Radish Man

Thanks to the lovely gentlemen who braved my horrible grammar and terrible sentence structure and edited all 24k words. Without them, you'd be grimacing at least every second paragraph.

~~~~~~~~~~

I was cooking dinner when my husband announced he was leaving me. At first I didn't quite hear what he was saying. Our five year old daughter was trying to talk to me about her day at school, the fish needed flipping and the sauce needing whisking, so his words were lost in the clashing and banging and 'yes honey's' I kept saying to prevent Melody from demanding a more involved response.

'I said 'this marriage is a farce',' Vaughn said. He turned to our daughter. 'Melody, go to your room. Your mother and I need to talk.'

Melody started to cry. She was overtired and hungry and desperate for attention. The sauce bubbled and thickened. I stabbed at a piece of fish with the spatula, trying to loosen it from the pan. My efforts were in vain and I pulled the pan from the hotplate.

'Let's talk about this later,' I suggested. 'I need to calm her down and finish off dinner. Can you please try and turn the fish?'

Vaughn took the spatula and hacked at the overcooked fillet while I went to collect our daughter. As I soothed her, some corner of my brain echoed back to me Vaughn's initial words. 'We need to get divorced; this marriage is a farce'.

One of my friends would later tell me that it's near impossible for a marriage to end with any sort of dignity. There is always the instigator, who feels compelled to list and re-list and elaborate on their reasons for departing, and the deserted partner, who has to cope not only with the end of their relationship, but to try and understand why someone they thought loved them is now so gleefully parroting off their faults.

I was thirty-eight. Vaughn was a year older. We'd been partners for over seventeen years, married for fourteen. I didn't understand why our union was now viewed as weak and riddled with flaws, my personality lacking, and our love not worth salvaging. There was another woman, of course, but she was a symptom, Vaughn said, not a cause. But all the same, her presence and involvement with Vaughn had validated whatever thoughts he had harboured about our marriage, while at the same time giving him an escape.

Within a week, Vaughn moved in with his new girlfriend. He wasted no time introducing our daughter to his new partner, oblivious as to why this might cause a five year old a degree of confusion.

I guess it was easy for him to move on. He'd known for the better part of six months that the relationship was over. I'd only had a few weeks. He'd prepared, planned, adjusted. Me? I had thought everything was more or less fine.

~~~~~~~~~~

Vaughn wanted Melody every second weekend. I argued for him increase custody to include at least one day each week, so I could work back late, but he claimed she missed me too much on the weekends he had her, and she'd only cry for me more if he took her on a weekday.

Wiser women, men, stepfathers and stepmothers told me not to take it personally; what I was experiencing wasn't uncommon, and nor was it a reflection on me. But it was impossible to remain objective when someone who I thought had my back, and who I believed loved our daughter, showed himself to be mean and selfish and tight-fisted.

It took months for me to find my feet. Four months after Vaughn announced he was leaving, I was finally beginning to have a few good, intermittent days. I felt emotionally equipped to start dividing assets, and we listed our house for sale.

I avoided speaking to Vaughn. He was offended by my desire to communicate only by email or text, but I found phone or in-person conversations impossible. He was excited about his new life, his new home, his new girlfriend and his enthusiasm cut me to the quick. 'We hadn't been happy for years' was his favourite mantra. The girlfriend was always in the background, smug and spoiling Melody, while earnestly talking to me about how important it was to educate and read to my child as if these were things that I had failed to do, and were only being undertaken now because she was on the scene.

Bitter? Yes, I was, though I tried not to be.

It was my weekend with Melody so we went to the Farmer's Markets, a place I'd regularly gone with Vaughn, but hadn't stepped foot inside since my husband had left me. It was late spring and the weather was warm, the food vans smelt delicious and I felt happy and optimistic as Melody did the rounds of her favourite vendors.

Radish Man was her favourite. He was an older man, somewhere in his fifties, and he was tall and rangy and craggy faced. He wore jeans, a chambray shirt and an Akubra, and he looked every inch a farmer, but he'd once conspiratorially told me he was actually a parts interpreter who owned a small hobby farm. I'd had no idea what a part interpreter was, but the internet had informed me it was someone who figured out what spare parts people needed. I smiled every time I thought about it. He was a nice man. The older women just loved him, and I'd often wondered what went on when the market closed for the day. I had the feeling he'd bedded more than one of his customers.

