Specky Magee and the Season of Champions

by Felice Arena

  ‘So, I need you to tell me everything you know about the Tigers,’ she said frantically.

  ‘Um, they’re big wild jungle creatures. Part of the cat family,’ answered Specky sarcastically.

  ‘Ha, ha, very funny, creep. No, seriously, tell me what I should know about the Richmond Tigers.’

  Specky swivelled around in his chair to face Alice. He shook his head, trying to work out what his sister was up to.

  ‘First you hated footy. Then you followed the Hawks ’cause you fall in love with Shane Crawford, and now you want to barrack for the Tigers? Why?’

  ‘I don’t want to barrack for the Tigers. I just want to know more about them. I have a friend who’s dating this guy who happens to be a mad Richmond supporter, that’s all.’

  Specky glared at Alice suspiciously. He knew his sister well enough to know when she wasn’t telling the whole truth. Specky suddenly worked out what was going on.

  ‘Huh! You’re the friend! You’ve got a boyfriend!’ he shouted at the top of his lungs.

  ‘Shut up, will ya! I don’t want Mum and Dad finding out. Not just yet,’ she said, desperate for him to keep his voice down.

  ‘Why not?’ asked Specky.

  Alice was reluctant to tell him any more.

  ‘Come on, why not? I’ll tell you all about the Tigers …’ coaxed Specky, who had a flash of Tiger Girl and suddenly began wondering when he would see her next.

  ‘All right, but you better keep it to yourself,’ said Alice, obviously unsure whether she could trust him.

  She told him that the guy she was seeing was a year older than herself – he was in Year 11.

  ‘So, I’m serious, Si, you can’t breathe a word of this to Mum or Dad, or else,’ she said again. Specky could tell she already felt she may have said too much.

  ‘Or else what?’ he asked.

  ‘Or else, I’ll tell them that you played footy today.’

  Specky almost fell backwards off his chair.

  ‘How d’ya find out?’ he asked, surprised and peeved that his sister had something to use against him.

  Alice explained how Danny had called to say that his shorts were now completely stretched out of shape, and that Specky could wear them again next week if he needed to.

  Specky winced, cursing Danny and his big mouth. Specky had no choice but to agree with Alice that they’d keep each other’s secret. He was relieved that at least it had been Alice who’d picked up the phone and not his mum or dad.

  ‘Knock, knock!’

  Specky’s dad entered the room with his mobile phone in hand. He had a goofy smile plastered across his face.

  ‘Son, I have someone here who wants to speak to you,’ he said.

  ‘Hello?’ said Specky.

  ‘Hello, Simon?’ said an unfamiliar voice on the other end of the line.

  ‘Yeah. Who’s this?’

  ‘It’s James Hird.’

  ‘Yeah, RIGHT! Robbo, is that you?’

  Specky looked up at his dad, who was still grinning.

  ‘My stockbroker works with him. I arranged to have him call you,’ Mr Magee said in a loud whisper. He had to be joking! Specky couldn’t believe that he was speaking to one of the true legends of the game.

  It was one of the most exciting things to have happened to him. James Hird talked to him about the importance of keeping positive despite the fact that he wouldn’t be able to play footy for a while. If anyone knew what it was like to miss games because of injury, it was definitely James Hird. The way he had kept a positive attitude after a horrific injury to his face in Perth a couple of years ago, and was then disciplined enough to make a comeback, was truly remarkable. When Specky got off the phone, he was speechless. He was totally overwhelmed by his father’s surprise.

  ‘I just wanted you to know that I know it will be tough for you not to play – that’s why I did this,’ he said, hugging Specky warmly.

  ‘Thanks, Dad,’ said Specky, who felt an enormous wave of guilt rush over him – and he felt even worse when he saw Alice shaking her head at him from the corner of the room.

  When Alice and his dad left the study, Specky turned back to his computer. He had totally forgotten about Christina. A couple more messages from her had popped up.

  CHRISkicks: I guess you’re still not speaking to me?

  CHRISkicks: Specky?

  Specky quickly tapped a response, but it bounced back with a message saying that Christina was no longer on-line. Specky sighed – he had missed another chance to reconcile with her.

  Later that evening, toward the end of dinner, Specky and Alice were arguing over whose turn it was to clean the dishes.

