The F Team

by Rawah Arja

  As well as spending the holidays in Aaron’s pool and soaking up the sun, I also spent time at his place trying to figure out some set plays and writing down things we remembered from when we last played against Team D. Lee had a whole booklet of notes and detailed information about their weaknesses and their strengths.

  ‘He’s Asian.’ Ibby said. ‘What do you expect?’

  ‘That’s like saying Hey you’re Arab? Of course you’re in jail?’ Lee retorted, before explaining his numbers and statistics.

  It was the first time Huss had been to Aaron’s place and had the same reaction we all had, not only to the house, but the Ferrari too. It was still in the garage – the buyers apparently pulled out at the last second.

  ‘Allah loves you,’ Ibby had said to Aaron. ‘Your prayers were answered.’

  Aaron’s mum wandered around the house like she was looking for something, but every so often our eyes locked before she looked away. I had told her that my family loved the cookies, to which she nodded and smiled.

  ‘Your mum makes good chicken,’ she said one time when Aaron was in the bathroom. ‘Does she use a specific spice? Or is it a mix of spices?’

  I had no idea. ‘Not sure. Maybe a mix of things?’

  She left the room when Aaron came back.

  ‘Did she annoy you?’ he asked, rolling his eyes.

  ‘Nah. She just asked about what spices my mum used for the chicken.’

  I heard Mrs Furner pause, then continue walking away.

  Chapter 34

  First week back at school, and we picked up right where we had left off. It was business as usual with training, rain, hail or shine. Our game against Team D fired up the boys at school.

  ‘If the boys win this Friday,’ Mr Archie addressed the school at morning assembly, ‘every single one of you will be allowed to attend the grand final to cheer them on.’

  ‘You know they’re going to kill us if we don’t win the semi-final now?’ I said to him, walking up to class.

  He laughed. ‘That’s kind of the point, lad. Now you have to do everything in your power to win that game. Speaking of, how are things going between you and Huss? All good in the hood?’

  ‘Don’t do that, sir,’ I said, shaking my head. ‘You have to be cool to do that.’

  ‘You’re the one spending all your time with your school principal,’ he grinned. ‘Are you absolutely certain you’re cool?’

  I scowled at him, then answered his original question. ‘Huss and I are sweet. Nothing’s going to come between us again.’

  ‘Glad to hear it.’

  Miss K and Mr Ahmed checked in with me and talked all things BBL.

  ‘Supportive and fair,’ Miss K said. ‘Those are the two qualities I want you to focus on this term.’

  ‘No matter how hard things get, you have to keep these two qualities in your mind,’ Mr Ahmed added.

  The men in suits had gathered enough information to send to the review panel who would visit our school in person in a month’s time. Just because they weren’t here anymore, though, didn’t mean that we could sit with our feet up.

  Hunter sent Aaron a message about putting Huss, Ibby and my faces on terrorist-themed ‘Wanted’ posters.

  ‘He’s trying to get us to lose focus for our game this Friday,’ I said to the boys at training.

  ‘But he’s a dog,’ Ibby said, looking closely at his poster. ‘Like, as if my head’s that big?’

  I finally had time to see Jamila. I had missed her over the holidays – we’d both been too busy with family and school stuff to catch up. I didn’t just want to meet at Wiley Park as we’d been doing. I wanted to do something special, so more roses and tulips and a trip to Brighton Beach was the plan.

  ‘I couldn’t make you fly, but I thought if we sit here on the sand and watch the aeroplanes taking off it’d be close enough?’

  ‘You didn’t have to,’ she said. ‘But thank you.’ She gave me a hug.

  ‘I did, though. I would’ve still been old Tariq if you hadn’t shown up,’ I said, watching her draw in the sand.

  ‘Old Tariq? What was he like?’

  ‘Old Tariq didn’t pay any attention to the way he spoke to people and couldn’t care less if he hurt their feelings. Old Tariq was a dog to girls, and lost control of his anger easily and never really knew his potential.’

  She rested on my chest and looked up through her thick lashes. ‘And new Tariq?’