Melody loved him because he had an ancient pocket knife with a sharp blade and if you asked nicely, he could carve just about anything you wanted into a radish or potato. Melody would also ask for a funny face or a letter M, and she'd take her sculpted vegetable home and place it in prime viewing position - generally on the kitchen table, or in her room - until nature took it's its course and it started decomposing. Then I'd begin the not insignificant task of convincing her to throw it out.

Radish Man, the farmer who was actually a parts interpreter, was there that morning, holding a young audience captive as he carved a face into a turnip. Melody ran over to join the kids as they jostled for prime position.

The face was carved and handed to its purchaser, and a number of sales of strawberries, sugar snap peas and sweet corn took place, before Radish man was handed a potato and 'a clown face' was requested.

The sun was hot and the shade minimal. I stood to the side a bit, where a tree cast a shadow, and sipped my water. Nobody noticed me. I'm a little taller than average, but neither fat nor skinny, and my dark brown hair, fair skin and amber coloured eyes are unremarkable. There's a tattoo of a frog on my ankle, one of the few vestiges left of life before Vaughn, but no other tattoos or piercings. I think I must be the only woman in Australia whose ears aren't pierced. My parents were very anti-body modification and while I lived under their roof, piercings or tats were strictly off limits. The frog was inked a week after I left home. It was my own, petty little form of rebellion.

When Radish Man finished with his second commission, Melody ran over and pleaded for money to buy one. Once upon a time I'd just dive into my purse and hand over money for the root vegetable, plus a few extra items to compensate the Radish man for his work, but funds were now tight. Vaughn was no longer contributing financially to the running of the household, which was problematic because the mortgage wasn't small, and it was sucking up over half of my income.

'No honey,' I replied. 'You can buy some strawberries from him, that's it.'

'Mummy!'

I handed her a two dollar coin. 'That's it,' I warned her.

Melody's disappointment was painfully obvious, but she said 'okay' and went to the Radish Man's stall. She waited patiently in line, until it was her turn to be served. She was on the verge of placing her order when a woman pushed past her, picked up a potato from the stall, and handed it to Radish man.

Melody turned to me helplessly as the woman's children shoved her to the side of the line. My eyes filled with tears. I shouldn't have been so easily upset, but my recent separation, a stranger's rudeness, and the devastating feeling of letting down my daughter created a perfect storm, and I went over to ease Melody back into line.

But by the time I reached the stall, though, there was no need. Radish Man was politely telling the shover-inner that there was a line and she'd just pushed a young child out of the way, and the nasty bitch was telling Radish man he'd better just serve her or she'd complain on Facebook.

'Ma'am, I don't have a Facebook account, so you can do whatever you like on there and it won't affect me,' Radish Man said politely. 'If you would like to buy something, please go to the end of the line and wait your turn.'

A young woman waiting in line applauded him. The intruder turned around and glared at the clapper before she stormed off, grabbed her phone, and took a few photos of the Radish Man's stall. He completely ignored her as he asked Melody what she wanted.

'Strawberries, please,' Melody said.

'No carving today?'

Melody turned to me plaintively.

'You've had plenty of carvings already,' I said. 'Let another kid have a turn.'

'Maybe next week,' Radish Man diplomatically told Melody.

'I'm with Daddy next weekend,' Melody said.

'Weekend after that?' Radish Man offered, handing my daughter a punnet of strawberries.

'Yes,' Melody agreed. 'Definitely.'

'I'll save you a big potato. I should have some sweet potatoes by then. They seem to last a bit longer.'

'They do,' I agreed. I took Melody's arm. 'Thank-you. I appreciate you standing up for Mel.'

He turned to me with a shrug. 'Not a worry. Have a good day, ladies.'

Melody giggled at being called a 'lady' but she seemed in a chipper enough mood. The lack of carving and the inconvenience of being shoved aside by an entitled cow seemed not to have ruined her high spirits.

We ate our strawberries, bought a loaf of bread and some eggs, then went to a nearby playground so Mel could burn off some energy. As she was making friends with a couple of young kids, I checked my messages and emails.

