Specky Magee by Felice Arena Page B

taken his eye off the ball. He gracefully soared a metre above the bully’s shoulders, digging his shoes into the bully’s face on the way. With his fingers fully extended he lunged for the ball, and successfully grabbed hold of it. It was a sensational specky!
    The other bullies watched on, shocked, as Specky landed firmly on both feet. They shook their heads, completely taken aback by his talent.
    ‘I don’t believe it,’ one of them gasped.
    ‘Get him!’ shouted the leader.
    ‘Go, Speck! GO!’ hollered Robbo and Danny, as they grabbed all of their school bags and scurried off in the opposite direction.
    Specky ran as he had never run before. He didn’t dare look back, but he could sense that the bullies were in hot pursuit. His lungs were burning and his heart pounded loudly against his ribcage. It was difficult to sprint with a footy in one hand, but he wasn’t going to let that get in the way. Specky bolted across the park, then threw himself over a fence, shot off down an alleyway, sprinted through a stranger’s back yard, charged up over a steep hill, then dartedacross a bridge, and finally made it into his street. He choked for air as he slowed down to an exhausted and unstable jog. His face was dripping with perspiration.
    When Specky reached his house he collapsed in a heap on the front lawn. Panting and puffing, he just managed to raise his head to make sure that the bullies were nowhere in sight. He had successfully escaped from them—with Robbo’s ball safely in hand.
    But just as he thought he had had enough drama for one afternoon, his mother called him in to pick up the phone. He stumbled back to his feet and wobbled into the house to take the call. It was Christina on the other end.
    ‘Hi Specky. My dad is directing tomorrow night’s live show of Sensational Stuff! and told me that Blade Furlington will be a guest on it. Would you like to come with me and see the show? I thought it might cheer you up, and you’ll be able to get a closer look at your real dad. We may even be able to meet him after the telecast. So, how about it?’

19 CHRISTINA’S CARLTON
    ‘Specky, are you there?’
    Christina could hear Specky gasp. She could tell he was shocked by her generous invitation.
    ‘Yeah, I’m here,’ he replied, still panting heavily from his terrifying run.
    ‘Well, what do you think? We can pick you up after school. You can have dinner at my place, then we’ll go with Dad to the TV studios. Okay?’
    Specky paused before giving an answer. A million questions ran through his head. What was he doing? How could he do this to his mum and dad? But what if Blade was his father? Would he go to watch Specky play footy? That would be the best. Maybe they could just be friends? But would that be right?Would Specky live with him? But he didn’t really want to leave Mum, Dad and Alice. Maybe he could arrange visits to Blade’s home? Maybe Specky could have two dads? Maybe this was his only chance? Specky wondered what Blade was like in real life. Would he be like Specky? What did he have to lose?’
    Specky let out a big sigh.
    ‘Yes, I’ll come,’ he said hastily. They then made plans about where to meet.
    ‘Bye, Specky. And don’t worry, it’s going to be so much fun.’
    ‘Yeah, okay, bye,’ said Specky, hanging up the phone, not convinced that he had made the right decision.
    Later that evening, in bed, he tossed and turned, thinking about the big day that awaited him. He finally got to sleep around 3.00 a.m. At breakfast he realised he would have to explain to his mother that he wouldn’t be around after school.
    ‘Mum, Robbo asked me over to his house after school today. I’m invited for dinner. We’re going to work on our homework together. Will that be okay?’
    ‘Sure. But let Robbo’s parents know I want you back at a reasonable hour.’
    Specky caught Alice glaring at him suspiciously from across the table, and he started to feel a little uneasy about lying to his