by Debra Oswald
I heard Warren’s voice, talking fast and swearing, and at first I figured there must be someone else with him. There wasn’t. Warren was talking to himself, muttering low mostly but then suddenly loud, spewing out a spray of ugly words. He was looking for something, angry, slamming stuff around in the rooms as he searched. I hoped like hell he wouldn’t decide to look in Corey’s room.
I stayed on the bed, listening to Warren’s voice and the thumping noises. My heart thudded hard against my ribs, my guts churning over. I concentrated on not letting my breathing come out too loud. I imagined the times Corey must have sat on that bed, totally quiet the way Corey could be, listening to Warren move around the house.
When Warren stumbled into the kitchen, I thought I was stuffed. He was only a few steps away from where I was sitting. I heard the clank of plates being moved around and then the stink of old greasy food hit my nose. Even now, I connect that rank smell with Warren Beggs.
I held my breath, held myself totally still, but really it was only luck that I wasn’t sprung. Ropable because he couldn’t find what he was hunting for in the kitchen, Warren chucked one of the greasy plates onto the floor and smashed it. He loped off towards the front of the house and things went quiet. I waited, listening to that quiet for a long while. Warren was still in the house (I didn’t hear the door) but there was a good chance he’d passed out.
I smoothed out the cover on Corey’s bed where I’d been sitting so I left it as neat as he did. I had to go back through the house to get my board. Luckily, the shoes I was wearing had dead-quiet soles. I stepped around the shards of broken dinner plate on the kitchen floor and into the hallway.
I was packing it that, any second, Warren Beggs would lurch out into the hallway and belt me with one of the heavy car parts on the floor. I calculated how fast I could get to the front door if he went for me. Then I heard the sound of Warren’s raspy breathing in one of the bedrooms. He was totally zonked.
I grabbed my skateboard, eased the front door open gently and ran.
I gunned it back into town, skating as fast as I could the entire way, as if Warren Beggs was in pursuit, only a few metres behind, about to collar me and cut my throat. I pushed myself, terrified, the way you run away from some monster in a nightmare. It made no sense. Warren wasn’t chasing me. He had no clue I’d been there.
I turned the corner into my street and saw Corey arriving at my house from the other direction, waving g’day to me.
‘Where’ve you been?’ he yelled up the road to me.
To avoid answering that question, I changed the subject. ‘How come you got out of school today, you bludger?’
‘Went with Mum on the bus to Glen to get her arm looked at,’ he said.
‘Fair enough.’
When he got closer, Corey could see I was out of breath, sweating, eyes dark. ‘Far out, who’ve you been running away from?’ he said, laughing.
‘Oh, y’know … packs of girls, desperate to get their hands on my body,’ I said.
‘Oh right. Can’t blame them,’ he said.
‘They’re only human,’ I agreed.
‘Were you in town with JT and Travis and them?’
‘Nah, just mucking around by myself. Skated up to the sportsground.’
It was the only time I ever lied to Corey about anything. I hated lying to him.
‘You okay?’ he said, smiling but confused and looking at me hard.
Should I confess I’d been inside his house? Should I tell him to move in with us for good and never go back there? Or should I tell him to piss off out of Narragindi forever, away from Warren Beggs and all the nasty gossip and all the Matthews mess?
Before I had a chance to think it through, there was a surge of noise from inside my house. Happy noise. Amy came squealing out the front door.
‘We got it!’ yelled Amy to us. ‘We got the OzYouth grant! They rang Mum to say!’
With the grant, the donations and raffle, there was enough money to build a skatepark in Narra. Amy bounded onto the footpath and swung Corey around into a silly happy dance.
I saw the huge smile on Corey’s face and decided that I couldn’t ruin all that good feeling by talking about anything grim. Sometimes, now, I wonder if things would have turned out differently if I’d said something that afternoon. But it wasn’t as if I was going to tell Corey something he didn’t already know plenty about. I thought maybe I was being a panic merchant about Warren Beggs. Anyway I don’t honestly think there was any chance Corey would ever leave his mum. The point is, I’ll never know for sure.
