The Story of Tom Brennan by J.C. Burke

for themselves.'
    I nodded. At least he hadn't included big-mouthed in the list.
    'Brianna's mum's from Melbourne. She used to be some hot-shot lawyer.' Rory leant over onto my desk. 'Apparently,' he whispered, 'she wanted to hide one of the Afghanis who worked at the abbatoir in Aralen. You know Aralen?'
    I nodded, omitting to tell him I'd spent Saturday there.
    'Well, his visa was about to run out and she was going to hide him so he didn't have to go back.'
    'Rory!' Mrs Spielman barked. 'Sit up and stop distracting Thomas.'
    'She doesn't look well,' Rory muttered under his breath.
    At home room, Harvey made an official announcement about the footy trials while I stared out the window.
    'There'll be a note going out tomorrow,' he explained. 'Trials for grade teams will commence at 3.30 pm sharp on Tuesday of next week. Training will start two weeks after that.'
    'When's the comp start?' Soupe asked.
    'We'll have a few friendly games first. I think the Shield officially starts in April after the Easter break.'
    'When will the games be, Sir?' asked Jimmy Rogers, according to Rory a freak runner.
    'Some after school, some on weekends, Jimmy. The old geographical inconvenience factor will determine that. But we'll know well in advance, I hope. Anyway, off you go. Home time.'
    The Shield Harvey had been talking about was the Wattle Shield. I had to fight hard not to get sucked into the black tunnel, so I concentrated on my folder, unclipping the pages, then reclipping them.
    Rory was hanging around my desk, talking away, but I wasn't listening. I couldn't, 'cause the darkness was getting closer, choking my breath and squeezing my brain. All I could do was watch my fingers, clipping and unclipping.
    Rory tapped my desk. 'So see you there,' he said.
    'Yep.'
    My heart was pumping overtime. I could feel my forehead and underarms breaking into a sweat. I was going to have big wet patches like we used to stir Snorter about. Before I knew it only Harvey and me were left in the classroom. He had his back to me, writing on the whiteboard. I closed my folder and was about to make my exit when he piped up.
    'Have a chat, Tom?'
    I opened my mouth to say 'no' but heard myself say, 'Yes, Sir.'
    He turned around and leant against the whiteboard. 'How are you finding it?'
    'Okay, Sir.'
    'It's a big change for you.'
    I nodded.
    'Tom, I know your family is very close and private and I respect that,' he said. 'But if you want to talk at any . . .'
    'I'm fine, Sir.' I didn't want to sound rude but he was right. We were close and we were private. I didn't want him thinking I'd hung back because I wanted to talk to him. I started to back out of the room but he kept on.
    'Looks like you've got to know some of the fellas.'
    'Yeah.' Da da da da .
    'Rory's a good bloke. He'll look after you.'
    I nodded.
    'He plays five-eight too.' Harvey looked at me, waiting for me to say something. But what? Oh, great, Sir, it'll just be like Daniel and me!
    It was torture. Being force-fed Gran's lamb's fry would be better. He wasn't going to stop, so I let him talk and I shut down, just managing to nod and grunt enough to keep him off my scent.
    'Well, I won't keep you,' he finally said. 'I'm glad you're meeting them.'
    'Huh?'
    'You know where it is, don't you? Probably been there a thousand times.' I wasn't sure if Harvey was asking me one of those rhetorical questions. 'Just past the southbound servo.'
    I must've been looking blank.
    'The pool?' He frowned at me. 'Isn't that where you're meeting?'
    'Oh? Yeah.' That's what Rory had been telling me at the end of home room. 'The pool. Yeah. Thanks, Sir.'
    The pool was a piss-hole, but what else was I going to do? It was a better option than going back to Gran's. She had some prayer group going on till 6 pm.
    'G'day,' said the bloke at the turnstiles. I recognised him from the tip game; he'd played for the north side.
    'Dollar eighty,' he said. 'Student rate.'
    I dug around in my pocket for some change.
    'You're Brendan's