I love cars
big small
V8s classics
one day
I’ll be a mechanic
on a race team
Since Chris lost his best mate, Dave, cars are all he really cares about. Then Josh Carter moves to town. His dad is a famous racing car driver and everyone wants to be Josh’s friend. But as Chris soon discovers, Josh is a bit of a motormouth, and that’s where the trouble begins…
puffin books
Contents
CARS
MECHANICAL
THE FIRST TIME I SAW JOSH
WHAT I SAW
BORED
LEANNA
TALKING
DAD
BACK TO SCHOOL
BIG MOUTH
DETENTION
ARRIVAL
GET LOST
STICKING CLOSE
INTRODUCTION
WALKING
CRICKET
NO WORRIES
MATE
JOSH ASKS
ONE STEP IN
THINKING
DREAMING OF CARS
JOINING IN
STORIES
NUMBER ONE STORY
QUESTIONS
EVEN THE DOG
JOSH’S HOUSE
RACING STAR
JOSH’S MUM
GIVING IN
WEEKENDS
STORIES FOR ME
GUIDE TO SHOPLIFTING
IS IT A GAME?
CHICKEN
SCORN
NO WAY
REASONS WHY
TWO SIDES
BAD DREAM
SUSPICION
STUCK
CAUGHT OUT
PUNISHMENT
EXPLOSION
WONDERING
CUT OFF
SEARCHING
MATERIAL
STUNNED
BEATING
OVERNIGHT
WHAT WILL HE SAY?
STORM
THE ANSWER
TALK
WHAT ABOUT MY DAD?
FORGIVING
FRONTING UP
AMENDS
MOVING ON
To Brian, with love,
and one foot on the accelerator!
I love cars
big small
V8s classics
one day
I’ll be a mechanic
on a race team
I already know
how to service
Mum’s car
she says I’m her
resident expert
I have 27 model cars
my favourite is
the 1966 Ford Mustang
one day I’ll own
a real one.
I wash Mum’s car
with shower water
polish it
sit behind the wheel
I like looking at the engine
reading the car manual
working out
what everything is
and how to fix it
she takes it
for a tune-up
on Saturday
so I can watch
Bill shows me
how to do stuff
I replace spark plugs
drain the oil
watch the computer analysis.
I’m not allowed to touch
Dad’s car.
I wasn’t looking to buy
in the toy store
no money
just looking
to dream
model cars, shiny
lined along the shelf
finally I dragged myself
away, stopped
looked back
and there he was
cool
calm
touching the red MG
I’d been drooling over
then he was gone
and so was
the red MG.
maybe he bought it
maybe he’s rich
maybe he had a bunch
of cash in his pocket
except
his eyes went
zip zip
his hand went
zap
like a frog
nabbing a fly
the MG disappeared
into his blue jacket
he didn’t see me
but I saw him
move so fast
I wondered
if I’d imagined it.
holidays suck
when there’s no one
to hang out with
don’t even ask
where my best mate Dave is –
it’s no place I can go
Mum gets home from work
‘have you been
lying there all day?’
‘I’ve been out’
I say
‘behaving?’
‘yes, Mum’
I nearly mention
the boy and the MG
but she’s off to yell
at my sister.
it was good
being mates
with my sister
riding bikes
kicking the footy
then she went
to high school
now she wears
more make-up
than Mum
and tells me
to rack off
spends all night
on the phone
or hogging the computer
giggles like a loony
high school didn’t just
give her a timetable
it gave her
a bad personality transplant.
Mum tries to help
she thinks talking
sorts out everything
but talking reminds me
of Dave and
all the great times
we used to have
before a man in a truck
drove over a car
Dave’s dad’s car
with both of them
still in it
talking makes me imagine
Dave in that car
that’s enough to make me
crazy.
Dad’s a fitness freak
up at 5.30am
pounding the streets
drinks low-carb beer
does sit-ups
in front of the telly
he liked me playing cricket
with Dave
tries to get me
down the park now
batting and bowling
with him
or up before dawn
riding my bike
while he puffs
and sweats
and says, ‘you
should be running too’
he hates me
slobbing around
wants me to join
scouts, athletics, soccer
how many times
can I say no?
I don’t know what’s worse
home on my own or
school on my own
the other kids avoid me
like I’m contagious
I don’t care
that’s what I tell myself
in class, I sit
up the back
just like we used to
Ms Ives frowns
every time her eyes
focus on me
don’t tell me
how sorry you are
please
just let me
hold it together
on my own.
if it had to be anyone
I might’ve known
it’d be Britanny Lowe
‘hey, Chris’
‘hey’
&n
bsp; she chews gum
with her mouth open
‘didja go to
Dave’s funeral?’
‘yes’
‘was it, like, sad?’
‘yes’
‘didja see his
mangled-up body?’
