Chapter 4
Surf’s Up

Another Saturday morning. A car pulls up and I race to the front-room window. Samantha squashes next to me and Mum presses behind us. Spy-force, that’s us. Just need binoculars to check out what’s happening. Rob’s gone outside. Leo’s standing next to him, carrying his computer games. Leo’s mum gets out of the car. She’s thin with black hair like Leo. She and Rob are talking and Rob isn’t smiling. Leo is staring at his shoes and he’s not smiling either. Rob’s hand is on Leo’s shoulder.

‘Can you hear them?’ Samantha asks me.

I head to the open front door with Mum and Samantha tagging behind. Nanna can’t hear anything, so she stays in her chair patting Puss.

‘If you were any type of a father, you’d drive up and see Leo every week,’ Leo’s mother shouts. I can’t hear what Rob answers. ‘Isn’t he important to you?’

That’s so unfair. She doesn’t know anything. Leo is important to Rob. I watch Leo standing there looking at his shoes. His face is white. I get this bad feeling in my head. How can Rob drive up to see Leo at Port more than he does now? It’s five hours away and Rob works and has us. Anyway, she was the one who took Leo to live up there.

‘It’s all right for you moving into a new house with a big garden. What about Leo? We live in a tiny apartment.’

Rob speaks clearly and loudly, not like Rob at all. ‘Leo, say goodbye to your mother.’ He nods at her. ‘So you’ll collect him tomorrow afternoon.’ Rob grabs Leo’s arm and they walk toward our open door. She slams the car door shut and a man, I guess it’s Leo’s stepdad, speeds away.

Leo just stands in the lounge room holding his computer games. We all say ‘hi’ to him. He says ‘hi’ under his breath.

Nanna’s green eyes twinkle. ‘You’ve grown taller, Leo.’

We’re all standing around like stuffed tomatoes. I have to do something. ‘Rob’s moved a table into my room for your games, Leo. Do you want to look?’ I’d been really angry about the table. I feel like a rat now. That gives me an idea. ‘Do you want to see Hector?’ Leo shuffles after me.

We check out Hector, then my ponto. Leo looks interested before he sets up his computer games. I notice a photo of Leo and his mum on his screen. Guess he loves his mum. I end up working on my new fungus experiment. Leo doesn’t talk, but we both look up when Samantha and Nanna arrive with chocolate-chip cookies for Hector. ‘Hector’s not allowed so many cookies, Nanna.’

She giggles. ‘Just a little treat.’ Nanna sprinkles a few broken-up ones in Hector’s bowl. Hector loves Nanna. Then she and Samantha head off to give some choc-chip crumbs to the mice. I give up.

Suddenly Rob’s head appears in the doorway. ‘Are you boys right?’ Leo keeps playing his games. The car scene this morning flashes into my mind. Why is Leo’s mum so angry? It’s not Rob’s fault. It’s not Leo’s fault either. I feel bad. I’m going to force myself to be Leo’s friend, whether Leo likes it or not.

‘Pack your things away. We’ve got work to do. A barbecue.’

I like barbecues. Last week, Rob and I set up the barbecue area next to the sunflower patch. It’s so good having our own backyard. I give Leo a tour of the shed and show him his bench and the metal locker. Rob’s put Leo’s surfing gear there. Leo’s looking a bit happier. ‘No one will touch your stuff here. It’s your space.’ Then I remember Samantha. She could ‘borrow’ something. No, I won’t say anything to Leo. He’s got enough problems.

It’s teamwork. Everyone pitches in bringing out the blue-checked tablecloth, plates and knives, glasses, sausages and steaks, salads, salt and pepper, tomato sauce. Christopher will be over soon with bread rolls. His mother is coming which is really rare. His parents hardly ever leave their bakery. Christopher works there most afternoons as well.

Leo’s helping Rob get the barbecue going. It’s sizzling when Rob throws sausages onto the hotplate. I yell out, ‘Hey, Rob, how do you know sausages don’t like being fried?’ Ha, ha. Rob doesn’t know. ‘Because they spit.’

‘That’s smart, Jack.’ Rob grins.

‘Yep, that’s me. Smart.’

I grab my camera and click Mum rocking around, Nanna eating cookies, Leo flipping sausages. The Napolis arrive and I click some shots of Mrs Napoli waving her arms in the air. ‘The banana cake you sent us was very beautiful.’ She hugs Mum, who loves compliments. I click so many photos of Anna that she starts laughing, so I take some more.

Christopher and his mum arrive. He’s holding up a ball. We’ll play handball this afternoon. Anna quickly says hello, before she and Samantha check out the mice. Someone needs to clean their cage soon. They always smell.

‘Come and get it,’ Rob calls out. Leo’s sticking pretty close to him, and I want to hang out with Christopher for now. Mum makes sure everyone has plates, ready for the feast.

I squirt tomato sauce over the sausages and take some bread rolls, then Christopher and I head toward the back porch where Nanna is sitting. ‘Here’s a sausage, Nanna.’ She loves sausages. She doesn’t like steak because it’s too hard to eat and her teeth slip out. Straight away a big blob of sauce plops onto her blouse. That’s Nanna. Her wrinkles crease into a smile. ‘Your grandad would have loved this.’ I wish Grandad was here. When we visit him next time in the cemetery, I’ll take my ponto and show him. ‘Where are your grandparents?’ Nanna asks Christopher.

I’ve never thought about Christopher having grandparents. He just goes to school with me, and there’s his mum and dad, and he’s my mate. (I know Anna has grandparents who live in Italy. The Napolis are planning to visit them next year.)

Christopher takes his handball out of his pocket and squeezes it. I don’t think he’s going to answer. ‘I remember my grandmother. My dad’s mother. She lived with us but died when I was little.’

