She stares at me and then at Ranga for a second It feels like eternity then she spins on her heels and heads out into the backyard Clean it up Ranga’s got his hands on his hips head jutting forward chin out and eyes glaring Yes clean it up he says pointing at the gunk You dirty boy He spins around twice like a ballet dancer and stalks into the lounge room leaving me trying not to crack up and spray gunk out of my mouth I’ve just got to the sink and rinsed out a dishcloth when Ranga calls out to me Hey Sticks there’s a new kid over the road I wipe up the gunk Yeah I say I saw him just before Does he live there I think so New people moved in last night Ranga comes running into the kitchen There’s something weird about him the way he was sitting there I think he saw me but he didn’t wave He just went I nod It was the same before when I saw him He looked like a retard I have this uncomfortable feeling like something bad is going to happen Ranga just said what I thought when I saw the kid but I didn’t say it Not out loud anyway I know what Mum would say if she heard me and I can’t 13
let Ranga say it either Don’t say that You don’t know what’s up with him Ranga just shrugs and picks up the PlayStation controls again 14
2 It’s a typical Monday morning We’re in home group just (cid:90)(cid:68)(cid:86)(cid:87)(cid:76)(cid:81)(cid:74)(cid:3)(cid:87)(cid:76)(cid:80)(cid:72)(cid:3)(cid:69)(cid:72)(cid:73)(cid:82)(cid:85)(cid:72)(cid:3)(cid:82)(cid:88)(cid:85)(cid:3)(cid:191)(cid:85)(cid:86)(cid:87)(cid:3)(cid:79)(cid:72)(cid:86)(cid:86)(cid:82)(cid:81)(cid:3)(cid:90)(cid:75)(cid:72)(cid:81)(cid:3)(cid:87)(cid:75)(cid:72)(cid:3)(cid:71)(cid:82)(cid:82)(cid:85)(cid:3)(cid:82)(cid:83)(cid:72)(cid:81)(cid:86)(cid:17)(cid:3) Mr Sutton the principal pokes his head in I’ve brought the new student Mr Brown he says Mr Brown jumps up He looks guilty I bet he was playing Angry Birds on his laptop He nods The principal steps into the room holding the door wide open There is a whirring noise and one of those motorised wheelchairs edges its way through the door The kid in it is our age His head is tipped forward and sideways His hand on the control joystick is clawed and twisted I can tell he is concentrating as hard as he can to steer the chair He’s pretty good at it because he makes it into the room without crashing into anything He drives to the centre of the room and turns to face the class The principal clears his throat This is James he 15
says I’m sure you’ll all make him welcome (cid:36)(cid:3) (cid:86)(cid:82)(cid:85)(cid:87)(cid:3) (cid:82)(cid:73)(cid:3) (cid:86)(cid:80)(cid:76)(cid:79)(cid:72)(cid:3) (cid:192)(cid:68)(cid:86)(cid:75)(cid:72)(cid:86)(cid:3) (cid:82)(cid:89)(cid:72)(cid:85)(cid:3) (cid:45)(cid:68)(cid:80)(cid:72)(cid:86)(cid:182)(cid:86)(cid:3) (cid:73)(cid:68)(cid:70)(cid:72)(cid:3) (cid:69)(cid:88)(cid:87)(cid:3) (cid:76)(cid:87)(cid:3) disappears as quickly as it came He is concentrating on the wheelchair controls again except he can’t seem to look directly at the joystick His head seems to want to turn to the side all the time Mr Sutton nods at us as if to say Come on where’s your manners Good morning James we all chorus Goo mooning he slurs It sounds like he is fully drunk The classroom falls silent We are all staring at James wondering And then a voice rings out in the silence He’s a retard The whole class takes a breath at once (cid:45)(cid:68)(cid:80)(cid:72)(cid:86)(cid:3) (cid:192)(cid:76)(cid:81)(cid:70)(cid:75)(cid:72)(cid:86)(cid:17)(cid:3) (cid:55)(cid:75)(cid:72)(cid:85)(cid:72)(cid:182)(cid:86)(cid:3) (cid:68)(cid:3) (cid:75)(cid:88)(cid:85)(cid:87)(cid:3) (cid:72)(cid:91)(cid:83)(cid:85)(cid:72)(cid:86)(cid:86)(cid:76)(cid:82)(cid:81)(cid:15)(cid:3) (cid:68)(cid:3) (cid:192)(cid:68)(cid:86)(cid:75)(cid:3) (cid:82)(cid:73)(cid:3) anger and then he grabs at the joystick on his wheelchair He’s having a lot more trouble getting hold of it than he was just a second ago His face twists up all over the place and there’s tension shaking his arm He goes red as he tries to force his hand to grab the joystick but it won’t obey him He leans forward and puts his eyes close to it Then he has it and he turns the chair on the spot and heads for the door His wheel scrapes the frame on the way through 16
