Bleakboy and Hunter Stand Out in the Rain Read Online Free PDF Page A

what’s going to happen next.
    â€˜Hunter!’ calls Watson. It takes him a minute to notice that Hunter is carrying two bags and one of them is his.
    Hunter turns to Samuel instead of Watson. ‘Hey, Samuel,’ says Hunter, his voice flat and quiet. ‘Which bag do you want?’ Hunter holds Watson’s bag in front of him. ‘This one, or yours?’
    â€˜That’s mine,’ says Watson.
    Hunter and Samuel ignore him. Samuel points to his own bag, still in Watson’s grip. ‘Mine,’ he says. ‘Please.’
    Hunter stares at Watson. Watson looks furtively around the park. The woman and her personal trainer are jogging away, heading toward the path along the creek.
    â€˜We were just having fun, weren’t we, Samuel?’ says Watson.
    â€˜No,’ says Samuel.
    â€˜Come on, Hunter, it’s just a game,’ says Watson, his voice uncertain.
    An old man drives slowly along the path on his mobility scooter, his shopping in the basket on the handlebars. He wears a peaked cap and has a pipe in his mouth, the smoke trailing behind, like a faulty exhaust. He slows down when he passes the boys.
    Watson says, ‘Hey.’
    The old man stops his cart. He takes the pipe out of his mouth. ‘Can I help you?’ he says, in a deep voice.
    Hunter smiles. ‘No, thank you, sir. Watto thought he recognised you, that’s all.’
    The old man looks at Samuel on the grass. Samuel nods his head. Watson swallows hard and doesn’t say a word. The old man puts his pipe back into his mouth and takes a slow puff, before driving away.
    Once the man is out of hearing range, Watson chucks Samuel’s bag on the grass. Samuel jumps up, gathers the bag and runs past Hunter to the path beside the creek.
    Watson looks at the ground and says, ‘Can I have my bag, Hunter?’
    Hunter waits until Samuel is out of sight.
    â€˜Come on, Watto.’ He smiles. ‘You can do better than that.’

7
    jesse
    On the way home from school, Kate catches up to me at the street corner. She’s whistling a slow mournful sound. We don’t speak until she finishes.
    â€˜That sounded so sad,’ I say.
    Kate smiles. ‘It’s the mating call of the humpback whale.’
    â€˜A live humpback whale,’ I add.
    Kate giggles. ‘Skye is such a …’
    â€˜Stresshead?’ I suggest.
    â€˜Blubber guts! And I don’t mean whale blubber either.’ Kate looks at me. ‘You were the only one who understood, Jesse.’
    I nod.
    â€˜I thought Sarah would get it,’ Kate says.
    â€˜Teachers are scared of tears,’ I say.
    â€˜I was going to suggest we all write protest letters to the Japanese Embassy.’ Kate smiles. ‘I thought we could save the whales and get out of maths in the same afternoon.’
    â€˜Algebra makes my brain hurt,’ I say.
    â€˜The only good thing about maths is watching Hunter squirm in his seat all afternoon,’ Kate adds.
    â€˜How many times can one boy go to Walter?’ I say.
    â€˜Maybe his bladder and brain are connected,’ Kate says.
    â€˜Yeah, and they’re both leaking,’ I respond.
    Kate laughs. ‘Is that toilet humour?’
    She stops walking and takes off her backpack. She rummages inside and brings out her notebook. ‘Do you have a pen, Jesse?’
    I reach into the side pocket of my backpack and take out a pen, handing it to her. On a scrap of paper, Kate writes something and gives it to me, along with my pen.
    â€˜The Japanese Embassy?’ I ask, stuffing it in my pocket.
    â€˜Of course,’ she says.
    â€˜I’ll write soon,’ I say. I wonder what Trevor would think about saving the whales. I’m sure he’d support it. Then, as usual, the next thought I have is if Trevor really supported the whales, he’d have a word … upstairs … to God.
    â€˜What are you thinking about, Jesse?’ Kate asks.
    I swallow hard.