by Scott Monk
‘What do you mean, the club’s not going to sign him?’ Knuckles demanded.
‘After that display today, I doubt any club would be interested in him. That’s some of the dirtiest playing I’ve ever seen.’
‘You’re joking, right? That was just boys being boys.’
‘Is that what you call stomping on faces, breaking an arm and knee-capping players?’
‘Oh c’mon! We used to do that all the time in our day, Terry. League’s all about a bit of biff.’
‘Not these days. It’s all about public relations, pay-TV, ratings, money, sponsors and lawsuits. Your kind of football doesn’t exist any more.’
‘But he’s the best there is. You know that.’
‘Sorry, but he’s a liability. I don’t like dirty players. And neither do the fans. I’ll be recommending to the club that we look elsewhere.’
‘You can’t do that! I captained Australia, remember? And I virtually ran that club once. I’ve got friends everywhere.’
‘Then you go and talk to them. My guess is they’ll have nothing to do with you when they find out that you planted ecstasy on that Cassidy kid.’
Knuckles’ face turned white. ‘How’d you know about that?’ he hissed.
‘Dad? What does he mean?’
‘Hasn’t he told you?’ the scout said. ‘Your father paid a kid seventy-five dollars to put drugs in Matthew Cassidy’s school locker then tip off the teachers. The news was leaked to the club and we black-banned Cassidy from our list of hopefuls. Except someone overheard your father on the phone discussing the drugs and made an anonymous phone call to us. We’ve been making our own investigations since.’
‘Who told you?’ Knuckles said.
Matt looked at Kelly standing under the tree.
The scout shook his head and pulled on his cap, ready to leave. ‘That’s none of your business. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’ve got to go.’
The talent scout stormed away to his car, leaving Aaron in shock and Knuckles seething.
‘What good are you to me now?’ Knuckles said. ‘This is all your fault, you know?’ He slapped Aaron hard on the side of the head then chased after the talent scout, yelling at him that no one crossed him like that.
Dumbstruck, Aaron stood in the rain clutching his head. ‘No!’ he shouted. He picked up a garbage bin and hurled it at the back wall of the grandstand. It spewed rubbish everywhere before falling to the ground and rocking to a stop. Then he stomped on the bin until it was completely out of shape.
Doubled over, trying to catch his breath, he saw Kelly waiting under the tree. ‘What are you staring at? Get over here!’
‘We better go,’ Matt’s mum whispered to him.
‘No. Give it a sec.’
Holding a green canvas raincoat over her head, Kelly walked over to her boyfriend as he cursed and swore. ‘It’s all your fault, you know that! You shouldn’t have come and tried to see me before the game. You interrupted my concentration. Between you and my father, I haven’t got a hope of being selected!’
‘Aaron, it’s over.’
‘You’ve ruined my entire life, you hear that? Because of you, I won’t be playing football next year. I’m so sick of …’ Then, realising Kelly had said something, he asked, ‘What did you say?’
‘It’s over.’
‘What’s over?’
‘Us.’
He flinched. ‘What?’
‘Our relationship—I’m ending it.’
‘What?’
‘I don’t love you, Aaron. I’m leaving.’
‘Leaving? You can’t do that.’
‘Yes I can. And yes, I am.’
‘Don’t be stupid.’
‘I’m not. I’m being smart for once.’
‘No. I won’t let you.’
‘It’s not your decision. It’s mine. And I’ve made it.’
She turned around and started walking, but Blackwell reached out and yanked her back.
‘You’re not going anywhere, you understand? No whore of mine tells me we’re finished. I’m the one in control here.’
‘Don’t call me that.’
‘I’ll call you anything I like,’ he said, shaking her.
‘Stop hurting me!’
‘I’ll hurt you a whole lot more if you think you can ditch me. No chick’s going to spoil my big day. That talent scout’s already done enough damage. I need to celebrate, and it might as well be back at my place with you.’
Hungrily, he lunged at her neck with forceful kisses and worked at her top. Matt wanted to rush over and knock Aaron out, but his mum restrained him as she watched Kelly fight back.
