Killer Creatures Down Under by Deborah Sheldon

Author:Deborah Sheldon
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: IFWG Publishing International
Published: 2022-11-10T05:42:40+00:00

A Pack Apart

Charles Spiteri

“Do you know how to play football, wog?” Janson grinned.

Eight kids circled Joe in the playground, watching him, a rat in their trap.

“Yes, I can play football very well.”

Back in Malta, he would sit with his father during the World Cup to watch England play Italy. Malta never made it to the World Cup, so his father supported England and Joe did the same. He loved cheering and yelling with his father, though there were certain words he’d learned to be careful not to repeat.

“Well, you can play with us,” Janson said. He turned to a red-haired, freckled kid named Edgar. If Janson was the captain, Edgar was the lieutenant. “Get the ball,” Janson ordered.

Edgar ran off excitedly.

Joe wasn’t sure what they were up to. They teased him for the mortadella sandwiches his mother made (calling him “Stinky”) and they mocked his accent, and now this? Was it an opportunity to prove himself? Maybe they were testing him?

It was a test he desperately wanted to pass.

Year Seven had not started well. He had arrived in Australia three months earlier and his world had quite literally been turned upside down. He struggled to come to grips with how enormous Australia was. Malta only had small grocery stores; here they had big shopping centres. Malta only had one library; here there were libraries everywhere, with books he couldn’t find back in Malta like fantasy novels, role-playing games and comics. He had seen high-rise buildings for the first time, and trains and vast arcades, the scale of which filled him with a sense of epic opportunity.

“You know,” Janson said, “for a wog you’re not bad. You can be in my team if you like.”

It was a test.

He nodded keenly. The other kids laughed, but Janson gave them the hard stare. The laughter stopped abruptly. Edgar returned with the ball. The circle of kids split into two groups, gathering at either side of the field, with Edgar, Janson and Joe remaining at the centre.

Joe stared at the ball in Edgar’s hands: It was oval in shape, not round like the ones he had played with in Malta. That troubled him.

“You know how to play footy, don’t you?” Janson said.

“Yes,” Joe stammered, wary of how intently he was being watched.

“Let’s play,” Janson said

Edgar raised the ball with both hands and slammed it to the ground between them. It bounced up and over Joe’s head.

“Quick, pass it to me,” Janson screamed.

Joe ran after the ball. It was like trying to catch a chicken, the ball bouncing this way and that until, eventually, it settled and he pressed his foot onto it. Breathless from the effort, he looked up to see where Janson was, ready to kick the ball.

They were all laughing hysterically.

“No, you idiot,” Janson screamed. “It’s Aussie Rules. Pick it up. Pick it up!”

And Joe did.

They all jumped him, slamming him down to the ground, pressing his face hard against the concrete. They beat him and kicked him and the beatings kept coming, even once he let go of the ball.

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