Tall Story - Candy Gourlay [17]
‘Jabs …’ I stared at the shirt. Jabby must have had it made specially. Maybe by Timbuktu, who had to make all my clothes because nothing in the shops fitted me.
‘Come on, Nards, try it on!’
I frowned. ‘Jabby, I can’t join the Mountain Men. It would be a disaster. Look at me. I’m so clumsy. I can’t even run …’
‘And that’s not all.’ Jabby was not listening. ‘You know the Arena’s supposed to recruit local teams for the big opening?’
I nodded.
‘We’re it!’
‘What do you mean?’
‘The Mountain Men. They picked us!’
‘Wow, congratulations!’ I should have been jumping up and down at our good fortune but I was still trying to process his invitation. I loved basketball. But I would be a complete embarrassment to the Mountain Men. I would be a joke. How could Jabby even consider …?
‘And guess what the other team is called.’
‘What?’
‘The Giant Killers.’
‘The Giant Killers?’
I stiffened.
‘They requested to play us specially. Nardo, people will be coming from miles around to watch us play.’ Jabby grinned. ‘And the Arena said they would give us a share of ticket receipts. We’re going to be rich!’
I understood now. ‘You mean, they will be coming for miles to see the Giant Killers try to slay a real giant.’
‘No, that’s not it.’ Jabby’s brown skin paled. ‘Wait, you don’t understand.’
I whirled around and headed blindly for the tunnel.
‘Nardo!’
I stopped and threw the shirt back at him. It lay like a puddle at his feet.
‘You just needed me for ticket sales. You don’t need a player, you need a sideshow. You only want me as the team freak.’
And Jabby said nothing.
So I knew it was true.
14
Andi
I hope Mum realizes how awesome I’ve been about the whole brother business. I couldn’t imagine any of the kids at my school being so relaxed about suddenly acquiring a sibling. Go ahead, World, bring on the long-lost relatives.
For the first time since the day Mum told me we were moving house, I was feeling buoyant. Saint Sim’s had a basketball team and the basketball team was recruiting. I had my own room and lived in a proper-sized house instead of a rabbit hutch. My brother was finally coming home. Everything was good.
I practically skipped up the steps to our front door.
Mum should be relieved to hear she didn’t need to feel guilty about the basketball any more. I glanced at the time on my mobile. It was four o’clock. Mum would be home. She shouldn’t have to leave for work for a couple of hours yet. She wouldn’t be leaving until six and Dad should be back soon from the day shift. Which was a reversal. Two weeks before, Mum was doing the day shift and Dad the night shift. They barely overlapped some weeks. It amazed me that they could still remember each other’s names.
‘I’m home, Mum!’ I yelled as I pushed through into the hall. Mum had hung a butterfly mobile that Auntie Sofia had sent years ago near the stairs. Nice. I hummed as I made my way up to my room.
‘Mum!’ Maybe she’d decided to wash the ceilings as well, or polish the grass in the garden – she was in that kind of mood.
I opened the door to my room.
‘Oh, Andi, I didn’t hear you.’
Mum was on the stepladder, hanging curtains.
It was a heartbeat before I realized what had jarred as I walked into the room.
On the floor next to my bed, two mattresses had been laid side by side.
The wardrobe door sagged open, and all the clothes I had carefully put away were now piled high on my bed.
Oh Holy Mother of God.
Mum looked at me and I could see guilt etched on her face.
‘It’s not what you think.’
I shook my head. ‘I don’t know what to think.’
‘You know, Bernardo is quite big, so I’ve put two single mattresses together to make up his bed. It’s temporary.’
‘Temporary?’ And then suddenly it dawned on me.
After the ceiling fell down, Bernardo’s room was a ruin. The ceiling had to be rebuilt, the walls repainted, the carpet relaid.
You could see right up into the attic rafters through the gaping hole in the ceiling. There was a smell like wet towels that had not dried properly