That was a bad idea. With family home now up for sale, I'd had to start searching for rentals. Not an easy task in Brisbane at the best of times but add the constraints of an independent parent and a large dog and nobody would look twice at me. I'd had my Cane Corso, Justice, since she was eight weeks old. I couldn't bear the thought of rehoming her, and yet I was fast running out of options. There was utterly no way I could cover a mortgage on a house on my share of the settlement and my wages, not unless I moved to an utterly abysmal suburb miles from anywhere. Even half decent suburbs were well out of my price range. I had to find a landlord willing to accommodate me, Melody and Justice.

'Mummy, I'm having so much fun!' Melody called out. 'Today is the best day of my life.'

I only wished my emotions were as simple as hers.

~~~~~~~~~

Adjusting to life after a separation is tough. You have to cope with an immense sense of betrayal, you began to ponder your ability to judge people, money becomes tighter and tighter, and you really start paying attention to due dates on bills.

Both my rates and the household insurance were due in two weeks. The total cost was over fifteen hundred. After paying for the mortgage, before and after school care, groceries and petrol I had exactly two hundred and eight dollars to contribute to both invoices. Even if convinced Vaughn to pay half I'd still be falling well short.

My phone buzzed and I picked it up. One of my friends - one of the friends who wasn't suddenly uncomfortable around me - wanted to know what my plans were for the evening.

Plans? My plans were to panic over my financial status and desperately miss Melody, who was spending the weekend at her father's house. How else would a single mother spend her Saturday night? But my friend had other ideas, and after a few texted exchanges, I thought 'fuck it'. Two hundred dollars wasn't going to change jack shit. Why not just go out with my friends? Have dinner and attend The Angels show with them, let my hair down, and forget about life?

I washed and blow dried my hair. Poured myself into black skinny jeans, a top that showed too much cleavage, and heels. Applied far more makeup than was necessary, then surveyed myself in the mirror. I looked like I was out to score, which was fine by me, because I was well and truly sick of playing the part of the stressed, devastated, single mum.

I walked - well, hobbled - into the bistro where I was due to meet my friends. All three, like me, were single. One was a single mother, the other two had never married nor had children. All four of us were dressed in tight, revealing clothing, and had heavily painted faces and sexy shoes.

We ordered and paid for our meals. We shared a bottle of wine while we waited and somehow the topic of conversation turned to finances following the end of a relationship. It wasn't something I'd ordinarily discuss with strangers as I've always been a very private person. I get embarrassed easily by sharing uncomfortable titbits of my life, because I know, just know that other people will continue to gossip about them when I'm not around, and yet for whatever reason, it all came flooding out. All of my fears: my inability to pay the mortgage on our family home as well as our regular expenses.

I'd spent the past four months feeling guilty and obliged, as if it were somehow my duty to make it all work. My friends laughed at that, and pointed out that that was exactly what Vaughn wanted me to do. It wasn't in his interests for me to step up and demand he contribute to the running of our house while we were waiting for it to sell. It wasn't in his interests for me to find a lawyer who could determine whether or not the split he was offering me was fair.

It was worth every ounce of discomfort to be given the details of a lawyer who would allow me to pay them out of the settlement, and information on which bills need to be paid first and why. I didn't feel so goddamn alone or stupid or incompetent.

Suddenly the problems in my life didn't seem so insurmountable, and I felt cautiously optimistic. It wasn't that I wanted to screw Vaughn over - I'd actually wanted to stab him in the temple with a screwdriver, if you want the truth, but that phase had passed last month - but I knew that if I didn't step up, Melody and Justice would suffer. And yes, I did place my dog above my ex-husband. Not by much, but she was currently ranking ahead of him.

We had a few drinks and talked about men, of which there were plenty about. I wasn't really looking at them. I mean, I was but I wasn't, if that makes sense. After having spent seventeen years having sex with the same person, the thought of being confronted with a different penis, different expectations, and a different body type was daunting. So, while there were certainly a few men about that made me think 'hmm', I had no interest in picking up.