  I thought about it for a while. ‘New Tariq is still learning.’

  It was perfect.

  She was perfect.

  Nothing could ruin this moment.

  Aaron: Bro, you need to come over right

  away. It’s an emergency.

  I stared at the phone until the light of the screen burned my eyes.

  ‘I didn’t want to tell you the day before the game but Riley wouldn’t let me hide it,’ Aaron said when I got to his place. ‘I’m sorry, man.’

  Riley’s hacker friend had traced some of the leaked videos to an IP address back at Canterbury Hospital. The same hospital Big Haji had spent so much of last term at. The dates and times matched up.

  ‘This doesn’t prove anything,’ I said, pacing Aaron’s room. ‘I know he had taken her in for check-ups, but still, there are hundreds of people in there. That’s not good enough evidence for me to believe that Huss would send videos out. He’s not a snitch.’

  You know those times you argue just so you can convince yourself rather than anyone else in the room? I couldn’t let myself believe it. Believing it meant that the Huss I grew up with, who had my back, who was the first guy in fights defending me, betrayed me and every one of the boys at our school. Believing it meant that Huss would no longer be part of the Wolf Pack or our footy team. Huss would no longer be a part of my life.

  I felt like the walls were closing in. Pieces of the puzzle began to fall in place: he was always filming things, always on his phone. Still, I couldn’t understand why he would do it.

  Nothing made sense.

  Why would he ruin our school’s chance of staying open? If he really wanted it shut down, then why would he show up to training, play the best footy of his life and do everything Mr Archie and Mr Ahmed told him to?

  I felt lost. I knew if the boys back at school found out, he’d be gone. I couldn’t believe that in this moment I was thinking about ways to protect him. I knew there were things that the boys could tolerate and forgive, but betrayal was something people paid a heavy price for around here.

  Chapter 35

  The air in my lungs was cold and dense as I ran onto the field for our semi-final against Team D. Huss’s betrayal weighed heavy on my heart, and with no sleep at all, I was on the brink of a breakdown. I watched the boys joke and laugh before the game. They didn’t know the pain I felt, right down to my core, knowing he had turned his back on all of us.

  ‘Maybe he had a reason,’ Aaron said. ‘Just talk to him.’

  ‘I can’t.’ I watched Huss move in and out of our team like a snake moves through the bush. ‘There’s nothing he could say or do that would justify selling us out, especially with our school just barely holding on.’

  ‘If he’s really your mate and you’ve grown up with each other, don’t you owe him the chance to explain himself?’

  ‘Owe him?’ I repeated, baring my teeth. ‘After everything we’ve gone through, you think I owe him?’

  ‘Yeah,’ he said baldly. ‘Everybody deserves the right to explain themselves and Huss is no different.’

  ‘Says the guy who treats his mum like crap.’ I took a few breaths because I could feel the old Tariq seep through my veins. ‘Aaron, do me a favour and stop pretending you care. We both know you’re probably happy deep down.’

  He stared at me for a while and I knew my words had hurt. ‘You know what, you’re upset, so I’m going to let that go, but if you come at me again, we’re going to have a problem.’

  I washed my face in the toilets and stared in the mirror.
I could see the anger begin to filter through my face and as much as I tried to calm the fire in me, I couldn’t.

  Hunter walked in alone, then took a few steps back when he saw me.

  ‘Say something,’ I said, turning around. If my fire was going to burn anything, then Hunter would be the perfect target. ‘Say something. Go on. Do it.’ I pushed him against the wall. ‘You’re not so tough and strong now without your mates, huh? I’ve let you get away with everything the last couple of weeks, but you watch and see what’s coming. You’re going to wish you never met me.’

  ‘Let me go!’ he shouted.

  I glared at him a little longer before finally letting go and rejoining my team.

  ‘Where have you been?’ Huss said, putting his arm around me. ‘Yallah, the game is going to start now.’

  I moved his arm away and continued to walk. ‘Make sure you don’t miss any kicks today.’

  The referee blew the whistle.

