two.

‘Two friends,' I agree in sign, standing sideways so only Flick can see.

Nadia's dad drives her over and pops in for a drink. He's taken the day off to work on the house extension. The way he settles in suggests he's not going to get much done.

Mum chats with him for a while, and then hands him something. She positions herself behind him and looks over his shoulder. It's a moment before I realise it's my school report.

Cringeworthy.

I rescue the report from Nadia's dad, shaking my head as I give Mum my best don't-mess-with-me look. Mum just laughs, grabs the report back from me and waves it in the air.

I see it's a
proud
wave. I breathe in the feeling.

I turn away so no-one will see my grin.

Lunch is a jumble. Some bits of conversation I get, others I don't. Mum and Flick sign and stop signing. It's just the way it goes. Nads and I scoff down three pieces of Flick's quiche, all creamy and gooey. We follow it up with two slices of mudcake.

Nads and I are lying on the couch, toes to toes, complaining about our bloated tummies and arguing about whose is the biggest. Harry and his friends sit on the floor nearby, colouring in pictures of dinosaurs.

I look up when Harry taps my arm.

‘Can you … my friends … animal game?' he asks.

I nod, hoping I can do it from a lying position. I watch my beautiful nephew as he explains the game to his friends.

‘Demi … whisper … animal … guess,' I get.

Jana looks doubtful about the game.

‘Your aunty … deaf. How … whisper?'

Harry gets his little furrowed eyebrow look. He sits up straight, legs crossed like a mini yogi. His words are slow and clear.

‘My aunty Demi can do
anything
,' I see him explain patiently. ‘Of course she can whisper.'

Jana still looks unconvinced, like an undersized scientist who needs evidence.

‘Demi can whisper,' repeats Harry. ‘She just has to do it little, and like this.'

Everyone is looking at Harry as he turns sideways and makes a tiny sign for ‘cat'.

‘See?' Harry says. Jana and Alife nod, but Harry has one more thing to add.

‘It doesn't matter if she's deaf,' he says. ‘My aunty Demi can listen with her eyes, and whisper with her hands.'

author's acknowledgements

I would never have known how to begin this book without the open welcome I received from Jo Tilley, Julie Graham, Lynne Graham, El Mathias and the amazing students at The Victorian College for the Deaf.

I would never have known how to continue without the ongoing support, intelligence and lateral thinking of Lidia Risicato from Vicdeaf, who stepped into my wavelength so graciously.

To my editor, Hilary Rogers, who somehow always manages to see both the bigger picture and the tiny detail, and to the dedicated and insightful Karri Hedge.

To all of you, I whisper my thanks.

Chrissie Keighery is the author of many successful books for young readers, including stories in the
Go Girl
series and a novel for young adults,
Outside In
.

Chrissie lives in St Kilda with her husband and three children. She has spent time as a high school English teacher, and credits this time as the reason she started to write for children and young adults.

When she writes, Chrissie tucks herself away in a room with shut-out blinds. She finds that she needs a cocoon like this to dive deep inside her characters; to bring to life the physical and emotional ups and downs of teen life.