‘It must be wrong, Mum. I feel so sick.’
She looked at me and narrowed her eyes. ‘What day is it today?’
‘I think it’s Tuesday,’ I answered, snuggling back into the warmth of my bed.
‘It’s maths test day, isn’t it, Patty?’
‘Yeah, but Mum, I really feel sick.’
Mum sighed. ‘I’m going to send you to school,’ she said. ‘If you’re still sick at recess I’ll leave work and come and get you. But if it’s the test that you’re worried about, maybe you’re spending too much time playing basketball. We might need to rethink all of the training that’s cutting into your homework time.’
I didn’t know how to argue with what Mum had said, so I dragged myself out of bed. ‘Go to the sick room if you get any worse,’ she said.
I THOUGHT ABOUT going to the sick room before the test. But I knew I couldn’t avoid it forever. I prayed that somehow the answers to the equations would come to me.
I was relieved when I started the test. The first sums were easy, addition and subtraction that I’d learned. But a few questions in, I was hit with a whole lot of long multiplication problems. I decided to give them a go, hoping that Ms Baker might give me half a mark for trying, or that I might somehow fluke the answer.
MS BAKER HANDED BACK our tests before recess the next day. I saw Tyson hand his to Boris with a smile spread across his face. Then I looked down at my sheet. It was covered in red pen, and the mark at the top said only seven out of twenty.
Tyson shot to the back of the class to see Nathan and Ben’s marks. On his way back to his seat he passed my desk and saw mine. ‘No wonder you never shoot more than five baskets in a game, Patty. You wouldn’t know how to multiply your score.’ He cracked up.
I tried to act like I didn’t care but there was a hot prickling behind my eyes. I wouldn’t let myself cry.
At recess when we were playing basketball, Tyson kept yelling out to me, ‘What’s ten times two, Patty?’
Josie marched up to him. ‘Will you cut it out, Tyson? He’s your teammate.’
‘He’s not my teammate next week. We’re playing against the Shadows.’
MS BAKER EMAILED Dad and Mum to tell them about my test results and they talked to me about it as soon as they arrived home.
‘How do you feel about it, Patty?’ Mum asked.
‘I feel dumb,’ I replied.
‘You’re not dumb, bub,’ she said. ‘We all come up against things that we find hard to do. But don’t worry, maths will come to you.’
Dad hugged me. ‘You’re one of the smartest people I know, Patty.’
Mum put her bag on the counter and switched on the kettle. Then I heard the news I dreaded. ‘You’re going to have to miss basketball on Friday, and maybe you’ll have to miss playing with the Shadows tomorrow night to study.’
‘But that’s not fair!’ I yelled. ‘There’s only seven of us on the team, and if I don’t play there’ll be only one sub. It’s hard enough playing against teams that have been together forever.’
‘I understand, Patty. But what’s more important, a game of basketball, or improving your maths?’ Mum raised her eyebrow like she does when she’s proving a point.
I didn’t answer straight away. Right now, basketball felt way more important to me than maths ever would be.
‘You don’t get it,’ I said, almost crying. ‘It won’t matter how much I study, I’ll never understand what Ms Baker is teaching us. All the other kids get it, why can’t I? I’ll never be able to play school sports again.’ I raced to my room and shut the door.
A little while later, Dad and Mum came in. ‘You can play basketball tomorrow night, Patty,’ Mum said. I was flooded with relief, but she wasn’t finished. ‘But we will have to meet with Ms Baker to see what can be worked out for you.’
‘Come on, Patty,’ Dad said, rubbing my shoulder. ‘Come and have dinner. I’m making fish curry, Torres Strait style.’
IT WAS A REAL BUZZ walking into the stadium to play my second game for the Shadows.
Riley and Josie were sitting in the stands watching the Titans play against the Jets. The Titans were leading by eight points. I cheered when Tiago made a great steal and passed it to a teammate I didn’t recognise at first. Then I realised it was Matthew from St Michael’s. He’d made the difference between St Mary’s and St Michael’s when they beat us in our semifinal last season.
