New Brother

Chapter 5

Standing outside the entrance to the hospital’s emergency department in a confused state of anger and fear, I reflected that this was not the way I had intended to spend my Saturday night. I felt anger at the actions of Aiden’s dad — how could any adult go so far as to put a kid into hospital? — and fear, because I could feel that this was just a warning of things to come.

Everyone else was inside, but I couldn’t stay there with them. The sight of him lying unconscious, still covered in blood, was too much for me. Instead, standing outside in the fresh air, looking blankly over the car park in front of me, I recalled the events that lead to our being there. I couldn’t help wondering if there was something that I could have to done to prevent this from happening…

When we arrived at the basketball stadium, I was feeling relaxed and almost ready to play. It felt strange that the events that turned my world upside down had started near here less than forty-eight hours ago.

When the school had a new sports stadium built five years ago, to help defray the costs they negotiated an arrangement with a number of sporting associations to allow it to be used outside of school hours. This meant that we now had basketball games at both the main stadium in Lilydale, and the new stadium at the Yarra Valley Christian College.

So here I was again, just across the car park from where Adam had approached Randy and me yesterday morning. Looking reflectively back at that significant spot and remembering my dad’s concerns, I knew that Adam needed a safe place to stay, but why did it have to be with us! Dropping my eyes to the tyre-marked concrete, I let the surge of resentment fade away. Wishing that the past could be changed wasn’t going to help.

Turning towards the stadium entrance, I was surprised to see Dad, B1 and B2 watching me anxiously. With everyone else having apparently already entered the building, I was touched at the concern they showed. Giving them a wry half-smile, I started to walk slowly towards where they stood. Brett and Brian glanced quickly at each other before grinning back to me. With a cry of, “See you on the court!” they dashed up the stairs and went inside.

As I approached, Dad questioned me with his eyes. Shaking my head, I wordlessly told him that I wasn’t ready to speak on what was troubling me. Turning to enter the stadium with me, he placed an arm across my shoulders and gently squeezed. “Whenever you’re ready,” were the softly spoken words.

We found that the game before ours was still going, with thirteen minutes still on the clock. With the local rules for stopping the clock after each whistle during the last three minutes of the game, I knew we had at least fifteen minutes before we could take the court to warm up. As I sat down on one of the benches that ran down both long sides of the court, I glanced around to see who else was there.

I saw Michael O’Conner and his dad from the Steels Creek team sitting with Randy and Adam. Michael shares a number of classes with me at school and we generally get along pretty well. He’s also the only player in our grade who can give Randy a run for his money under the basket. An affable redhead, his Celtic heritage shows in his mild Irish accent. Despite the on-court rivalry, there is no rancor between Randy and Michael, either on or off the court — only a healthy respect for each other’s talents.

Further down the court, I could see Brett and Brian chatting with Leo and Tran, two more of the opposition players who had arrived early. As both go to the same school as B1 and B2, I don’t know them very well, but apparently the four of them often practice together at lunchtimes. Tran is one of the Steels Creek’s main players. What he lacks in height, the young Vietnamese boy more than makes up for in speed and shooting accuracy.

Given my current emotional state, I was going to sit down somewhere by myself, but when I saw Fiona Britton bearing down on me, I quickly decided to join Randy, Adam and Michael. Fiona is one of Liz’s girlfriends, and I was in no mood to be questioned about why Liz wasn’t there. I was hoping that if I was talking with the others, she wouldn’t interrupt with questions.

Ignoring the look of disgust that Randy flashed me as I squeezed in next to Adam, I forced a smile at Michael. “Hi Mike! Are you going to let Giant show you how to play properly today?”

“I thought he was going to continue the lessons on how NOT to play properly,” Michael replied cheekily.

Randy opened his mouth to retort, but unfortunately Fiona chose that moment to butt in, “Stick, where’s Liz? I thought she was with you today.” Her tone indicated clearly that she wanted a serious answer.

“Sorry Fee, I don’t know where she is,” I replied indifferently, though it took every bit of self-control I had, as I glanced up at her. “She wasn’t feeling very well, so I think she decided to head home,” I continued, lying through my teeth.