Kelly slammed the side of her hand into Blackwell’s Adam’s apple, making him choke. Freeing herself, she stepped backwards and warned him to stay away from her. He didn’t, of course. His eyes full of hate, he rubbed his neck and made a clumsy pass at her. Kelly dodged him and pulled a mobile phone from under her raincoat.
‘Touch me and I call the cops!’
‘You won’t call them. You’re too gutless.’
‘Want to find out?’ she asked, beeping out the emergency number on the phone.
He made a sudden move but she proved she wasn’t bluffing by placing a finger over the send button. Blackwell stopped. Then laughed nervously. ‘Okay, you want to be like that? Fine. I’ll play your game for now. You’ll come running back to me tomorrow, begging me to forgive you. You just wait.’
‘No I won’t. I’ve made up my mind. I don’t need you any more.’
‘Yeah, right. You haven’t got the brains to look after yourself. You don’t even have any friends.’
‘I do so.’
‘Like who?’
‘Like me,’ Matt spoke up.
‘Cassidy! What are you doing here?’
‘Making sure my friend gets home safely.’
‘What’s that supposed to mean?’
‘It means it’s time for you to leave her alone.’
‘Kelly, tell this feral to get lost. This is between you and me.’
‘No,’ she said. ‘He’s offered to walk me home. And that’s where we’re going.’
Blackwell’s eyes narrowed as he watched Kelly walk over to Matt, his mum still watching from the entrance. Then, reading more into it than he should, Blackwell said, ‘Wait a minute. It’s you, isn’t it? You’ve been putting these ideas into her head, haven’t you?’
‘I only told her the truth.’
Blackwell jabbed a finger in front of Matt’s chin. ‘Lies more like it. What’s in this for you anyway, huh? You trying to steal my girlfriend?’
‘No.’
‘That’s it, isn’t it? You’re trying to steal Kelly away from me.’
‘I—’
‘You can’t beat me on the field, so you try to take my woman?’
Blackwell clenched his fists, ready for a fight but Kelly threatened to phone the cops again.
‘Get out of here! Don’t you understand? I don’t love you, Aaron. You disgust me.’
‘But you’re my girlfriend!’
‘No, I’m not. I never have been. You don’t own me. I finally have my life back and as long as I live you’re never going to be part of it again.’
The outburst shook Blackwell. She was serious. He huffed at her audacity. No one ditched him. He was Aaron Blackwell. The Number One Man.
‘You’re nothing without me,’ he snarled.
‘I’ll manage,’ Kelly retorted.
He snorted then licked rain from the side of his mouth. ‘This isn’t finished. Not in the slightest. I’m coming for you, Cassidy. And you,’ he threatened Kelly. ‘You can’t hide from me all your life, you know.’
‘I’m not hiding,’ Kelly said. ‘I’m finally standing up to you.’
Blackwell tried to think of a comeback but didn’t have one. Instead, he left to find his father.
Kelly breathed out. The relief on her face was clear. Matt placed a steadying hand on her shoulder and squeezed. She gave him a pa
ined but victorious smile.
‘How does it feel to find your voice again?’ his mum asked, coming up behind them.
‘Powerful.’
A live band began rocking in the double garage as Matt arrived at the party. Footy players, teachers, friends, parents and girlfriends ate, drank and laughed as they mingled inside the kitchen or under the backyard pergola. A banner proclaiming Better luck next time sagged above the barbecue sizzling with sausages, chops, hamburger patties, onion rings and the odd splatter of rain.
Pulling his cap down, Matt hid in the corner of the garage as he watched the band thrash out one of their own songs. He’d make his appearance, stay for a couple of minutes, then head for home. Surely his mum needed help with the packing.
He saw a flash of short dark hair sneaking out the back of the garage and followed it. Kelly! But when he caught up with her, he realised it was only Grover’s sister.
‘Matty! ’Bout time you showed up.’
Chris walked over to him and offered him one of his snags on bread.
‘How’s it going?’ Matt mumbled.