  Team D’s plays and runs were timed perfectly. They rolled us on our backs when we got tackled, making it harder for us to get up, as well as catching us off guard with quick taps and kicks.

  8–0.

  Lee’s speed was of no use because he was running into a wall no matter how many times Aaron and I tried to create some space. Their kicks across field and their solid defence tested my patience when PJ and Ibby lost metres.

  ‘Keep moving forward,’ I called out. ‘It’s not bloody hard!’

  ‘We’re trying,’ Ibby said, resting on his knees. ‘But you’re not talking and calling the plays.’

  Huss ran up every so often to ask if everything was okay, but I ignored him.

  ‘Just stay in your position,’ I said. The more I kept my mouth closed, the safer it was for everyone.

  14–6, half-time.

  ‘Why are we not communicating, lads?’ Mr Archie asked as he wrapped Lee’s knees with bandages. ‘I don’t know what’s going on with you, Tariq, but the lads need to hear your voice.’

  PJ turned to me. ‘Why are you so quiet?’

  I drank water and stared blankly as Mr Ahmed and Mr Archie talked and talked but I wasn’t hearing a thing. I stared at Huss from the corner of my eye until Aaron took me to the edge of the field, away from everyone else.

  ‘I don’t care how pissed off you are, get your shit together,’ he said. ‘Deal with Huss after this and focus on the game for your school’s sake.’

  ‘I can’t stop thinking about it,’ I said, holding my head.

  ‘We have twenty-five minutes,’ he said. ‘We can’t win this game without you.’

  Jamila’s voice crept into my mind. ‘Jehad deserves to go to a school in his own community that he’s proud of.’

  ‘If we can keep them pointless in the second half, we can win this game,’ I said at last.

  ‘That’s what I’m talking about,’ Aaron said. He called the boys over for one last huddle before the second-half whistle blew.

  ‘Stay on your man, hold on to your tackles, stay on side and most importantly stay in support of one another,’ I ordered. ‘You never know when we will find a break and the play opens up for us.’

  The referee blew the whistle and we were back. Tackle after tackle, PJ and Ibby followed their marked players around like two hungry hippos, not giving them any room to move. Riley was quick out of dummy-half, catching the markers off guard and awarding us a couple of penalties. We were finally on the board.

  We kept up the pace though they were close to scoring. Hit after hit, it seemed like time was against us, when Lee made a break and found Huss on the inside, scoring under the posts.

  16–12.

  Mr Archie and Mr Ahmed couldn’t contain their energy, rushing up and down the sidelines, yelling instructions at us. Team D made their first mistake of the game with a forward pass inside their own half.

  Five minutes left.

  ‘Grubber early on in the tackle count,’ Huss said. ‘It’ll catch them off guard since they only want to defend.’

  ‘It’s not your job to call the plays,’ I said, turning back to Aaron to discuss what we were going to do.

  ‘I agree with Huss,’ Aaron said. ‘We need to attack and we need to do it now or else the game is gone.’

  ‘We don’t have to if you don’t want to,’ Huss said to me. ‘Whatever you choose I – ’

  ‘Since you and Aaron have it under control, go for it.’ I threw the ball to him and walked off to the wing.

  My switch-up must’ve confused Team D, because no halfback would be far out on the wing unless they were going to expect the ball. They moved their best defensive players over in my direction. Huss grubbered the ball and Aaron cut through to dive and score.

  18–16.

  The referee blew the whistle. ‘Congratulations, F Team. You’re through to the grand final.’

  Chapter 36

  Google search: What does it mean to be captain?

  A person who is at the head of or in authority over others; chief; leader. The position of captain is given to those athletes whom the rest of the team respect and trust to lead the team in the right direction.

  Right direction? What was the right direction? Do I ignore the situation and pretend like it never happened or do I call him out and drop him this far into the competition? Huss was our goal kicker and our fullback who had been on fire the last couple of games, but the more I thought about it, the more I knew that I didn’t want to play alongside a traitor.