“Oh. I’d better ring her tonight to make sure she’s okay,” she declared, as she glanced back towards Leo, her current boyfriend. “Good luck with the game,” she added as she headed off.

Relieved that I had managed to get out of that one easily, I failed to notice Gazza and Mary coming in until they were standing in front of me.

“Are you feeling okay now, Stick?” Mary asked gently, while Gary, holding onto her hand, looked at me with concern.

“Yeah, I’m fine!” was my reply. I knew it was unconvincing as I said it, but I couldn’t tell the truth, not there in public. I tried looking away to hint that I didn’t want to talk, but that tactic backfired miserably when I caught Randy staring at me.

“Stick, are you going to tell us what’s going on?” he asked flatly. “Did something happen between you and Liz today?”

Panicking, I jumped up and raced out the door. A tidal wave of despair swept over me as Randy’s words brought everything back to the front of my mind, shattering the calm that I had achieved on the drive to the game.

As I stood on the stairs outside, struggling to hold back the tears rising from the depths of my heart, I felt a hand rest gently on my right arm.

“We’re sorry, David. We didn’t realise that you hadn’t told anyone else,” Mary apologised quietly as she stood next to me.

“’S okay,” I sniffed, trying to regain my composure.

As I settled down, I could hear Gary’s angry voice coming from the open door. Knowing his temper, I half-heartily smiled. “It sounds like Gazza’s reading the riot act to Giant in there.”

Mary flashed me a quick grin. “If you’re feeling okay, I think I’d better go back inside and make sure that he and Giant will still be able to play. You have a game starting in a few minutes.”

“Go. I’ll be all right. Just give me a little time to calm down,” I responded, truthfully.

After an intense examining look, she apparently felt that I was being honest. Letting go of my arm after a quick squeeze of support, she returned to where her boyfriend was arguing with my brother.

Struggling to control myself, I forced my mind away from the subject of Liz and back towards the game that would soon start. Recalling my dad’s comments from last night, I realised that for me as well as Ads, basketball is a lifeline that I can grab hold of when events are sweeping everything else out of control.

Slowly regaining a semblance of calm, I noticed Aiden and his parents getting out of their car. My personal concerns were suddenly swept aside as I viewed the family. Mr. Trent is a broad, middle-aged individual, but much of his size is muscle, not fat. He had been in the Australian Defence Force, but I couldn’t remember if I had ever been told whether it was the Navy or Army. I know it wasn’t the Air Force, as I recall Aiden retelling his father’s disparaging comments about flyboys. Watching him move towards the stadium entrance, a look of thunder on his face, I had a vision of an unstoppable tank bearing menacingly down on me.

Realising that I was staring, and not wanting to draw too much attention to myself, I stepped back inside. Noticing that Gary and Randy were still arguing, I moved quietly over to Adam.

“Ads, I just saw Aiden and his parents arrive. It’s up to you, but you might want to move down and join B1 and B2,” I suggested softly. With the noise of the argument going on, I’m sure no one overheard my comment.

With a surprised look that transformed into one of gratitude, Adam stood up and pushed his way between Gary and Randy. “Excuse me,” he said, as he headed down to the other end of the stadium.

As I followed Ads with my eyes, I was peripherally aware that Gary and Randy had stopped arguing and were staring at me, puzzled.

“Aiden and his dad have just arrived,” I answered their unspoken question quietly. “I think we should all go down to join B1 and B2, don’t you?”

With a quick nod of agreement, Randy, Gary and Mary headed off to join the others. I was about to go as well, when I noticed Michael and his dad looking at me, perplexed. Remembering Adam’s comments from last night about hearing stories first hand rather than via rumour, I sat down again.

“Some sort of explanation is in order, I suppose,” I started, hesitantly. “There is a lot going on at the moment, and it’s not my place to tell all of it, but we have reason to suspect that there might be some conflict today between Aiden’s dad and Adam. We’re just trying to minimise the risks.”

