In Certain Circles Read Online Free Page B

she was sent to a nursery. Stephen went to a local school. He and his sister learned to be silent within miles of their aunt. They were obliged to think about her constantly, because it seemed that their survival depended on it.
    Zoe said, ‘Parramatta. That dull, dry, flat, hot place, and an aunt who’s insane. Even I feel sorry for them.’
    â€˜Though he did ask you awkward questions?’
    Impatiently, Zoe rattled her hands at him. ‘What then? Anna’s still there? Is it still the same?’
    â€˜So I gather.’
    â€˜And when did Stephen go? As soon as the legal age, I suppose. But why to this ghastly dead-end thing? If his uncle’s a solicitor, couldn’t he have arranged something better? He’s probably good at everything.’
    â€˜He’s bright enough,’ Russell agreed. ‘But there wasn’t any money.’
    Zoe looked as if she had never heard of it.
    â€˜Economics,’ Russell continued. ‘His uncle was no help. He’s addled his wits by trying to think like her for years.’
    â€˜What? Is he mad, too?’
    Eyeing her, Russell saw that she sounded more flippant than she was. ‘He’s wiped out. Exhausted. You can’t humour someone out of a psychosis.’
    Grabbing her dark wet hair fiercely in two hands, Zoe twisted it round, held the end on top of her head with her left hand while she searched for and found a tortoiseshell clip in her bag. She fixed it in place. ‘I asked Stephen about scholarships, but he passed it off.’
    â€˜There weren’t many even a few years ago. Different days. And nowhere to study.’
    â€˜But if the house was so quiet?’
    Russell sat up. ‘You must have got left over from the Spanish Inquisition. Throw me an apple.’
    Silently, lids lowered, she leaned back on one elbow, took a red polished apple from the basket and handed it to him. She dusted dry sand from her arms and legs.
    Looking at the apple before biting, Russell said, ‘The two kids were quiet, but the house was earthquake country. Atmosphere turned on day and night. This aunt—Nicole—needs an audience. Keep in touch with Anna, Zo. She’s…’
    â€˜Did he tell you all this?’
    â€˜Only a few things, and Anna’s said nothing. But I’ve been out there. I’ve seen them together.’
    Zoe pulled on a yellow cotton jacket, and her hair came down, and she fastened it up again. ‘I can’t make it all out. Do you think it’s true? It sounds a bit…And a salesman! He must be doing it on purpose to amaze people.’
    Over his apple, as she spoke, Russell seemed not only to watch her with those startlingly blue eyes, but to listen with them, too. He said, ‘You don’t know him. He’d never think anyone was interested enough to be amazed.’
    To live without the interest or attention of other people, without making an impression: in her mind, Zoe groped to imagine such a state. All she could find was a feeling of irritation.
    Russell said, ‘He might do something yet. I’ve been working on him. Maybe one day people won’t be wasted; talents won’t be wasted. But when you think of that far-off time, you wonder how the not-wasted could ever flourish, with their fulfilment resting on so much’—he lightened his tone and finished off—‘so much of what we’ve just been talking about—waste.’
    Zoe looked at him dubiously, and dug her heels into the sand.
    Under his breath, he said, ‘All that innocent fertiliser.’
    â€˜But Russell…’ Inwardly, she had started to shake. Even her voice shook slightly.
    â€˜What? That isn’t the way it is. There have always been individuals who’ve known how to use their lives. It always will be individuals who reach fulfilment. So that was a fairly rickety flight of fancy.’
    â€˜But Russell,’ she said again. ‘There’s Stephen.