Nowhere Boys (7 page)

Sam was sitting on top of the half-pipe. Andy was standing on one leg, reaching as high as he could with his mobile in the air.

‘Even if you get a signal, who are you going to call?’ asked Jake as he slumped down next to Sam.

‘Didn’t go well, huh?’ said Sam.

‘You were right. She didn’t have a clue who I was.’

Felix moved uncertainly towards them.

Sam looked up. ‘What’s the go, man? Your mummy not tucking you in for the night?’

Felix shrugged. ‘Guess they didn’t like me that much after all.’ He sat on the other side of Sam.

No-one spoke. Felix tried to find the courage to apologise.

‘Listen, about before …’ he began. ‘I just … it’s a lot to take in and –’

‘Tell me something I don’t know,’ said Sam.

Felix tried again. ‘You were right. What you said. We need to stay together. Work out what’s going on.’

‘And how do you plan on doing that?’

Felix wished he had an answer, but the truth was he had absolutely no idea.

‘Well, we can’t stay here all night,’ said Andy eventually. ‘Two nights out in the open and we’ll probably get a pneumonic infection.’

‘What do you suggest, Bear Grylls?’ snapped Jake. ‘Build a shelter from the bones of tree frogs?’

Felix looked up at the rapidly darkening sky. He needed to take control. He was the one that had got them into this mess, so he had to get them out of it.

‘There’s an old abandoned shack in the bush,’ he said. ‘If it’s still there, maybe we could make camp?’

‘What about food?’ asked Sam.

Jake shrugged. ‘There’s an apple tree at the back of the footy oval?’

‘All right, then, let’s do it.’

The shack wasn’t all that far from Felix’s house. He led the others along a couple of quiet suburban streets, that backed onto the bush, then down a grassy slope towards a bush track. The four boys walked along the track, devouring apples. Night was falling and the deepening shadows made it hard to see where they were going. Felix led the way, his mobile phone held out in front of him like a torch. At least it was good for something. He hoped against hope that the shack was still there. When he and Oscar were kids, their dad had brought them out here to fish. He’d taught them to swim in the river and they’d made campfires and spent hours playing spotlight in the bush. But they hadn’t been here for a long time. Two years and three months to be exact.

The track came to an end and there, in a clearing, was an old dilapidated bushman’s shack.

‘It’s here!’ said Felix, relieved. He ran to the door, and the rusty lock came off easily in his hands.

The door creaked open and the boys stepped inside.

Miscellaneous junk – ropes, hessian bags, old boating equipment – dotted the floor.

The others looked less than impressed, but Felix didn’t care.

‘We can use the bags as blankets. And there’s a river close by for fresh water.’

He rummaged around at the back of the shack, and returned with an old gas lantern. He lit it with his lighter and placed it in the middle of the space. ‘Ta-da!’

‘Think I preferred it when I couldn’t see it,’ Jake mumbled.

‘Shelter is essential for survival,’ said Andy. ‘Good idea, Felix.’

‘Don’t suppose there’s anything here to eat,’ said Sam, looking through an old cupboard.

Nobody felt much like talking. As the night turned black, they lay down, exhausted, on the floor, covered in old hessian bags.

Eventually, Felix heard the rise and fall of their breathing as they slept. But Felix couldn’t sleep. His mind raced. What had he done? He’d meant to make things better, not worse.

Quietly, he picked up the gas lamp and went to sit by the window. He was going to fix this. He had to.

He slid his Book of Shadows out of his bag and laid it reverently on top of an old crate. He turned the pages until he came to the spell he’d written out and recorded. What had gone wrong? There had to be a clue. If he could work out what it was then maybe he could find a way to change it. He’d be able to do that. He was sure of it.

As he re-read the spell, the hairs on the back of his neck prickled.

He turned around. The others were still fast asleep; Sam snoring like each breath was his last. He turned back to the window, allowing his eyes to adjust to the darkness. The air was still, but there was a small movement behind a tree.

Was something out there? Was someone watching?

And then, as if a switch had been flicked, the gas lamp went out.

jake:
to be or not to be

Jake squatted behind a parked car. From here he had the perfect view of an attractive two-storey house.

How often had he and his mum talked about their ideal house? Big, white, a view of the river. He’d wanted a basketball hoop in the front garden. She’d wanted a pergola covered in purple flowers. And here it was. Everything they’d ever dreamt of together.

Only they weren’t together. Jake bit his lip. He imagined that record-scratch sound they always did in movies when the fantasy gave way to the grim reality. Sure, his mum had the perfect house, but what did he have? A falling-down dump and three stinking shackmates. He sighed. Coach Wilson would definitely call that a bad trade-off.

A BMW pulled into the drive. Jake watched as his mum got out of the car and popped open the boot. Yesterday he’d chased her car for five blocks and then blundered up to her, full of certainty. He was her son, surely she could see that?

Today he knew better. She didn’t recognise him. She didn’t
need
to recognise him. In this world, she had a whole new life. A new house, new wardrobe, and …

Jake’s thoughts were interrupted as he saw a man walking out of the house towards his mum. A poodle barked at his heels. The man had a confident stride and was wearing a pale pink polo shirt.

