On Saturday night Dom and Cole arrived at Tal's at ten o'clock. They'd come across the harbour bridge by train from Burwood, where they'd caught up with Lulu at her lodgings for dinner. Dom had wanted to check in on how his sister was going since he'd sent her home with Bish earlier that week. He was pleased to see Lulu had cheered up since he'd organized with his mum for her to visit Hasseina at her new stables the following weekend.
After the dinner, Dom was feeling more comfortable that his sister would be alright and now looked forward to a solid night out. The boys hadn't been invited to Tal's birthday officially, but they'd heard from others that the gathering was heating up and figured Tal wouldn't mind if they crashed the party. A bunch of other guys from school were doing it, so why not?
Dom was flying solo that night. Em hadn't been allowed to go to Tal's birthday. Her parents had strict rules and for some reason they deemed a house party more dangerous for their daughter than a nightclub. Dom thought, they were probably right. The house was packed with school kids when they arrived, and he didn't know half of them.
When they entered, he took in the living room ceiling, covered in purple and silver helium balloons, ribbons dangling. There was a large bowl of fruit punch on the table by the entrance to the living room. They'd brought a couple of beers with them, but Dom paused to fill two plastic cups with punch as they entered. He tailed Cole through the house out onto the patio following the sound of laughter and music. He was hoping Izzy would be there tonight and that he'd get a chance to talk to her without Em glowering at him, but he couldn't see her anywhere.
Outside, they found Bish behind a turntable, playing DJ.
'Wassup man,' Bish said grinning when they arrived. 'Which hole d'you crawl out of? Tal said you two mobsters weren't invited.'
Dom laughed. 'Yeah, what's up with that? You could have hooked us up?'
Bish smiled conspiratorially. 'I don't know man. Looks like both youse have done somethin' to upset the ladies.'
Dom laughed.
'We're here to make it up to them,' Cole said. 'And drink their alcohol!'
The patio had transformed into a dance floor where a large circle of girls had formed. Tal immediately spotted the boys talking to Bish and came over. Her face was flushed and her eyes glassy.
'Hey,' Dom said waving at her. 'Is it alright we're here?'
Tal launched at Dom and gave him a huge hug. 'You're welcome, come in, come in!' she said waving them both onto the dance floor. She seemed like she'd had a few glasses of punch at least.
'We're already in,' Cole said laughing. Tal looked sheepish but she paused long enough to fling her arms around Cole briefly before ducking off to re-join the circle of kids dancing.
Dom and Cole stood on the edge of the dance floor, sipping punch, and watching the girl's dance. From the turntables, Bish put on the song 'sucker' by the Jonas Brothers, waving them onto the floor. They obeyed, joining the girls, who all cheered at their entry into the circle. Dom felt light and celebratory, even though he was a bit bummed not to see Izzy. Twenty minutes later, he headed indoors to find a bathroom. He was walking down a corridor in the bedroom wing of the house, when he heard the distinct sound of someone retching behind a closed door, followed by a voice making soothing noises. The door of the room wasn't latched, and he decided to push it open.
In the room was Tal and another girl, who Dom didn't know sitting on the bed. Dom immediately recognized Izzy, lying down, her head hanging over the side of the bed over a bucket, with Tal holding her hair back. Dom paused, not knowing what to do.
Izzy groaned. 'I'm sorry love,' she said to Tal. 'I shouldn't have come...I've ruined your birthday.'
Tal acknowledged Dom who was standing in the doorway, with a brief nod. When he moved forward, she put her hand up to stop him coming into the room.
He stopped in his tracks.
Dom watched in silence as Tal stroked Izzy's hair. 'It's okay love,' she soothed. 'You're alright.'
Izzy lifted her head up. 'Agh! This is so disgusting,' she said, moving the bucket away from her and laying back on the pillows.
'Is she okay?' Dom spoke to Tal in a low voice.
Izzy glanced at him suddenly. Dom realized she hadn't noticed him standing there. Her eyes were red, and she looked unwell.
'Please, get him to leave?' Izzy pleaded with Tal. There was a hint of panic in her voice.
'Sure love,' Tal soothed.
Dom winced. The other girl in the room stood up and went to close the door on him. 'You can't be here,' she said, not unkindly.
As Dom left the room, Tal mouthed the word 'sorry' at him. For a while, he stood on the other side of the closed door, not sure what to do. Then he sat down in the corridor, his back leaning against the door to the room where Izzy was lying down. He didn't want to leave. When he had gotten drunk in Uki, Izzy had been there for him and taken care of him. He wanted to be there for her now. At the same time, he had to respect her request. He didn't want to embarrass her.
Dom hadn't been in the corridor long when Tal opened the door and stepped past him, awkwardly. 'What's going on?' he asked, tilting his head towards the room, and making a move to stand up.
'Izzy's drunk too much,' Tal said. 'She had some bad news yesterday and she's really feeling horrible. I'm not sure why she came tonight. I told her she didn't have to, but she wanted to get out of home.'
'Is there anything I can do?' Dom asked. He got to his feet. As always, he towered over Tal.
Tal shook her head. 'She should be with her family right now. I'm going to get my Mum to take her home.'
Tal walked away from Dom down the corridor but paused in the hallway turning back towards him. 'Can you wait here, outside the door, just 'til I get back?'
'Sure,' Dom agreed.
'Don't go in, alright?' I'll be right back.'
Dom nodded and sat down again on the floor.
True to her word, Tal was back in a moment with her mum. She spoke to Dom briefly before entering the room. Dom strained to hear Tal's mum talking to Izzy, they were saying something about her dad coming to pick her up. Shortly afterwards, Tal came out of the room.
'Can you step away while we leave,' she said to Dom. 'Sorry. Iz doesn't want you to see her like this.'
Dom was reluctant but he agreed. 'Are you sure your gonna be okay though?' he checked with Tal. 'I can carry her if you need me to?'
'Nah, she's alright,' Tal said. 'She's feeling better. I think she just had to get the alcohol out of her. Thanks though.'
Dom walked away to give Izzy space. For him, it felt as though the light had gone out of the evening. He went back to the party looking for Cole, wishing they could just go home.