At that moment, Aiden and Mr. Trent came through the door, Mrs. Trent following anxiously behind them, staring worriedly at her husband. I watched nervously to see what they would do. Scowling fiercely, Mr. Trent looked around the stadium. “Is that faggot here yet?” he asked rhetorically, making no effort to keep his voice down. “Ah. There he is! Come on son, you’re sitting with me on the other side of the court,” he continued with contempt, dragging Aiden by the arm.

I sighed. So much for my hope that he would stay quiet.

“Okay, that answers one question,” I stated despondently. Turning back to Michael and Mr. O’Conner, I filled in some of the missing details. “Adam was kicked out of home this week because he’s gay. He stayed one night with Aiden, but you can see what his dad thinks of the situation. Adam’s living with me and Randy now.” Standing up, I pleaded with Michael; “He’s going through a really rough patch at the moment, Mike. Can we try to keep this off the court for today? Everyone’s tempers are being frayed, and I’m afraid the wrong comment could end up starting a fight.”

“Okay, Stick,” was the distracted response, as he sat looking and frowning at Aiden and his parents. I had obviously given him a lot to think about. Hopefully he’ll be able to keep his teammates from stirring up anything.

Starting off to join the others, I suddenly turned and headed back outside instead. The situation with Aiden’s dad had taken my mind off my Liz problem for the moment, but it reminded me that Scott still hadn’t been told about Ads. Waiting outside for Scott would allow me that much more time to settle myself.

Stepping outside, I came face to face with Scott and his elder brother, Chris. There went any chance for settling my mind.

“Hi, Break. Hi, Chris,” I said with false cheerfulness. “Ads wants an urgent word with you, Break. Come on, we don’t have much time before the game starts,” I added, heading back inside.

“Do you know what Ads wants?” Scott asked, as he followed me into the stadium.

“I do, but I think its best that you hear it from him.”

The three of us proceeded down the side of the basketball court to where everyone else, apart from Aiden, was waiting. Most were striping off their shirts and putting on the uniforms that Dad was handing out.

As he watched us approach, Adam stood up with a look of nervous resolve. Seeing this, the rest of the team sat down and went quiet, apart from Randy, who stood behind Adam with one hand resting on his shoulder in support. My dad sat quietly next to where Adam was standing. I could tell he was ready to jump up and intervene if anything went wrong.

Stopping in front of Adam, I said, “Ads, I’ve told Break that you wanted to speak to him. Also, I heard Aiden’s dad mouthing off, and he wasn’t trying to keep quiet about it. I think we’ll need to assume the worst.” Ads nodded, and I moved behind Scott and Chris. It was now up to Adam.

He began, “Break, I need to say this quickly, so I understand if it’s too much to sink in at once. If you want time to absorb it, just say and I’ll give you as much space as you need.”

Scott looked perplexed. “What the hell are you going on about, Ads?” he asked.

Adam took a deep breath. “I was kicked out of home by my dad on Tuesday. He’s disowned me and doesn’t want to see me again. I’m now staying with Giant and his family. Everyone in the team, apart from you, now knows all the essential details of what’s been going on.”

I was gutted when I realised that he had mentioned Randy by name, but not me. I don’t know if Scott picked up on it, but I saw Brett and Brian exchange glances before turning back to watch the scene that was playing out.

“Aiden’s dad also knows the reason, which is why he’s here today and keeping Aiden on the other side of the court.”

Scott’s head flicked around in surprise to where Aiden was sitting. Until then, I don’t think he had realised that Aidy was there. As he turned back to look at Adam, I could see that he was now totally perplexed. Before he could ask anything, Adam continued.

“Scott, the reason for all of this is because I’m gay,” Adam stated firmly, straightening his back and looking directly at Scott. As Scott’s jaw dropped, Adam added, “We’re all expecting Aiden’s dad to start mouthing off during the game, so I wanted to get in and tell you what the situation is first.”

“You’re a fucking faggot?” Scott was asking a question, as if he hoped Adam would deny it.

