BEN’S FARM, read the the sign we drove past. Orange- and brown-leaved trees and a white rail fence ran down the sides of a long driveway. We stopped at last in front of an enormous yellow barn. A bunch of sheep were scattered around the nearby paddock. Everything smelled terrible.
Captain Black introduced us to an old man in a green plaid shirt and muddy black knee-high boots. He was easily eighty years old. I assumed this was Ben.
He walked over to his ute and gave each of us a pair of boots and gloves.
‘It’s not really a farm,’ he said. ‘It’s just my house and a couple of acres. Barbara, my wife, hasn’t been well of late, and some of the workers are on leave for the week, so the animals need to be fed and tended to. I appreciate you boys volunteering your time to help an old man like me.’
Volunteer?
‘Unless one of you tells the truth about what really happened, you’ll be working on Ben’s farm all day,’ Captain Black said.
‘Wait, what?’ PJ blurted ‘Why do you hate us?’ His frustration was making his afro puff higher.
‘We told you, we didn’t do it,’ I said, annoyed. ‘And what about all the other teams? Are they going to be doing this too? Or do you only suspect the Punchbowl kids?’
‘Actually, Tariq,’ Captain Black said, coming up close. ‘I suspect this whole team – not just the Punchbowl half. And I know my suspicions are warranted. So either you boys can save everyone a bunch of bother and tell me what I already know, or you can enjoy a day in the countryside.’ He took a deep breath. ‘Ahhh, just smell that fresh country air.’
One of the sheep started taking a massive piss in the nearby field.
Captain Black eyed Matt, who was looking at the sheep with complete horror. PJ grabbed Matt’s arm and pushed him away from the firing line.
‘Man, I love farms,’ Lee said, rubbing his hands together. ‘My grandparents had one in Vietnam before the American soldiers burned it down.’ He raised an eyebrow ironically at Captain Black. The ex-Navy SEAL didn’t bat an eye.
‘But wasn’t that, like, ages ago? Before you were born?’ Ibby asked. ‘So how come you love farms?’
‘Well, when they came to Australia with Dad by boat in the seventies and settled in Sydney, their backyard was like a mini-farm. Veggies and stuff everywhere, chickens. They had a goat, too, when I was a kid, but it ate all of Bà nô .i’s flowers, so she made Ông sell it. They kept a bunch of photos of the old farm in Vietnam too.’
‘Whoa, Nintendo,’ PJ said, taken back. ‘Your family came here by boat?’
Lee nodded. ‘Yeah, most of my dad’s side were war refugees. Uncles and aunts and some of my cousins. A few of them died on the way. And I think Bà lost most of her sisters in the war.’
PJ shook his head. ‘I thought refugees were all from Iraq and stuff. What about your mum? She a refugee too?’
‘Mum? Nah, she’s a full Eastern Suburbs princess. Her parents were totally posh Saigon socialites who moved here when they were pretty sure the war wasn’t going to end well for them.’
‘Well, we’re glad you’re here,’ old Ben piped up. ‘I prefer Australia now with all these cultures and different people than the Australia I knew growing up.’ I looked at him in surprise.
He shuffled us across the paddock to a tin shed, where the smell of manure burned our noses. Matt swallowed a couple of nausea pills. All the while, Ben told us about the jobs around the farm.
‘The cows got milked this morning, so they’re all good. But I haven’t had the time to clean out the dairy, so that needs doing. Careful of the bull there, by the way, he’s a cranky old thing.’ He gestured to where a black-and-white bull stood glaring at us over a wire fence. ‘Best stay well out of that paddock.’
Ibby swallowed nervously. ‘Um, is that fence strong enough?’ Ben thought he was joking and laughed. ‘I’ll need you to move the sheep over the road to that field over there. Take the alpacas too, of course.’
‘The al-what-as?’ Huss muttered.
‘The goats need drenching, so you’ll need to get them over to the race. I’ll show you how to drench them, it’s really easy.’
