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Cracks<br />
Sibbyl Whyte<br />
They have barely spent three months in the new house when the girl, Evelyn, notices<br />
a crack in her bedroom wall. It is tiny, like an earthworm wriggling behind her calendar<br />
towards the ceiling. She stands on the headboard and traces it, wondering if it will grow.<br />
She hears raised voices, a thud and a scream and runs to the door. Peeking out, she<br />
watches her dad storm out <strong>of</strong> the parents’ bedroom contorting his face and twisting his<br />
wrist like one in pain. She swallows her call and closes the door, suddenly scared.<br />
The fear follows her around and she refuses to look her parents in the eyes so they don’t<br />
catch its shadow shimmering behind lashes straight and long like her mother’s. During<br />
dinner, she joins the twins in their foot-fight under the table. She mistakenly hits daddy’s<br />
legs and mumbles a sorry but he laughs and joins them. Mum smiles at her and spears a<br />
piece <strong>of</strong> plantain <strong>of</strong>f dad’s plate with a laugh. Life is good.<br />
Now and then, she checks on her earthwormy crack. It grows as she grows. It is as wide<br />
as a centipede the night before she goes to boarding school. She already misses everyone,<br />
everything and she cries herself to sleep. The morning before she leaves, father hugs her,<br />
tells her he will miss her, and heads to his <strong>of</strong>fice and meetings. The twins cry, wanting to be<br />
with her to the end but mum says no, she has an important meeting by noon. They hug till<br />
mum’s words prise them apart and she waves and waves till the gate closes on their sad,<br />
identical faces. Evelyn cries all the way to school, but her mum does not notice. She is on<br />
the phone laughing - with someone she calls Lex dear - like she used to do with daddy<br />
before she got her new job.<br />
First Holiday. She is so happy to be back with her family. The first night she is a storyteller,<br />
regaling them with school tales. The next morning, she wakes to the changes. Mum applies<br />
heavy makeup but it doesn’t quite hide her red, puffy eyes or the pinkish imprint <strong>of</strong> fingers<br />
on her fair face. Dad eats his breakfast without talking and leaves the house without the<br />
28<br />
Tales from the Other Side
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