‘You don’t get it, do you, Joe? You’re the lucky one. I wish I was going away to boarding school instead of having to stay home, making dresses and curtains, darning holes in smelly old socks, and sewing on buttons, hundreds of damn buttons. Mum and Dad have worked really hard to save money to send you to a good school and this is the thanks they get!’ Noni was looking up into the tree, squinting, trying to find me and avoid the blinding rays of the late afternoon sun.
‘They can keep their bloody money, I’m not going!’ I said, looking down through the branches of the tree at the bottom half of Noni’s pink and blue dress and her skinny white legs. ‘He hates me! He wants to get rid of me!’ I shouted.
‘What do you expect after all the trouble you’ve caused? Dad could go to gaol if the police find out about his bookmaking business.’
‘Who’s going to protect Mum when I’m miles away at boarding school?’
‘That’s a bit rich! Most of the fights have been about you lately.’
‘Piss off !’
‘I’m telling Dad.’
‘Yeah? And I’ll tell Dad about your secret kissing and cuddling sessions in the backyard with what’s-his-name every Saturday night.’
‘You wouldn’t dare!’
Kit climbed up the tree onto the branch below me. ‘I don’t want you to go,’ he said. ‘We won’t win the cricket shield without you.’ I can always rely on Kit to lift me up when I’m feeling down. ‘Who’s gonna keep Chicka Barnes away from me? He wants to chop me up into little pieces and use me for bait!’
‘He’s just trying to scare you.’
‘Have you seen the size of the fish he catches?’
Kit has a lot of growing up to do. Maybe he’ll grow up faster if I’m not here to look after him all the time, I thought.
‘I’ll pick you up from school,’ Noni called out. ‘Chicka Barnes doesn’t scare me. It’ll give me a break from sewing.’
‘But you’re a girl! He’ll pick on me even more if he sees me walking home with you. Nobody ever picks on me when Joe’s around.’
‘Please yourself, I’ve got work to do. Mrs Hargraves is collecting all of the dresses in the morning. The wedding’s on Saturday. I hope it doesn’t rain or the silk will be ruined.’
‘I hope it pours and all the classrooms at St Bart’s are flooded and the school is closed for good!’ As soon as I started throwing acorns at Noni, Kit joined in.
‘Ow! You little bastards!’ She yelled, running towards the back door. ‘I’m telling Dad. You’ll get a belting for this!’
‘Hey Joe, you’ll miss out on Dad’s beltings while you’re away,’ said Kit. ‘Maybe boarding school won’t be so bad after all.’
Always the optimist – he drives me mad sometimes.
‘You think so? Harry says they use a bull whip on the boys at St Bart’s.’ Kit looked alarmed. ‘They’ll have to catch me first!’ I said, as I swung down onto the branch next to him. We sat and watched the sun set then waited for the full moon to appear above the rooftops.
It’s the same tree I’ve been climbing and the same moon I’ve been watching for as long as I can remember. It’s where I’d come to hide from Dad and to dream of other places I might go, things I might do, people I might meet. I could’ve stayed up there in that old oak tree all night, staring at the moon all night. You can’t do that with the sun, you’d go blind.
‘Hello moon,’ I said to myself. That was how I’d greeted it ever since I was a little boy. I didn’t feel much like that boy anymore.