Chapter 14: Blown Away

Thursday May-10 2007

Thursday started with a surprise snap test in maths. Chris had faced the test with dread; maths tests were his worst fear. But the real surprise about this test was that he actually knew how to solve the problems, knew that he wasn't just guessing.

It came from taking notes for Shahia on the Monday. The first subject he'd had to do this for was maths, and he'd bent all his energies on getting a good set of notes for her; her words ringing in his head: 'if I stop getting good grades — poof, this will all be gone'. He'd struggled, not understanding the basic principles of the subject, and so for the first time, he'd actually followed carefully, taking a note of the examples the teacher had worked through when some other kid hadn't understood. Midway through the second example, he'd suddenly got it, like a light bulb going off in his head.

At the same time, another light bulb had gone off in his head too — he'd always claimed that he was trying his hardest, but he now realised that he'd only been pretending to himself. If it hadn't been for taking notes for Shahia, he'd have watched the examples, thinking that he had nothing to learn from doing the same thing again and again.

He'd taken that new attitude into each period since then, but he hadn't expected it to pay off quite so quickly.

After school, he joined a group of his friends on the field. Tuesday was the official First Eleven practice, and a group of them, some from the First Eleven and some others, had started their own practice match after school on Thursdays. He left his bag on the edge of the field, made sure that the others knew he was playing, and then headed off to the school gate.

At the gate he found Hassan hanging around waiting nervously for him. He'd invited Hassan to come join them on Thursdays once it was clear that Hassan was really interested in soccer, and that he was tough enough to mix it with the bigger boys. Football wasn't supposed to be a contact sport, but it happened a lot, and you had to be prepared to get hurt. Hassan's eyes had widened and he hadn't been able to say yes fast enough. Shahia had grudgingly given him permission, but only on the condition that he'd done all his homework before Thursday night.

Chris had checked with Shahia during the day, so he knew the answer, but he still asked anyway. "So, done your homework?"

Hassan nodded eagerly. "Oh, yes, definitely."

"Okay, come and play."

Chris led him onto the field, and arrived as they were huddled together in the middle of the field choosing teams.

"Hey, everyone, this is Hassan. He's a friend of mine, and he'd like to play with us. Is that okay?"

Chris could see some doubtful looks.

"I know; he's a bit small. But he's a tough little bugger, so you can hit him hard if you need to."

He watched as Hassan stood up taller at that comment, grunting his agreement.

Craig, who was one of the team captains — they were using his ball — nodded. "Chris, you're on my team, so he can join us. Hassan, you ready to run hard?"

Hassan nodded eagerly.

"Okay, you're out in the right wing in midfield. You gotta be free when we're bringing the ball forward, if you get it, try to cross it to me or Jake here, and you need to be back doing defence when they have the ball."

It was a hard match; the First Eleven players were spread across the teams, and since there was only eight a side, and they were playing on a full field, it was certainly a big work out.

Chris was surprised at how well Hassan kept up. He'd been nervous when he first raised the idea of Hassan playing with them, not knowing whether he was fit or tough enough, and knowing that he had to make Hassan sound tougher than he was or they'd make him unwelcome. It was only the knowledge that Hassan was ready to take a few hits and Shahia's words about his other friends that had made him do it.

Hassan was definitely missing a little in the speed department; that would almost certainly come later when he finished growing. For now, he had to make up for that by working harder, resting less. The game had only been going a few minutes when Chris intercepted a long-range cross, chested it down in front of him, saw that Hassan was free — still trying to catch his man ‑ and knocked it his way.

Hassan turned around and made a beeline up the sideline with the ball. Chris watched in dismay as David ran him down from behind, and then simply ran straight through him, leaving Hassan a crumpled form on the ground. Hassan was still lying there when Chris intercepted David, and banged the ball out of bounds. Then he ran up to Hassan, worried about what he'd find.

Hassan propped himself up on his elbows when Chris approached. Chris could see him breathing as hard as could, but he could also see a manic smile on his face.

"Oh, yeah, did I get blown away or what?" Hassan gasped between breaths.

"You okay?"

Hassan nodded. "Just winded. I think I'm right now."

Chris reached down and helped him up. "You might think about passing it earlier next time; you just don't have the speed here."

Hassan started to reply, but David interrupted them. "You okay, kid?"

Hassan turned, punched David lightly on the arm, and said, "Yeah, great. I'm going to do that to you next time."

David laughed. "Good luck, mate!"

For the rest of the match, Hassan tried to match it with David. He was definitely beaten in every aspect of play, but he still hassled David enough that it helped his team gradually become dominant. Even better, from Hassan's point of view, was that towards the end of the match they got a corner, and from the loose, scrappy ball that followed, Hassan managed to knock the ball into the goal. It made his day.

When Craig called out that it was five o'clock and time to stop, Hassan simply collapsed on the field where he was. Chris grabbed his water bottle and took it over to him. When he got there, David was talking to him.

"You're only twelve?!"

Hassan nodded, now with a solemn look on his face.

"Tell me that you're going to be coming to this school next year!"

"Sure."

"That's great! My brother is too. I'll bring him along next week, and you can face off on each other."

Once David wandered off, Chris sat down next to Hassan and watched him drain the water bottle. He'd have to remember to bring two next week.