As Adam urgently raised a hand towards him, Scott flinched away. “Keep away from me!” Spinning around, Scott bolted for the door.

I started to go after him. After all, I probably knew what he was thinking better than anyone else, but I felt someone grab me by the arm. Turning in surprise, I found Chris holding onto me. “Let him go,” he said calmly. “He’s not going anywhere. It’s just a bit of a shock to find out your best friend’s queer.”

Staring blankly for a second, I nodded as I realised he was right. Chris had the car keys, and Scott had no reason to run away. If he didn’t come back in, he’d be waiting for Chris by the car after the game.

Turning back, I saw total devastation on Adam’s face. He had been crushed by Scott’s reaction. I could tell he expected Break, his best friend, to take it with little trouble. Finding an unlikely parallel with my current problems with Liz, I felt a wave of kinship with Adam. Both of us had been shocked by the negative response of a close friend to unexpected news. It was only the uncertainty and, to be honest, fear, of how he would react that prevented me from approaching him to offer some sympathy.

A sudden thought made me turn to Chris. He was still standing, looking back sadly at where Scott had disappeared.

My eyes narrowed with suspicion as I attracted his attention. “Er… Chris? You seem to have taken the news remarkably well.”

Looking at me with a wry smile, he responded, “Been there before. I had a good mate recently tell me that he’s gay. It was a shock at the time, but I’m over it now, and we’re still great friends. I think Scott took it harder because of the surprise. After all, it’s not the sort of thing you expect to hear in the middle of a basketball stadium, just before a game.”

Reflecting on what Chris had told me, and on my insight into what Adam was probably feeling, I sat down and tried to sort what it all meant, but my thoughts were interrupted by the sound of the siren signalling the end of the first game. On the other side of the court, I saw Aiden nodding to something his father said, before he headed over to collect his uniform from my dad. From the way Aiden was trying to keep away from where Adam was standing, I’m sure Mr. Trent had given his son strict instructions on what he could do.

As we started to warm up, it was quickly apparent that our thoughts were not on the game. Scott was missing, Adam was still in shock, and I wasn’t feeling much better. I knew I was going to have to play. We just didn’t have enough players left to allow me to sit out.

Looking around, I saw the usual group of spectators. Apart from a handful of friends, the only ones here to watch were the parents or siblings who had driven the players to the game. If we ever reached A grade that would change but for now we played mainly for ourselves.

It wasn’t long before the referees called us out to start. After quickly looking at Adam and me, Dad made Giant, Aidy, Gazza, B1 and B2 the starting five. He didn’t have much choice in the matter. Unfortunately, it was a starting combination we had never used.

I found that paying attention to the game caused my other concerns to fade into the background. As I watched our team struggle during the first few minutes, I slowly came down from the emotional roller coaster I had been riding. Randy and Michael were having their usual tough battle under the basket, which Randy was winning more often than not. However, not having Scott to pass the ball to reduced the number of opportunities he had to capitalise on the possessions he gained.

After ten minutes, it was clear that we were in trouble. Already eight points down, we were struggling to find any consistency. Gazza was beginning to lose his temper and had already had two fouls called against him.

Dad looked at Adam and me. “Do you two feel up to taking the court?”

With a quick nod, I answered, “I think so. Just take me off again if I can’t keep up. I’m pretty worn out at the moment.”

Adam just nodded. He looked better, but he certainly wasn’t the ball of energy that he usually is at our games.

“Okay,” Dad continued, “I want you two to take Aiden and Gary off. Tell the others that we’re going to switch to a two and three man/zone defense. Brett will guard Tran and Brian will guard Leo. You two and Randy just block up the key and don’t let them in.”

I looked up in surprise. Having two players play man-on-man while the other three played zone was hard on the two. Without Scott to give them a breather, they were going to be exhausted. Dad smiled back at me. “Go on. Trust me.”

Shrugging, I turned back to the game and waited for the next chance to call for a player substitute. It came soon enough, as Gazza committed his third personal foul.

As Adam and I were waved onto the court by the referee, I called out for Aiden and Gazza to take a rest on the bench.