‘Um, Ben?’ Riley asked. ‘What’s drenching?’
‘It’s a worm treatment, mate,’ he answered, without breaking stride. For an old guy, he sure moved fast. ‘You syringe it into their mouths.’
Ibby looked like he was going to pass out at the mention of ‘syringe’. I could hear Captain Black sniggering behind us.
‘Chook house needs cleaning too. Pretty sure there’s a rotten egg in there somewhere, from the smell, but you’ll probably need to get everything out because I couldn’t find it when I looked yesterday. It’s well hidden.’
Well, that sounded awesome. I actually wished I was back at school, at Miss K’s poetry thing. At least then I’d be smelling Jamila’s coconut hair, not a hundred types of animal shit and – apparently – a rotten egg.
Ben set us up as it began to drizzle lightly, then disappeared with Mr Archie and Captain Black. Probably off watching camera footage of our shitty farm day, laughing all the way. The dairy shed was covered in cow manure, a stinking, slippery sea in the rain. Our boots didn’t do much good as we slipped and slid across it with shovels, scraping everything off the concrete and into the next field. I could hear Matt gagging the whole time. At last we left Aaron to hose the cleared concrete down and made our way over to the sheep, who ran around like morons when we tried to move them.
‘Gotta work as a team, lads,’ Mr Archie called from over near the house, where he had come to watch us. ‘Think like a sheep dog.’
‘Did he just call us dogs?’ Ibby panted.
The alpacas were much smarter than the sheep, and much more aggressive. They spat phlegm at us as we rounded them up, hitting Lee right in the chest. We raked away the leaves and the chicken shit and scraps in the chicken pen, where the stench of rotten eggs was really strong. I made an executive decision and ordered Matt to sit this one out – far out, away from all of us in case he lost the battle with his puke. The chickens flew around and pecked at us. One huge black rooster, the size of a small child, stood sizing PJ up, and I was pretty sure someone was about to lose an eye.
‘Someone’s going to need to go in there and find that egg,’ Aaron said, gesturing to the little chicken house at one end of the pen.
‘Be my guest,’ I retorted.
‘Hey, I’m not volunteering!’ he said. ‘Aren’t you the one who’s obsessed with being captain?’
‘I’ll go,’ Riley sighed. ‘Just don’t start fighting, yeah?’ He pulled off his beanie and covered his nose and mouth with it before climbing into the chicken house. He did eventually find the egg. Unfortunately, he found it by stepping heavily on it, so the foul, exploded thing covered one of his boots for the rest of the day.
By the time we had to tackle the goats, we’d been at this crappy work for three hours. I was soaked to my skin with sweat and rain and aching from head to toe. That was when one of the goats decided he didn’t like Arabs and head-butted me in the groin.
‘All you have to do is admit that you boys made a mistake and all will be fine,’ Mr Archie said. ‘You won’t be punished for your honesty.’
I blinked back tears and tried to focus on not kicking the goat in the head. None of us made a sound. I had to admit I was surprised and impressed not only by Ibby’s self-control, but also by the Shire boys’ loyalty.
‘Hey, Riley,’ Lee called out from across the race. ‘Look. You have a twin.’
We turned to see one of the goats with a mohawk of white hair sticking up between his ears.
Huss looked over at me. ‘You gonna tell him off for being mean to Riley too?’
Before I could reply, Riley laughed. ‘It’s okay, we’ve been friends since Year Seven. He’s been saying that sort of shit to me for at least that long.’
‘Okay, lads, you can have a break now,’ Mr Archie said, calling us over to the back verandah of the house where he’d put down bottles of water and a plate of sliced oranges. ‘I need to talk to you about a few things.’
We sat in our soaked clothes and muddy boots, breathing in the cleaner air and pouring water down our throats.
‘I need to address a few things moving forward so we all know where we stand,’ Mr Archie began.
‘Are we in trouble, sir?’ PJ was trying to pull bits of grass and dirt from his hair.