‘They’re going to be hard to beat,’ I said to Riley and Josie.
Always positive, Josie said, ‘Well, we can give it our best shot.’
As we warmed up, I looked to our opposition at the other end of the court. The Devils had only one tall player – most of the others were my height. Their shortest player kept taking long practice shots and most of them were going in.
THE FIRST THING we got right playing against the Devils was the tip-off. Abdi tapped it straight to Riley, who passed the ball to me so that we could set up our first shot at a basket.
Playing against the Devils I started to think that basketball was the most exciting sport ever.
The score was close for the whole game, but the Devils ended up winning by four points. We shook hands with our opposition after the final buzzer and when we walked off the court our parents came to congratulate us on the great game we’d played.
‘I thought I was going to have a heart attack,’ Abdi’s dad said as he ruffled Abdi’s hair.
‘I’ve almost lost my voice from cheering so much,’ said Riley’s mum.
‘Great game, guys,’ said Uncle Noel. ‘I didn’t expect such a quick improvement!’
I knew that I’d be doing everything I could to help our team improve even more before we played the Titans the following week.
THE NEXT MORNING we continued our Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander studies.
Ms Baker passed some objects around the class. There were some boomerangs, dishes and another object that looked like a dish but also had a handle.
When it was passed to Tyson, Ms Baker asked him, ‘Do you know what you’re holding, Tyson?’ His face was blank. I knew he hated not knowing things almost as much as I did.
‘It’s for scooping water?’ Tyson answered.
‘Good guess,’ Ms Baker said, taking the object from Tyson’s hands. She then held it up for us all to see. ‘This object is called a woomera. There is a place in South Australia called Woomera, it’s where rockets are launched. What do you think this woomera is used for?’
Manu shot up his hand and Ms Baker nodded in his direction. ‘It’s used to throw spears,’ he said.
‘That certainly is one of its uses, and what it’s best known for.’
Ms Baker placed her finger on a point at the end of the woomera and told us, ‘The end of the spear notches into this point, which is often made of kangaroo bone.’ She raised the woomera above her head and explained, ‘The point can be used to reach branches to pick fruit.’
‘That’s cool,’ Tiago said.
‘Can you see the sharp edge on the bottom of the handle? It’s quartz, a very hard rock that can be made into a strong cutting tool.’
Ms Baker demonstrated how the woomera could be used to cut. ‘The quartz is held in place by animal sinew and resin.’
Ms Baker handed the woomera back to Tyson to keep passing around the class. ‘The woomera can also be used to dig, and as a container for water or food. Some people compare it to a Swiss Army knife. It has many functions.’
‘It’s very light,’ Darren said.
‘What do you think might have contributed to its design?’ Ms Baker asked.
Nobody answered, so she explained. ‘Many parts of Australia are very hot. The design of the woomera means that the hunter can travel extensive distances with this light object and a spear, preserving energy. The woomera is a lever and demonstrates Aboriginal people’s understanding of physics.’
Ms Baker’s Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander studies class made me feel good. It reminded me that my ances
tors and my people are very clever.
MY CLASSMATES went and changed into their sports uniforms when the lunch bell rang. I stood on the basketball court by myself and shot free-throws.
Everyone poured into the schoolyard wearing their netball, soccer, hockey and basketball gear. I was the only one left wearing my ordinary school uniform.
‘Aren’t you getting changed, Patty?’ Tyson asked as he leapt in front of me and grabbed the rebounding ball.
I shrugged my shoulders and then snatched the ball away from him.
‘Oh that’s right, you failed the maths test, didn’t you?’ Tyson said, though he clearly hadn’t forgotten.
I made another layup and didn’t respond.
‘Patty can’t do maths,’ he teased.
Josie jumped in. ‘Leave him alone, Tyson,’ she said. ‘It means we’re one team member down today.’