‘Great! The party’s going off. The neighbours have complained twice, Hazem is over there tonguing some chick and best of all, I think Anna Hughes likes me. She’s been eyeing me all night.’
Matt nodded and Chris gave him a querying look. ‘What, no witty one-liner?’
Matt put his half-eaten sausage sandwich down and said he had better go.
‘Why? You just got here.’
‘I feel uncomfortable, that’s all.’
‘Uncomfortable? You? Why?’
Sighing, Matt shrugged his shoulders then slipped his hands in his jeans pockets. ‘I feel bad for losing us the match today. I let everyone down.’
‘No you didn’t. The Lions cheated and won. End of story.’
‘Yeah, but I should have kicked that last goal.’
‘Rubbish. If anyone’s to blame, it’s me. I should’ve kicked that last goal. But I couldn’t sitting on the bench, could I?’
‘No, but—’
‘Don’t dwell on it, man. The rest of us are trying not to. It’s over. We can’t change it.’
‘But we came so close, Chris.’
‘Okay, Princes won. So what? It’s just another trophy to them. It’ll sit in a glass cabinet and be forgotten. But look around you. Everyone’s laughing, aren’t they? You know why? Because we got something better. We got a bunch of new mates.’
Matt glanced around at all the guests, talking away or stacking up their paper plates with food. At the start of the year he didn’t know any of those guys. Now they were all firm friends.
‘Am I right?’ the Sundance Kid asked. ‘Yeah, that’s what I thought. So stop feeling sorry for yourself and have some fun, okay? It’s a party.’
Hamburgers, coleslaw and Pepsi filled Matt’s gut as he joined his friends and joked about. No one had a go at him for missing the final kick. In fact, everyone slapped him on the back and thanked him for getting the team to the finals.
The hot topic of conversation wasn’t about their loss, however. It was about Blackwell and his run-in with the talent scout. Everyone crowded around Matt as he told the story, amazed at the revelations. The news fired up their spirits to the point where they were laughing at Aaron’s misfortune. Grover was about to ask Matt about his own prospects when Rhino hobbled into the backyard on his crutches.
‘Trouble,’ he grunted.
The party flooded onto the front lawn, just in time to see balloons full of purple and yellow paint bomb their parents’ cars. Goons in a sleek black Mazda shouted, ‘We’re number one!’ before speeding away.
‘That’s my car!’ one mother cried.
‘Princes!’ Hazem spat.
‘They just couldn’t resist, could they?’ Matt said.
‘What are we going to do about it?’ Grover asked.
‘Get them back,’ Chris said.
Matt squished into a souped-up Ford that belonged to Rhino’s two older brothers. Before their parents could stop them doing anything stupid, they floored it out of there.
With windscreen wipers flicking side-to-side to scrape away the paint, the four-car convoy raced up the main driveway of Princes Boys College. In the distance they could see guys in suits and girls in expensive dresses flitting outside over the pebble and grass courtyard or kissing away from the eyes of teachers. The sound of roaring cars caused them to look up. They stood stunned, as the rain-speckled headlights bore down on them.
The cars screeched to a stop outside a giant sandstone building, scattering pebbles and students everywhere. The guys slammed their doors behind them and stormed the party inside.
‘Paint bomb our cars, will you!’
Hands grabbed shirts, threats were made and guys rushed from the ballroom to defend their mates. Shouting turned into shoving and before long it was on. One of the Lions players accidentally slipped onto the ground in his shiny suit and shoes. The Lions thought he’d been hit and threw the first punches. Caught in the middle of it, Matt tried stopping the fight without success. He ducked one swinging arm then another before seeking shelter by the right staircase.
‘Matt?’
He turned around and looked up. Wrapped in a long black dress with a split to the thigh, Kelly was looking down at him with concern. Her hair was perfect. Her make-up highlighted her beauty even more. And her naked shoulders and arms stirred all-too-familiar yearnings within him. He wanted to grab her right there and kiss her. He didn’t care who saw them.
‘What’s going on?’ she asked.
He met her halfway. ‘Princes paint-bombed our cars.’
‘And that’s an excuse to start a fight?’