His mum bent down and picked up the yapping cotton-wool ball. She smothered it with kisses before putting it down and wrapping her arms around the man who, now that he thought of it, looked a lot like Mr Bates.

Jake did a double take. It
was
Mr Bates!

Jake shook his head. No. There’s no way his mum would be with his bossy, annoying knob of a science teacher.

But she started to kiss him. Jake wanted to look away but he couldn’t. His mum was kissing Bates?

They broke apart and Bates reached into the boot to help his mum take out some heavy-looking boards. He placed them beside the car. They were real-estate boards, and emblazoned across the top of them was a picture of his mum and the words
SARAH BATES REAL ESTATE
.

Sarah Bates? They were married? His mum was a real estate agent? This couldn’t be happening. This wasn’t right.

Without thinking, Jake suddenly stood straight up from his hiding place.

Bates looked over at him as he slammed the boot of the car. ‘Who the hell are you?’

Jake was totally sprung but he didn’t care.

He turned to his mum. ‘You’re married to
him
?’

His mum took a step towards him.

‘Careful, Sarah, he could be dangerous.’

‘It’s fine, Brian.’ She looked carefully at Jake. ‘Why are you here again?’

‘
Again
?’ said Bates, exasperated. ‘Is this kid harassing you?’

She shook her head. ‘No. Well, we did meet yesterday in rather odd –’ She grimaced, and her hand flew to her head.

Jake watched her, concerned. She’d done the same thing yesterday. ‘You okay, Mu–’ He stopped himself.

‘Who are you, kid?’ demanded Bates.

‘Good question. Maybe I can get back to you on that.’

‘Don’t be smart. I’ve every mind to call the police.’

Jake almost smiled. That he’d like to see. His dad arriving to protect his mum. That would sure be a first.

Bates wasn’t going to let it go. ‘What are you doing, hiding there?’

Jake wanted to yell back,
What are you doing married to my mum?
But he knew it would just make things worse. He gestured to Telly’s bike lying on the road. ‘Got a flat.’

His mum staggered slightly.

‘Sarah, you all right?’ Bates asked, concerned.

‘Just a migraine coming on.’

That wasn’t like her. She never got sick. Ever.

‘You don’t get migraines,’ said Jake.

‘You’re right,’ she said, surprised. ‘I don’t. How did you –’ She staggered again.

Bates supported her and turned back to Jake. ‘Take your bike and clear off. I don’t want to see you around here again.’

Jake stood there hopelessly, watching Bates lead his mum back to the house.

What was his mum thinking? His dad was bad enough, but Bates? How could she see anything in that uptight schmuck?

Jake rode to his old neighbourhood. He didn’t need the bike anymore. There was nothing left to chase after.

He found Telly, dressed in a Superman outfit, jumping off his garage roof and pretending to fly.

Jake dumped the bike. ‘Thanks for the loan,’ he called.

But Telly was too busy extracting himself from a pile of mulch to respond.

Jake took one last look at his house. He’d always been ashamed of how povo it looked. Most of the footy team didn’t even know where he lived. He was too embarrassed to tell them. But right now he’d give anything to open the front door, go inside and for everything to be exactly the way it was before. It didn’t matter that he and his mum would never be able to afford a big, white house. He’d be happy just to curl up on the ratty old couch in the lounge room and admire the view of the neighbour’s brick wall.

But if he went anywhere near his front door he’d probably get bludgeoned to death by that hairy biker. He took a deep breath and walked determinedly in the other direction.

In town, Jake found the others standing beside two large dumpsters at the back of the Mini Mart.

‘Where’ve you been?’ asked Sam.

He shrugged. He couldn’t tell them about Bates. Couldn’t cope with the humiliation. Sure, the others had their own problems, but at least their parents were still married to each other.

‘Felix is instructing us in rubbish eating,’ said Andy brightly.

Felix sighed in frustration. ‘It’s not rubbish, okay? Food gets thrown out when it reaches its use-by date. It’s perfectly edible.’

‘So, what do we do?’ asked Jake.

‘They call it dumpster diving,’ said Felix. ‘You basically just take anything that’s edible.’

Jake suddenly realised how long it had been since he’d eaten anything other than apples. ‘I’ll do it,’ he said. ‘Give me a leg up, Sam.’

Sam looked surprised, but linked his hands.

Jake pulled himself up. He rolled the lid of the dumpster back and threw one leg over the metal side. It stank like hell in there. He lifted his other leg over and landed with a thump in a foul, moist mess of rotting food. But Jake didn’t care. It was a welcome distraction. It took his mind off his mum kissing Bates, and her whole new perfect life. Plus he could avoid the others asking him questions. They’d find out soon enough, but for now he wanted to keep it to himself. He didn’t like talking about personal stuff. When his mum and dad split up, everyone wanted him to talk about it. He hated that.

He checked out a box of doughnuts. Only two days past their use-by date, with a little bit of mould. He chucked them out to Felix and scrounged around some more. A carton of custard. He threw it over the side.