“What’s the fucking faggot doing on the court? I thought this was the boys’ competition, not the girls’,” Mr. Trent yelled out as we moved into position.

There was a stunned silence through the stadium. Adam and I faltered and looked at each other before glancing at Aiden’s dad.

“Hey, ref! Make sure you watch the poof’s hands. We don’t want him trying to feel up the other players.”

“Ignore him,” I whispered to Adam. “There’s nothing we can do about it, so just tune him out.”

“Easy to say, not so easy to do,” he whispered back, obviously shaken. “Thanks anyway, David.”

As we joined our teammates on the court, Brett and Brian were holding Randy back. If fury by itself could have silenced Aiden’s dad, Randy’s would have done it.

Glancing around, I saw mainly looks of indifference or curiosity on the faces of the opposition players, and most of the spectators. Apart from Mr. Trent’s, there didn’t seem to be any openly hostile reactions. I hoped Adam would have to endure abuse from only one person.

We were just getting ready to start playing again when Paul from the Steels Creek team strolled up to Adam and me.

“Just curious, but which one of you is supposed to be the homo?”

I was stunned. I hadn’t realised that people could have interpreted the comments as applying to me! It was only then that I became aware that Mr. Trent had used no name. As both Adam and I had entered the court at the same time, he could have been talking about either of us.

Paul had asked his question so casually that I didn’t feel offended. I even appreciated that he was giving us the option to deny it completely.

Before I could respond, Adam spoke up belligerently. “I am. Do you have a problem with that?”

Raising his hands as if to fend of any accusation, Paul replied, “Not me! Just wanted to find out what’s going on.” Giving a huge grin, he said, “Can we get back to the game now?”

Noticing that Adam grinned in return, I smiled. Things were working out better than expected for him. Maybe now we could start to concentrate on the game.

Quietly giving Brett and Brian Dad’s instructions, Adam and I joined Randy under the basket. My brother seemed to have calmed down a little, though the angry glint in his eye threatened trouble for anyone who ended up in his way on the court.

When play got underway again, my dad’s plan became obvious. With almost every team in the competition playing a simple 2-1-2 zone defense, most teams become rattled when they encounter something different.

Suddenly finding themselves pressured by B1 and B2 as soon as the ball came into play, they panicked and lost control of the ball. B2 grabbed it quickly, and sprinted down the court for an easy goal.

Jumping up from the bench, Dad yelled out, “Full court press.” This was the code to tell Adam and me to rush to the centre of the court to help B1 and B2 put more pressure on the other team as they tried to bring the ball back in from the end. Again, it worked a treat, with Adam picking off a loose ball and passing it off to B1 for another quick goal. In less than a minute we had gone from eight points down to only four points.

Repeating the full court press brought almost identical results, though with B2 getting the goal this time. We were on our way back into the match!

Obviously needing to re-group, the Steels Creek coach called a timeout. With huge grins, we all gathered around my dad. He was about to say something when he stared beyond us with a thoughtful look. Turning to follow his gaze, I saw Scott standing at the door, watching.

“David, could you please go over and tell Scott he’s welcome to join us if he wants to,” Dad said.

“Okay.” I ran over to where Scott stood.

“Hi, Break. We’d love to have you back in the team if you still want to play,” I said hopefully.

“Are you sure?”

I grinned. “Definitely. We need you, mate!”

Scott seemed hesitant, in spite of my enthusiasm. “Come on, Break, the timeout’s almost up!” I turned and ran back to the team, confident that Scott would follow.

As we came up, Adam turned to us with an uncertain grin, handing Break’s uniform to him. “Here you are, mate. Welcome back.” I was pleased to see Scott smile in reply.

Just then, the referees called us back to the game. I raised my eyes quickly at Dad and he answered my question. “We’re dropping back into normal zone defense. We don’t want to run more than we have to, yet.”

Nodding my acknowledgment, I ran back with the others.

