Motormouth Read online

  I love cars

  big small

  V8s classics

  one day

  I’ll be a mechanic

  on a race team

  Since Chris lost his best mate, Dave, cars are all he really cares about. Then Josh Carter moves to town. His dad is a famous racing car driver and everyone wants to be Josh’s friend. But as Chris soon discovers, Josh is a bit of a motormouth, and that’s where the trouble begins…

  puffin books

  Contents

  CARS

  MECHANICAL

  THE FIRST TIME I SAW JOSH

  WHAT I SAW

  BORED

  LEANNA

  TALKING

  DAD

  BACK TO SCHOOL

  BIG MOUTH

  DETENTION

  ARRIVAL

  GET LOST

  STICKING CLOSE

  INTRODUCTION

  WALKING

  CRICKET

  NO WORRIES

  MATE

  JOSH ASKS

  ONE STEP IN

  THINKING

  DREAMING OF CARS

  JOINING IN

  STORIES

  NUMBER ONE STORY

  QUESTIONS

  EVEN THE DOG

  JOSH’S HOUSE

  RACING STAR

  JOSH’S MUM

  GIVING IN

  WEEKENDS

  STORIES FOR ME

  GUIDE TO SHOPLIFTING

  IS IT A GAME?

  CHICKEN

  SCORN

  NO WAY

  REASONS WHY

  TWO SIDES

  BAD DREAM

  SUSPICION

  STUCK

  CAUGHT OUT

  PUNISHMENT

  EXPLOSION

  WONDERING

  CUT OFF

  SEARCHING

  MATERIAL

  STUNNED

  BEATING

  OVERNIGHT

  WHAT WILL HE SAY?

  STORM

  THE ANSWER

  TALK

  WHAT ABOUT MY DAD?

  FORGIVING

  FRONTING UP

  AMENDS

  MOVING ON

  To Brian, with love,

  and one foot on the accelerator!

  I love cars

  big small

  V8s classics

  one day

  I’ll be a mechanic

  on a race team

  I already know

  how to service

  Mum’s car

  she says I’m her

  resident expert

  I have 27 model cars

  my favourite is

  the 1966 Ford Mustang

  one day I’ll own

  a real one.

  I wash Mum’s car

  with shower water

  polish it

  sit behind the wheel

  I like looking at the engine

  reading the car manual

  working out

  what everything is

  and how to fix it

  she takes it

  for a tune-up

  on Saturday

  so I can watch

  Bill shows me

  how to do stuff

  I replace spark plugs

  drain the oil

  watch the computer analysis.

  I’m not allowed to touch

  Dad’s car.

  I wasn’t looking to buy

  in the toy store

  no money

  just looking

  to dream

  model cars, shiny

  lined along the shelf

  finally I dragged myself

  away, stopped

  looked back

  and there he was

  cool

  calm

  touching the red MG

  I’d been drooling over

  then he was gone

  and so was

  the red MG.

  maybe he bought it

  maybe he’s rich

  maybe he had a bunch

  of cash in his pocket

  except

  his eyes went

  zip zip

  his hand went

  zap

  like a frog

  nabbing a fly

  the MG disappeared

  into his blue jacket

  he didn’t see me

  but I saw him

  move so fast

  I wondered

  if I’d imagined it.

  holidays suck

  when there’s no one

  to hang out with

  don’t even ask

  where my best mate Dave is –

  it’s no place I can go

  Mum gets home from work

  ‘have you been

  lying there all day?’

  ‘I’ve been out’

  I say

  ‘behaving?’

  ‘yes, Mum’

  I nearly mention

  the boy and the MG

  but she’s off to yell

  at my sister.

  it was good

  being mates

  with my sister

  riding bikes

  kicking the footy

  then she went

  to high school

  now she wears

  more make-up

  than Mum

  and tells me

  to rack off

  spends all night

  on the phone

  or hogging the computer

  giggles like a loony

  high school didn’t just

  give her a timetable

  it gave her

  a bad personality transplant.

  Mum tries to help

  she thinks talking

  sorts out everything

  but talking reminds me

  of Dave and

  all the great times

  we used to have

  before a man in a truck

  drove over a car

  Dave’s dad’s car

  with both of them

  still in it

  talking makes me imagine

  Dave in that car

  that’s enough to make me

  crazy.

  Dad’s a fitness freak

  up at 5.30am

  pounding the streets

  drinks low-carb beer

  does sit-ups

  in front of the telly

  he liked me playing cricket

  with Dave

  tries to get me

  down the park now

  batting and bowling

  with him

  or up before dawn

  riding my bike

  while he puffs

  and sweats

  and says, ‘you

  should be running too’

  he hates me

  slobbing around

  wants me to join

  scouts, athletics, soccer

  how many times

  can I say no?

  I don’t know what’s worse

  home on my own or

  school on my own

  the other kids avoid me

  like I’m contagious

  I don’t care

  that’s what I tell myself

  in class, I sit

  up the back

  just like we used to

  Ms Ives frowns

  every time her eyes

  focus on me

  don’t tell me

  how sorry you are

  please

  just let me

  hold it together

  on my own.

  if it had to be anyone

  I might’ve known

  it’d be Britanny Lowe

  ‘hey, Chris’

  ‘hey’

&n
bsp; she chews gum

  with her mouth open

  ‘didja go to

  Dave’s funeral?’

  ‘yes’

  ‘was it, like, sad?’

  ‘yes’

  ‘didja see his

  mangled-up body?’