Huss looked at him like he was insane. ‘What the hell are we doing here if we’re not in trouble?’
‘Just listen,’ Mr Archie interjected before an argument could start. ‘First, this animosity you guys have with Team A needs to stop, or at least be got under control. I understand that Hunter and his friends aren’t innocent in all this, but I expect Mr Wilson will be having this same conversation with them, too.’
All the members of the Wolf Pack rolled our eyes as one.
‘That Mr Wilson guy is probably their leader,’ Ibby said, picking up a slice of orange. ‘He blamed us straight away without knowing anything.’
‘Regardless,’ Mr Archie continued. ‘Whatever they’re doing, I’m the head of this team, and I’m telling you to sort yourselves out. I don’t want to see any more stupid pranks that could jeopardise your places in this competition. Remember, when they go low, you go high.’
‘You haven’t seen how low they can go, sir,’ Huss argued.
‘Nor have I seen how high you can go, lad. Second,’ Mr Archie said, when Huss opened his mouth to continue arguing. ‘I know you guys have come up with nicknames for each other, but I’m worried that some of them might cross the line and start to make people uncomfortable.’
My brain went through all the things we’d been through over these last four days and being uncomfortable was the least of our worries.
‘I get it, banter helps form bonds, but just be mindful that words have power. This competition was created so that you could play some footy with a new team and build relationships with different people. It wasn’t created so that you could come up with new ways to insult each other.’
I rolled my eyes again. ‘Sir, have you met any guys like us before? Insulting each other is what we do.’
‘Ey, Nintendo,’ PJ said. ‘Would you prefer Nintendo or Wii? You know Wii rhymes with Lee but it’s up to you.’
‘He means no names at all,’ Huss said, shaking his head. ‘In case we hurt anyone’s precious feelings.’
‘So Ghostbusters is out?’ Ibby asked.
‘It’s alright, Mr Archie,’ Riley said. ‘It’s better than “freak” or “Snow Boy”. Ibby’s just kidding, not bullying me or anything.’
‘So long as there is mutual respect between you and you are all okay with it,’ Mr Archie said. ‘That’s all I’m saying.’
‘Do your parents have white hair like you?’ I asked Riley. ‘Is it something that’s passed down?’
‘Not sure about my biological parents, but my adopted parents have normal hair,’ he replied.
‘Ey?’ Ibby asked.
‘He’s adopted,’ Lee stage-whispered, making Riley smile. I thought he looked a bit sad, despite the smile.
‘Yeah I’m adopted. Worked out well for me. My parents are the best.’
Mr Archie clapped once to get our attention back. ‘Look, lads, I’m not naïve. I don’t think everyone is meant to be friends and live happily ever after. But respect? That I do expect from each and every one of you in this competition and throughout your lives. I’m close to making up my mind about who will captain this team and what positions the rest of you will play.’
I felt my body tense up immediately as I heard him say that the positions would be finalised in our first proper training session the next Tuesday. He left us there to chill for a bit longer before we finished up with the goats, then headed back to camp.
Despite his loyalty to the team, Aaron and I still kept our distance. I knew he was slowly making progress with Ibby and PJ, talking to them about cars and footy games.
‘Wait, wait, wait,’ PJ interrupted him. ‘You support the Bulldogs?’ ‘Yeah, been a supporter since I was born.’
‘But aren’t you Jewish?’ Ibby asked. ‘Like, why would you support the Doggies, then?’
Huss was sitting next to me and talking, but my attention was on the conversation on the other side of the bus.
‘Half-Jewish,’ Aaron answered Ibby. ‘On my mum’s side.’
Ibby hugged him tightly. ‘First you didn’t snitch, and now you’re a Doggies supporter? Like, wallah, to think we almost killed you.’
‘Ey, Tariq,’ PJ called out. I turned around. ‘This Mayonnaise guy goes for the Doggies. We can’t touch him no more.’