  ‘No way! I’m not doing it! I’ve done it three nights in a row. Mum?’ whined Alice.

  ‘Dad, I did them all last week. She needs to do a couple more nights to catch up!’ complained Specky.

  ‘Enough!’ said Mr Magee, raising his voice. ‘You’re acting like a couple of babies. Alice, I think since your brother has had a rough few days with the doctor and all, you should do them for tonight.’

  Alice pushed her chair back, fuming. And, as she turned toward the kitchen, Specky screwed up his face and stuck out his tongue at her.

  ‘You little sh– ’ Alice screamed.

  ‘Alice!’ said Mrs Magee, cutting her off. ‘Language – please!’

  Specky once again pulled a face at his sister, knowing he probably shouldn’t. And just as he did, he realised he had pushed her over the top.

  ‘Simon played footy today!’ she announced at the top of her lungs.

  ‘What?’ gasped Mr and Mrs Magee, their knives and forks clanging against their plates.

  Feeling betrayed, Specky couldn’t believe Alice had dobbed him in.

  ‘Is this true?’ asked Mr Magee, his brow all wrinkled.

  ‘Um …’ stuttered Specky. He knew there was only one thing he could say to divert the attention away from himself.

  ‘Well, Alice has a boyfriend, and he’s in Year Eleven!’

  6. what a girl!

  Specky had once heard the expression ‘You could cut the tension in the air with a knife’, when a TV footy reporter was describing the atmosphere at an AFL tribunal hearing. Well, the tension around the Magee dinner table was so thick you would have needed a chainsaw to slice through it.

  After Specky and Alice had finished ranting and raving, they turned to see that their shocked parents were silently waiting for them to finish.

  Specky caught his father shooting him one of the most disappointed looks he had ever seen from him.

  ‘And after James Hird and all …’ he said disgusted.

  His mum shook her head in disbelief.

  Riddled with shame, Specky hung his head and didn’t say a word. His dad continued.

  ‘From now on, if I hear that you’ve taken even a single kick during the time when you’re meant to be resting, you’ll be banned from playing footy for the rest of the season. Even if the doctor says you’re better and you can play.’

  Specky whipped up his head.

  ‘You can’t do that …’ he began to plead, but he stopped mid-sentence when he saw his mum raising her eyebrows at him as if to say, ‘Be quiet and pay your father some respect.’

  ‘And as for you, Miss,’ said Mrs Magee, turning to Alice, ‘while you’re living under this roof, your dad and I are entitled to know everything you get up to – including who you’re dating. Especially if they happen to be a few years older.’

  ‘He’s only one year older, and I’m not a kid anymore, and you shouldn’t …’

  Just as Specky had, Alice suddenly stopped talking. She had caught the same don’t-mess-with-us glare from her mother.

  ‘Yes, we know you’re no longer a kid, Alice,’ added Specky’s dad. ‘So, in that case, you won’t mind if we meet this older boyfriend of yours. You can invite him to have dinner with us.’

  Specky wanted to smirk at his sister, but forced himself not to.

  ‘Right, the two of y
ou will clean the dishes, and then spend the rest of the evening in your rooms reading or doing homework. No computer, no TV, no phone calls. Is that understood, Alice?’

  Alice reluctantly nodded.

  ‘And you?’ said Mr Magee, once again staring directly at Specky.

  ‘Yeah, I understand,’ Specky mumbled.

  First thing Monday morning, at school, Specky was patiently waiting outside the staff room to speak to Coach Pate.

  ‘Yes, Simon, you called for me?’ she smiled, appearing from behind the door.

  Specky reluctantly explained about not being able to play for the next seven weeks.

  ‘Yes, I know,’ she replied. ‘Your father just called me. I’m sorry, Simon. It must be so upsetting for you. I know it was very difficult for a student in my team at my last school. He had the same problem and couldn’t play for some time. So, I’m guessing you won’t be able to play the next Diadora Cup game, either?’

  Specky dreaded having to say yes. He knew it meant he’d miss out on the chance to be considered for a scholarship to Gosmore Grammar. So many thoughts swirled about his head: I don’t want to upset Dad again … but this is the chance of a lifetime for me. He’d understand that I had to do it once he found out that I’d been accepted into a great college and he wouldn’t have to pay a thing. And how would he find out anyway? The game will be during school hours –

  ‘Simon? Simon?’

