by Felice Arena
Just as Specky picked up the phone to dial Robbo’s number, it rang.
‘Hello?’ answered Specky.
‘Welcome back!’
It was Christina.
‘Hi!’ Specky’s voice cracked.
‘I got your email. But your mobile’s been switched off all day.’
‘Yeah, Alice told me you tried calling. I have to recharge it. So, where are you calling from? I can hear heaps of people in the background,’ said Specky.
‘We’re at the airport. We’re going to Queens-land for the holidays. Dad surprised me and Mum last night. Said we all need a good break in the sunshine. So, I won’t be able to see you – which totally sucks!’
‘Yeah, it does,’ said Specky, trying not to sound too disappointed. ‘But that’s really nice of your dad. Well, I s’pose we’ll see each other when I come back for a weekend in the middle of next term.’
‘Definitely! You should try to come for a few weekends in a row. I wish I could see you now, though.’
There was a knock at the door and the Great McCarthy stuck his head into Specky’s bedroom to tell him that dinner was nearly ready and that his parents wanted to tell them something.
‘Speck? I said, I wish I could see you now,’ Christina repeated.
‘Sorry, Dieter’s here and he said something to me,’ replied Specky.
‘That’s okay. I just wish there was some way we could’ve seen each other before I left.’
‘Yeah, me too.’ Specky coughed, trying to ignore the Great McCarthy who was making silly kissing noises and pulling faces at him.
And he’s in Year 12! thought Specky, shaking his head.
‘And, Speck, I’ve been wanting to say this for ages and I’m not sure if this is the right time or place, but all this time away from you has made me realise how much I really, really miss you. And how much you mean to me,’ she continued. ‘Do you miss me?’
Specky’s face turned bright red – he was caught off guard. He wanted to respond to Christina, but the Great McCarthy was standing right beside him.
‘Speck? Are you still there?’
‘Yeah, I’m here. I do – to what you just said. Look, I can’t talk now, but I’ll call you on your mobile as soon as I can. Have a great trip.’
Specky hung up the phone, and lightly punched the Great McCarthy – pushing him out of the room – and slammed the door.
A moment later, Robbo called, and then Danny.
Eventually, Specky joined his family at the dinner table.
‘Why the long face?’ asked Mrs Magee, as Specky pulled up a chair. ‘I kept your bedroom just as you left it – looking like a bomb hit it.’
‘Nah, it’s not that,’ mumbled Specky. ‘Everyone’s gone on holidays. Christina’s going to Queensland, Danny’s gone to stay with his cousins up in the country, and Robbo and his family are heading to Sydney for the week. I won’t see Christina at all and I won’t see the guys until next week.’
‘Well, at least you got to chat to them,’ said Mrs Magee, passing the gravy to Alice. ‘Now, your dad and I have something to tell you all –’
RING ! RING !
‘That phone again! It’s like Flinders Street Station here,’ complained Mr Magee, getting out of his chair.
‘What did you want to tell us, Mum?’ asked Specky.
‘It’s okay, I’ll wait till your father gets back.’
‘So, spill the beans, Speck!’ said Alice, jumping right in. ‘Tell us everything about Gosmore.’
‘It’s a great school,’ replied Specky, hoping his sister wouldn’t bring up the initiation question again. ‘What do you want to know?’
‘Have you started footy training yet?’ asked Dieter.
‘Yeah, it’s pretty full on. And this is a pretty big year for my team,’ exclaimed Specky.
‘Why?’ asked the Great McCarthy.
Specky excitedly told everyone about the Boots of Glory match.
‘That seems like a lot of pressure to place on you boys,’ remarked Mrs Magee, not as impressed by the traditional football showdown as Dieter was.
‘That was Cedric Cockatoo,’ said Mr Magee, returning to the table. ‘He and young Johnny are moving to Melbourne. I told him I’d help them find a place around here, since you and Johnny are such great mates.’
‘Wow,’ cried Specky, turning to his mum. ‘That’s awesome news. Why didn’t you tell me straight away?’
Mrs Magee laughed. ‘It is good news, but it’s not the news we’ve been trying to tell you; your father and I have an announcement to make.’