Tyson laughed and walked away.
Before Josie went with the others to the game, I spoke to her. ‘Let’s go and see Uncle Noel after school. We need to get some more tips on how to beat the Titans. There’s no way we’re going to let Tyson beat us.’
‘Don’t worry, Patty, we’ll work things out. For now, just focus on your maths.’
‘Good luck, Josie.’
‘You too, Patty,’ she said, giving me a fist tap.
BACK IN CLASS, Ms Baker sat opposite me. ‘I met with your parents last night,’ she said. ‘They told me how you’re feeling about long multiplication.’
I nodded, relieved that Ms Baker finally knew I was having trouble.
‘Don’t feel bad that you’re stuck, Patty. You’re very smart. It will click for you soon, I’m sure.’
‘You think so?’ I asked.
‘I know so. How about we start with some problems that you’re more familiar with. Let’s have a look at some short multiplication.’
‘Short multiplication?’ I asked.
‘Yes, short multiplication. You covered it last term, don’t you remember?’
‘No, I don’t know what you’re talking about.’
Ms Baker pointed to the equation on the work sheet.
‘How’s it different to long multiplication?’ I asked.
Ms Baker’s eyes suddenly opened wide. ‘Oh, Patty, you were sick, weren’t you? You must have missed the most important lessons on it. No wonder you’re having trouble with long multiplication!’
I thought back to the end of last term. I had almost forgotten about the virus that had wiped me out for the last week of school and half the holidays. I’d been stuck in bed for days, boiling hot and achy.
Ms Baker started to explain short multiplication to me and at first I thought it would be easy. I knew how to multiply the figure but I was still finding it hard to see how Ms Baker was getting to the final answer, even though she was sitting right there with me working through the problem.
I sunk into my chair thinking that I’d never play basketball for St Mary’s ever again.
WHEN JOSIE AND I were sitting at Uncle Noel’s kitchen table he asked, ‘Why do you want to beat the Titans so badly?’
We told Uncle Noel all about Tyson, the things he said about Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, how he teased me about failing my maths test, and how he was always giving us a hard time.
Uncle Noel listened carefully, sometimes sucking air through his teeth or screwing up his face when he heard about some of the things that Tyson had done.
When we had finished, he sighed and spoke. ‘Sometimes people do their best to make others feel miserable because that’s how they feel,’ he said. ‘If we beat the Titans, it might not make Tyson change his behaviour. The most important thing is that you enjoy playing and appreciate improvements when they happen.’
‘So how can we improve?’ I asked.
‘Well, it was incredible how much you improved from your first to your second game. How did that happen?’
Josie leaned forward and told him, ‘We practised for hours last Saturday and Sunday and we ran a set play.’
‘A set play?’ Uncle Noel asked, full of surprise.
‘Yeah, Benny noticed that the Spurs were running a set play in a game we watched, so we copied it. You didn’t notice?’
‘Come to think of it, yes. But I thought it was just you guys repeating something that had worked rather than a set play. You don’t usually start learning set plays until you’re much more experienced.’
‘But it wasn’t that hard,’ I said.
‘Yeah, we just ran through it about ten times in Patty’s lounge room, then practised it about ten times at the court.’
‘And how did you all know when to run the play in the game?’
‘When I got past the half-court line I held one finger up,’ I said.
Uncle Noel smiled. ‘That’s really clever.’
‘And it worked,’ Josie said.
‘Can we learn some more set plays, Uncle Noel?’ I asked.
‘We’ve only got one more training session before the next game,’ Uncle Noel said, ‘and we should be focusing on basics.’
‘The team is getting together tomorrow and Sunday, Uncle Noel. Can we at least try?’
Uncle Noel sat quietly for a moment. ‘Explain to me the set play you already know.’
Josie not only explained the set play, she drew a diagram of it on a scrap of paper.
