Manny leaned over and served Mrs Marquez first.
‘Chilli crab pasta with lemon oil. My own recipe. I hope it meets your high standards.’
She smiled up at him and I had to zip my bowl under his spaghetti fork to stop him from ladling linguini into my lap.
He snapped out of it as soon as he saw what he was doing. ‘Henry, I’m sorry–’ He leaned down, his breath hot in my ear. ‘–Hero’s dad was from Spain, but his mum’s from El Salvador, the cradle of the Mayan civilisation–’ He broke off, flushing like a fool. Hero didn’t notice; he was too busy telling everyone for the fifth time how he’d single-handedly won the all-age relay.
‘–After the first two laps, I thought we were dead; Angelica’s little sister is, like, genetically engineered – their dad swam at Olympic trials – and we were half a lap behind by the time the Grade Threes dived into the pool–’
‘Lucky we had the Delonge twins,’ I said, teasing him.
‘Exactamundo, amigo. Lucky we had the Delonge twins. Marco and Marissa got us back in the race. By the time the Grade Six girls were in the water, I knew it was on me. I had to make my leg count. Henry was as fast as Angelica, and Briony was every bit as good as Joey, they’d cancel each other out, so–’ He spread his palms, as though needing encouragement to continue his thrilling tale.
‘So it was up to you,’ supplied Caleb helpfully, ‘to make the critical difference in the closing stages of the race.’
‘Damn straight; it was up to me.’ He leaned forward. ‘I knew that if I could open up a bit of a lead on BB, then Briony and Henry would be able to bring it home.’ He slapped the table. ‘And I was right, wasn’t I?’
We must have missed our cue because he slapped the table again. ‘Was I right?’
A rapid murmur of agreement and bobbing of heads rippled around the table. Anders and Mum both grinned at Hero, then inadvertently at each other for a split second before shying away. It was still a bit awkward, but at least they were trying.
‘Did you see me, Mama?’ demanded Hero. ‘BB had to eat my bubbles. I was smoking. Water was dead-set evaporating in my wake–’
‘You were amazing, muchacho,’ said his mum. ‘Now, eat. Or Manfred will not invite us again.’ She showed Manny another glimpse of those lovely teeth and I figured there wasn’t much risk of that.
Hero spun his fork in the pasta ‘And how awesome was Henry? Did you see how much he had to make up to beat Joey after Angelica’s leg against Briony? My tonsils were hanging out of my mouth I was screaming so loud. They should have given him a Made-Of-Awesomeness Award. He got fiveblue ribbons andhe even beat A-team in the butterfly.’
He shovelled in a mouthful and kept right on talking around the linguine. ‘Man, you are so going to Regionals this year.’
Ordinarily that kind of praise would have had me flushing like a toilet, but not tonight. Not when every person in the room was on my side.
I had my own personal cheer squad. It might not be large, but it had diversity, and that counted for more than you’d think.
In nature, it was diversity that allowed tiny populations of endangered creatures to claw their way back from the brink of extinction. I figured it would be enough for me to claw my way to a viable position in the wildlife preserve of Perpetual Suckers.
‘Regionals! Oh, honey-bun, that would be soo exciting–’
‘Well, Districts at any rate,’ I said. ‘Mr Paulson says I’ve qualified for the fifty-metres freestyle, backstroke and butterfly and the two-hundred-metres individual medley.’
‘Ma Mallory is running a special morning squad in the lead-up to Regionals,’ said Anders. ‘You interested?’
I nodded. ‘Angelica told me about it.’ I glanced at Mum. ‘I could do a paper round–’
‘No,’ said Mum firmly. ‘No more paper rounds. You’ve got money in the bank, why not use it?’
I looked at Anders, but he was hardly going to say no. He was a bigger swimming nut than I was. ‘Thanks,’ I said and meant it.
‘Happy to help,’ he said.
‘That reminds me, honey-bun,’ said Mum. ‘Mr Paulson wanted to know if you’re going on the Stradbroke weekend.’
She was working hard to keep her voice casual, but wasn’t quite pulling it off. ‘Manny and Anders are both keen, if you’re interested.’
‘I’m going,’ said Hero. ‘With my granddad. We’ve got a six-man tent if you want to share.’
‘I bags cooking,’ said Manny. ‘The rest of you can wash up.’
‘I can teach you both to surf,’ added Anders. ‘If you want.’
The tight band in my chest made it hard to get any words out. But I needed Mum to be OK with this, if it was going to work.
She reached over and squeezed my hand. Her smile was a bit wobbly, but it was there.
I got away with a quick nod because Hero was whooping it up enough for both of us.
‘That’s settled then,’ said Mum. ‘A toast.’ She held her silver goblet up high. ‘To Henry and Hero. For making the A-team.’
That cracked us both up. ‘No way,’ yelled Hero. ‘To Team Triple-H.’
‘Even better,’ said Mum.
‘To family,’ said Anders, holding up his own cup.
‘New beginnings,’ said Manny, sneaking a look at Mrs Marquez.
‘Enthralling middles,’ chimed in Vee.
‘And deeply satisfying ends,’ added Caleb.
We all clinked goblets and drank. A happy hubbub ran around the table as we ate.
Everyone had a story. Me ... Mum ... even Anders, when he could get the words out. Telling it could be hard sometimes, but it was usually the things we didn’t say, the untold stories, that ate away at us the most.
In a few short weeks, my life had been turned on its head. I was still me, Henry Hoey Hobson, the only boy in Year Seven. But I was no longer friendless, fatherless and out of my depth.
I was doing swimmingly now, thank you very much.