When We Were Young

"Great. Well, maybe we will have you all around again sometime. But right now your Mummy and Daddy's are leaving."

She rounded the kids up, handing out party bags, thanking the other parents, who offered many thanks in return. She and Cooper waved from the end of the driveway, seeing them off, the children walking away with smiles. Erin turned and began to walk up the driveway beside the house, towards the backyard, noting Charlie, Billie and Tyler were waiting in front of the garage.

Cooper saw them too and ran up the drive and into the yard, returning with his basketball and began to try and show his new friends how he could throw the basketball in the hoop fixed above the garage door. Without his uncle's assistance, he only managed to throw it half the required height and distance, and Charlie caught the ball.

Charlie gently bounced the ball back to Cooper and smiled at Erin as she approached. "Isobel's inside for a moment, then when she's done we'll head off."

Erin acknowledged with a nod and thought for a moment. She said, "Connor told her about us, but it's probably not a big deal."

Charlie looked towards the house, then back to Erin, moving to the side of the drive so the children could throw the ball at the hoop, and so he could speak softly with her. "I told her we were friends but didn't think it necessary to go into detail. Not yet, anyway. She gets a bit funny when I meet up with Joanne to drop the kids off and pick them up, so I didn't think it necessary to say more about you and me."

"I'm sure she's cool with it," Erin said, not sure if she believed herself.

"She gets a little jealous," Charlie said. Then he whispered, "Tell me, do you think Isobel's a bit young for me?"

"Not at all. She's twenty-three, right? She has time to grow, and even if she's a little insecure now, she'll change. Surely she'll see she's onto a good thing with you."

"You think she is?"

"I know she is," Erin said, giving Charlie a genuine smile. She looked into his eyes and she was sure he blushed, and she realised she might be blushing too.

"Mummy," Cooper said, unable to put the ball near the hoop. "Can you play basketball with us?"

"Okay, pass me the ball," she said to her son, using the opportunity to hide her blush. Her son grinned and threw the ball to her, almost catching her off guard, but she caught it, and said, "Okay, three pointer coming up. Make room, everyone, I haven't done this in a while."

Billie, Tyler and Cooper moved to the side where Charlie stood, and Erin bounced the ball a few times, walking back to the old three-point line Connor gouged into the concrete a lifetime previously, and she lined up the shot and threw. The ball looped up high, bouncing off the rectangle on the backboard, then dropping through the hoop, and Billie ran in to grab it.

"Whooo!" Erin cheered, knowing it was mostly a fluke. "Still got it!"

Cooper cheered too. "Again, Mummy!"

"Let me have a shot, munchkin," Charlie said, holding his hands up to Billie, who passed him the ball. He bounced it, walking past Erin. "This'll be like riding a bike."

"Talk it up," Erin laughed. "You ain't got nothin', Chuckles."

"Fighting words," Charlie said with a grin. "I like it."

"Go, Daddy," Billie cheered from the side, and Charlie cocked his finger, attempting to spin the ball upon its tip. It didn't take long before it fell, and he let it bounce, then dribbled it as if he'd meant to let it drop.

"Yeah, I still have it too," he laughed. "Totally let it fall on purpose."

"Come on, take the shot, Chucky," Erin said, standing in front of him now, hand in the air.

"Look at you, getting all cocky," Charlie said with a grin.

Liam came over to watch, folding his arms and leaning against the house. Cooper turned to him and said, "Daddy, Mummy put the ball through the hoop on her first go!"

"I saw," Liam said. "She was impressive. I thought Mummy only played netball and didn't know she was a gun at basketball."

Charlie was bouncing the ball, Erin standing ready to jump and block any shot, then he bounced it through his legs, Erin moved into position to block him, Charlie stopped, squatted, faked, Erin jumped to block, and Charlie aggressively drove the ball around her, knocking into her as he took the shot.

Erin felt herself off balance, an instant reflex kicking in where she grabbed at Charlie's arm to steady herself. She knew it wasn't going to stop her fall, and she tucked her chin to her chest and let her legs bend at the knees, spreading her arms and hitting the concrete bum first, rolling back and slapping her arms out, breaking the fall.

Charlie came down next to her while the ball sailed over the hoop, bouncing off the backboard with too much power, then bouncing off to the side of the ring.

"Mummy!" Cooper yelled, rushing in to where Erin landed, "Are you hurt?"