The Angels played their first set and I enjoyed myself far more than I'd expected. When seemingly ninety percent of the crowd went outside to have a cigarette, I went to the bathroom to fix my makeup. One of my friends, Tina, came with me and as we peed, she announced that I'd certainly caught someone's eye.

'Probably because I dance like an idiot and try to sing along to songs where I only know twenty percent of the words,' I replied cheerfully.

'No, he was laughing at you for that, but he was also perving on you.'

'Why'd you tell me that? Now how am I supposed to enjoy the second half of the show?' I laughed. 'I won't be able to sing!'

Tina's response was lost as I flushed the toilet. We exited our cubicles, washed our hands, and attacked our faces with war paint.

'Honestly,' she said. 'Do you miss Vaughn?'

I thought about it.

'No,' I replied. 'If he'd died I'd still be grieving, but behaving the way he did, it's like he changed from the person I loved. He showed me his true colours. He was only good to me because I could give him what he wanted. When I was no longer what he wanted, he had no qualms about treating me as disposable.'

'That's good. It's easier if you can stop loving them.' She pursed her lips. 'It took me two years to figure out how to do that. What a waste of time.'

'That sucks,' I replied limply. I didn't know Tina particularly well; she was more of a 'friend of a friend' than an actual friend.

'Yeah, it does,' she agreed. She snapped her purse shut. 'Let's go get a drink before the second set starts.'

I was careful about how much I was drinking, and what I was spending, so when we reached the bar I just poured myself a glass of water. I was a lot hotter and thirstier than I'd thought and I quickly poured myself a second.

'Drink too much?' a man asked.

I turned to him and blushed guiltily. 'No, just thirsty.'

He chuckled at my reply. 'Sorry, I didn't mean to embarrass you.'

'No, no,' I replied hurriedly. He looked familiar, but I couldn't place him. Maybe he was a client at work.

Tina was standing to my right and the man was to my left. My sort-of friend watched my exchange with the man and saw an opportunity. Before I could stop her, she'd ordered for herself and me a drink and lined up the man to pay. I was mortified, but the guy just handed the cash to the bartender.

Tina winked at me as if to say 'that's how you do it', then cocked her head, gesturing for me to follow her. I reached into my purse for a twenty and handed it to the guy. If he was one of my employer's clients, the absolute last thing I needed was news of this escapade reaching my boss's ears.

'Sorry,' I apologised. 'I wasn't...'

He closed his hand over mine. 'No, no,' he said. 'I know.'

'Are you sure?' I replied, still trying to figure out where I knew him from.

He nodded. 'Absolutely, but if you're going to keep feeling guilty, how about I cut you a deal? You keep the money and you chat to me for ten minutes in exchange. I came here with my brother-in-law, who's currently taking a piss. He's three sheets to the wind and once he's drunk and he gets onto a topic, he doesn't move off it. If I have to hear about the wind chimes he makes one more time I'm going to find a wind chime and choke him with it.'

'I'm sorry did you say 'wind chimes'?'

'I did. He reckons I should take some to the farmer's markets with me and try and sell some for him.'

I realised who he was. Radish Man. I was so accustomed to seeing him in his Akubra that I hadn't recognised him without it. Gone, too, was the button down shirt and in it's its place was a promotional The Angels shirt that was probably thirty years old but still in good shape. It still fit him perfectly, too, but he was in great nick. He had the sort of tall, lean frame that lends itself to any sort of clothing.

I realised Radish Man was waiting for a response.

'Wind chimes will probably clash with your carving,' I said apologetically.

'My thoughts, exactly. Besides, he's already given me five for my house. I leave one up out the back to keep him happy when he comes over, but I can tell he's a bit offended. He has them up everywhere at his and my sister's house. You go over there and after two hours you start worrying about industrial deafness.'

I cracked up laughing at the mental image. 'Is it that bad?'

Radish Man chuckled. 'Probably not. Ah, here's the wind chime man himself. Shall we start counting ten minutes now?'

'I'll give you fifteen,' I offered.

'You're a trooper,' Radish Man said.

The brother-in-law, maker of wind chimes, approached us both with a beaming smile. He had the facial hair and clothing of a middle aged wood wind artisan, dark curly hair, a rotund figure and an enthusiastic handshake.