It was different now. The house was silent. He was gone and there was no more grumbling. She was used to the grumbling. What would she do without him? He made all the decisions.

Then she realised. He was gone. She made the decisions. She could do anything she liked. She could get rid of that record player he liked so much. She could buy a new TV, one with the Internet and Stan and Netflix and Amazon on tap. Easy to get with a push of the button. Bob didn’t like anything new. He didn’t want a new TV.

 Now she could control what she watched. She could watch what she wanted. She didn’t have to give him the remote and wait while he cycled through the stations looking for something that entertained him. Or switching stations in the ads to make sure he’d chosen correctly, so she missed the first bit of her serial when it came back from the ad break.

She could buy new trainers for the kids.

The kids weren’t kids anymore. They were adults. They bought their own trainers. They didn’t listen to him. Or her. Her son lived across the continent in Perth. She never saw him anymore. Her daughter lived in Melbourne with the older man she’d married and her two little girls. They visited once a year and her husband fixed things. He was better at fixing things than her now dead husband and he wasn’t dead yet. Though men died earlier than woman, maybe her daughter would come to live with her when he died. There’d be no one to fix things then.

There were tons of things she wanted to do. She hired a cleaner with the money he wouldn’t spend. She was older now and Aged Care had them cheap. She learned how to make pottery and when she got a little unsteady on her feet, she thought she’d learn Croatian. Her mother spoke Croatian to her mother but they’d never let Daisy learn. They said her father didn’t like it. She was sure they talked about her.

They were dead now but she thought she’d learn Croatian anyway till she found out no one would teach it and she had to learn it online. She did that for a while, every day she learnt a little bit more till she found out how hard it was. She wished they’d taught her when she was a child. It would have been easier then. She joined a gardening group. They took her even though she was a bit unsteady.

He used to call her stupid and complain about her spending too much but she missed him anyway. She was a little bit stupid, not smart like him. Not knowledgeable. She was probably buying the wrong things, spending too much and making the wrong decisions. She sometimes visited her neighbour and from things her neighbour’s husband said, she was sure she was spending her money wrong so maybe she needed advice. She needed friends too; her husband didn’t like her having too many. She should spend her time entertaining him. He didn’t tell her what to do when he wasn’t there to entertain.

“You need to move into one of those villages,” her neighbour said, “you know, where older people live. Meet people, make new friends your own age. Do things.”

‘Aren’t those villages expensive?” she asked. “And they take all your money. They think they can cheat you because you’re older.” And have no husband, she thought. Like her, no husband to do everything and make the right decisions.

“You have to find the right one,” her neighbour said. Apparently she meant village, not husband. She helped her and eventually they found the right house. It was made of wood, not brick like her home. It was cheaper. It didn’t have a lot of things but it had a balcony and a carport. And a little bit of lawn at the back for her cat to piss on. Someone else mowed the lawn. She didn’t need a husband. The village had a swimming pool and a barbecue. Lots of people met in the clubhouse.  

She was sure the people would like her. They were old people, many of them didn’t have cars. She did. Lots of them stumbled and they were afraid of falling. Her neighbour used a walker and expected her to help when something went wrong. She didn’t have a car and kept her mobility scooter in her garage. The garage was opposite Daisy’s house but the neighbour was very obliging. She only took her scooter out when Daisy didn’t need the car and asked Daisy to drive her when she had to go somewhere.

Daisy’s husband wouldn’t like her giving something for nothing. He never helped the neighbours for free. The neighbour at the old person’s village became her best friend. She cooked for her, biscuits and cakes and savoury puffs and crackers. She came over every afternoon and chatted.

She did lots of things for her if she could do them. She took the blame when Daisy did things wrong. She defended her. Daisy let her. If she didn’t do what Daisy expected, Daisy had something to say. Usually it was to someone else and it was often bad. Her neighbour didn’t like that. Daisy’s husband would have been proud.

Then her neighbour moved out. She had spent so much money renovating, Daisy thought she would never go but go she did. She said she was getting too old and needed too much help to live independently. She was gone. Daisy had a new neighbour.

The new neighbour used a walker too and Daisy thought she could replace the previous neighbour. She knew what to do. She rushed over to meet her on her first day and offered to go shopping for her. The new neighbour didn’t need anything but toilet paper but Daisy had that too, even if it was the last of her toilet paper she could always go out and get more. After all, she had a car. The new neighbour asked about the other neighbours and Daisy clenched up inside. She didn’t say nice things about the other neighbours; she needed the new neighbour to trust her. It seemed to be working.

