‘Nothing to say about some baiting happening around my place? Not ringing any bells in there?’ Nathan reached out and tapped Bub on the side of the head. Bub swiped his arm away.
‘Get fucked.’
‘No, you get fucked. Kelly was in a lot of pain at the end. I had to watch it happen. There was nothing I could do to help her.’ Nathan could feel the tears prickling behind his eyes and he blinked hard.
‘She was only a dog.’
‘I loved her. She was my best friend.’
‘Then you need to get out more.’
Nathan made himself take a breath. He felt a rage building that he knew wasn’t all about Bub. Still. Bub was right in front of him.
‘All right,’ he said. ‘That’s fine. But when you and me and Ilse sit down to talk about this place, I’m going to look at you and think about what you did to Kelly and then I’m going to think long and hard about how I can best repay you for that.’ He stepped closer to his brother. ‘You’re wondering why Cam didn’t bloody trust you with this place or money or anything else? Take a look at yourself. He might have been an arsehole – worse than that – but he didn’t have rocks in his head.’
Nathan didn’t see the blow coming until it was almost too late. It caught the side of his head and sent him stumbling backwards. He felt another hard jab under his ribs and Bub’s arm was suddenly tight around his neck.
‘Fuck you, mate. And Cam.’ Bub’s breath was alcoholic on his face. ‘You think you can turn up here and push me around and start acting like you know what’s best for everyone?’
Nathan felt the air knocked from him as they banged against the wall and lost their balance, hitting the floor with a thud. A loose fist connected with his cheek and Nathan put his hand up too late as another blow sailed through.
‘You and Cam always bloody think you’re better than me, but you’re not, are you? He’s dead and you’re a total fuck-up.’
Bub landed a sharp punch over Nathan’s eye, and his face was angry and slick with sweat. There was something reckless in his eyes as he pulled his fist back again.
‘You think if you take Cam’s place and start behaving like him people will respect you?’ Bub was saying.
‘No.’ Nathan tried to push him off, banging his head against the floorboards. He could see movement at the doorway.
‘You think they’ll suddenly talk to you in town?’
‘Get off.’ Nathan shoved back and they rolled over, hitting the couch and the coffee table. Something fell off and shattered against the floor.
‘Hey!’ A shout from Harry, as Liz’s voice also cried out from somewhere.
‘They don’t ignore you because you’re not Cam, mate.’ Bub’s words were hot in his ear. ‘It’s not even because you left whatshisname for dead. They don’t talk to you because you’ve got a bit weird, mate. You’re a weird, lonely loser and no-one wants to be around y–’
Nathan got in a punch that time, a hard one, and they rolled again, colliding with something. Nathan felt the tremble at the same time as a gasp came from the doorway. The Christmas tree tilted, then fell in a shimmering jangle of decorations and plastic pine needles and tinsel. It caught the corner of Cameron’s painting as it fell, sending the frame rocking at an alarming angle on its twine.
‘Oh, shit,’ Bub said, his voice nearly drowned out as Liz shrieked and darted across the room. Harry got there first, smacking the frame hard against the wall as he caught the picture just in time.
‘Christ,’ he said. ‘That was close.’
Liz was already at his side, running both hands over the frame as she checked for damage. Nathan could see her shoulders move as she breathed heavily and could tell she was trying not to cry. Finally, she straightened the painting against the wall.
‘Jesus, of all days,’ Harry was shouting. ‘You realise your brother’s gone, don’t you? You can’t respect his memory for five bloody minutes?’
‘Sorry.’ Nathan pushed Bub off him and stood up. He reached out for the painting. ‘Is it all right?’
Harry slapped his arm away. ‘Don’t you bloody touch it.’
‘Hey! I was just trying to –’
‘Well, don’t! You’ve done enough damage.’
‘Stop it!’ Liz turned, tears in her eyes now. She looked from Nathan to Bub, who was still sprawled on the floor, shimmering gently with a dusting of loose tinsel particles.
‘Isn’t today already bad enough for you two?’ she said. ‘What’s wrong with you both? Not enough misery here? You have to turn on each other as well?’