Aaron’s eyes met mine for a second before I went back to my conversation with Huss. I couldn’t let him see that he mattered to me in any shape, way or form. But in my mind I knew this did change things. I couldn’t be the guy that punched a fellow Bulldogs supporter. I’d just have to beat him on the field and hope that being captain was enough to get him off my back.
‘Who cares that he goes for the Doggies?’ Huss said to me then, like he knew what I was thinking. ‘He’s still that ranga’s friend.’
I knew Huss wouldn’t get it. He wasn’t a Bulldogs supporter. Actually, he never watched any NRL games with Ibby, PJ and me at my place. He’d usually hang out with my sister Feda or even help Uncle Charlie with the bees. He had only joined the school team to hang out with us and miss classes on a Friday, and then he stayed because it turned out he was pretty great at footy.
When we at last dragged our aching bodies off the bus, we found out that marshmallows, a campfire we didn’t have to build and an ‘open sharing session’ was planned to finish off the last night of the training camp.
‘You’ll cook your marshmallows and listen to your teammates and Mr Archie and I will help guide your conversations,’ Captain Black told us. ‘Just a warning, most boys your age find this the hardest activity and would rather do a thousand push-ups than talk about their feelings.’
‘Feelings?’ Ibby asked with disgust. ‘What’s that got to do with footy?’
‘Communication, lad,’ Mr Archie said. ‘If you’re going to play with a new team, it’s best you get to know each other a little. Believe me, it’ll make a huge difference to your game, especially for the captain.’
Aaron and I straightened up.
After the soaking we’d had on the farm all day, it was nice and warm sitting around the fire, hearing the river rush past. For the first time since we got here, I felt calm. There was no noise, no chaos, no running laps around the field, and especially no sign of Hunter and his team.
Captain Black went straight for the deep stuff. ‘One thing you’ve never told anyone before.’
We all looked around, unsure of who was meant to go first. This was probably my last chance to show Mr Archie that I should be the captain, so I decided to lead by example.
‘I’ll go first,’ Aaron and I both said at the same time.
It was clear he was thinking along the same lines as I was.
‘Jinx,’ PJ called out.
‘You can go,’ Aaron said.
‘Nah, you go.’ I didn’t want him to do me any favours.
‘Ya Allah,’ Ibby said, rolling his eyes and waving his marshmallow stick. ‘I’ll go first.’ He cleared his throat. ‘I want to be a chef when I finish school. I want to cook in the best restaurants and then one day open my own place in Punchbowl, making the sickest Lebanese food.’
‘Why?’ Captain Black asked.
‘I don’t know. I just want to,’ Ibby said, peeling the melted marshmallow off his stick. ‘Everyone knows I love food.’
‘You do know why,’ Captain Black replied seriously. ‘Let the group really know your reason.’
Ibby chewed the marshmallow slowly. ‘I guess…I guess it’s because I want my food to be something that keeps, you know, like…families together. When Mum got sick, I felt like I was by myself. The only time I saw my brothers was when we had food on the table.’
‘I think you’ll make a great chef one day,’ Mr Archie said with a smile.
‘Maybe if there are boys who don’t have anyone to cook for them, like if their mums get sick, they can come to my place and I’ll give them a discount.’ Ibby then laughed, one of those laughs that covered up a whole lot of tears.
I patted him on the back. ‘You good bro? We’re here, yeah?’
PJ put him in a chokehold. ‘Man, I luv ya, bro.’
Next up was Lee.
‘I first started my YouTube channel about my gaming videos just for fun. But then when more and more people started subscribing, I realised I could actually make money,’ he said. ‘I’m saving it so my parents and grandparents and I can go visit Vietnam.’
‘No one’s been back since they migrated?’ Captain Black asked.
‘No. My parents work all the time. But I also think my Bà has always been too scared to go back. Like, in her head, it’s still a full-on war there, or something?’ Lee shrugged. ‘But I reckon if we all go as a family, she’d be alright. And maybe we can try and find out some more about what happened to her sisters and the other people in Dad’s family who never made it out. If they wanted to, I mean.’
