Read Online The Story of Danny Dunn by Bryce Courtenay - Free Book Online Page B

mates, the whole team at the Tigers and the polo boys, they’re all joining up this week. Mum, I can’t just sit on my arse and let them go and fight for England while I get a lousy degree! I’ll be qualified to teach high school. What’s more, I don’t want to be a bloody teacher! Mum, I’m going! I’m not sixteen and this isn’t water polo and the make-believe Olympic squad. If you try to stop me I’ll quit uni anyway! And I’ll leave home.’
    â€˜We’ll soon see about that! You’re not twenty-one yet, my boy!’ Brenda warned, an ugly flush staining her neck. ‘England! That Protestant whore has taken my two brothers and now she wants my son!’ She turned her back on Danny and busied herself at the sink, banging pots and splashing noisily.
    Danny still remembered how she’d lost her temper after the party, and how challenging her had achieved nothing. She must have sensed the general disdain that had been the lasting result of the party, but she’d never apologised or indicated that she’d been even slightly in the wrong. Now, in this thing, he knew he had to confront her. He couldn’t simply stand by and let his friends fight for him. He’d been awake half the night trying to prepare for the row he knew must come. He’d hoped she wouldn’t refuse her permission because he wasn’t twenty-one, that it wouldn’t come to the ultimatum he’d now been forced to give.
    Half Dunn gave Danny the wink, levered himself out of his chair and approached Brenda, placing a conciliatory hand on her shoulder, but when she felt his touch, something in her snapped and she spun around fiercely to fend him off, still holding the heavy porridge pot half full of dishwater. It caught him on the point of the jaw and he staggered backwards, slipped on the water that had spilled from the pot and went crashing down like some great behemoth, the back of his head smashing against the oven door. His eyes rolled in their sockets and he lay senseless on the kitchen linoleum.
    â€˜Jesus, Mum!’ Danny shouted, and wrenched the pot away from her.
    â€˜You ungrateful bastard! After all I’ve done for you!’ Brenda hissed, then stormed out of the kitchen.
    Danny dropped to his knees beside his father. For all he knew, Half Dunn could be dead. But then he saw his huge gut rising and falling with each breath. ‘Dad, you okay?’
    Half Dunn opened his eyes and let out a loud groan as Danny extended a hand, and winced as he was pulled into a sitting position with his back against the oven door. ‘Okay, mate?’ Danny asked again.
    Half Dunn nodded gingerly and touched the back of his head with care, drawing his hand back in alarm, first sensing then observing that the tips of his fingers were covered in blood. He gave a small moan and collapsed into a dead faint. It look Danny another five minutes to bring him round, get him to his feet and back into a chair. He examined the back of his father’s head and saw that the wound wasn’t too serious – with luck, all Half Dunn would need was a dab of iodine to prevent an infection.
    â€˜Hmm, you’ve taken a big hit,’ Danny said, shaking his head in mock consternation, then turning to the kitchen cupboard to retrieve the bottle of antiseptic and a wad of cotton wool from the first-aid kit Brenda always had at hand.
    â€˜Bad, is it?’ Half Dunn ventured bravely.
    Danny saw a way for Half Dunn to regain some ground, and added a large crepe bandage to the pile. He’d been shaken by his mother’s outburst against Half Dunn, rarely having witnessed the scorn she felt for him. He knew it was largely a result of her anger with Danny himself, but the poor bastard seemed to cop all the shit. The least he could do was show some sympathy for his old man who had, after all, only been trying to help him.
    Danny was frustrated and angry at his mother’s