by Felice Arena
‘Um, Dad, it’s okay! I’m not so sure about that dude anyway – major creep factor going on – I didn’t like how he tried to buy us with free stuff and big-noted himself,’ he said, trying to defuse the situation. ‘And, Grandpa, Dad’s not holding me back. He’s always been there for me.’
‘Yeah, well, I’m sorry, mate. It’s just that your father doesn’t understand what it is to be good at sports. He and his brother were never interested in that sort –’
‘Well, I was wondering when you were going to drag that out again,’ interrupted Mr Magee. ‘Heard it all my life, so I shouldn’t be surprised to hear it again after all these years. I thought after Mum passed away that you would’ve let it go.’
‘You leave your mother out of it,’ Grandpa Ken snarled through clenched teeth. ‘You boys will never understand what it was like.’
Specky was desperate for a way to break the full-on tension, but he had no idea what they were talking about. Thankfully, Jack started crying upstairs and his mother appeared at the top of the stairs.
‘Ken! David! Please?’ she whispered loudly. ‘I’m trying to put Jack to sleep.’
Silence fell and Mr Magee motioned for Specky to go to his room. Specky walked off before his dad could change his mind. But it wasn’t long before they started up again.
‘Why are you really here?’ he heard his dad say.
‘I told ya,’ Grandpa Ken replied. ‘I’ve come to see my new grandchild.’
By the time Specky reached his room he heard doors slamming shut.
Beep! Beep!
Specky grabbed his mobile to read the text message. It read:
Robbo told me about what happened at
training – sorry. I can help with the test. After
school at my place 2morrow? TG x
Specky sighed. For one brief moment he’d managed to forget about the test. He decided to go to bed early – the day couldn’t end quickly enough.
10. one of the boys?
‘Simon! So nice to see you. Come in!’
‘Hi, Mrs Shepherd,’ said Specky, as he followed her into the house. He had sprinted most of the way there. In the lead-up to the final he had decided to get exercise in whenever he could. ‘Is TG home yet?’ he asked.
‘She is – she’s in her room. SAMANTHA! SIMON’S HERE!’ Mrs Shepherd called down the hallway. ‘Can I get you anything, Simon? A drink? A sandwich? You look like you’ve been running. SAMANTHA!’
‘Um, just a water. Thanks, Mrs S.’
Specky waited in the hallway as Mrs Shepherd went off to the kitchen. Music blared from the far end of the house. He smiled. No wonder TG couldn’t hear her mum.
‘There you go,’ said Mrs Shepherd.
Specky swigged the water in seconds. ‘Thanks! I needed that. I’ve been trying to pump up my metabolic rate – to give my fast-twitch fibres a work-out. I try to re-create the same intensity I feel in my legs when I lead to take a mark.’
‘Oh,’ Mrs Shepherd said blankly. ‘Well, good for you … SAMANTHA! Look, Simon, just go through, and tell her to turn that music down. What is it with you kids wanting to blast out your eardrums?’
Specky walked down the hall to TG’s bedroom. The music was thumping and vibrating through the door. Specky knocked. No response. He knocked again, louder, but still nothing. He opened the door. There in the middle of the room with her back to him, TG was singing and dancing along to some pop track from her iPod dock.
‘Hey, TG!’ yelled Specky, but she didn’t hear him.
So Specky just stood there, not sure what to do. He realised that he hadn’t seen TG like this before. She was totally lost in her own world, enjoying the music. She didn’t look like the TG he knew – the girl who loved footy and was generally treated as one of the boys. She seemed … well … so girly.
Specky walked forward and tapped her on the shoulder. TG screamed at the top of her lungs and, swinging her elbow back like some martial-arts expert, she whacked Specky fair-square in the face. Specky fell to the ground, clutching his nose. It felt like Ricky Ponting had hit a six into his face.
‘ARRWWW!’ he groaned.
‘What the hell?’ said TG, turning off the music. ‘What do you think you’re doing, sneaking up on me like that?’
Specky mumbled that he and Mrs Shepherd had called out to her several times.
‘You almost gave me a heart attack,’ she said, sounding out-of-breath. ‘Have I broken your nose? Oh my God! I’m gonna get you some ice.’