That afternoon wasn’t the right time to worry about anything bad. Best thing was to forget about it and focus on the good stuff. This was a good day. A great day. Everyone was so stoked about the skatepark news, Friday night morphed into a party.
Chapter Eleven
Stella’s parents owned the Narragindi Pizzeria and for that Friday night, they invited everyone in for free pizza. All the kids and adults who worked on the skatepark campaign showed up, plus a lot of bludgers who never did anything to help. Bludgers like JT and Travis. Bludgers like Jycinta. Bludgers like me. But everyone was in such an excellent mood, no one minded.
Stella’s dad looked amazingly happy, considering he was sweating in front of the pizza oven for a couple of hours. He kept sliding out pizzas to be passed around and wolfed down. There were two rooms in the pizzeria and a courtyard out the back, swarming with people. Riley and Stella were weaving through the crowd, handing out cans of drink to anyone who wanted one. Stella’s grandma rigged the jukebox so you didn’t need coins to play the songs. The music on the jukebox was pretty lame but when people are feeling happy, any music sounds okay.
You should have heard some of the garbage that was flying around the room. A lot of people were raving on as if they’d been really into the campaign right from the start. ‘We’ did this and ‘we’ did that to fight for the skatepark.
‘We had to put a lot of pressure on the council,’ blabbed on Brett Mead. I knew for a fact that Brett did zero for the campaign and badmouthed everyone involved in it.
‘Yeah but the point is, mate,’ said JT, ‘the council promised they’d only give a corner of the park if we got the money and we got the money!’
Travis had a laugh about that. ‘Ray Stone and some of those maggot council blokes – they’ll be spewing about it. I bet they thought we’d never get the money.’
‘But we did! Sucked in!’ whooped JT.
That exact day, the raffle prizes had arrived, donated by the skateshop in Glenthorpe. It was as if everything had fallen into a perfect pattern. Mum and Amy set up a table to display all the prizes. There were skate T-shirts, caps and bags, all the best brands, and in the middle of the table was the first prize: top-of-the-range deck, trucks and wheels, shrink-wrapped together. I don’t know exactly what that skateboard set-up was worth but it would’ve been a few hundred bucks.
‘Far out … look at that,’ said Riley, practically drooling over it.
‘That is a great board,’ declared Mitchell (the Expert). ‘The perfect set-up.’
Mum jumped up onto a chair and let rip with a monster whistle. When the noise level hushed down enough, she said, ‘I guess right now might be a good time to draw the raffle.’
Amy held up an ice bucket with all the ticket stubs in it.
‘Drum roll, please!’ Mum shouted. She made a big performance of fishing for each ticket, posing and smiling and gasping like a TV quiz-show hostess. Normally, I would have found it excruciatingly embarrassing to see Mum carry on like that. But I figured she deserved to carry on however she wanted that night.
Each prize was drawn out until only the first-prize skateboard was left on the table. Mum fished around in the ice bucket and drew out the final winning ticket.
‘Lucky winner is: E24! Who’s got E24?’
Everyone scrambled to check their tickets one last time. You could hear the groans of disappointment sweep around the pizzeria but there was no whoop of
delight from the winner this time.
‘Maybe the winner isn’t here tonight.’ Mum peered at the ticket stub to decipher the name. ‘I can’t read the handwriting on here.’
‘Wanna bet some old geezer from the bowling club won the board?’ said JT.
Then I looked sideways and noticed Mitchell standing beside me, frozen, holding a raffle ticket tightly in his fingers. I shifted his thumb sideways to read the number.
‘E24!’ yelled Riley. ‘He’s got it!’
‘Aha!’ said JT. ‘Mitchie, isn’t this the exact set-up you’ve been waiting to get?’ JT swirled his hands over the prize as if he was on the same cheesy game show as Mum.
‘So now you can skate!’ said Riley, excited.
‘That’s why Mitchell’s scared rigid,’ Travis pointed out.
Amy handed Mitchell the prize gear. He retreated to a chair in the corner, cradling the board like a bomb, staring at nothing, with his mouth hanging slightly open like a stunned mullet.