  I’ve never hit a girl before

  first time for

  everything.

  first time for

  detention too

  picking up rubbish

  after school

  with rubber gloves

  better than writing

  I must not hit Britanny

  a hundred times

  in the playground

  alone

  just me and

  the rubbish bin

  I let out some tears

  only two

  one for Dave

  one for me

  that’s enough.

  I stare out of the classroom window

  at the fence

  and two bushes

  Ms Ives taps on the board

  my eyes move slowly

  my brain kicks in

  it’s him

  that kid

  that blue jacket

  ‘class, I want you

  to welcome Josh Carter’

  Josh

  looking cool

  looking friendly

  looking at me.

  Ms Ives puts him

  next to me

  says, ‘Chris will

  look after you’

  not

  I don’t want a new friend

  to kick the footy

  watch movies

  hang out

  I want my old friend

  back.

  at first this kid Josh

  sticks to me

  like chewie on my runners

  he asks questions

  about school

  but he doesn’t ask

  about me

  he’s smart in class

  does exactly what

  Ms Ives says

  the other kids

  are checking him out

  his spiky blond hair

  his famous-brand jeans

  Britanny and Emma giggle

  ‘he’s cute’

  not to me

  to me he’s a pain.

  after lunch, Ms Ives says,

  ‘tell us about yourself, Josh’

  he stands up the front

  his face is flushed and sweaty

  ‘we’ve just moved here,

  Dad’s still overseas

  he’s a racing car driver

  that’s his job’

  Josh shrugs

  like it’s no big deal

  but suddenly every boy

  wants to be his friend.

  after school

  he’s back again

  right next to me

  ‘can I walk home

  with you?’

  ‘whatever’

  we walk in silence

  I don’t want to ask

  but it spills out

  ‘does your dad

  really race cars?’

  ‘yeah –

  I don’t see him much’

  he sounds sad

  not proud

  we keep walking.

  Dave was a cricket man

  spin bowler

  middle order batsman

  hated winter

  hung out for summer and

  cricket whites

  I played because

  he did

  spent hours in the nets

  whacking at

  his googlies

  he was getting good

  now I shove

  my bat and pads

  as far under my bed

  as they’ll go.

  I don’t have to worry

  about Josh

  annoying me now

  he’s in a crowd

  of his own

  playing footy

  cracking jokes

  telling stories

  about his dad

  I’m on my own again

  left in peace

  but I can’t help

  listening in.

  I watch Josh at school

  he’s everyone’s mate

  I wonder what Dave

  might’ve thought

  Dave was mates with everyone

  not just me

  but I was his best mate

  Josh has a million of them

  he’s always got lollies to share

  he laughs a lot

  ignores the girls

  mostly ignores me

  except sometimes I’m sure

  he’s looking at me.

  ‘how come you don’t like me?

  how come you never

  want to have a kick

  or hang out?

  what’d I do?’

  how do I answer

  when the answer is

  Dave?

  I’m OK about being on the outside

  it’s quiet, calm

  I can think

  and remember

  good times now

  Dave’s knock-knock jokes

  sharing a chocolate thickshake

  the look on his face

  when he hit a six

  then one day

  Josh sits down next to me

  says, ‘what’s happening?’

  gives me a jelly snake

  says ‘come and have a kick’

  and I do.

  I think about Josh –

  what he said –

  I think about Mum

  telling me

  I need to move on

  I don’t want to

  let Dave go

  how do you

  let your best mate

  fade away?

  but the truth is

  I’m lonely

  and Dave’s not

  coming back.

  I don’t want a new friend

  Josh is OK

  I saw him steal that car

  or did I imagine it?

  everyone likes him

  I’m not sure

  he wants to hang out

  I want to ask him

  about his dad

  so does everyone else

  I don’t want

  a new friend

  I want to stay

  in my cocoon but

  he brings my dream

  close enough to touch

  I ask him over after school.

  at school

  I stop sitting out

  of all the games

  I kick the footy around

  I talk about

  that show on TV

  I listen when Josh

  tells us about

  his dad’s last race

  I win

  the farting competition

  I tell a great joke

  that Mum told me

  (but I don’t say

  where I heard it)

  in class

  Josh and I laugh

  draw racing cars

  in each other’s notebooks

  Ms Ives never says a word

  I start to feel almost

  normal again.

  Josh’s stories

  about his dad

  are like legends

  everyone’s heard them

  doesn’t matter

  if they’re not

  totally true

  they sound good

  he brings a poster

  of his dad

  in front of a racing car

  to show us

  unrolls it carefully

  points out

  every little detail

  it’d be so cool

  to have helmets

  and racing gloves

  lying around the house

  instead of

  smelly runners

  and bike pants.

  at lunchtime

  J
osh has an audience again

  kids hang on

  every word

  he describes how

  last year

  he and his mum

  went to the Silverstone track

  in England

  to watch his dad

  how his dad

  took him for a lap

  in his BMW race car

  so fast

  his eyeballs nearly

  bounced out of his head

  how the other drivers

  kidded around with him

  how the pit crew

  let him watch everything

  and help change tyres

  it seems totally amazing

  to me.

  ‘who’s your mate?’

  Dad asks

  the first time

  he sees Josh

  at our house

  I explain

  ‘he’s just a kid

  from school –

  not like Dave’

  Dad takes to Josh

  like a flea to a dog

  makes us hot chocolate

  asks Josh a lot of questions

  next thing Dad invites him

  to come running

  at 5.30am

  Josh acts like

  Dad’s asked him

  to climb Mt Everest

  and I laugh.

  everyone in my family

  likes Josh

  even our dog, Chocker

  Leanna actually talks

  to Josh like