Specky and Alice gave each other a confused look. ‘What’s going on?’ Specky couldn’t help noticing his father appeared a bit nervous.
‘I’m just going to say this straight out,’ he replied. ‘We’ll soon be expecting another family member to arrive.’
‘What? Is Granddad coming over to visit from Perth?’ asked Specky.
‘No way!’ Alice squealed, horrified. She had suddenly realised what her father was trying to say.
‘What?’ asked Specky, still not making the connection.
‘We’re having another baby,’ said Mr Magee, smiling.
‘How? You guys are ancient,’ scoffed Alice.
‘Excuse me, young lady!’ scolded Specky’s mum.
‘Really? Mum’s pregnant?’ Specky said, taken aback. ‘But that means, you guys have been…’
‘Exactly! Gross!’ winced Alice.
11. torn
It took several days for the news about the baby to sink in. But in the end, everyone was pretty excited.
For now, Specky was just happy to have time off from Gosmore. In fact, in the first week of the holidays he liked his own company more than he thought he would. His days were filled with playing PlayStation, watching TV (mostly AFL footy matches and his favourite footy show, Sensational Stuff ), going for daily runs and kicking goals at his old school oval.
Specky and his Gosmore team-mates had been given a training schedule to stick to while they were on holidays. Coach Farrell had designed it so that they would not lose any of the fitness or skills that they had developed in the early part of pre-season training. Sticking to the schedule required great mental discipline from Specky. He was finding that without set training times, and people training with him, it was very tempting to just miss a session here and there.
But Specky got himself into a routine. He was up at 7.30 every morning to complete the running side of the training. The five-lap warm up that had been so tough for him back at his first training session was always in the back of his mind, and was his motivation for getting out of bed each morning, when he really felt like sleeping in.
By the time the second week of the break rolled around, Specky was really looking forward to having his new Gosmore mates stay over and catching up with his old Booyong High friends.
‘Come in,’ said Specky, greeting Whispers, Worm and Sticks at the door on Tuesday afternoon.
‘Tim not here yet?’ asked Sticks.
‘Nah, he’s not coming,’ answered Specky. ‘He called last night to say he couldn’t because of some family thing.’
Specky had promised that he wouldn’t tell them that Tim had stayed home to look after his little brother while his mother took on extra working hours.
‘You won’t be needing that,’ teased Specky, nodding at the thick book in Worm’s hand.
‘You never know,’ Worm joked back. ‘It might come in handy if I get bored.’
‘You’ve probably read six books already these holidays,’ remarked Whispers, as if that was the worst thing he could ever imagine doing during a school break.
‘No, it’s eight books, this’ll make nine,’ said Worm.
‘So, what are we gonna do this arvo?’ asked Sticks.
‘I told my mates Danny and Robbo we’d meet ’em at my old school and have a kick of the footy.’
‘Sounds good to me,’ said Whispers.
‘Cool, I’ll show you where you can dump y
our bags.’
Moments later, the boys thumped down the stairs and took a sharp detour into the kitchen – where they planned to raid the pantry before heading out.
‘Oh, it looks like I stocked up just in time,’ said Mrs Magee, coming in from grocery shopping. ‘I hope I have enough here for four growing boys.’
Specky rummaged through the bags and started to read the labels on the cartons and cans of food that his mother had bought.
‘What are you doing, Simon?’ she asked with an amused look on her face. ‘I can assure you that none of the food is out of date.’
‘I’m not looking at the use-by date,’ mumbled Specky. ‘I’m reading the little table on the side of the packets. It tells you how much fat is in each item, how many carbohydrates there are, the protein levels and the amount of cholesterol there is. It’s all the stuff we have to be aware of to stay fit.’
‘Gee, Simon, I’m very impressed. Maybe I’ll get you to speak to your father, and see if you can get him to cut back on that block of Dairy Milk chocolate he likes to tuck into each night.’
Specky was so caught up going through the shopping that Mrs Magee had to introduce herself to his friends. Alice did the same when she came in a few moments later, carrying more bags.
‘Here, this was in the mail for you. It’s from Tiger Girl,’ she said, handing Specky a postcard.