  ‘What?’

  Specky snapped out of his daze to see that Coach Pate was still waiting for an answer.

  ‘Should I assume you won’t be available to play the Diadora Cup games?’ she asked again.

  ‘Um … no … I mean, yeah, I am!’ Specky quickly replied.

  ‘You are? But aren’t you meant to rest?’ Coach Pate looked baffled.

  ‘Well, yes, but the doctor said I have to limit myself to playing just a couple of games. So playing for the Diadora Cup is still okay. Did my dad mention that?’

  ‘No, he didn’t. Maybe I misunderstood him?’

  ‘Yeah, well, maybe. Do you want to call him?’ said Specky, poker-faced.

  ‘No, no. That’s okay. If that’s what you’ve arranged with your parents and the doctor, then that’s fine by me. I have to say, I’m happy we can have you for the Diadora game – it’s going to be a tough match against Gosmore.’

  Specky had a vision of his nose growing the length of a football oval – he couldn’t believe he had just lied again. His stomach felt like it was twisted into a million knots. Later that morning, at recess, Specky told his team-mates about his time-out from footy.

  ‘No way! We can’t lose you!’ gasped Danny at hearing the news.

  ‘Seven weeks! That’s practically the rest of the season. We need you,’ added Robbo, equally taken aback by Specky’s news.

  ‘Yeah, well, what can I do?’ said Specky, touched by his friends’ reactions.

  ‘Osgood-schhhhlo-whatever disease? Never heard of it,’ remarked Gobba, screwing up his face.

  ‘Yeah, I hadn’t either, until now. But I gotta give my knees a break if I want to grow properly. Although, I am gonna play the next Diadora game. But my folks don’t know, so you gotta keep it to yourselves,’ said Specky, trying to sound upbeat.

  But when Robbo asked why he was so keen to play that game and not any of the Saturday matches, Specky didn’t know what to say. He realised that if he told them about having been approached by the sports coordinator for Gosmore Grammar, he would also have to admit that he might one day leave Booyong High, and them. Specky decided against telling his mates and, instead, stuttered and fumbled for something to say. Luckily, they were all distracted by a voice calling out his name. To everyone’s surprise, it was Screamer.

  ‘So, Magee, did ya get your official letter from the Great Footy Contest organisers, yet?’ he asked, strutting across the schoolyard.

  ‘No,’ Specky answered warily.

  ‘Yeah, well, Chrissie and I did,’ he gloated.

  ‘Yeah, well, good for you – you girlfriend stealer!’ blurted Danny.

  ‘Shut up, Castelino! What would you know?’ Screamer snapped back. ‘Magee was never Chrissie’s boyfriend.’

  Specky felt his shoulders tense up. He hated the way Screamer called Christina Chrissie. He also hated the fact that he was right – he had never been Christina’s boyfriend, and sometimes he wished he had. So he forced himself to ignore Screamer, even though it was difficult with Danny standing up to him.

  ‘Yes, he was!’ said the feisty Italian rover.

  ‘No, he wasn’t! Were you, Magee? You’re such a wimp. You know nothin’ about girls.’

  As Specky’s friends turned to see how Specky was going to react, Tiger Girl – who had been standing nearby and eavesdropping on the conversation – waltzed right over to the boys. She brushed past Screamer, and, walking right up to Specky, she gave him a quick kiss on the cheek and handed him a pen.

  ‘Hey, cutie,’ she said to Specky, as if she had known him for years. ‘Thanks for lending me that pen. I’ll catch you later, okay? Bye.’

  Specky did a double take – his face turning bright pink. He tried to look cool, but he was totally flabbergasted. So were his friends and Screamer. They were silent as they all watched Tiger Girl saunter off out of sight.

  7. through a cloud of smoke

  ‘Sen-SA-tional!’ remarked Gobba, in his best commentator’s voice.

  ‘You can say that again!’ said Robbo and Danny in unison.

  ‘Sen-SA-tional!’

  Specky touched his cheek where Tiger Girl had kissed him, and watched her walk back into the school building.

