When Storm Clouds Hover

2: Dom - Back to school blues

On a farm in country Armidale, six hundred kilometers away, Dom perused the list provided by his house mistress of things he needed to bring with him to boarding school. Everything was laid neatly on his bed, and he was casually ticking items off the list as his mum, Rebecca (Bec for short), was placing his possessions in his trunk.

'Socks, tick; tracksuit, tick; tennis racquet...?' He paused, looking around at the piles of clothes. 'They're kidding, right. Where is all this going to fit?'

Bec shrugged. 'We've done it before. We'll do it again.'

Absentmindedly, Dom switched on the TV and flicked through categories searching for some background entertainment. Finally, he settled on a rugby match, Sharks versus Dragons. The camera focused on the Dragon's half-back taking a kick at goal; Dom winced as the ball flew just wide of the posts.

'Are you going to help at all?' his mum asked.

'Why would I?' Dom said cheekily. 'You're so much better at this than me.'

Bec threw a pair of socks at him. 'Get up, lazy bones!'

Dom laughed. He rose from the bed to give her a hand. 'At your service short-stuff.' He stretched his hands out and picked up a pile of sheets and towels.

As he labored at his packing, they dropped into a comfortable silence. Dom considered how much time he'd missed at school. He was late going back, having spent the past three weeks in Argentina playing competitive polo. He'd have to catch up on at least a week of homework to start the term off on the right foot. Soon, his mind drifted to his girlfriend Pascal. He couldn't wait to see her tomorrow at school. Thinking about her occupied an insane amount of his time lately.

'Do you mind if we turn off the tele?' his mum asked unexpectedly, bringing an abrupt end to his daydream. 'I need to tell you something.'

Dom blushed. He pointed the controller at the TV and shut the match down, hoping his mother hadn't noticed his crotch twitch. 'What is it?'

'Well, love, it's your sister.' Bec said, forcing an obviously fake smile. 'Lulu didn't go back to Watford this term.'

Dom was instantly alarmed. 'What do you mean? What's happened?'

Dom's mum looked at her son with apprehension. 'Last term, we requested a transfer for Lulu to attend a public school in Burwood. We got the call when you were overseas. We had to move fast and ...well, it's a done deal. So, you won't see her at school, she'll be lodging with your aunt, Caitlyn. If you gave her a call, that would be nice.'

Dom's brow furrowed. This was something the family should have talked about together.

Why had Lulu not told him when they'd spoken on the phone?

'I don't understand. Did Lulu do something wrong?'

'No, sweetheart, it's nothing like that. Your sister's not to blame at all. It's just, well... I'm embarrassed to say, your father and I, we can't afford to send you both to Watford any longer. You know what effect the drought has had on the farm, and your dad's done everything he can to keep things together, but now we need to cut back. Because you're coming into HSC soon, we thought it best if we left you where you are and pulled Lulu out. She'll have more time to adjust.'

Dom sank onto the bed.

'This is serious, Mum. Is she okay?'

'She was pragmatic about it, yes...' his mum responded, her attempt at a smile turned wobbly.

'But all her friends...?' Dom said, thinking about how sensitive his sister was and how she would cope with such a massive upheaval.

'Truth be told, she's a little mad at us,' his mum said, 'but that's understandable. She'll make new friends, I'm certain of it.'

Dom felt a familiar sense of irritation rising within him. He didn't want to make things worse on his mum, but honestly, his parents seemed to be going from one disaster to the next. It was only last term, they'd announced they had to sell the cattle-a herd that had been in the family for generations and his father's pride and joy-and now, pulling Lulu out of Watford? What would be next? Would they be selling the horses too?

There was a knock on the door, and the figure of Dom's father, Bradley, filled the doorway. An imposing man, with a rugged face and tanned limbs, Bradley towered above his wife. His mum budged up to make room on the bed, but Bradley didn't sit. Dom realized he must have been hovering in the corridor waiting for his wife to break the news to him about Lulu. It annoyed him. Not only had his father let everything fall to shit on the farm, but he left it to his wife to speak to them about it. Dom resumed packing. He had nothing to say to either of them.

'Everything okay in here?' Bradley asked.

Dom stopped what he was doing. 'No, Dad,' he responded. 'Everything's not okay.'

His dad stepped further into the room. Dom moved to the other side of the bed. He looked up at his parents, barely able to conceal his disappointment.

'What's the plan here, guys?' he said, shifting his gaze between them. 'Is there even a plan?'

'That's for your mother and me to sort out, son,' Bradley said. 'You don't need to worry about it. Just keep focused on school and do your best. Make us proud, eh?'

Dom was throwing clothes into his trunk now.

'I'd be able to focus if I knew there was a plan,' he said. 'We can't just keep selling until everything's gone. We've got to work this out together as a family.'

Bec spoke up. 'We are working on it, love. We do have some ideas.'

'Like?' said Dom, skeptically.

'Well, I thought perhaps we could turn the cottage into an Airbnb; just until we're through this rough patch.'

Dom looked up. 'There you go, now that's not a bad idea,' he said. 'We should have done that, ages ago, like, before we lost the herd.'

Bradley backed out of the room.

With pleading eyes, Dom's mum implored her husband to stay. 'Darling, please don't go. Dom's right, we need to at least talk about this.'

Bradly's eyes blazed with a mix of shame and rage. 'Leave the kid to pack his things himself, Bec,' he said nastily. 'He's got to grow up sometime.' He left the room.

Dom regarded his mother coldly. 'I'm shocked.'

Leaning back into the pillows, Bec breathed a deep sigh. 'He's going through a hard time,' she explained.

'Don't make excuses for him, Mum, please?'

'Okay, love,' she said evenly, 'but please know; we will get through this.' Then, gathering her strength, Bec pulled up straight and fluffed the pillows she'd squashed. 'Your Dad's not wrong, though. Our finances are not something you need to solve.'

Dom gave his mum a small smile.

'Are you okay?' she asked.

'Ah, you know.' Dom leaned over his trunk to pick out the clothes he'd carelessly tossed in and began re-folding them.