‘That’s so good, Nintendo,’ PJ said. ‘I know you say some weird stuff but I respect ya man.’
‘How about you, PJ?’ Captain Black asked. ‘Anything you haven’t told anyone?’
PJ’s big brown eyes suddenly looked small. ‘My boys know everything about me. They’ve always had my back.’
Mr Archie tilted his head towards the Shire half of the circle. ‘These lads don’t know you yet.’
‘Ummm. Well, I play guitar and sing at my church with my Grandma Ceci.’
PJ’s Grandma Ceci was always super chill, and spoke softly to the point that if you didn’t concentrate really hard, you’d miss everything she said. She took care of PJ since his mum went to jail about a year ago and baked us banana bread when we hung out. Grandma Ceci sang us songs while PJ played his guitar and was always one of the first volunteers to cook at our school events alongside my mum.
‘Anything else you want to add? Maybe about your family?’ Captain Black asked when PJ shook his head.
PJ had only spoken about his mum a couple of times, and both those times he had broken down and cried. When he got the news that she’d been caught with drugs and had her sentence extended, he completely lost it and started throwing chairs around the school hall. Mr Ahmed was the only one who had been able to calm him down.
‘Alright, who’s going next?’ Mr Archie asked when it became clear that PJ wasn’t going to share anything else.
‘Does it have to be deep?’ I asked. I’d been lucky my whole life with my family and friends. I had no hidden depths like my friends did.
‘No,’ Mr Archie said. ‘You share whatever you feel comfortable with.’
‘Wait, what?’ Ibby said skewing another marshmallow on his stick. ‘I thought it had to be serious.’
‘It’s okay, lad. The point of this gathering is to get to know each other on a deeper level and show that we’re all going through our own difficulties and challenges,’ Mr Archie reassured him. ‘It’s also about trying to find ways to communicate. If you talk about things and get them off your chest, you’re less likely to want to punch people in the face.’
We laughed, then Captain Black looked at me from across the fire. ‘How do you feel about your school possibly closing?’
‘Me?’
He nodded.
‘Obviously I don’t want it to, but it’s not in my control.’
‘Really? It’s not in your control?’
I could feel the tension now. He wasn’t smiling and his eyes never wavered from me. Why was he asking me these questions? What about the other boys?
Mr Archie added some more wood to the fire. ‘What would you do if you saw the gates shut for the last time, chained and locked, and you could never see your teachers or your friends again?’
I was quiet for a minute. ‘Everything I know about myself and my life revolves around that place. If it closed down, I’d be no one.’
I could feel the boys stare at me in silence.
‘Do you know what it feels like to wake up and read the stories in the news about how there’s no future for boys like us, or that we’ll never be anything but criminals. Do they know what it does to us? How it affects us? How little parts of us believe them when they say we’re nothing?’
My hands were shaking. I had planned to share something about wanting to play for the Bulldogs but something just snapped in me under Captain Black’s pressure. ‘I’d be broken if the school closed.’
Mr Archie sat beside me. ‘You are more than what they say about you, lad. I will do everything in my power to see you graduate from the place that will make you the man I know you can become.’
My eyes felt hot and I nudged Huss to go next.
‘Sometimes the teachers do my head in, but wallah, I’d be shattered if the school closed, too. I wouldn’t see these boys every day and eat manoush.’
‘What’s manoush?’ Matt asked.
‘The best morning pizza, bro,’ Huss said licking his lips. ‘Like, the cheese melts in long strings and the fatty oil runs down your hands. It’s the best.’
Captain Black looked at Aaron. ‘What about you, kid? Wanna let these boys know something about you?’
Aaron took a deep breath. ‘I never wanted to join this competition but my mum forced me to.’
The boys laughed.
