Whippersnapper
Page 12
George tells me what he wants and I nod.
While he’s talking I can hear faint music. It’s getting louder, but it’s not coming from the light – it’s coming from behind me. And I think its Dante’s Page …
I slowly open my eyes. I’m lying in a hospital bed. Again. I have tubes and an oxygen mask attached to me. And the final guitar solo of ‘Dust to Dust’ is playing in my ears. I raise my hand – my smooth, spotless, wrinkle-free hand to pull out the earphones. On the other end of the line is Anne and her iPod.
‘Gus? Oh my God!’ she cries. ‘I’ll go get your parents and the doctor!’
‘Hold on,’ I say, taking off my mask. ‘Slow down. Just wait here with me for a second. It wasn’t a dream. We did win, right?’
‘Yeah, you won.’ Annie nods. ‘You’re a hero at school, but we’ve all been really worried for you. Your parents and I got there just after it happened – they’re really angry. They can’t believe the school let you play.’
‘How’s, um, George – I mean Mr Cavendish?’ I ask.
Anne sighs. ‘Mr Cavendish had a heart attack,’ she says. ‘It was awful.’
‘But he’s okay now? He’s finally his old self again, right?’ I say, but I know that can’t be true. Part of me already knows what’s happened.
Anne’s face drops. ‘I’m sorry, Gus, but George died.’
CHAPTER
29
‘Gus!’ my mother calls out to me from downstairs. ‘It’s Bobby on the phone.’
‘Hey,’ I say, taking the call in my bedroom. ‘Did you get ’em?’
‘Tickets to the concert of the century? Done! It’s gonna be awesome!’ yells Bobby.
‘Dante’s Page – woo-hoo!’ I reply, but I’m already halfway out the door. ‘Gotta go!’ I race down the stairs and across the Goodall’s front lawn.
I look back at my house as I wait for Anne to answer. It’s good to be back home. Back with my friends, back with my mum and dad and Clara. I wonder if one day Bobby and Charlie and me will be just like George, Henry and Bernie. I hope so. For now, though, I’m pretty happy to be fourteen. Because that’s the funny thing about normal life. You never really appreciate it until things change.
‘This is so amazing!’ cries Annie, when I tell her about the tickets. Then she grabs me by the shoulders, leans forward and kisses me – on the lips. She looks a bit shocked, like she’s just realised what she’s done. ‘Oh, um, I’m so sorry! I didn’t mean to, um, that is, I’m just so excited …’
But I just grin, and before Annie can get out the next few words, I kiss her back. It’s like I’m floating a few centimetres off the ground. It’s the best thing ever. She’s the best thing ever.
Then we’re just standing there, staring at each other like a couple of goofballs.
‘So … um, do you want to walk Macy with me?’ she asks finally, reaching out to take my hand.
I nod.
As Macy tugs at her lead, Annie and I talk about anything and everything, until I realise we’re walking past George’s house. I didn’t mean to lead us here, but I know I’ve got unfinished business and I’ve got to deal with it sooner or later.
‘Hey, Annie, could you wait here, just for a sec?’ I ask her.
I make my way to the front door and ring the bell. I’m a bit worried that it will be weird seeing Doris again – I know so much about her and she doesn’t know me at all.
Oh crap – Corey answers the door.
At first he doesn’t even say anything, just stares at me. Then he looks over my shoulder and sees Annie and Macy standing on the street. ‘Tell her to keep that stupid dog away from me,’ he says.
I start to snap back at him, but something stops me. Corey and me, we’re never going to be friends, but I don’t think I want to go on arguing with him either. He’s been through a lot in the last few weeks. I kinda feel sorry for him – losing the final and losing George, all in one day. His dad is probably being a loser about both. ‘Is Doris … I mean, Mrs Cavendish in?’ I say. ‘I just wanted to say sorry about your grandfather.’
Corey pulls a face as if he’s deciding whether or not he’ll let me see Doris. It’s so dumb, so … juvenile. He really is a jerk. I don’t know how George put up with him, I think. Then I remember the way George greeted Corey on the court, and what Doris said about them, and that the last time Corey spoke to his granddad, it wasn’t his granddad at all – it was me. And I was really mean to him.
‘Um, look,’ I add quickly, before I change my mind. ‘You might not know it, but your grandfather was really proud of you. He might’ve loved Pennsbury, but he told me when I was on the bus…’ I bend the truth a little here. ‘That he thought you were an awesome basketball player.’
‘Really?’ Corey looks suspicious and then gives me a half smile. ‘Thanks,’ he mumbles. ‘I’ll get my grandmother for you.’
A second later Corey returns to the door.
‘Um, Gus? I’m sorry about your bike. I didn’t mean to cause an accident.’
I gulp and take in a deep breath. ‘That’s … okay,’ I tell him. ‘It’s okay.’
Corey leaves and Doris appears. ‘Ah, Gus,’ she says. ‘George’s basketball hero. Would you like to come in?’
‘I can’t, but thanks, Doris… I mean, Mrs Cavendish,’ I say. ‘I just wanted to say I’m sorry about George, and…’ I pause. ‘I can’t explain it, I’m not even going to try, but he wanted you to hear this one more time.’
My mind turns to what George asked me to do for him. I say:
‘Time will come, and time will go
In a fleeting blink,
It will never slow.
But even if life’s not
all that it seems,
There’s one thing I know –
You’re the girl of my dreams.’
I look up and see tears streaming down Doris’s cheeks.
‘Thank you,’ she says, stepping forward and kissing me on the top of my head. ‘Thank you.’
‘HEY, MACY! NO!’
I turn to see Macy breaking off her lead and chasing after a cat – with Annie running after her. I say goodbye to Doris and race after them.
I pick up the pace. My legs are strong. Light. Fluid. And free. I sprint as fast as I possibly can. I feel the breeze on my face. And I can’t stop smiling.
It’s good to be me.
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Felice Arena, Whippersnapper