‘Tiger Girl?’ repeated Whispers, looking blankly at Sticks and Worm. ‘Who’s Tiger Girl?’
Specky was already reading the postcard, which had been sent from England.
‘She’s Specky’s other girlfriend,’ stirred Alice. ‘She went on an around-the-world trip last year and got as far as the UK. Her mum fell in love with an English guy and stayed there.’
‘Do you mind?’ snapped Specky.
‘Alice, stop teasing your brother. Both of you can help me with these bags. You know I’m not meant to be lifting heavy things,’ exclaimed Mrs Magee.
Alice rolled her eyes.
‘So, who is she?’ Whispers asked again.
‘I thought Christina was your girlfriend?’ remarked Worm.
‘Um, she is. Tiger Girl’s just a really good mate,’ grinned Specky.
Alice couldn’t resist teasing him. ‘Oooh, look out! My brother, the ladies’ man!’
When they finally made it to the Booyong High oval, Danny and Robbo were already there having a kick-to-kick.
‘Hey, Specky Potter!’ yelled Danny, when he saw them approaching from across the oval.
‘Hey, Speck!’ Robbo shouted, grinning, happy to see his best mate again.
Specky introduced his old friends to his new ones. They didn’t seem overjoyed to meet each other and acknowledged one another with a few suspicious grunts and nods.
‘Can we have a kick with ya?’ asked Specky, quickly filling the awkward pause that followed.
‘Yeah,’ agreed Robbo. ‘Come up at our end.’
Specky joined his old friends and walked some distance away, while Whispers, Sticks and Worm stayed where they were.
As the ball was punted back and forth between the two groups, Danny and Robbo took the opportunity to catch up with Specky.
‘So, is it weird being back? What’s it like?’ Robbo asked first.
‘It’s good. But it’s different to Gosmore,’ said Specky booting the footy. ‘What about you guys? How’s everyone at Booyong?’
‘It’s the same old place,’ shrugged Danny. ‘We won our first match against the Panthers. We killed them. Screamer booted nine goals! He loves that Coach Pate plays him at full-forward all the time, now that you’re not there.’
‘Really?’ said Specky, feeling a tinge of jealousy.
‘Yeah, and he’s easier to get along with now that his old man isn’t team manager and isn’t putting so much pressure on him.’
Robbo leapt and took a firm mark over Danny. He speared the ball to Whispers.
‘His dad still comes and watches, but only from a distance. We can still hear him getting stuck into us sometimes,’ added Robbo.
Whispers, Sticks and Worm stopped kicking the ball. They waved Specky, Danny and Robbo over.
‘We wanna get a drink,’ announced Sticks. ‘Is there a shop nearby?’
They all made their way toward a local milk bar.
‘So, do you guys still have that horse?’ asked Danny, laughing, remembering last year’s Diadora Cup match.
‘Yeah, we do,’ answered Worm. ‘Actually, Specky knows him really well now. Don’t ya, Speck?’
Worm, Sticks and Whispers sniggered among themselves.
‘What? What d’ya mean?’ asked Danny, looking to Robbo to see if he understood what they were getting at.
‘Aw, it’s nothing,’ Specky said.
‘Nothing?’ scoffed Whispers. ‘It was amazing! You nailed that initiation!’
‘Initiation?’ asked Robbo. ‘What initiation?’
‘Nothing,’ Specky said again.
‘You did an initiation?’ Danny tagged on.
‘Yeah, he did,’ piped in Sticks. ‘Like a true Gosmarian.’
Specky flinched; he could see how weird that comment must’ve sounded to Danny and Robbo.
‘A true Gosmarian? What d’ya mean by that?’ Robbo asked, stopping in his tracks.
‘It means he’s a part of a great traditional school,’ remarked Worm proudly.
‘And he wasn’t before?’ said Danny. ‘Booyong High is a great traditional school, too.’
‘Yeah, right,’ scoffed Sticks.
‘What’s that meant to mean?’ Robbo grunted.
Specky tried to change the subject, but it didn’t work. The conversation got even more heated. He looked to Worm for assistance, but he just shrugged helplessly.
‘So, you’re saying you think you’re better than us’ cause you go to a richer school,’ exclaimed Robbo.
