Midnight Message

Chapter 11 - Thursday night

‘Dinner’s ready’ Gemma’s mum calls.

Gemma heads downstairs and into the kitchen. Her dad and Zack are already there, sitting at the kitchen table staring hungrily at their plates. Gemma helps her mum carry the food to the table then sits down. Angie isn’t there. No doubt she’s at a friend’s house. Gemma thinks.

Gemma is quiet at the dinner table, distracted by thoughts of football players and egotistical boys. Lucky for Gemma, her silence isn’t noticed by her family because her brother is talking non-stop about his footy trip.

‘Remember I have to be at school at 7:30 tomorrow morning to get on the team bus.’ Zack says.

Gemma’s mum just nods, a weary smile on her face. This is the third time Zack has reminded her of the leaving time.

‘And don’t forget to wash my footy shorts tonight.’ Zack says between mouthfuls.

‘They’re washed and sitting folded on your bed dear’ Gemma’s mum says.

‘Oh yeah, I forgot. I already put them in my bag.’ Zack turns to his dad. ‘Did I mention coach wants me to give a tackling demonstration?’

‘Yes.’ Gemma’s dad says with a smile. ‘Several times.’

‘Oh right. Well Brock says it’s a really big honour. Coach only asks the best players to give demonstrations.’

There is a brief moment of silence while Zack eats another mouthful of food. Gemma looks up at her parents and they all exchange smiles.

Gemma is happy for her brother. He missed out on footy camp last year because he had already committed to attending a church camp on the same weekend. Their parents had said it wasn’t fair for him to pull out of the church camp because he had already committed to attending it. Zack had been disappointed, but he understood their reasoning. This year, luckily for Zack, the church camp had taken place two weeks earlier. Zack was so excited about finally attending footy camp with his mates. Gemma was excited for him.

She looks over at Zack and sees that he has finished his mouthful. Right on cue, his excited chatter begins.

‘Max said last year they had to run a really long cross country track and that everyone was exhausted afterwards. But then they got to swim in the lake. Apparently there’s this small cliff that everyone jumps off to get into the lake. And coach said we’ll be learning some new drills and working on pressuring the opposition. And Brock said…..’

Gemma tunes her brother’s excited comments out and finishes her dinner. When she is finished she puts her plate in the dishwasher and announces that she’s going to the Lawson’s house to babysit.

‘Have fun.’ Her mum says.

‘Thanks.’ Gemma says. She turns to Zack. ‘I probably won’t see you again before you leave, so have fun on camp!’

‘Thanks sis.’ Zack says with his mouth full of food. A few stray peas roll out of his mouth and back onto his plate.

Gemma laughs. ‘Don’t eat like that at the camp, no one will want to sit with you.’

‘They won’t care. Max said last year they had a completion to see who could fit the most pasta in their mouth at a time. Brock won. Although, apparently he only won because Ben sneezed and half the pasta came flying out of his mouth. Max also said everyone ate….’

Gemma nods and retreats out of the kitchen, leaving her parents to listen to Zack’s delightful descriptions of his friends’ eating habits.

Upstairs, Gemma grabs her phone, keys and a book. Then she heads out the front door and walks to the Lawson’s house.