But the new neighbour didn’t ask for help. It’s early days yet, Daisy told herself. The new neighbour had a car. What on earth did she have a car for? What does a woman with a walker do with a car? Worse still, she tried to park it in the garage. The neighbour-that-was turned the car port into a garage for her mobility scooter and the new neighbour tried to park her car there. She couldn’t, it was too narrow. She parked in front of the garage. She asked permission but Daisy didn’t like it, she backed her car into the front of the neighbour’s car, then ran across to the neighbour’s house and insisted she park it in the garage. The new neighbour asked if she could wait or she wanted it moved straight away. “That’s your problem,” Daisy said.

The neighbour tried to park her car in the garage. She parked it in the centre of the garage and couldn’t get out, so she parked it on one side till the whole back fell off and Daisy called the police and said she had an accident. She waited till the neighbour was out, of course.

The police didn’t catch her because the neighbour came back and tried to park her car in the garage. Daisy’s friend Diane helped her but she couldn’t get it lined up right. Diane suggested they ask Daisy for help. Diane was another one who’d given up her car and needed Daisy to drive her places. Diane praised her but the new neighbour suggested Daisy wasn’t a very good driver. She parked her car in a nearby parking spot.

She didn’t have her walker. Daisy thought she had her now. When the new neighbour asked for help, she said she’d heard everything the new neighbour had said to Diane and Diane was one of the nicest people in the village. The new neighbour looked puzzled and repeated her request for help.

“Use your walker,” Daisy said.

“The walker’s not in the car anymore,” the new neighbour said.

“Don’t be ridiculous,” Daisy said, “I put it there myself.”

“I moved it,” the new neighbour said.

She said that a few more times till Daisy, utterly disgusted, entered her own house and closed the door. That’ll show her, Daisy thought, a fall on the gravel and a crawl up to her walker and I bet she’ll be nicer to me next time. What about the car, she wondered. A person like that shouldn’t be driving.

She peeked out but the new neighbour wasn’t in front of her house and she hadn’t asked for help. Then she saw her inside her house. One of the other neighbours must have helped her. She had to put a stop to that. She thought she was on good terms with most of her neighbours so she’d soon finish that. She’d say unpleasant things about the new neighbour. She hadn’t been very friendly, Daisy thought.

Diane came over the next day and Daisy mentioned the incident. “A person like that shouldn’t be driving,” she said. Diane agreed. Diane had her mobility scooter and she went over to the neighbour’s place and told her not to drive anymore. “You’re dangerous,” Diane said.

The neighbour looked puzzled. “I have a valid licence,” she said.

“Well, I called the police,” Diane said, “and they said to stop you driving.”

“But my licence is valid,” the neighbour said.

“Well, you won’t drive in this village anymore,” she said, “I’ll see to that.”

Daisy heard the exchange from her house. It would be nice if the neighbour didn’t drive any more, she thought. Maybe she could get a mobility scooter. Diane drove round the house again the next day and looked fierce. She drove round the house a few times. The neighbour must be scared, Daisy thought. They hadn’t seen her car for days. The garage was open.

It was a few days later when Daisy was tidying up her balcony that she saw people come out of her neighbour’s house. She’s probably had time to think about it now, Daisy thought, how much she needs help. I bet she’ll try and be friendly now. She waved at her and pleasantly shouted something about neighbours. She did know the new neighbour’s name but she’d forgotten it. She didn’t think it was important; the new neighbour needed Daisy more than Daisy needed her. She waved again.

The new neighbour ignored her. Her friend said something to her but the new neighbour was angry. She continued to ignore Daisy.

Daisy must have done something wrong. Her husband would probably call her stupid. It wasn’t working like he said it would. “If they need you, they’ll be friendly,” he said. She would have been friendly to Daisy’s husband. Maybe the new neighbour didn’t realise she needed Daisy.

The next day the neighbour ignored her and again the day after that. She said some nasty things about her to the other neighbours but it didn’t seem to work. They said ‘hello’ to her anyway especially after the new neighbour came to the clubhouse. The new neighbour still didn’t ask for help. Her car appeared parked in the garage and was left there for weeks. Then it was gone and Daisy couldn’t ask why. One of their neighbours said the new neighbour had given up her licence but Daisy didn’t know whether to believe him or not. For a long time, she was nervous when she backed out her car. The new neighbour still didn’t ask for help. She still ignored Daisy.

One day Diane heard her cry ‘help’. She grabbed Daisy and rushed over telling her she could redeem herself but the new neighbour was fine and just shouting at the phone. “At least you know when you do need help, there’s someone there,” said Diane. The new neighbour was friendly to her. She ignored Daisy. She kept ignoring Daisy. Eventually she would talk to her if Daisy initiated the conversation, but she never asked for help even if she wanted to drive somewhere. Daisy didn’t know how she managed. She gave up.