"Daddy!" Billie and Tyler ran to Charlie's side.

"I'm okay, darling," Erin said, feeling the sting in her elbow and pain in her buttocks where she'd landed. She looked over at Charlie and grinned, saying, "You missed your shot."

"Are you okay, Rin?" he asked, sitting on the concrete beside her, his children hovering over him. He stood and offered his hand to her, which she took, helping her to her feet.

"Yeah, just a flesh wound," she said, looking at the graze on her forearm, trying to be tough but feeling the sting.

Charlie laughed, "You're not a teenager anymore, you're gonna feel sore tomorrow."

"Probably," she said, limping slightly, imagining her butt was bruised. "Nice fake, by the way."

"Are we ready to go, babe?" Isobel said, interrupting them, frowning at Charlie.

"Yeah, if you're ready, we're ready."

"Let's go then. Nice to meet you Erin, and another happy birthday to you, Cooper."

They made their farewells, Cooper wishing Billie and Tyler didn't have to leave. Erin waved and said, "See you later, kids, and thanks for coming. And have fun tonight, Isobel. Take care, Charlie."

"You too," he said, giving her a smile before walking down the driveway.

"Well, little man," she said to Cooper, "Did you have a fun party?"

"Yes, Mummy," Cooper said, watching his friends turn onto the footpath and walk out of sight. "It was fun, but I wish I could play with Billie and Tyler more."

Erin crouched, feeling the pain in her buttocks again, meeting Cooper's eyes. "I know you have a lot of fun with Billie and Tyler, but I don't know how often we'll see them. And it's okay, cos you have many other friends."

"But you're friends with their Daddy."

"Hmmm, maybe. Anyhow, I think I hear Grandma, Nan and Pop, and Uncle Connor in the house. Quick, go see if you can find them!"

"Yay!" Cooper ran off towards the backdoor.

"Good one, Erin," Liam said, smiling at her. "He adores you and talked about you the entire time this morning."

"He adores you too," she said. And he'll talk about you for days when you go back to the mines, and tell me how Daddy lets me do this and that and Daddy buys anything I want, and why won't I buy everything, and he'll ask me why you can't stay longer...

"Charlie knocked you over pretty hard. Sure you're alright?"

"Actually," she winced with a half-chuckle, slightly limping, "It hurts more than I realised now I'm trying to walk."

"Charlie seems like a nice fella though. You guys dated, right?"

"Yeah, we did."

"He's that guy, isn't he?"

"Yeah, he's that guy," she said, surprised Liam recalled the details of a conversation from eight or so years previously. All she'd mentioned was how her first relationship was with a school friend, and it ended in heartbreak when she was twenty, sharing very few details. "It's all good now, and so much water's flown under the bridge."

"I saw you sink the three-pointer, what a shot. I didn't realise you played basketball."

She sat down on a fold-out chair and looked back towards the driveway, remembering back to when she was a teenager. "Dad put the ring up for Connor, like, a million years ago. I think Connor's fixed it back up more recently, but we often used to play basketball in the drive. And when I was playing netball, I used to spend hours out here practicing with the hoop too."

"You'd play with Charlie?"

"Yep, Charlie and I were mates before we dated. He grew up a couple of blocks away and often came over, pretty much every day. He was on the school basketball team and I was on the netball team, so we used to shoot hoops together."

"When you two started playing just now it was clear you'd played competitively against one another before," Liam said, beginning to fold up some of the chairs around the out-door table under the awning. "Kind of reminded me of hanging out with some of my old school mates. Little did we know how easy and carefree life was back then, back when we were young."

"I'm not sure if life was always easy and carefree, but I suppose in some ways it was. We made heaps of mistakes, but had a lot of fun along the way too."

"Didn't we all," Liam said, knowingly.

"Yeah, anyway..." She looked at Liam. "Thanks for driving back for Cooper's party."

"Hey, sure, no worries. Thanks for being such a great mum to him. Sorry I have to drive back to Emerald tomorrow."

"Thanks," she said, her smile weary. You could be here more often and maybe even spend more than one day here and there with him each month, she thought, but she didn't voice it. They'd had those conversations many times, and Liam knew perfectly well what Erin thought. And he'd argue his job was important too and how he gave her money to help out with Cooper, and he occasionally returned to Brisbane for weeks at a time and hung out with Cooper as much as he could. Erin would argue a few days wasn't enough, but she knew arguing would get her nowhere, and a few days was better than none. Because when he was around Liam was great for Cooper, and the last thing Erin ever wanted was to sour Liam and Cooper's relationship.

