Read Online After by Sue Lawson - Free Book Online Page A

to him pick his words made me think of an obstacle course. ‘I mean, I’d like it if you’d like to...’
    I shrugged.
    ‘Just don’t ask about me playing again.’
    ‘Deal,’ said Grandpa.
    ‘Grandpa, can I ask you something?’
    ‘Sure.’ His eyes were fixed on the wet road.
    ‘Today when I took off, you know...’
    ‘Hmm.’
    ‘I ended up at the newspaper office, and I saw this old front page. The headline was something about a dead baby and a boy in a coma.’
    Grandpa pulled the car to one side to avoid a pothole.
    ‘It was up too high on the window for me to read the story,’ I said.
    His right thumb tapped the steering wheel so fast, it could have been twitching.
    ‘I think I saw a name, but I’m not sure.’
    ‘What are you asking?’ said Grandpa, his voice clipped.
    ‘The boy in the coma. Was it the kid from school, Luke Bennett?’
    ‘Yes.’
    ‘So, he wasn’t always like he is now.’
    ‘No.’
    Questions filled my mind but Grandpa spoke before I could turn one into words.
    ‘Callum, about Luke, don’t go talking about it—to him. To anyone.’
    ‘How come?’
    Grandpa turned to face me. ‘Just don’t.’
    We drove the rest of the way in silence.

CHAPTER 11
    Sweat dripped down my spine, pooling between my jocks’ elastic and my skin. My arms ached and my palms burnt. My head buzzed from the effort of pushing the wheelbarrow through holes and rocks on the path. After breakfast, when I’d asked Nan if I could help, I’d meant could I peel a potato, not could I cart wood from behind the garage to the back veranda.
    But that wasn’t the worst of it. She announced, right as I was about to leave, that this time last year Grandpa had found a tiger snake hidden between the logs.
    ‘The cold slows them down,’ she added, as I walked out the door.
    As if that made me feel better! Every time a piece of bark slipped under my fingers, I expected fangs to pierce my skin. If she’d kept her mouth shut, I would have finished the job a whole lot quicker.
    After unloading the last log, I swept the slivers of wood, bark and sawdust from the concrete veranda and tossed them on the rose garden mulch. I was picking a splinter from my palm when Grandpa came around the corner.
    ‘You’ve been busy.’
    I shrugged. ‘I guess. How was the Veef committee meeting?’
    ‘VFF—Victorian Farmers Federation. Not bad. Finalised a few—’
    Nan opened the flywire door. ‘Good, you’re both here. You two need to smarten yourselves up. Deborah, Paul and the children are joining us for lunch.’
    ‘All of them?’ asked Grandpa, taking off his cap and slapping it against his thigh. Dust puffed into the air.
    ‘All except for Beth. She’s at a birthday party.’ Nan clapped her hands. ‘Well, chop chop. They’ll be here in ten minutes.’
    After changing into jeans and a T-shirt I went through my windcheaters to work out which cause to promote.
    Mum just washed, folded and ironed my stuff, then left it on the bed for me to put away. Here it was different. My grandmother collected the washing from my room, washed, folded, ironed it and put it away. She also rearranged stuff, and not just my clothes, but my books, deodorant, magazines and iPod. I knew she wasn’t just tidying—she was being nosy. But she needn’t have bothered. My secrets were packed away deep inside me.
    Car tyres crunched on the gravel drive. I guess I was about to find out who Paul and Deborah and the children were. I pulled on the green ‘Global Warming’ jumper. Voices drifted down the hall. So, too, did the smell of roasting meat and vegies.
    ‘Callum,’ called Nan. ‘Come welcome our guests.’
    Welcome guests? How English TV. I ran my fingers through my hair and strolled down the corridor to the front door.
    Nan stood inside the front door with a woman, little girl and a blonde teenager. I froze. I wanted to bolt. Hide in my room. Pretend I was sick.
    ‘There you are, Callum,’ said Nan. ‘This is Jack’s mum, Mrs