Tall Story - Candy Gourlay [36]
Mama also buy me four T-shirt, four pair sock, two pair jean (tell Timbuktu I have wear the trousers he made me on special occasion only), pyjamas, two sweater, one fleece hoodie very warm, one tracksuit very warm. Uncle William’s jacket fit me so we have no need to buy coat. Anyway, Uncle William’s jacket is as brand as new.
I miss you. Please give my regards to Jabby, Sister Len-Len, Salim and Old Tibo.
Love,
Nardo
PS Don’t worry about happened in train. I am OK now. I have brain scan.
From: Jabbar theoneandonly@hotmail.com
To: Hipolito-Jones, Mary Ann
Subject: Pls pass to Nardo ‘Michael Jordan’
Hipolito
Dir Nardo,
Sister Sofia show me your email n I was very impress!!!!!!!! You R now d genuine English gentleman speaking d Queen English like James Bond dressed in d genuine English hoodie. D brain scan sound like gud idea – maybe dey find your brain at last!!!!!!!!
Bad news about Mountain Men. D new contractor said more building work needed. What a waste of a good basketball court! Not yet ready for grand opening. So our game wid Giant Killers postponed until further notice. Bad trip, man.
But never mind. My secret entrance still there. So I go every day to d Arena to shoot hoops.
Without further adieu,
Jabs
17
Andi
Like Cinderella I closed my eyes and wished.
I even had a little debate in my head: wish for something that could actually happen, wish it won’t rain tomorrow … or wish for something noble like Peace on Earth for ever and ever amen. But no. I wished for the impossible. I wished that the Souls would make me their point guard.
Which would have been grand if I actually did believe in magic stones.
Of course I don’t so it didn’t matter what I wished.
It was worth it, though, if only to see the smile on Bernardo’s face – so wide I thought his head would split in half.
Dad and I were watching TV when they got back from the Tall Man shop. Ma said she found the shop on the internet and the blurb had said ‘for men six foot four and taller’.
Bernardo was already wearing his new clothes. He looked so pleased – you would have thought he’d won the lottery.
The Tall Man shop should have called itself the Old Man shop – the T-shirts had collars, the trousers were high-waisted with turn-ups, the trainers were boring white, no stripes, no brand, no nothing – but anything was better than those horrible home-made sandals and Velcro trousers. I don’t suppose Tall Man had much of a range – there can’t be that many Shrek-size men in England.
Apparently trousers were hemmed on the shop floor to make sure they fitted even the tallest people. Who would have thought there was such a place?
In fact, Bernardo looked OK.
More than OK.
He looked almost normal.
He looked warm too (Mum bought him two sweaters and he had both on, and the fleece, and the tracksuit jacket, and we were indoors). Which made me realize how cold he must have been since he arrived.
No wonder he boiled the house.
‘TA-DAA!’ Mum said with a theatrical flourish.
Bernardo bowed from the waist, his head just missing the pendant lamp in the sitting room.
Dad had a hand over his mouth like he was stifling a cry of joy. Then he got up and hugged Bernardo (around the chest, by the way, because unless Bernardo walked around on his knees it was impossible to reach anywhere near the top of his head) and said, ‘You look terrific, son.’
Huh. I could tell it was only a matter of time before Dad was going to tell Bernardo to call him Dad.
‘Call me Dad,’ Dad said, and his eyes were kind of red and puffy like he felt like crying. Mum’s eyes got red and puffy too and they leaned towards each other like two old trees.
My eyes stung and I rubbed them. Crowd hysteria. One person starts crying and it sets everyone off. I opened my eyes and realized that Mum was glaring at me. She obviously thought it was my turn to say something nice or at least burst into tears.
So I said, ‘Yeah, Bernardo. You look really cool.’ I meant it too. Cool. As in: no longer uncool.
‘Thanks you,’ Bernardo said.
‘You are welcomes,’ I said