If only you'd stick around for more than a few days on Cooper's birthday weekend!

Liam made an offer. "Come back to my place..."

"No..." She'd slipped up a handful of times in the last four years, ending up back in Liam's bed out of loneliness. It was easy done, him a familiar lover, however, she no longer felt any real desire for him at all, even if he was a handsome man. She didn't need the complications or expectations.

"We don't have to..."

"I know."

"How about you and Cooper meet me for breakfast? Before I leave?"

"Sure," she said, weary of the conversation, dreading the thought of Cooper having to say another goodbye to his father in the morning.

The back flyscreen door opened and Lisa appeared. "Ah, sitting down and relaxing, letting the rest of us do all the cleaning up."

"Damn straight, Mum," she said.

Lisa turned to Liam, packing away the chairs. "I'll help you, love, even if she won't."

"She took a fall," Liam said, defending Erin. "Playing basketball. She needed to sit."

"I heard all about it from Connor. He was watching through the kitchen window. Mind you he was only half watching and half chatting up Charlie's girlfriend. Or maybe she was chatting him up, I couldn't quite tell."

Liam chuckled, but Erin stood, folded her chair and began picking up some of the toys strewn about the lawn.

"What's got into you, sweetheart?" Lisa said. "I was only joking about Connor and Charlie's girlfriend."

"Nothing, Mum," Erin replied. "I just..."

"It's Charlie, isn't it?"

"No, actually, it's not. I..it's...okay."

"Okay, if you say so."

"Sorry, Mum. I'll talk to you about it later." She flicked her eyes towards Liam, who was picking up the football left laying on the grass.

"Ah, yes, fine," Lisa said, getting Erin's message. She knew Erin wanted Liam to spend more time with Cooper, and perhaps even get some time to herself, too. And Erin knew her mother would likely give her a lecture along the lines of how she'd brought up two children, with a drunk for a husband then as a single mother, and she'd never found time for herself, ever. Then they'd likely compromise, because somewhere in the discussion Lisa would unintentionally agree with Erin, criticising Liam for staying away so long, and Erin would probably defend him, and their discussion would descend into some convoluted mess.

Lisa and Liam appeared to finish their tidy-up and returned to the house, and Erin basked in the silence. She looked around, checking for other toys to pick up, but there was only one; the basketball sitting on the concrete driveway. She approached it, drawn to it, picking it up and bouncing it.

With two hands around the ball, Erin sized up the distance to the hoop and took the shot. It bounced off the rim, back into her hands. She made another shot, netball style, muscle memory taking over and the ball dropped over the rim, falling through the hoop to the ground.

"Lucky shot, Rin," Charlie had said, back when they were fifteen.

"Luck?" she'd laughed. "It's all skill, my friend."

"Let's see about that." He'd dribbled the ball, crossing over between his legs, back and forth, several times.

"Stop your fancy dribbling and take a shot."

He'd taken a shot, but she'd jumped, managing a fingertip to the ball, shifting its trajectory to the hoop, and it bounced harmlessly off the backboard, off to the side and missing the ring completely. She'd grinned and he'd smiled, saying, "You think you're so good, don't ya, Rin?"

"I know I'm good," she'd said, now in possession of the ball. Dribbling, she tried to push past, but Charlie covered with arms and hands outstretched, threatening to steal the ball, so she'd taken a step back, then shot for the three pointer, but missed.

"Not as good as you think you are," he'd laughed.

Their gameplay became increasingly aggressive, both of them making body contact, knocking into one another, and Charlie charged with the ball for a simple layup, Erin aggressively attempting to knock the ball from his hand, and he'd knocked her straight into the garage door, where she bumped her head on the handle.

Pain shot through her skull and she'd cried out, "Fuck!"

"Oh, shit, Rin, are you okay?"

"I think so," she'd said, sitting on the concrete and rubbing her hurting head. She'd looked to Charlie, noticing the genuine concern on his face, and she'd grinned, saying, "It's just a flesh wound."

He'd laughed too, offering his hand to help her up, and they'd moved under the awning at the back door. There were no chairs back then, not even a barbecue, simply bare tiles and nothing else, and she'd sat on the tiled back step. He'd retrieved an icepack from her freezer, then parted her hair and took another look at her growing lump. "Looks like your brains are leaking out."

