The Journal of Paul O'Leary: From the City to the Outback
Page 11
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Tennis is great as I had a doubles game with three guys who have been learning with me from last year. My serve wasn’t perfect and my coach pulled me off the court to have a few practice hits with me. Then I returned on court and I had improved. Marvellous!
“Come on Paul, hit the ball as hard as you can but in the square,” he yelled.
It was hard to do both but I did it.
“More practice for you, Paul, on the serve. You’re stronger on your strokes and I guess the new racquet helps.”
“I have a practice tennis kit, too, so I’ve been busy practising all the holidays, as well as watching the tennis.”
“You’ve heard them say on the television, ‘not enough match practice’, especially when they’re talking about the Williams sisters. You can’t beat playing on a court to work out how hard to hit the ball and on what angle. Show me a slice, please Paul.”
I tried and tried but I didn’t quite have the knack.
“You’ve watched the pros. They whack that ball so hard and it sails in. They often use topspin as well. You’ll be learning that all year. Are you staying all year?” he asked.
“I expect so. Mum has a good job and she hopes the government doesn’t make any more cutbacks. Dad won’t mind as he can get back to his printers and binder for his school textbooks.”
“Okay Paul, go and play and concentrate on your strokes.”
That night I was the champion of the Australian Open. I held aloft the trophy. Boy, it was heavy. I nearly dropped it. I held it to my chest and walked all around the arena. I had a smile on my face a mile wide. All that effort, all that training, and all those cakes I had to refuse, though I did sneak one or two. It was all worth it. I’m a mean, killing machine and I’ve killed off all the competitors. Bang, bang.
20 Return to Melbourne.
We’re going back to Melbourne, for good. And probably not before the second term of this year as we have to have our house empty. Our tenants in Melbourne won’t be happy because we told them we’d be gone for at least 2 -3 years. It will be so cold in Melbourne after living in the tropics.
Mum’s job has been made redundant as she was one of the last social workers to be offered work. This will mean the other workers will have to take her clients on board. She is very sad but is already looking for work in Melbourne.
I hope I get my helicopter ride before we leave.
What were we to leave behind? So much stuff we had accumulated. We decided on a garage sale and placed notices on the community notice board in Roebuck Estate Store and at Coles in Chinatown. We’d bought a few things in answer to someone else’s ad plus we had Dad’s desk, his new chair and printer. There was also a queen size bed so if that went first then we’d be back to sleeping as we had in the beginning when we arrived, Mum and Dad on my double bed and me on the foam bed. This bed also had to go and Lassie’s bedding, too.
I’m glad I had my Kindle and didn’t have to worry about lugging books around. We had eight cases between us, two laptops and three carry-on bags. I couldn’t see how our clothes would fit with Mum’s heap of paper and containers to do with her voluntary work. We had to find a way so we could fit it all into our luggage or have it transported.
I think boxing up all the papers and overflow from our clothes, linen and towels was the way to go.
“How are you going to pack all your papers and containers, Mum?”
“We’ll see what we can sell, Paul. We may have to leave a few things behind, like the desk. Other things like the printer could fit in a box and we’ll have it transported back to Melbourne. Don’t you worry. It will all work out fine.”
But I couldn’t stop worrying. I had been really happy here in Broome, wearing shorts and sandals most of the time, except when it got down to 10 degrees Celsius. I’d been on lots of trips with Dad as well as Mum and knew a lot more about the place. The sunsets were spectacular and being near the water was even better. Lassie loved to frolic in the waves on the shoreline and run to her heart’s content as the evening cooled and I played on my skim board.
I’d met some bonza kids at school though it was like school anywhere. I’d missed Johnny a bit and would soon be seeing him again. I hoped he hadn’t found another best mate.
Next year I would’ve gone to high school here as Broome High School was starting in Year 7 for the first time. We’d driven past it a few times on our way to the Boulevard Shopping Centre and once we went into the grounds to have our car washed as the kids were fundraising for a trip to Perth.
I could continue my tennis lessons and the Scouts in Melbourne though the activities may vary. I looked up on the Internet and there are two Scout troops nearby in Glenroy.
My Year 6 teacher gave me more work on algebra and geometry but I just can’t get my head around it. The other maths is fine and I don’t see the need for this extra stuff. When I was in Year 3 we would spend every morning on our times tables so I knew them really well. The problem sums can be a little tricky but if I write out the sum, then I get it.