Swan Boy by Nikki Sheehan

Author:Nikki Sheehan
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Oneworld Publications
Published: 2016-03-30T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter Nine

Johnny reached Mojo’s school by 3:11p.m. He got there in under ten minutes and hardly broke a sweat. He wondered how he’d managed it – a week before he’d been out of breath after just walking up the stairs.

Mojo was full of energy so the two brothers jogged home together, holding hands. It wasn’t very comfortable for Johnny, but at least he knew that Mojo was safe.

Back at the flat Johnny relaxed in front of the TV and let Mojo draw until their mum came home.

As soon as she stepped inside, Mojo flew at her and started talking about the reading cards he had brought home from school.

‘I can nearly read them all!’ he said. ‘And I’m allowed to keep them for ever!’

His mum smiled and hugged him.

‘Well done! You’d better show me.’

She had tested Mojo on the first few cards when Johnny came through to the living room. ‘What’s for dinner, Mum?’

‘OK, I suppose I should get on with cooking. Can you take over here though?’

Johnny lifted the top card from the little pile and held it up.

‘House,’ Mojo said.

He held up the next one.

‘Dog.’ Mojo did a little excited bounce. ‘Quick, next one.’

Johnny held it up.

‘Brother. Ooh!’ Mojo took it from him, put a piece of tape on the back and stuck the card to Johnny’s sweatshirt. ‘My teacher said we should stick the words on things so we can learn to spell them.’

‘Great, so I have to wear this until you know it?’

Mojo nodded.

‘OK. B-r-o-t-h-e-r,’ Johnny spelled it out. ‘Now shut your eyes and you say it.’

‘No, you don’t say “bee”,’ said Mojo. ‘You say “buh”.’

Johnny took the label off and stuck it on to Mojo’s T-shirt.

Mojo smiled. ‘Oh, yeah! I’m a brother too. B-r-o– It’s loooong.’

‘Get me a card and I’ll make you one that says ‘‘idiot’’ if you like. That’s shorter.’

‘Johnny!’ Typical of his mum to hear that.

‘Sorry, Mum. Only joking.’

She came over and smiled down at Mojo with his stack of cards.

‘Isn’t he doing well? He could be reading fluently soon if he starts to concentrate a bit more in class.’

‘Hey, I can do that too, y’know,’ Johnny said, grabbing a card from the very bottom of the pile. ‘D-a-d.’

Mojo looked around the room as if he had lost something, then his face dropped. He snatched the card from Johnny and walked into the kitchen. There was the sound of ripping, then the lid of the bin swinging shut.

His mum shook her head.

‘Sorry,’ Johnny mouthed. He didn’t seem to be able to do anything right any more.

‘So,’ said his mum, changing the subject, ‘did anyone mention your hair today?’

Johnny shrugged. ‘No, not really.’

What was the point in her knowing? It wasn’t like his mum could do anything about it.

She nudged him. ‘See! I told you. You didn’t trust me, but I was right. You kids nowadays are all about diversity. It’s cool to be different.’

‘Yeah,’ he said, laughing to himself.

‘Anyway, I’m glad, especially because I forgot to buy the dye. I’m really sorry, Johnny.

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