Crossfire by James Moloney Read Free Book Online Page A

one of the listeners was going to ask why they were suspended, and CT was going to tell them the truth. He had to act quickly.
    â€˜Yeah, we got suspended. Smoking,’ he said, and as he spoke he dug his elbow ferociously into CT’s ribs and turned towards him with an equally ferocious snarl on his face that clearly said, ‘ Don’t give the game away’
    Then came the strangest revelation of all. From behind them, Kieran Doggitt commented, ‘Taking after your mother, are you, Luke?’
    â€˜You mean his father, don’t you?’ said Jacko.
    â€˜No, no. I mean his mother, Alison. She used to get suspended from high school all the time. It was a standing joke.’
    â€˜You’re the one who’s joking,’ chided Jacko. ‘From what I’ve heard about Luke’s mum, I can’t imagine she’d ever get thrown out of school.’
    Luke was flabbergasted that Doggy should say such a thing. As far as he was concerned, he was with Jacko. Alison would never do anything wrong, never break any rules. Luke glanced across at his father, who said nothing. His mother and father had been at school together, had been childhood sweethearts. Surely he would know that Doggy was deceiving them all. It couldn’t be right.
    But Doggy was insistent. ‘Look, dead set. I was at school with Alison and Wayne and I’m telling you, she was a real tearaway. Spent more time in the Principal’s office than the classroom. I bet she still holds the record for the number of suspensions. How she wasn’t expelled, I’ll never know.’ He turned towards Wayne for confirmation. ‘Come on, mate, tell ’em it’s true. You were the one so proud of Alison’s record.’
    All eyes gravitated towards Wayne Aldridge, whose own eyes found his son while he debated whether to give Doggy’s story the stamp of proof. He wasn’t worried that Luke would find out something disreputable about his mother and think less of her for it. But to Wayne’s way of thinking, his former wife’s rebellious behaviour at high school was a badge of distinction and he didn’t want Luke to find that his mother had outscored his father in such an outrageous manner. But he couldn’t think quickly enough to come up with a smart crack that would get him off the hook. He blew out his cheeks and turned towards Doggy. ‘Yes, Alison was a wild one. She was suspended plenty of times.’ He tried to sound casual.
    So it was true. Luke was stunned. His mother, the dragon, the tyrant, the woman who hit the roof if he so much as thought about breaking a rule was a legend amongst her old school mates for just such behaviour! It didn’t make sense. Why does she run my life so strictly? he asked himself. Surely, she should understand …
    To change the subject, Wayne had started on an old story about Dave, which everyone had heard before but yearned to hear again, and in the midst of this and the revelations about Alison, the issue of whether Luke could join the men on their shooting trip became lost and forgotten. Forgotten by all except Luke, of course.
    The stories and the banter and the trips to the bar for another shout of beers continued until cheers and commotion at the centre of the grandstand signalled the arrival of the players. The game got under way. Up there on the terraces, amongst the rowdy huddle where Luke sheltered happily next to his father, avoiding the touch of the winter breeze, the game provided a handy new focus. Until now, they had swapped amongst themselves the outrageous insults and savage mockery which the group always seemed to generate. All this could now be directed at the players who sweated and cursed on the field. For Wayne and Jacko and their mates, the real game was to make everyone else laugh. They were all very good at it. Luke enjoyed the jeers, the wise cracks, the shamefully biased abuse of the referee as much as he took delight in