When TG returned and placed the icepack on Specky’s nose, she began to giggle. ‘Woah, I did a Barry Hall on your skinny butt,’ she laughed.
‘Yeah, well, I never knew that you were Jackie Chan in disguise,’ said Specky, holding the icepack on the bridge of his nose. ‘I’m lucky it’s not broken.’
‘Let me have a look,’ said TG, moving closer, her face only centimetres away from Specky’s face. ‘It does look bruised. Hey – remember when we first met? We ran into each other and you thought you’d knocked me out. You totally freaked – it was hilarious! I guess we’re even now!’
As TG had a closer look at his nose, Specky was taken aback by her eyes. He’d forgotten how green they were. And he’d never really noticed, until just then, that she had such long eyelashes. Or how pretty she was. In fact, lately he hadn’t paid much attention to what she looked like at all.
‘What?’ asked TG, as she caught him staring.
‘Nothing!’
‘Yeah, there is. I can tell by that goofy look on your face. Have I got a zit or something?’ she said, taking a step back and glancing in the mirror.
‘No, no … um, no,’ stuttered Specky.
‘Then what?’
Specky didn’t know what to say. TG was one of his best mates and she was Robbo’s girlfriend – he couldn’t tell her what he’d been thinking. He thought he could feel his face starting to go red. ‘It’s just that I hadn’t noticed before that, um … that you had so many freckles,’ he said.
‘Great! Point out my imperfections, why don’t you?’
‘No! They’re not bad. They’re cool,’ Specky blurted.
TG froze.
Did I just say that? thought Specky, his cheeks now definitely bright red. He could feel his heart racing as if he’d just sprinted twice around the oval.
‘Um, yeah … well … thanks.’ TG seemed even more embarrassed than Specky. Finally, she cleared her throat. ‘We’d better make a start then,’ she said. ‘Maths fizz to Maths whiz – that’s my mission.’
‘Yeah.’ Specky laughed nervously.
As TG brushed past Specky to get her Maths book from her school bag, she stumbled over his foot. Specky quickly grabbed her hand and pulled her back to regain her balance.
‘Whoops!’ she said. ‘Nearly went over.’
‘Yeah.’ Specky smiled.
For a moment the two found themselves once again staring at each other. Specky was still holding her hand.
Just then, the doorknob rattled.
‘Hey, you guys! Can you let me in? It’s locked.’
It was Robbo.
Specky let go of TG’s hand as if she had some highly contagious disease. And TG rushed to the door to let Robbo in.
‘Sorry about that – this door sometimes gets stuck,’ she said.
‘I thought your mum got the latch fixed?’ Robbo said, as he dropped onto TG’s bed.
‘Not yet,’ she said, glancing between Specky and Robbo with a funny look on her face.
‘Um, I better go,’ Specky croaked. His mouth felt totally parched.
‘What? You finished studying already?’ asked Robbo, casually folding his arms behind his head. ‘Why is your nose red?’
Specky didn’t want to explain. He just wanted to get out of there as quick as he could. Nothing happened, he kept telling himself. It’s TG – nothing would happen. But he couldn’t explain the enormous wave of guilt rushing over him.
‘Um, I got king hit by Jackie Chan,’ he joked. ‘So now,
I’ve got a massive headache. I hope you don’t mind, TG. Can we study another time?’
She nodded.
‘Dude, you gotta watch it,’ remarked Robbo. ‘You don’t want to be injuring yourself before the big game on Grand Final Day. Oh, and by the way, did someone mention Grand Final Day? Why, yes, I think I did – Ta dah! I have tickets!’ Robbo pulled two tickets from his pocket. ‘I told you I could get them!’ He beamed proudly at TG. ‘My old man came through with the goods, thanks to a business associate of his.’
Specky watched Robbo bounce off the bed and hug TG.
‘Nice one,’ he said. ‘Well, I’m gonna head off … this headache is killing me.’
‘Hey!’ Robbo called after him. ‘We still on for tomorrow night after school at your place? You, Danny, me, and a bit of Xbox action? Right?’
‘Yeah, we’re still on,’ said Specky, catching TG’s eye as he ducked out. ‘See ya!’
11. splitsville
‘Bring on the weekend!’
‘Move aside, Speck – the Xbox kings are here!’