After the raffle draw, it started to feel a bit cramped inside the pizzeria. I grabbed another slice of pizza and headed out to the courtyard. There were a couple of those outdoor heaters and people were sitting at the tables underneath them. Down the back of the courtyard, it was darker and too cold for most people. I found myself a quiet spot there to sit and think.
I guess it’s true to say I felt weird that night. Of course I was happy about the skatepark and glad for Mum, Amy and Corey. But I also felt like a prawn for not helping and a bit of an idiot for – no, the main feeling by far was happiness that the campaign had worked this time.
I’d been out there a while when Corey found me. ‘Hiding out here, are ya?’
‘You were right and I was wrong,’ I said, wanting to say it straight off.
‘Hey, it was your skatepark plan in the first place,’ Corey pointed out, being nicer to me than I deserved.
‘Anyway,’ I shrugged. ‘Congratulations, mate.’
‘Thanks.’
‘No. Really,’ I said insistently.
‘Thanks. Really,’ said Corey with a grin.
I gave him a shove and he let himself flop sideways as if he had no bones inside his body.
Then Corey sat up and peered around the dark courtyard. ‘Did you see if Lauren came out here?’
I snorted. Lauren Saxelby. I was sick of that girl.
‘Why do you hate her so much?’
‘I don’t hate her.’ Which was true. I didn’t hate her.
‘I think she’s an excellent person,’ he said firmly. ‘Do you reckon she’s –’
‘Up herself? Yep.’
‘No,’ he went on. ‘Do you reckon she ever thinks –’
‘Thinks she’s better than the rest of us? Yep.’
Corey groaned. He was sick of me being a smart-arse.
‘Sorry, sorry,’ I said.
‘I like her.’
‘Yeah, I know,’ I said with a goofy smile.
‘No. I mean, like, really,’ he insisted.
‘I know. Really.’
We both laughed. I could see why Corey would have a crush on Lauren. She was very smart, pretty, interesting to talk to, with a decent sense of humour considering who she was.
‘D’you reckon she’d ever … I mean …’ Corey mumbled.
‘Oh mate, be careful, you know. A girl like that? Who knows. I’d hate to see you get mangled.’
‘Yeah, like why would she be interested in me? As if.’
‘For one thing you’re shockin’ ugly,’ I pointed out.
Corey nodded. ‘Bit scrawny.’
‘Plus there’s the smell.’
‘Thanks for setting me straight on me being a repulsive dog, mate,’ said Corey.
‘You’re welcome, mate.’
We sat in silence for a couple of minutes. I knew he was thinking about Lauren but I didn’t know what else I could say about that subject. I wasn’t exactly an expert with girls myself. I did wonder what Lauren would think if she copped an eyeful of Corey’s family drama. Then again, why should that stuff get in the way of Corey being a regular guy? Why shouldn’t he have a crush on Lauren Saxelby like any normal guy?
The sound of the music from inside surged for a moment as the back doors opened. Inside, the jukebox was blasting out some particularly horrible song at full volume.
‘Hi!’ Corey called out when he saw it was Lauren who’d opened the doors to come outside. ‘Over here!’
She squinted to locate us in the dark corner of the courtyard, then came over to perch on the brick wall next to Corey.
‘I had to get away from that tragic song,’ she explained.
‘Yeah, much safer out here.’ Corey’s voice was strained; he couldn’t hide how pleased and nervous he was.
I felt like a prawn sitting there next to the two of them but if I rushed away that would look rude and weird. So I was stuck. Beside me, I heard Corey take a big breath, determined to be brave with Lauren.
‘You know, there’s one bad thing about us getting the skatepark,’ he said.
‘What could be bad?’ asked Lauren. I was wondering the same thing myself.
‘Well, now the campaign’s finished, I won’t get to see you.’ Oh, now I got it. This was Corey trying a smooth line with Lauren.
‘We go to the same school, deadhead,’ she reminded him. She was laughing, so it looked like his smooth line was working. ‘Anyway, you can’t avoid seeing people in a town as small as Narra.’
