The Recruit

34. Sickie

It was cold, spitting with rain. Every step back to Fort Harmony was agony for Ash's battered legs. He was facing an evening sitting around in a cold hut with no TV. Then he had to spend the night on a crappy mattress listening to Misty snore. Tomorrow he'd probably get beaten up at school.

But Ash was in the best mood: ninety minutes lying on Joanna's bed kissing and moaning about their lives. She put on a Red Hot Chilli Peppers CD and they sang all the words out loud. Every time Ash thought about Joanna he got such a rush nothing else mattered. When he got back to the hut Cathy and Misty were out. He was too excited to eat. Ash crashed on to his bed and daydreamed about Joanna.

"Are you deaf?" Sebastian shouted, a few centimetres from the end of Ash's bed. "I knocked four times. Fire's got our radio-controlled cars running. Want to try them?"

Ash turned over. He didn't want to get up, but it was part of his mission.

Ash had had a radio-controlled car before his mum died. It was good fun, but it wasn't safe using it around his flats. Someone would have stolen or smashed it in five minutes. Sebastian and Clark's cars were superb. They were beach buggies with big rear tyres that sprayed up mud. Instead of batteries there were tiny petrol engines between the rear wheels. Clark stopped his car in front of Ash and handed him the radio control.

"Gently," Clark said.

"I've driven a car before," Ash said, as if Clark was stupid.

Ash put the car full on forward. The engine buzzed noisily and a blue plume shot out the exhaust. It didn't move a millimetre. The wheels dug into the mud.

"Gently, dingus," Clark said.

Sebastian lifted the car. Ash lightly nudged the stick and the car blasted off at about fifty kilometres an hour.

Ash laughed out, "Cool."

He drove a big circle, nearly crashing into some trees, running under the Land Cruiser and almost rolling the car on its side as he did a sharp turn to bring the car back near to his feet.

"That was excellent," Ash said. "So fast. Where did you get them?"

"Fire and World made them when they were teenagers." Clark said. "Only thing is they're always going wrong and Fire never wants to fix them for us. He's got about six more cars in his workshop."

"Can I see them?"

"Won't let us in there any more." The workshop sounded interesting, but Ash didn't want to seem pushy about finding more out.

"What do they do there?" he asked.

"Dunno," Sebastian said. "Trying to take over the universe knowing those two."

"Anyway, I heard you got battered at school today," Clark said.

"Yeah," Ash said.

"Didn't grass, did you?"

"No way."

"Me and Sebastian used to get beaten up all the time because we're from Fort Harmony. It's not so bad now, we're two of the biggest in our school."

"We're the kings," Sebastian said. "There's a guy in my class so scared of us we click our fingers and he licks our trainers. Don't have to hit him or nothing."

"You start at Gwen Morgan in September?" Ash asked.

"Both of us do," Clark said. "There's only a ten-month age gap between us."

"At least you can back each other up."

"We've been suspended for fighting three times," Clark said. "Next time we get expelled, but I'd rather be expelled than let people dump on us."