She'd laughed. "Stop it, it hurts when I laugh."

"You do know zombies can smell fresh brains for many kilometres around? They're comin', Rin."

"When they get here, I'll use you as a shield."

"Shit, I hear them," he'd said. "Quick, hold me tight and don't let go."

"Ya dork." She'd laughed, then adjusted the icepack. "Owww."

"Let me have a look at you." He'd prodded at the bump on her head, then declared, "Damn, I think the zombies have cancelled the apocalypse. No brains here."

She'd laughed again and he'd sat on the tiles in front of her, absentmindedly spinning the basketball on the tip of his finger, smiling. She'd watched him and asked the thing she'd thought about for quite a while. "Hey, what're ya doin' this weekend?"

"Got nothin' planned. What about you?"

"I was thinking of taking photos from inside the abandoned Queenslander on Hamel Street for my art assignment. Do you want to come?"

He'd put the ball down and considered her for a moment. "The haunted house?"

"Yeah."

"Sure, I'll come. So you're gonna break in?"

"It's abandoned, so why not?"

"There's gotta be ghosts in there. Or zombies."

"Or squatters. Which is why I'm asking you along, because if there's someone there, I can outrun you, and they'll get you instead."

"Ha, as if you can outrun me, Rin."

"We both know I can outrun you any day, so don't deny it."

"You gonna ask Lib or Nikko to come?"

"Nope, I hadn't thought of it."

"Oh, cool. Perhaps I can dress up as a zombie for your photos. Like, photos from an abandoned house in the zombie apocalypse."

"You're obsessed with zombies! But, actually, that's not a bad idea. Or maybe I could capture your shadow on a wall or something, suggesting something menacing is in there, but not actually showing what it is. Or a series of photos starting with shadows on walls, then a few glimpses of zombie down a hall, then the full zombie attack!"

"I love your ideas, Rin, let's do it! So how's the lump on your noggin?"

"It hurts. I think you really did knock my brain out."

"That's how the cavemen got their girlfriends."

"So you knock me on the head and suddenly you think I'm your girlfriend, do you?"

"I didn't quite mean it like that."

"What a shame..."

They'd smiled at one another; their smile not leaving their hearts for the next five years.

"What're ya smiling at, Sis?" Connor's voice snapped her back to the present.

"Nothing."

"Sure. I saw you and Charlie shooting hoops. It was like you and he were young again, hanging out after school."

"Yeah, he still plays rough."

"As if you weren't being aggressive too," Connor said with a chuckle. He took the ball from her hands and took a shot, sinking it without effort. "Nice break-fall by the way. I taught you well. For a moment there I thought you were going to roll with him."

"Ha, sure. I'd whip his arse."

"You'd whip most people's arses. We miss you down at the dojo, because it's been a while."

"I'd love to get back into it, but you know how it is, I don't have the time."

"You make the time, Sis," he said, encouragingly. "We have a new Krav Maga instructor now and I think it's an excellent form of self-defence, especially for women."

Erin sighed, picking up the ball and bouncing it several times. "It's easy for you to talk about making time, since you don't have a little person to look after. I really do wish I had the time, but hey, such is life. Anyhow, want to play a quick game?"

"Erin, I really do wish I had the time to play," he said with a wink. "But I have places to be. Such is life, ay."

"Don't be a bum hole." She tossed him the ball. "Play with me."

"Actually, I do have to go home and get ready," he said, tossing the ball back to her. "I have a date."

"Oh my gosh, it's not one of the women from today?"

"Yep," Connor laughed. "I've totally organised several dates with a number of single mums."

"Bullshit."

Connor laughed again and Erin shook her head, frowning. He replied to her frown with a cheeky smile. "Time to go. I've said goodbye to the birthday boy. He's a trooper but I'm sure he'll sleep well tonight."

"Who's your date?"

"See ya, Sis," he said, turning and walking away, chuckling to himself.

"Hey, who is she?" She started following him down the driveway, her shadow thrown against the glowing house wall.

He was still chuckling, reaching his red Ford Ranger ute parked out front, opened the driver's door, then stopped and laughed again at Erin, who stood on the footpath, hands on hips. "Our new instructor's name's Rebecca. She's my date and I like her. I think you'd like her too."

"Oh, good, I'm happy for you."

"You look so relieved."