Danny and Robbo spoke loudly over each other as Specky answered the door to let them in.
‘Keep it down,’ said Specky. ‘Jack’s asleep. And I’m looking after him.’
‘Where’s your mum?’ Robbo asked in a loud whisper.
‘Does this mean we’re not playing Xbox?’ sulked Danny.
Specky explained that his folks had decided to go out for dinner and have a break from everyone. And that by ‘everyone’ they meant Grandpa Ken. So Specky had offered to babysit Jack, with the help of his grandpa.
‘You guys can help me out,’ added Specky, trying to make out as if it would be exciting. ‘Look, it won’t be for long. They’ve only gone out to the pasta place around the corner. They’ll be home soon. But until then, I have to keep an eye on my little brother.’
His friends were not impressed.
‘What about your grandfather? Can’t he look after him?’ asked Danny.
‘Nah, he’s asleep again,’ said Specky. ‘He sleeps just as much as Jack does. I s’pose that’s what you do when you’re old.’
Specky and his friends popped their heads into the lounge room to see Grandpa Ken snoring loudly on the couch. Then they made their way to the kitchen.
‘So, where’s your sister? Why can’t she help?’ Danny pressed, still hoping there was some way he could salvage their evening of Xbox fun.
‘I’ll give you one guess where she is,’ Specky said, taking some juice from the fridge. ‘She’s at the Great McCarthy’s, that’s where! They’re more married than you and the Gladiator, Danny.’
‘Yeah, well, not anymore,’ said Danny smugly. ‘I broke up with her right after school. And I feel AWESOME! Can you believe it? I’M FREE!’
Specky turned to Robbo. ‘Is this true?’
‘Yeah.’ Robbo nodded. ‘But the gutless chicken didn’t do it face to face. He dumped her on her MySpace page.’
‘That’s not true,’ protested Danny. ‘I was thinking of doing that, but then I decided to send an email to an address she only checks on weekends. I’m not that cold-hearted, you know. It’s all good.’
Beep! Beep!
It was Danny’s mobile. Terror swept across his face.
‘Weekends, eh?’ laughed Robbo. ‘I’d start packing, if I were you. She knows where you live.’
Specky and Robbo watched as Danny checked his text message. It was from Maria. Danny read it out loud: You’re SO dead!
Robbo cracked up and grabbed Danny in a headlock. Specky grinned, but he felt a bit worried for his mate – Maria Testi was not someone to mess with.
‘Rack off, will ya?’ Danny said, pulling away from Robbo. ‘So what! I can handle myself. Love hurts and she’s just in shock, that’s all. She’ll be over it by the end of the weekend.’
‘Yeah, right,’ replied Robbo, pulling a face at Specky.
‘Well, I don’t know what you’re stirring me about,’ retorted Danny. ‘You and TG have called it quits, too.’
‘What?’ said Specky. ‘Fair dinkum? When did she dump you?’
Robbo shrugged as if it were no big deal. ‘She didn’t dump me, Speck. I dumped her.’
‘What?’ Specky said again, trying not to sound too surprised.
‘Yeah, look, I know she’s great and all that …’ Robbo said. ‘But we just didn’t really … you know … click.’
‘Is she okay?’ asked Specky, and then quickly added, ‘I mean, are you both cool about it?’
‘Yeah, I think so. She didn’t freak out … actually, she seemed all right about it. Come to think of it, she was absolutely fine. It just wasn’t working – you probably have more of a connection with her than I do, Speck.’
Specky nearly choked on a mouthful of juice. ‘Um, you think? I don’t think so …’
‘Oh, here we go,’ said Danny. ‘It will never be another girl for me. It will always be my one and only true love, Christina,’ he sighed in a melodramatic voice. ‘And even though you live ten thousand kilometres away and are going out with my rugby-dude lookalike, I know one day we will be together again.’
‘You’re mental, Castellino,’ snorted Specky. ‘It’s no wonder the Gladiator’s going to kill you.’
‘Yeah, she’ll probably start with the “typewriter of death”,’ smirked Robbo, suddenly grabbing Danny. ‘Grab his legs, Speck!’
‘NOT AGAIN!’ protested Danny. ‘NICK OFF!’