Mr Archie sat back in his spot across from me. ‘Lad, you should’ve seen what I had to go through to get these boys to agree. Actually, come to think of it, most of you didn’t want to be here.’
‘You can give me more than that, kid,’ Captain Black said.
Aaron looked around at each of our faces, stopping at me. ‘I’m here because my mum thought that getting out of the house and trying something new would get my mind off the fact that my dad died five months ago in a car accident.’
The fire crackled. Aaron looked at Captain Black. ‘Is that enough for you?’
Captain Black looked over at the rest of us. ‘You guys have any questions for Aaron? Seems to me that he’s not really communicated much with any of you this week.’
I’ll admit it was good to see the instructors grilling someone other than me for once.
‘So, you’re friends with Hunter?’ PJ asked. ‘That shithead ranga who’s always on at Riley and Lee?’
Aaron dropped his gaze and began to fidget. ‘Our families –’
‘Come on, mate,’ Matt interrupted. ‘You were closer than “oh, our families work together”. That excuse got tired a long time ago.’
Lee piped up. ‘Pretty sure it was you who came up with that shitty “Snow Boy” joke, wasn’t it?’
‘Seriously?!’ Ibby asked. ‘And you’re all still so nice to him?’
Aaron stood up. ‘Okay, I’ll own that. Hunter and I were mates for a long time. And yeah, I did a lot of stuff with him that I’m really not proud of.’ He looked over at his schoolmates. ‘I was…I wasn’t a good captain.’
‘You were a bully,’ Riley said quietly.
Aaron nodded. ‘I know I should’ve done this a long time ago but…I’m sorry, man. For calling you that stuff. For all of it.’
‘What changed?’ I asked, curiously. He looked at me, not understanding. I gestured between him and Riley. ‘You know. These guys were only worth bullying before, and Hunter was worth your friendship. What changed?’
Aaron went quiet for a minute. Mr Archie had just opened his mouth to end the silence when Aaron finally found the right words.
‘I guess lately I’ve been thinking about what kind of person I want to be.’
‘Because of your dad?’ Ibby asked.
Aaron shrugged. I got the feeling he was all talked out for the moment. Riley went over to stand next to him, hand outstretched.
‘It’s all good, mate. No hard feelings.’
Lee nodded as his two teammates shook hands. ‘Water under the bridge.’
‘Yeah,’ Matt agreed. ‘Just don’t be a shithead after all this, yeah?’
Mr Archie nodded with approval. ‘Well done for taking ownership of your past, Aaron. And I’m equally impressed with you other lads accepting his apology and moving past it.’
Huss had the weirdest expression on his face. ‘That’s it? “Sorry” and it’s all good?’
‘Words can have a big impact, boys,’ Captain Black said. ‘You have to think about what comes out of your mouth, because once words are set free, no matter how big or small, they have power.’
‘But we’re just joking around,’ Ibby said. ‘People call me fat all the time but I just ignore it. Like, I accept it?’
‘Why?’ Mr Archie asked. ‘You don’t need to accept anything you don’t want to.’
PJ poked his stick in the fire. ‘I don’t like it when people call me coconut. It makes me feel dumb. But I don’t want to be the guy that chucks a sook because someone says stuff.’
Captain Black stood up and walked around the campfire. ‘Mr Archie mentioned respect to you boys when we started this exercise. Did you ever think that it also extended to respecting yourselves?’
‘Self-respect doesn’t mean chucking a sook, PJ,’ Mr Archie said. ‘It’s about recognising your own power and your own worth and not letting anyone tread on that.’
‘So, what do I do?’ PJ asked. Ibby sat up, also eager to know.
Captain Black looked at Mr Archie and smiled. ‘Well, I’m glad you asked. This is the perfect opportunity to start to develop a sense of worth.’
‘At camp?’ Huss asked, dubiously.
‘At your age,’ Mr Archie explained. ‘This stage of your life is what can make or break you, what sets you apart from those who make the right choices or those who give into their anger and their disadvantages and end up trapped in the same cycle as those who went before them.’