‘Won’t be the same as when we were working on that stuff. That was good.’ Corey looked straight at her.
‘It was good,’ agreed Lauren and looked back at Corey with a nervous, shy smile. I’d never seen Lauren Saxelby look nervous or shy about anything.
‘Oh, you’re shivering,’ said Corey.
Lauren wrapped her arms around herself. ‘It’s pretty cold out here.’
‘Let’s go inside,’ Corey suggested quickly. ‘I mean, if you want to.’
‘Yeah. That’s a good idea,’ she said. ‘Let’s find somewhere quiet in there.’
‘Zac, you coming in or –’
‘Nah, I’ll stay out here for a while. I’m sweet,’ I said.
Lauren and Corey headed inside. Corey turned and gave me a little wave, wincing to show how nervous he was. They disappeared into the bright, crowded restaurant, leaving me outside hoping that my best mate wasn’t about to get his heart broken.
The doors thwacked open again and Mitchell hurried out, clutching the prize skateboard with one hand and shovelling pizza in his mouth with the other hand. Mitchell was in a hurry to escape Stella.
‘Just try a few basic skateboard moves with your new board,’ she was saying. ‘Out here on the flat.’
Mitchell’s mouth was too stuffed with pizza to speak but he shook his head firmly.
‘Just have a little go,’ Stella coaxed. ‘There’s no one out there to see you.’
Mitchell pointed at me sitting on the brick wall up the back.
‘I don’t count,’ I said.
‘He doesn’t count,’ agreed Stella. ‘Use my board and try a basic ollie. I learned right here in this courtyard.’
‘I can do an ollie,’ Mitchell fibbed. ‘I told you.’
‘Mitchell, you don’t have to talk crap. It’s just me out here.’
‘And me,’ I reminded her.
‘And Zac,’ agreed Stella. ‘It’s okay to admit you don’t know how.’
‘Are you people deaf?’ snapped Mitchell, really mad now. ‘Leave me alone.’
Mitchell clutched the skateboard package to his chest like a shield and escaped up the side pathway. Stella chased after him.
‘Come on, Mitchell,’ I heard her saying. ‘Don’t be such a girl.’
My bum was going numb from the cold brick wall I was sitting on, so I moved up under the outdoor heaters. Amy, Riley and some of the younger kids had started using the pizzeria as a skatepark. They skated along the street in front, down the side path, looping round the courtyard a
nd back out to the street.
To get out of the way of the skaters, I moved right back to the restaurant doors. From there, I could see Jycinta and Marissa huddled together near the toilets. Jycinta was in front of a mirror, fussing with her hair and the buttons on her top to make herself look as gorgeous as possible.
Matt Daly was standing just round the corner talking to some other guys. Jycinta decided that this was the night to make her big play for Matt and she went into full-on mating behaviour.
I watched Jycinta slide along the wall and pose herself near Matt.
‘You better move away from me, Marissa,’ she said. ‘Matt’s not gonna come over and crack onto me with you standing next to me.’
Marissa obediently took a few steps away from Jycinta.
‘Further,’ insisted Jycinta, shooing Marissa away with her hands. ‘Further.’
Marissa moved right outside then to where I was sitting under the big heaters. I smiled hello, feeling sorry for her. Jycinta was always bossing her around, making her feel bad.
Marissa scuffed around on the back porch area, bored. She started watching Riley and the other younger kids skating around the courtyard in a big loop.
‘That looks fun,’ Marissa said as Riley whooshed past her.
‘Have a go on my board if you like,’ Riley offered. ‘Get the feel of it.’
Marissa squirmed: she couldn’t do that. But Riley kept smiling and rolled the skateboard towards her. Eventually Marissa made a little squealing noise and placed one foot tentatively on the board.
‘Put your feet sideways. Yeah, that’s right,’ said Riley.
Marissa giggled like a little kid as Riley gave her a basic lesson in skateboarding.
Jycinta hadn’t noticed what Marissa was up to; she was too busy flirting like anything with Matt. She slid her back along the wall even closer to him, posing and laughing loudly as if everything Matt said was drop-dead hilarious.