Tall Story - Candy Gourlay [25]
Mum’s voice rose above the train’s clatter like a foghorn. She was speaking in English again. ‘Cellphones are called mobiles in England.’
I glanced up. Bernardo was leaning against Mum. He sat on the floor and Mum stood next to him. His head lay on her shoulder, he was that tall. He looked dead tired. He closed his eyes and rubbed his forehead with his knuckles. Mum nattered on. ‘As for bananas, they say buh-NAR-nuhs instead of bah-nah-nahs. And the hood of a car is a bonnet. And the trunk of a car is a boot! A boot! Imagine!’
Bernardo nodded, smiling despite the frown that knitted his brow. He pulled his mobile from his jacket pocket. I was amazed he could manage to push the buttons with such big fingers. Mum’s chatter had so obviously bored him that he was checking his messages.
I glanced at the teenagers in the next carriage. They’d forgotten about Nardo and were now pole-dancing on the other side of the carriage.
And then Mum screamed.
6
Bernardo
One moment I was surrounded by the unwelcoming committee of Old Tibo and Sister Len-Len and Salim and Tim. The next: there it was, the Earth. I actually tried to slip away before its full weight could embed itself in my shoulder, but no, no, down it went, round and heavy and wet. Instead of getting away, I bumped my head against the Tropic of Cancer and bong! The world made a hollow sound, like the steel water tank behind Uncle’s house. Pieces of land shook off in great brown flakes and my shoulder was numbed by the cold of the polar ice cap.
I opened my eyes.
The unwelcoming committee was gone. There was just Jabby and Uncle and Auntie.
‘Not again!’ Auntie’s voice was shrill.
‘You OK, Nards?’ I felt Jabby’s hand on my forehead.
In fact, I felt fine. My headache was gone. I lay flat on my back on the cool ceramic tiles of Auntie’s living room.
‘Sofia, cancel the flight,’ Uncle said. ‘Let us take him to Emergency.’
‘But Old Tibo and the others will be back soon,’ Jabbar said. ‘They just went to get reinforcements. They’ll do anything to stop Bernardo leaving.’
‘Look,’ Auntie said, ‘Nardo is ill. He probably needs a drip or something.’
I tried to get up but Auntie’s arm lay across my chest like a log. ‘I feel all right now.’
The three of them looked at me. Auntie stopped leaning on my chest and I pushed myself up slowly.
‘Ay,’ Jabby sighed. ‘Thank goodness you’re back. I thought I would have to give you mouth-to-mouth resuscitation. Bet you haven’t brushed your teeth this morning.’
‘I have.’ I smiled weakly at the joke. ‘I brushed my teeth.’
‘What are you feeling, Nardo? We will take you to a doctor.’ Uncle’s voice was urgent.
‘NO!’ I shook my head. ‘Uh … really, I’m OK. I just needed something to eat. I should have listened to you, Auntie. I should have had some breakfast. I just felt light-headed all of a sudden.’ I did feel a bit light-headed so it wasn’t such a lie.
Both Uncle and Auntie sank onto the sofa at the same time. They looked exhausted.
‘But now I feel fine,’ I said. ‘Really I do.’
‘Sofia.’ Uncle turned to Auntie. ‘Let’s get him a sandwich.’
They both disappeared into the kitchen and even before the door closed they were already arguing. I could hear them through the wall. I closed my eyes. Even if they managed to agree with each other about taking me to a hospital, I was determined to leave. No way was I going to postpone my departure. If I didn’t leave now, I would never do so. Old Tibo and the others would see to that.
‘Nards,’ Jabby said softly. ‘I’ve got something for you. A goodbye present.’
I opened my eyes.
It was a basketball. Jabby had drawn a big smiling face on it with a thick black marker.
He handed it to me. ‘And I want to say sorry. I was wrong about the team and the Giant Killers. You’re right. It was not fair. So … this is just