‘Wait a minute,’ Uncle Noel said. He walked into another room and returned with two sheets of paper. ‘Two very simple set plays,’ he said. ‘I suggest you give copies of these to your teammates, practise them over the weekend, and we’ll see how you’re making them work at training. And remember, it’s important to feel relaxed about the basics of basketball before you start worrying too much about strategy.’
‘Excellent, thanks Uncle Noel,’ I said, then Josie and I raced home to send copies and instructions to all of the Shadows players.
BY THE TIME WE stepped onto the court to play the Titans we must have practised our set plays a hundred times. Uncle Noel said we’d perfected them.
Including our original set play, we now had three to choose from. My signals for them were one finger, two fingers or a fist in the air.
We all shook hands before the tip-off. The Titans were mostly friendly and familiar faces; Tiago and Manu grinned and wished me luck. But as I stood next to Tyson waiting for the referee to toss the ball up, he said, ‘You’re going down.’
Boris won the tip-off but Riley caught the ball. She waited for our players to make their way down to the basket and then passed me the ball.
Tyson pushed up on me straight away, but I kept my cool and waited for an opportunity.
I held my fist up in the air and Abdi ran around me to receive the ball. I screened Tyson. I was watching to see if Luke had started his move towards Abdi, when I felt a huge shove in the back.
The referee blew her whistle, Tyson was called for a foul and I had two shots from the free-throw line.
After I scored the first basket, Tyson spoke to me like I was a baby. ‘If you get the next one in, Patty, that’s two points.’
My next free throw didn’t go in but I said to Tyson, ‘At least that’s one more point than you’ve got, Tyson.’
The next moment, though, Tyson charged through our defence and made a layup as if his life depended on it. A few minutes later, the Titans had already scored ten points to our two.
Uncle Noel called a timeout. ‘You’re rushing your shots,’ he said. ‘I want you to forget about set plays and just think about passing. I want you to slow the game down and be patient. Wait for the right moment to drive to the basket or take a shot. Does everyone understand?’
We all took Uncle Noel’s instructions to heart. Whenever the Shadows had possession of the ball we stayed calm and focused – we didn’t rush to the basket but waited – and sure enough, openings began to appear to us. We passed the ball to whoever had the most space, and soon we began to score. By half-time the Titans were only four points ahead.
‘Why not?’ Bashir said, wiping the back of his neck with a towel.
‘Don’t overdo it, though,’ Uncle Noel told us. ‘If it doesn’t work, return to the natural flow of the game. If you keep running set plays the opposition and Coach Clarke will catch on.’
‘Got it,’ I said.
TYSON GAVE ME a death stare as I took my place by his side for the jump ball. Then we were tussling for best position. The referee looked at us and said, ‘Watch it, you two.’
I stepped away from Tyson but when the ball was tossed I could feel his hand on my ribs, pushing me aside.
Bashir won the ball. Benny had a clear run to the basket, so he dribbled down the court and looped it over to him. Benny scored.
A minute later, Abdi passed to me. I dribbled casually, looking up to see that everyone was getting into position. I held up two fingers to show my teammates that I wanted to try one of our plays, and when I was approaching the key and everyone’s eyes were focusing on me, we went into action. I was able to make an easy shot.
I could see the panic in Tyson’s eyes when we hit the lead.
Unfortunately, Uncle Noel was right when he said that Coach Clarke would notice if we attempted a play too many times. After the second time, Coach Clarke called a timeout. When we came back onto the court, the Titans’ defence was much stronger, with Manu and Tiago jumping into the spaces we wanted to move through.
When the final buzzer sounded, the Titans had it by four points. Tyson wasn’t smiling, and I knew he hadn’t expected it to be that close. I could tell he was scared of how good we might get by the end of the season.
THE SHADOWS got better and better with each game we played. When we lost, we stayed focused on the areas we had to improve on. We listened to Uncle Noel’s instructions and practised every free moment we had. Before we knew it, we were well into the season and we’d won several games in a row. We actually had a shot at making it to the finals.
Patty and The Shadows Page 3
