Hey, where you going?’
‘It’s Rex, Mia,’ Mrs Glasson said.
They followed the cat as he entered the front yard of a small apartment. Mia sat on the low wall and watched as Rex approached a pile of building rubble just on the other side. Rex pawed at a piece of brick.
Mia extended her hand, ‘What is it Rex, what did you find?’
The cat pawed the brick.
Mia picked it up.
The cat looked up at her and pawed a fragment of concrete.
Mia placed the brick on the wall and took the concrete, ‘You want me to make something?’
Rex looked up at her and watched her put the concrete on the brick.
‘Whatcha doing?’ Mrs Glasson asked.
Mia reached for a stone the cat was pawing, ‘I think he wants to play.’
‘Want to play, Rex?’ Mrs Glasson asked.
Mia balanced the stone on top of the concrete, ‘I don’t think his name is Rex, Mum.’
‘It’s a good name, he seems to know it.’
‘I guess,’ Mia said as she gathered more material for her wobbly tower.
Mrs Glasson smiled, pleased to have found a name for the cat. Mia thought the way Rex pulled his head back seemed to express that he didn’t like the name, and she told her mum she wasn’t so sure Rex was the right one. Mrs Glasson wouldn’t hear of it; he was a Rex to her.
The tower toppled and Mia held the top as she reached for a chunk of sandstone, ‘What does Rex mean?’
‘It means “king” – and he looks like a fat king,’ Mum reasoned.
‘Rex, I can’t make it any taller,’ Mia said.
The cat jumped onto the wall and stood next to the tower.
‘Whatcha think, Rex, do you like it?’
Mrs Glasson pulled out her phone and snapped a photo moments before Rex jumped off the wall and slumped off in the direction of his sunny spot, apparently indifferent to the tower and not the least impressed with his name.
Mia followed him, ‘Where you going?’
‘Mia,’ called Mrs Glasson. ‘We need to go, time to say goodbye. We’ll see Rex tomorrow.’
Mia put her arms through the straps of her backpack, ‘What about the tower?’
‘Leave it. You can build more tomorrow.’
‘If it’s still here.’
‘Rex will watch over it. Come on.’
As they made their way to the top of the hill, Mum began to chant:
‘I think I can, I think I can, I know I can, I know I can.’
Mia looked at her mum sideways.
‘You see, it’s like the little steam engine climbing the seemingly impossible hill. It would sing itself to the top and then, upon arriving, would whistle all the way down: I knew I could, I knew I could, whoo whoo!’
Mia was doubtful and dragged her feet, kicked at stones and clumps of grass as she trailed behind.
‘Come on, you’re doing great, and we’re almost at the top of the hill now.’
Mia still couldn’t see her new school and it felt like ages since they’d left the house. ‘You sure the school is this way?’
‘Of course – just over the hill.’
‘You mean the mountain.’
‘Well okay, over the mountain. Hey, look,’ Mum said pointing across the street. ‘Do you think it will be a new house?’
Mia looked across the road at the building site Mum was pointing to. She shrugged her shoulders and perched her bum on a low red brick wall in protest.
‘I wish Dad could take me to school,’ Mia said, thinking of his fast sports car zooming over the mountain in all of two minutes.
Mum sucked in a big breath of air and let out a sigh. She flashed her ‘fed up’ look at Mia before hoisting Mia’s backpack over her shoulder and walking ahead. Mia quickly hopped off the wall and ran to catch up. Mum was taking great big steps and Mia had to jog to get in line.
‘Mum, I’ll take the bag.’
‘I got it,’ came the reply.
Mia wanted to say something else but didn’t know what. She wished Mum would speak first but one look at her tightly pressed mouth told Mia that Mum wasn’t up for saying anything. Mia started wide leg walking like a crab and tilted her head over on one side, still Mum looked forward so Mia pulled her hat over her eyes and stuck her arms out like a zombie. She groaned like she knew zombies would and continued her silly walk. She thought she heard a giggle and lifted her hat to see Mum smiling again.
‘Silly billy,’ Mum said, fixing Mia’s hat.
Mia smiled, ‘You’re a silly billy,’ she shot back, ‘you look like a giant kid with my bag.’
‘Oh yeah? Well you can have it back then.’
Mum returned Mia’s backpack and the pair carried on up Meeks Mountain. Soon they reached the top, and Mia’s spirits lifted to see the open field of Paine Reserve park, and her new school beyond. Once across the road, Mum took the school bag off Mia’s shoulders allowing her to run ahead to the little playground where a girl sat wearing the same dress as hers. Mrs Glasson watched as Mia first stopped in front of the playground then headed straight for the school.
Standing in front of the tall bolted gates Mia felt her stomach flip. Rainbow Street Primary School looked a mysterious place. It loomed over the houses and old apartments surrounding it and made the park seem small. She half expected it to be rainbow-coloured or at least consisted of seven brightly coloured buildings, each painted a colour of the rainbow. Instead, alas, Rainbow Street Primary School was pink or ‘peach’, as Mum saw it.
‘It’s a beautiful, sunny peach!’ Mum said as she reached Mia.
‘Looks pink to me, Mum.’
‘Hmm, well, the edges around the windows are pink – and the pillars too but the building is peach. Let’s say it’s peach with pink highlights?’
Mia shrugged her shoulders in agreement. Pink, peach, it made no difference to Mia, if she couldn’t have a rainbow-coloured uniform she may as well have one she could get messed up.
‘You look a picture, darling,’ her mother said for the umpteenth time that morning. ‘I just can’t believe you managed to scuff your new shoes already.’
‘I can’t see my feet, Mum, my dress is so long.’
‘I think it’s cute and I bet all the girls in your class will wear it as long as yours.’
‘Can you take it up a bit?’
‘Tell you what, if everyone else has theirs taken up and you want yours taken up too I’ll do it on the weekend, deal?’
Mia shrugged, ‘Mum, I don’t want to go in there.’
‘Okay.’
Mia looked at her mum sideways.
‘We don’t have to go in – yet. Come on, let’s go to the playground. You might meet someone.’
Mia took one last look at the building then ran ahead, the thought of swings on her mind, but when she reached the park she noticed the girl on a swing. Mia waited by the gate until Mum arrived, not sure she was ready to meet anyone. Mum unlatched the gate