Ananda. Scott Zarcinas

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      Albert Einstein

      PART ONE

      ADELAIDE, 1995

      CHAPTER 1

      THE LATE NOVEMBER sky had prematurely greyed by the time Michael Joseph trotted across the gravel of Wattle Gardens’ parking lot. A gust of wind tugged the cuffs of his blue sweater like an annoying child trying to get his attention, then shook the branches of the eucalypt under which his VW Beetle was parked. The rustle of the leaves and the crunching of his footsteps drew his attention to the few remaining vehicles. On any other day the thought of an empty parking lot would have been disheartening, but not today. Empty was good. It meant he didn’t have to pretend to be happy if he happened upon Norman Page on his way home after school, or any of the other teachers for that matter.

       Halfway to his car another gust ruffled his long brown hair, bringing with it the smell of the nearby sea. He glanced at his watch, then up at the overcast sky. It was approaching five thirty; there would be another sixty minutes of useful daylight left, he guessed. If the rain didn’t come first.

       Irked with this recent bout of unpleasant weather, he hastened his lengthy strides. In fact, when he thought about it, everything irked him lately, and it didn’t take a genius to work out why, either. He knew damn well why, and there was absolutely nothing he could do about it. That made things even worse. He hated feeling so helpless. If a problem needed fixing, he was always the first to roll up his sleeves and get to work on it. Yet, this was one problem he simply couldn’t fix. There wasn’t even anyone he could turn to for advice, except, maybe, his father, but he only wanted to do that as a last resort, when all else failed.

       At the VW he noticed that he had forgotten to lock the door when he arrived this morning. “You idiot,” he mumbled, and hopped in behind the steering wheel and started the engine. With a sense of relief, Wattle Gardens Primary School disappeared in the rearview mirror as he steered the car out through the main gates onto the cul-de-sac and rounded the corner. Pulling up to the intersection with the main road, he was suddenly confronted with rush hour traffic and indecisiveness. Did he really want to be going home to a cold and empty house? Angie probably wouldn’t be home till after ten. She would be working late at the office again, no doubt about it; she was all work and no play. Then again, what else was he going to do? All his friends had families to go home to; their wives only let them off the leash every once in a while, and certainly not in the middle of the week. Home it was then.

       Michael pulled the car onto the busy road and the grey clouds seemed to darken with his thoughts. Same shit, different day, he mused, crossing to the outside lane. Someone honked and made him jump. “Fuck you!” he muttered and gave them the finger.

       It took almost half an hour longer to cross the city than usual. Rush hour, the rain, the traffic lights, everything was conspiring against him. To compound matters, it was almost dark. Finally, just as the rain began to ease, he turned onto Christopher Street and pulled into the driveway at number sixty-four. The headlights fell onto the low, redbrick parapet separating the house from the street and then onto the empty space where Angie’s car should have been.

       He parked the VW and got out to check the letterbox. It was empty. He should have known; not even the utility companies, it seemed, were bothered to bill him anymore. Was it him, or had he become a Mr. Nobody overnight?

       Although it wasn’t exactly overnight, was it? he mused, running his hand through his hair. Things have slowly been going downhill for over three years. Closer to four, even. Ever since Angie got her damn knickers in a twist over starting a family.

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