‘So, we should talk about what’s bothering us?’ Matt asked.
‘Yes,’ Mr Archie said, looking directly at me. ‘Don’t be the lad that sweeps things under the carpet, then explodes and goes into a rage. You’ll only end up hurting yourself and your team.’
After all of that deep and meaningful pep talk stuff, it was Matt’s turn.
‘I love surfing. When I catch a wave, I feel like I’m on top of the world. It’s the best feeling being in the water.’
‘I hate the water,’ Huss said.
‘Nah, dude, I love it. It’s not just surfing for me. It’s…freedom. I feel like I can do anything when I’m in the water.’
Last but not least came Riley.
‘Um, besides chasing ghosts, I love to draw.’
‘What?’ Ibby shuddered, and hunched his shoulders. ‘Ghosts?’
‘It was a joke, Ibby.’
The boys cracked up and it was the first time I saw Riley actually laugh properly. He took off his beanie and placed it beside him. ‘You’ve all seen my hair now so I guess there’s no point in this being on my head.’
‘What do you like to draw?’ Aaron asked.
‘Mainly trees. I know it’s weird but –’ He stopped for a second, looking over at Aaron. ‘I don’t want to keep bringing it up, but when you and Hunter started, you know, I would sit under trees and just sketch. It’s what calmed me down.’
Aaron stared at the ground.
‘Part of dealing with your anger is also dealing with the guilt when you’re confronted,’ Mr Archie explained. ‘It’s your past now, Aaron. Don’t make it your future.’
We talked a little more about trying to come together as a team, about training and how it would all work. On Tuesdays and Thursdays, Mr Archie would pick up the boys from Cronulla in the morning for training and drop them back at their school. Fridays would be game day, and because our school needed help with our image, Mr Archie had fought for the games to take place at Punchbowl Park.
‘More positive news for the area,’ he said.
We headed back to our cabins and slept like the dead. We had done so many activities during the week but not one of them had been as draining as the campfire counselling session. It took a different level of strength to let people know how I felt, and then there was all the stuff the other guys had talked about. It was a lot to take in. Knowing that Aaron’s dad had died recently sort of made sense of why he had been acting like such an ass. We weren’t best friends now and we probably would never be, but I didn’t feel the need to punch him so badly anymore. Of course, Huss wasn’t convinced and thought that this comp and Aaron were both fake. He was still only here so Big Haji wouldn’t see him expelled.
The next morning, our things were packed and we were waiting for the bus when Mr Archie called Aaron and me over.
‘I know you lads didn’t get off to a great start, but I’m proud of what you shared last night. You both stepped it up and the boys responded to your open and honest leadership.’
We both nodded, trying to figure out if there was a ‘but’ coming.
‘But…’
Of course.
‘But I must say that during the work on Ben’s farm, I thought you lads were going to break and confess you brought the firecrackers,’ he said. ‘I’m not going to lie, I’m impressed.’
‘Impressed with what? We didn’t do it,’ I said.
Aaron agreed. ‘We were all sleeping.’
Mr Archie nodded a few times and smiled. ‘I did one last sweep of the bush around Team A’s cabin. I think this belongs to one of your teammates.’
He handed me Riley’s inhaler.
Aaron and I stared at him, trying to figure out where he was going with this.
‘Let’s just say, you both now owe me,’ he said, still smiling. ‘You will have a few, shall we say, extra responsibilities, and since both of you want to be captain, you’ll have to take one for the team.’ He walked off like nothing had happened.
Without speaking to each another, Aaron and I headed over to Riley, who sat with his eyes closed.
‘I think you might need this,’ I said, handing over the inhaler. He sat up. ‘Where’d you find it?’
‘In our cabin,’ Aaron swiftly replied. ‘You must’ve left it there when you were packing.’
The bus – and crazy Beth – swung wildly into the parking lot. It looked like her driving skills hadn’t improved over the last few days.