‘What’s going on here?’ Grandpa Ken bellowed, shuffling in. ‘Turn it up, will ya? You’re carrying on like a bunch of squealing girls. You woke me up.’
‘Sorry,’ said Specky, hoping they hadn’t woken Jack as well. ‘Um, these are my friends, Robbo and Danny.’
‘Nice to meet you, lads,’ said Grandpa Ken. ‘So what are you all carrying on about? I bet you young bucks are fighting over some girl. No?’
‘No!’ All three of them said at once.
‘We’re just mucking about,’ said Specky.
‘Ah, I remember being the same age as you boys. I had ants in my pants. Did I ever tell you about the time …’ But Grandpa Ken didn’t finish his sentence. He had started to lean a bit to one side and was holding onto a kitchen chair for balance.
‘What’s wrong?’ asked Specky. ‘Are you okay?’
‘Um … yeah, yeah,’ said Grandpa Ken. ‘Just a little dizzy. I think I got up too quickly.’
‘You want to sit down?’ Specky asked.
‘Nah, I’m okay, lad. If you don’t mind, I’m going to duck out for a little bit. Get some air. I’ve been cooped up in here all day.’
‘Oh, okay then,’ said Specky. ‘But what about Jack? We’re both supposed to be looking after him.’
‘I won’t be long. You’ll be fine,’ said Grandpa Ken. ‘Besides you have the girls here to help you out. I’ll see ya later. Ooroo!’
‘Did he just call us girls?’ said Danny.
‘Well, he was obviously looking at you,’ teased Robbo.
After Specky’s parents returned, it wasn’t long before they asked where Grandpa Ken was.
‘Well, did he tell you how long he was going for?’ asked Mr Magee, clearly annoyed.
Specky shook his head. His father muttered something about being irresponsible and marched upstairs in a huff, but at least it meant that Specky, Danny and Robbo got in some uninterrupted Xbox time.
Around ten, a little after Specky’s mates had gone home, Grandpa Ken finally stumbled in.
‘Where have you been? We were worried,’ said Specky’s mum. ‘I thought you were staying here with Simon and Jack.’
‘Look, I’m sorry. I got a little disorientated,’ said Grandpa Ken. ‘I hopped on the wrong tram and ended up in the city …’
From the lounge room, Specky watched his dad come down the stairs and bombard Grandpa Ken with questions. ‘Not even a call?’ he said. ‘Why didn’t you jump in a cab? Didn’t it occur to you that we might be concerned?’
‘I didn’t have your number
on me. And I only had a few bucks in my pocket. Look, I’ve got a splitting headache. I’m going to go to bed.’
Mr Magee was about to call after him, when Mrs Magee gently gestured for him to leave it. Specky was relieved. Grandpa Ken really didn’t look very well.
Specky wished somehow he could convince his father and grandpa to get along – but whenever he tried to help he just made it worse. In fact, they seemed to fight more over him than anything else.
It was weird, Specky thought, but he didn’t have time to think about it – he had the school finals and the biggest game of his life coming up, a Maths test he didn’t know if he could pass, and something seemed to be going on with him and TG. It was all getting too hard!
12. lions v magpies
Normally on the morning of a game, and especially with a spot in the Grand Final at stake, Specky couldn’t get to his school ground quick enough. He was nearly always the first to arrive. He liked to get changed into his football gear nice and early, so that his preparation was never rushed. But on this occasion he was struggling to find his usual enthusiasm.
He wandered into the change rooms as most of his Booyong High team-mates were pulling on their boots.
‘Oh no, folks, it looks like Booyong’s number-one man may have slept in this morning – he’s looking a little sluggish.’
As always, Gobba was in fine voice. His running commentary on all things, not just football, was tolerated – if not always appreciated – by everyone, but today Specky barely cracked a smile. He began to get changed for the Qualifying Final against the Yardley College Magpies.
Mr Rutherford was locked in conversation with Coach Pate as they huddled over the whiteboard, finalising the team for the first quarter. Smashing Sols was engaged in a warm-up kick-to-kick with the Bombay Bullet and Robbo, while Danny and their star mid-fielder, Johnny Cockatoo, handballed the ball back and forth to each other. Specky saw that the new boy, Kyle, kept to himself – stretching in the far corner of the room.
