Specky Magee and the Season of Champions
Page 13
Bye for now … you champion!
Tiger Girl xox
Specky folded the letter up into small pieces, his mind drifting.
‘If anyone’s a champion, it’s you,’ he said, under his breath.
In fact, Specky suddenly realised that for the past months he had been surrounded by a number of champions – Danny, Robbo, his team-mates, the Great Footy Contest winners, the Bumfluff Twins, even Screamer. And then, of course, there was the most courageous one of them all: Tiger Girl. It had definitely been a season of champions – a season that Specky knew he’d remember for a long time to come.
‘All right, listen up!’ yelled Ron Barassi. He was standing alongside five chaperones in front of the Great Footy Contest winners, at Melbourne International Airport. ‘Your passports and tickets have all been checked. And, as you can see by the flashing lights on the departure board, it’s time for us to move through customs. So, please say your goodbyes to your families now. And make sure to stick together.’
Specky nudged Johnny Cockatoo in the ribs. He had flown down from the Northern Territory earlier that day.
‘Can you believe it?’ he said.
‘Nah, Specky, man. This is freaking me out. It’s gonna be bloody unreal,’ he replied in awe.
‘Simon! Well, come on. What are you waiting for?’ said Mrs Magee with open arms.
Specky left Johnny’s side and received a group hug from Alice, the Great McCarthy, and his parents. Specky’s mother had a few tears in her eyes.
‘Now, make sure you call as soon as you get there. If your American host family are worried about their phone bill, just reverse the charges. I think they call it “collect” over there, and remember –’
‘Mum! Don’t worry. I’ll call,’ Specky said, eager to get going.
As Specky’s mum hugged him again, he looked over and caught his friends’ mothers doing the same thing. It was taking Danny a long time to say his goodbyes. His entire big Italian family had turned out to see him off. Specky caught Danny rolling his eyes back at him as he was kissed and hugged by his grandmother, grandfather, five aunties, four cousins, brother, sister and, of course, his mum and dad. Anyone would’ve thought he was leaving for a lifetime, not two weeks, thought Specky.
‘So, you ready?’ said Robbo, joining Specky and Johnny.
‘Yeah! America, here we come!’ replied Specky, finally preparing to walk through the divide leading to the ‘Passengers Only’ area.
‘Specky!’
Specky stopped.
‘No way!’ he grinned, when he saw Christina sprinting toward him from the other end of the terminal.
‘I thought I was going to miss seeing you off!’ she panted, trying to catch her breath. ‘I caught the Skybus from Spencer Street Station, but we got stuck in traffic. Anyway, I just wanted to say have a good trip!’
Specky was lost for words. He gestured for Robbo and Johnny to give them some space. They cooperated, pulling faces as they went over to get Danny.
‘Um, wow. I called you, but your folks said you were on camp. And then I got caught up with the Grand Final and, well, I’m sorry we haven’t talked since …’
Specky realised he was rambling.
‘That’s okay,’ Christina said calmly. ‘Congratulations for being the Premiers. I heard all about it.’
‘From Screamer?’ Specky asked, now looking over Christina’s shoulder.
‘Yeah, from Derek. Don’t worry. He’s not here. We’re not going out together anymore.’
Specky bit his bottom lip, trying to hold back a smile.
‘Oh, I’m sorry to hear that,’ he said, doing his best to sound sympathetic.
‘No, you’re not!’ said Christina, affectionately slapping him on the arm. ‘Look, Derek’s okay, but he’s not, well, you know, he’s not –’
‘What?’
‘Well, there’s a lot of things I like about him. But when he started to tell me who I should and shouldn’t see –’
‘Like me?’ asked Specky.
‘Yeah. Well, then I knew I couldn’t hang out with him anymore. And, besides, he’s not –’
‘He’s not what?’
Christina sighed.
‘He’s not, well, he’s not … you.’
Specky wasn’t sure what to say. Christina continued. ‘And so, I was thinking, when you get back … If you like, well, you know, we could go out together or something.’
‘What? You and me. Like officially together?’ Specky stuttered.
Christina nodded.
‘Yeah,’ choked Specky. ‘That’d be great.’
‘Well, great. Good. Um, well … Goodbye, Speck.’
‘Yeah, see ya, Christina.’
For a moment, Specky had totally forgotten where he was. He was lost in his own world – goofily staring into Christina’s eyes. And, before he knew it, he leant forward and gently kissed her.
‘WOO-HOO!!! YEAH, BABY!’
Specky’s and Christina’s faces flushed brightly as they turned to see Danny, Robbo, Johnny, the Great McCarthy, Alice, Specky’s parents, the Castelinos, the Roberts and all the contest winners applauding and whistling loudly at them.
Specky whispered goodbye again to Christina and shuffled off to join the others. The time had finally arrived. He was off to America.
23. up, up and away
‘Good afternoon, passengers. This is your captain speaking. I want to welcome you all on this flight direct to Los Angeles, with connections to New York. You can see that the seat-belt signs have been turned off, so you are now free to walk about the cabin. But, for your own safety, we ask you to keep your belts on whenever seated. Again, welcome, and I hope you all have an enjoyable flight.’
Specky looked down the row of seats to see Danny, Robbo, Johnny and the other contest winners talking non-stop to each other, playing Nintendo and testing out the buttons on their consoles. He turned to the window and watched the city of Melbourne slowly shrink in the distance.
final message
‘Hi, this is the Magee household. Leave your message after the tone and we’ll get back to you as soon as possible. Thanks.’
Beep.
‘Hello. This is a message for Simon Magee. Simon, this is Dave Reager from Gosmore Grammar. I’m calling to inform you that you’ve been awarded a sporting scholarship for next year. Congratulations, Simon! Please have your parents get in touch with me at the school as soon as possible. We look forward to seeing you at Gosmore!’