‘I’m so sorry, Christopher.’ Nanna gives a toothy sigh. ‘And what about your other grandparents?’

‘They never got out of Vietnam. Soldiers from the north took them away. No one knows what happened to them.’

Nanna reaches out her knobbly hand to Christopher. ‘Jack’s grandfather fought in Vietnam.’ I’ve seen Grandad’s medals but I don’t really know what happened. ‘What’s your Vietnamese first name, Christopher?’

What first name? Christopher is one of my best friends — I know his name.

‘An.’ Christopher looks really uncomfortable. ‘It means Peace.’

How did Nanna know? How come Christopher never told me? He speaks Vietnamese but never talks about Vietnam. I know he’s clever at school and wants to be an engineer and he plays great handball. I didn’t know he had another name called Peace.

Samantha and Anna run over with more sausages and rolls. Everyone is too full: even I can’t eat another sausage. Mrs Napoli pours her home-made grape juice into cups and then she says the boring, annoying, dumb word. ‘Wedding.’ Mum’s face lights up and there’s a girl huddle with Mrs Napoli, Nanna, Samantha, Anna and Mum and they start. ‘What about the dresses for the wedding?’

Christopher and I give each other the look. We’re going to play handball.

I turn around and see Leo. ‘Do you want to play, Leo?’ He looks at Rob and then they both walk over. The side wall of the garage is just right for handball.

Christopher wins two sets and I win two sets. Leo wins one set. ‘We’re pretty good.’ I pummel Christopher’s back. I’m chasing him when his mother calls out that they’re going back to the bakery. When we stop, I whisper in his ear. ‘Are you going to tell me? We’re mates, aren’t we?’ Christopher shrugs, but he knows I’m talking about Vietnam and his name.

‘Later.’ He races toward his mother.

I’m going to ask Nanna about Grandad and Vietnam later too. The Napolis are leaving as well. Mum packs left-over salads and cake for them. Anna waves, but we’ll see her tomorrow because she’s coming to the beach with us. Rob calls out that he and Leo are walking to the shops to buy milk. ‘We’re short of milk,’ Rob says, but it’s a lie. We’ve got enough milk. I get a shooting pain in my head. Then I look at Mum and Samantha and Nanna. I’m all right.

*  *  *

Sunday morning. Rob walks in with a determined look. He checks the thermometer. ‘Perfect weather, not too cool and not too hot.’ He takes out the juicer squisher and six oranges. Glasses are lined up on the kitchen bench. Breakfast is quick with cereal, toast and orange juice. Surf’s up and we don’t want to waste time.

Leo’s ready with his board. I’ve got mine. Samantha has hers. Nanna stands there in her faded yellow beach dress with her yellow sunhat. ‘Your grandad loved this dress.’ She brushes out the creases. Nanna talks a lot about Grandad. We’re visiting Grandad at his grave soon.

Mum whirls into the room with her yellow sunhat, holding one for Samantha. Nanna loves the sunhats especially since she bought them at Susie’s Super Discount Store. Nanna always says she’s so clever to have found them. ‘The best bargain in the shop.’ Photo opportunity. I snap hats and girls. It’s going to be a great shot. We could walk to the beach, but Nanna can’t make it that far, so we pile into Rob’s car. Anna’s waiting in front of Napolis’ Super Delicioso Fruitologist Market with Mr Napoli. Leo and I start laughing. Guess what? She’s wearing her yellow sunhat, bought by Nanna. Everyone’s laughing. Nanna knows she’s the star and gives a huge toothy grin.

The waves are rolling in. I’m hanging out to get into the surf but I have to help Mum move Nanna out of the car. Hurry up, Nanna. Hurry up. We organise a fold-up chair for her and the sun umbrella. It takes forever. At last Nanna saves me. ‘Go have a swim. Stop fussing.’ I love Nanna. ‘I’ll enjoy the beach and watching you.’

Great, we’re off. The water is just right. Leo and I head for the waves. Rob follows with Samantha and Anna. Mum stays with Nanna. We wait for a set of waves, then paddle like mad. I get a big one. Leo catches the next wave. It’s only a boogie board, but Leo’s good. Suddenly he’s half-kneeling on his board. Half-drop. I’ve been trying to do that move for ages. Leo spins the board before riding a small shore-break tube. The waves crash over him as he does a turn. Anna calls out, ‘Leo, you’re terrific.’

‘Terrific?’ I stand on my hands in the surf with my legs in the air. Anna splashes away from Leo to me. Samantha splashes behind her. As I stand up, Anna laughs and her eyes sparkle. Her wet black curls dangle over her ears and my face feels hot. ‘Hey, what kind of hair do oceans have?’ Anna shakes her head. ‘Wavy. Ha, ha.’ I’m a funny guy.

‘Not funny,’ Samantha squeaks.

‘What’s small, wet and noisy?’ I grab Samantha’s toe. ‘Samantha.’ The waves roll in and we’re off before Samantha can stick her tongue out.

I can’t believe that it’s already time to leave. We have to be home in time for Leo’s mother to pick him up. As we drive home, Leo is quiet. Rob says, ‘You can stay whenever you want, Leo.’ That’s not really true. Rob knows it’s not true. There’s school and arguments between Rob and Leo’s mother and Leo lives too far away. ‘I’ll come up when I can.’ Rob knows he can’t get away that much. ‘You’ll be here for the wedding. It’s soon.’ That’s true.

We drop off Anna. Home, unpacking, showers, Leo’s ready just in time. There’s a loud car horn beeping. It’s his mother. I’m standing with everyone on the front porch. We watch Rob and Leo walk toward the car. Leo’s holding his computer games. We wave at him. He quickly opens the back door. He doesn’t even give a short wave. Leo looks at Rob through the open car window. I can just hear him say, ‘Bye, Dad.’