‘I tried settling them down but they wouldn’t listen. They’re too angry.’
Fists smacked flesh and the first casualties hit the ground. The Mongrels were outnumbered but they were holding their own. Teachers rushed from the ballroom as the fight intensified.
The squealing of tyres distracted Kelly, and she looked out the window. She moved closer to it then clomped down the stairs and towards the main doors.
‘What’s wrong?’ Matt asked.
‘It’s Aaron.’
They rushed outside and stopped on a slope overlooking the oval. In the middle of it, a blue Porsche was burning muddy doughnuts and the driver yahooing with delight. Soon, the car was bogged, and after a couple more revs, the engine was killed. Blackwell stepped outside, slammed the door then swore madly. He trudged to the boot, but lost his footing and fell onto the wet ground. It only made him angrier.
‘He’s drunk,’ Kelly stated.
‘Knuckles is going to kill him.’
The fight spilled out into the car park and distracted Matt and Kelly. They watched as two guys hit each other then wrestled to the ground. Inside, a couple of security guards were flinging Lions and Mongrels aside, trying to grab the main combatants.
Strange, Matt thought. What was that smell?
A large flash of orange lit up the darkness. They turned back to see the Porsche fully alight and Blackwell stepping back from it, holding a can of petrol. ‘That’s for you, dad. Try and run my life, will you?’ he shouted, before laughing. Glass cracked and tyres popped as the flames consumed its entire length.
‘He’s crazy!’ Matt said.
‘We’ve got to help him.’
An explosion of glass forced them back. Waves of heat buffeted them as they covered their faces. When they looked again, Blackwell was lying on the ground, unmoving.
‘Aaron!’
Matt tried grabbing Kelly, but she pushed past him and rushed to Blackwell’s side. She knelt in the mud beside him to check if he was okay. Bending down, she fussed over him until he grabbed her face with dirty hands and stole a kiss. Disgusted, she shoved him onto the ground as he laughed.
‘Don’t go, Kel. There’s more where that came from.’
He stood up just as a small crowd milled outside the main building. They were pointing at the b
urning car, wondering what had happened.
‘Let’s get out of here,’ Kelly said to Matt, turning to leave.
‘Stay,’ Blackwell said, grabbing her. ‘I want to talk to you.’
‘No, we’ve done enough talking. We’re through.’
‘But this is our party, Kelly. I said I’d win the grand final for you.’
‘I don’t care anymore. I’m not your girlfriend.’
‘But you were kidding, right? We were having a tiff, that’s all. We can kiss and make up.’
‘No we can’t. I meant what I said. We’re finished.’
‘I don’t believe you. C’mon, give me another kiss. Make me feel better.’ He puckered up and swayed forward. Matt pulled Kelly out of the way.
‘You’re drunk,’ Matt said. ‘Go home.’
‘Who are you to tell me what to do?’ Blackwell said.
‘Listen to what he’s saying, Aaron,’ Kelly said. ‘Go home and we’ll talk about this tomorrow.’
‘I can’t. I’m kind of without a ride home all of a sudden.’
He turned round and laughed at the burning Porsche. Teachers were yelling at students to grab fire extinguishers.
‘Aaron, call your dad. You need help,’ Kelly said.
His spun back to her. ‘My father? Why would I ever want to talk to him again? He’s ruled my life for too long. He’s pushed me and pushed me and pushed me. For what? For him to ruin my career by paying some kid to plant drugs on Wonder Boy here.’
‘Aaron, please, ring your dad,’ Kelly repeated.
‘Only if you tell me you love me.’
‘No, because I’d be lying.’
‘I don’t believe you. You’re saying all this to impress your new lover, aren’t you?’
‘No!’ Kelly and Matt snapped together.
‘And don’t call him that,’ she added. ‘We’re just friends.’
‘You’re so naive. Ain’t that right, Wonder Boy?’
‘Just go home, would you?’ Matt answered. ‘Haven’t you caused her enough grief already?’
‘First you take all the glory, then you take my girl. You’re a sly one behind all that niceness, Cassidy, you know that?’