  We were one week out from the Grand Final against Hunter and his rotten team. They were the only undefeated team in the comp, and with the additional week given to us, we needed to prepare and train harder than ever before.

  I tossed and turned all weekend and ignored the WhatsApp messages from the boys, especially from Huss.

  Huss: Is everything alright?

  Huss: Why aren’t you answering my calls?

  Huss: Want me to drop some food off?

  Huss: If you’re not doing anything, come

  past. Big Haji wants to see you.

  Aaron: He keeps asking me if I know

  something. Just bloody talk to him.

  My family were out at San Souci beach and I told them that I had some extra homework from Mr Archie that I needed to do before the final. I was flicking through the channels on the TV, trying to find something to get my mind off the situation, when Feda came home. She walked straight over and switched off the television and stood with her arms crossed.

  ‘Call him,’ she said. ‘I don’t care what it is or what happened, just do it.’

  ‘Trust me, even you would axe him.’

  She sat next to me. ‘Aaron called me and told me everything.’

  How did he even get her number?

  ‘And you still want me to talk to him?’

  She shook her head like I was missing the point. ‘He deserves a chance to at least explain himself.’

  ‘What is there to explain? He leaked videos like the snitch he is and now everyone’s on my back like I’m the bad guy.’

  I stormed out of the house. I didn’t want to share my burden with Jamila but I needed to see her.

  We met at our usual spot by the ducks at Wiley Park. ‘What’s wrong?’ she asked me after I’d spent ten minutes glaring at the ducks.

  ‘Nothing. Just tired.’

  She traced her finger down my cheek. ‘Tell me. You’re going to have to face it at some point.’

  I closed my eyes and lay my head in her lap. She ran her hands through my hair like she was gently pulling the words out of my brain. I told her in detail about how all along the traitor was right under my nose and I didn’t even realise it.

  ‘I know you won’t like what I’m going to say, but Aaron and Feda are right,’ she said. ‘If you’re this hurt and in this much pain over Huss, then you owe it to yourself and your friendship with him to at least give him a chance to explain.’ She leaned her face closer to mine. ‘I mean, they even give murderers a chance to plead their case.’ I moved s
ome hair away from her face. ‘Go and speak to him.’

  I rang the doorbell a couple of times at Huss’s flat until he buzzed me in.

  ‘Hey, Tariq,’ someone called. Mr Gabbar, Huss’s African neighbour, rolled anything that could be smoked and was the first to tell you everyone’s business in the street. ‘If you need any people to take care of those men in suits, you just give Uncle Gabbar a call.’

  Huss had sent me a few more texts wanting to ‘get something off his chest’. I figured he had spoken to Feda or Aaron and had decided now it was time to confess and face the music. I was walking heavily up the stairs when Mariam and I crossed paths. She had an empty saucepan in her hand and was just as surprised to see me.

  ‘I was just getting mum’s pot back,’ she said, her eyes a little nervous. ‘Anyway, I have to go. See ya.’

  I greeted Big Haji in her bedroom and kissed her hand. She looked feeble, her body had shrunk and she had grey spots on her face. ‘Salaam, Tayta.’

  She lifted her head like she was about to kiss me, then pulled my ear instead. ‘Why you not see me, huh? You think I won’t smack you cos I have heart attack?’

  I sat with her a little while and could hear Huss in the kitchen opening and closing cupboards. He eventually walked in with a small tub of medications, and, one pill at a time, he gently placed them in her mouth and held the cup of water to her face.

  We waited in silence until Big Haji fell asleep, then sat in the living room.

  ‘You want a V?’ It was the first thing he’d said to me since I’d arrived.

  ‘No, thanks. I can’t be long.’

  A lie. I had all the time in the world but the more I thought about the damage those videos caused, the less of my time I wanted to give him.

  ‘I know you’re angry with me,’ he began, rubbing his sweaty palms, staring at the ground. ‘But I can explain.’

  ‘Then explain,’ I insisted.

  ‘I didn’t know it was going to be this serious. I didn’t know it was going to lead to this.’

  I sat up. ‘You serious? Is betrayal that easy for you?’