  ‘Whoa!’ he said, under his breath.

  Before Specky had time to figure out what was going on, his mates crowded him to find out more.

  ‘Who’s that?’

  ‘She’s not in our year, is she?’

  ‘Is she your girlfriend? Why didn’t you tell us?’

  ‘How do you know her?’

  Bombarded by so many questions, Specky didn’t know which one to answer first – but he enjoyed the attention. He suddenly felt extremely cool in front of his mates and he wanted to savour the moment.

  ‘Let’s just say we fell for each other the moment we met,’ he said, grinning at his own joke, determined not to give too much away.

  ‘So, Magee, maybe I was wrong?’ said Screamer, breaking through the group and staring at Specky with a strange look on his face.

  ‘Maybe you’re not a wimp, after all. I’ll have to let Chrissie know you’ve got yourself a girlfriend,’ Screamer sneered.

  It was not what Specky wanted to hear.

  No, not Christina! He can’t tell her that! he thought.

  Specky strained to keep a smile on his face. He didn’t want to give Screamer the satisfaction of knowing that he had been affected by his comments.

  ‘Yeah, well, go ahead and tell Christina. Speck’s going out with one of the hottest-looking girls in school,’ interjected Danny.

  Shut up, Danny, Specky thought, but he forced another smile as his mates teased him and patted him on the back. With nothing else to say, Screamer gave Specky a nasty smile, turned and walked away.

  For the next couple of hours, during class, Specky had to put up with Danny and Robbo’s continuous ribbing about Tiger Girl. He didn’t mind them doing it. He would’ve done the same thing in their situation.

  When his school broke for lunch, Specky decided to finally follow his doctor’s orders and give his knees a rest. So, for the first time ever, he skipped lunchtime footy. He also had a strong urge to go in search of Tiger Girl. He had to find out why she had saved him from Screamer like that.

  Specky headed toward the part of the school where the Year 9s generally hung out. He decided to take a short cut across the oval and past the cricket nets. At the nets, he stumbled across some senior boys who hurriedly tried to stamp out their cigarettes as Specky approached them.

  ‘Hang on!’ Specky heard one of them say. ‘That’s not a
teacher, it’s just a nobody.’

  Specky didn’t like being referred to as a ‘nobody’, but he wasn’t going to argue with guys who were considerably bigger than he was, especially when they were standing directly in his way.

  ‘Wait up!’ said the tallest one out of the four. ‘You’re that kid who won the Great Footy Contest, right? Booyong High’s very own footy legend!’

  Specky nodded, wondering whether they were being sarcastic and whether they were going to let him pass or not.

  ‘Nice to meet you, mate,’ the tall one continued. He looked like the leader. He was certainly the most talkative among his friends.

  ‘We thought we were busted. Thought it was old Radcliff for a sec. You nearly gave us a bloody heart attack. Knackers and Rick, here, almost wet their pants!’

  The senior boys laughed among themselves, coughing and spluttering as they lit up again and dragged on their cigarettes.

  ‘So, Football Legend. You know who I am?’

  Specky shook his head.

  ‘I’m the “Great McCarthy”!’ said the leader, winking at his mates. ‘You know why they call me the Great McCarthy?’

  Specky shrugged his shoulders.

  ‘Because I can get any girl I want to like me. They absolutely fall over themselves to get near me,’ he added arrogantly, puffing a cloud of smoke over Specky’s face.

  Specky coughed.

  ‘Here, have a drag,’ he said, offering Specky his cigarette.

  ‘No, thanks. I was just on my way –’

  ‘Come on, you won’t get caught. Don’t be weak! I’ll let you past if you do.’

  Specky looked up at the older, bigger boys standing in his way and felt a sudden surge of pressure to take up the Great McCarthy’s offer, even though he had no real desire to smoke.

  ‘Come on! It won’t kill ya,’ muttered Knackers, egging Specky on.

  Specky didn’t want to seem uncool or get into a confrontation with these guys. He took the cigarette and slowly brought it close to his mouth. Just as he placed the butt end on his lips, a hand suddenly reached over his shoulder and yanked it out of his mouth. Specky turned to see Tiger Girl throwing the cigarette on the ground and stamping it out with her foot.