I’ve never hit a girl before
first time for
everything.
first time for
detention too
picking up rubbish
after school
with rubber gloves
better than writing
I must not hit Britanny
a hundred times
in the playground
alone
the rubbish bin
I let out some tears
only two
one for Dave
one for me
that’s enough.
I stare out of the classroom window
at the fence
and two bushes
Ms Ives taps on the board
my eyes move slowly
my brain kicks in
it’s him
that kid
that blue jacket
‘class, I want you
to welcome Josh Carter’
Josh
looking cool
looking friendly
looking at me.
Ms Ives puts him
next to me
says, ‘Chris will
look after you’
not
I don’t want a new friend
to kick the footy
watch movies
hang out
I want my old friend
back.
at first this kid Josh
sticks to me
like chewie on my runners
he asks questions
about school
but he doesn’t ask
about me
he’s smart in class
does exactly what
Ms Ives says
the other kids
are checking him out
his spiky blond hair
his famous-brand jeans
Britanny and Emma giggle
‘he’s cute’
not to me
to me he’s a pain.
after lunch, Ms Ives says,
‘tell us about yourself, Josh’
he stands up the front
his face is flushed and sweaty
‘we’ve just moved here,
Dad’s still overseas
he’s a racing car driver
that’s his job’
Josh shrugs
like it’s no big deal
but suddenly every boy
wants to be his friend.
after school
he’s back again
right next to me
‘can I walk home
with you?’
‘whatever’
we walk in silence
I don’t want to ask
but it spills out
‘does your dad
really race cars?’
‘yeah –
I don’t see him much’
he sounds sad
not proud
we keep walking.
Dave was a cricket man
spin bowler
middle order batsman
hated winter
hung out for summer and
cricket whites
I played because
he did
spent hours in the nets
whacking at
his googlies
he was getting good
now I shove
my bat and pads
as far under my bed
as they’ll go.
I don’t have to worry
about Josh
annoying me now
he’s in a crowd
of his own
playing footy
cracking jokes
telling stories
about his dad
I’m on my own again
left in peace
but I can’t help
listening in.
I watch Josh at school
he’s everyone’s mate
I wonder what Dave
might’ve thought
Dave was mates with everyone
not just me
but I was his best mate
Josh has a million of them
he’s always got lollies to share
he laughs a lot
ignores the girls
mostly ignores me
except sometimes I’m sure
he’s looking at me.
‘how come you don’t like me?
how come you never
want to have a kick
or hang out?
what’d I do?’
how do I answer
when the answer is
Dave?
I’m OK about being on the outside
it’s quiet, calm
I can think
and remember
good times now
sharing a chocolate thickshake
the look on his face
when he hit a six
then one day
Josh sits down next to me
says, ‘what’s happening?’
gives me a jelly snake
says ‘come and have a kick’
and I do.
I think about Josh –
what he said –
I think about Mum
telling me
I need to move on
I don’t want to
let Dave go
how do you
let your best mate
fade away?
but the truth is
I’m lonely
and Dave’s not
coming back.
I don’t want a new friend
Josh is OK
I saw him steal that car
or did I imagine it?
everyone likes him
I’m not sure
he wants to hang out
I want to ask him
about his dad
so does everyone else
I don’t want
a new friend
I want to stay
in my cocoon but
he brings my dream
close enough to touch
I ask him over after school.
at school
I stop sitting out
of all the games
I kick the footy around
I talk about
that show on TV
I listen when Josh
tells us about
his dad’s last race
I win
the farting competition
I tell a great joke
that Mum told me
(but I don’t say
where I heard it)
in class
Josh and I laugh
draw racing cars
in each other’s notebooks
Ms Ives never says a word
I start to feel almost
normal again.
Josh’s stories
about his dad
are like legends
everyone’s heard them
doesn’t matter
if they’re not
totally true
they sound good
he brings a poster
of his dad
in front of a racing car
to show us
unrolls it carefully
points out
every little detail
it’d be so cool
to have helmets
and racing gloves
lying around the house
instead of
smelly runners
and bike pants.
at lunchtime
J
osh has an audience again
kids hang on
every word
he describes how
last year
he and his mum
went to the Silverstone track
in England
to watch his dad
how his dad
took him for a lap
in his BMW race car
so fast
his eyeballs nearly
bounced out of his head
how the other drivers
kidded around with him
how the pit crew
let him watch everything
and help change tyres
it seems totally amazing
to me.
‘who’s your mate?’
Dad asks
the first time
he sees Josh
at our house
I explain
‘he’s just a kid
from school –
not like Dave’
Dad takes to Josh
like a flea to a dog
makes us hot chocolate
asks Josh a lot of questions
next thing Dad invites him
to come running
at 5.30am
Josh acts like
Dad’s asked him
to climb Mt Everest
and I laugh.
everyone in my family
likes Josh
even our dog, Chocker
Leanna actually talks
to Josh like