‘That’s not what they mean,’ said Specky, who felt like an umpire in a really aggressive game.
‘No, we don’t think we’re better, we know we’re better,’ sneered Sticks arrogantly.
Specky was taken aback. Talk about making the whole situation ten times worse, he thought.
‘Get real!’ snapped Robbo, now totally offended.
‘Yeah, you’re up yourself!’ added Danny.
‘Look who’s talking,’ growled Whispers. ‘You’re having a go at us because our parents work damn hard to put us in the best school in the country.’
‘What? You’re saying our folks don’t work hard?’ croaked Danny.
‘Hang on! Hang on!’ said Specky, raising his voice and standing between his two groups of friends.
‘This is crazy. We’re just meant to be hanging out. Not judging each other!’
‘Yeah, you’re right,’ mumbled Robbo, his stare still fixed on Whispers and Sticks. ‘Unless your new mates think they’re better than us at footy, too. I mean, they do have, like, a half-dozen coaches, a cheer squad, trainers and seven ovals to help ’em, I s’pose.’
Specky shook his head. There was nothing he could do now to stop this argument.
‘Footy is footy,’ said Worm, sounding desperate. ‘Look at Collingwood. Now they train at the new Lexus Centre, have got the best facilities in the competition with state-of-the-art training equipment, indoor swimming pool, unreal players’ lounge and theatre, and they didn’t even make the finals in the year they got all that. And when they were at old Victoria Park, where things were falling down around them, they played in two Grand Finals in a row. Just because you have the best facilities doesn’t mean you’ll naturally be the best team.’
‘We could take you on right now and win,’ snorted Whispers, ‘but we’d still be better without any of those things.’
‘Okay, you’re on then. Us against you guys – now!’ instructed Robbo, pulling up his sleeves. ‘Specky, you’re with us?’
‘No, he’s with us. Gosmore versus Booyong!’ blurted Sticks.
‘I’m not playing,’ said Worm, nervous about the whole
challenge. ‘But I’ll be umpire.’
Specky had been thrown into a situation he didn’t want to be in. He couldn’t remember the last time he’d felt so torn. Danny and Robbo had been his friends for years, but Whispers and Sticks had become good mates, too.
‘It can’t be you three against us two,’ protest-ed Robbo. ‘And besides, Speck was at Booyong longer than he’s been at Gosmore.’
‘Like it or not, Specky goes to Gosmore now, so he’s with us,’ said Sticks, standing his ground. ‘You can have that guy over there. Maybe he’ll join your team.’
Everyone turned around to see who Sticks was pointing at. Specky couldn’t believe it.
‘Great! Just great. That’s all we need,’ he sighed sarcastically under his breath.
It was Screamer Johnson.
12. friends
versus friends
When Specky’s arch nemesis appeared, it didn’t take long for him to work out what was going on. He was more than happy to join Danny and Robbo and be involved in the so-called ‘friendly match’ against Specky and his Gosmore friends. Specky expected Screamer to take it as a good opportunity to stir things up. He didn’t disappoint.
‘So, look who’s back in town,’ he smirked. ‘Back on our turf. We miss you, you know that? Not!’
‘Whatever,’ shrugged Specky.
Specky noticed that Screamer had grown taller since he’d seen him last. He was now as tall as Robbo, but more solid. Actually, he was the biggest of them all. Specky caught the expressions on his Gosmore friends’ faces. They had noticed Screamer’s intimidating build, as well, and were a little wary of him. Specky wondered if they were thinking that Screamer reminded them of Grizza.
‘And these must be the girls from Costmore. Where are your ties, girls?’
Robbo and Danny sniggered.
‘Yeah, that’s really funny,’ scoffed Whispers. ‘Let’s just get on with it. Us against you guys, for half an hour. When the time is up, the team in front wins. Worm, you time us. And throw the ball up for us.’
Specky knew that every schoolyard or park or city street had its own unique set of ‘backyard footy’ rules. And he and his friends were no exception: only one bounce each, everyone had to be over the half-way mark of the oval before a goal could be scored, and if the ball went out of bounds it was an automatic free kick against the team that was last to touch the ball. Apart from that, it was pretty well open slather.