Before we knew it, it was halftime. With Scott joining us and with Adam and me coming out of our funks, we were beginning to click as a team again. Four points down, we knew that the match was still going to be tough. Aiden’s dad had continued to snipe from the sidelines, but we were able to ignore him most of the time. I did notice that Adam took care to always ensure he was playing on the other side of the court, though.

I was disturbed to see one of the referees coming over to talk to Dad during the halftime break. Wondering what was going on, I jogged over.

“Excuse, me coach, can you please inform the parents of your team that no more abusive language will be tolerated? If it persists, we’ll have to stop the game until they leave the stadium.” Colin had refereed a lot of our matches, and I knew that he was more than willing to follow through on his threat. Only twenty, he was one of the most hard-nosed referees we had encountered. In his favour, though, was the fact that he cared about trying to do the best job he could. Some other referees would just stand around on the court doing a half-hearted effort, but Colin was always moving to try to get into position so he could always see the play clearly.

Dad looked worried. “I’ll see what I can do, but I can’t control what he says.”

“That’s all I can ask you to do, coach. Thanks for this.” With that, Colin returned back to the score bench.

Dad and I looked at each other with concern. We both knew that talking to Mr. Trent was going to be useless — potentially worse than useless! But if he were thrown out of the stadium, he’d take Aiden with him. What could we do?

Sighing, Dad spoke up, “I’ll speak to Margaret. Maybe she can keep her husband quiet.”

It sounded like as good a plan as any, but we didn’t get our hopes up that it would work.

We started the second half with Randy, Aiden, Scott, Gary and me on the court. The first five minutes were furious, with neither team gaining an advantage. We managed to get two quick goals when Randy gathered in rebounds on defense and then passed quickly to Scott on fast breaks. However, Tran quickly answered those goals with a couple of shots from behind the three-point line, leaving us six points down.

At the next chance, Dad took me off the court and put Adam on. I waited anxiously for Mr. Trent to make a comment but thankfully, for once, he was silent.

A couple of minutes later, Aiden and Adam combined to double-team Paul as he tried to drive to the basket. Aiden was knocked down trying to block Paul’s path, but luckily the referee called a charging foul on Paul.

As Adam reached down to help Aiden up, Mr. Trent jumped to his feet.

“Leave my son alone, you fucking pervert!” he yelled, red-faced.

As I looked on aghast, he ran onto the court straight at Adam, who had turned towards him, not understanding what was going on.

Pushing Adam to the floor, Aiden’s dad continued to scream, “You come fucking near my son again and I’ll rip your fucking balls off. You faggots don’t deserve to live.”

Randy, anger written on every line of his face, stepped up to Mr. Trent and pushed him away from where Adam was lying. “Keep away from him, arsehole!”

Rage pouring out of him, Aiden’s dad threw a fist at Randy’s face. As my brother collapsed backwards, I was shaken by the loud thud as his head hit the floor.

Racing onto the court, I was surprised to find Mr. O’Connor there before me. With one action, he grabbed Mr. Trent by the arm, spun him around, and threw him face down onto the ground. With his arm held securely held behind him, Mr. Trent struggled ineffectually to free himself.

“Let me go, you fucking bastard! Let me go, or I’ll fucking report you to the cops for assault!”

“Well then,” Mr. O’Conner replied in a dry Irish accent, “as a cop myself, I should warn you that I don’t think they’ll take you too seriously. I’m just a concerned citizen restraining someone who has assaulted two minors.” Glancing up, he added, “David, go check on your brother. I didn’t like that sound I heard when he landed.” Looking past me, he continued, “Kevin, ring the police. I’ll restrain him until they arrive.”

Moving to my brother, I found Brett and Brian already there. The expressions I saw on their faces still didn’t prepare me for the sight of my brother lying unconscious, blood pooling around his head.

As I went to grab him, I found a pair of arms restraining me. Preparing to flatten whoever was keeping me from my brother, I heard Colin’s soft voice through the jumble of rage, fear, and horror controlling my mind. “Easy, Stick. Don’t touch him until we’re sure he hasn’t hurt his neck.”

The fear of doing more damage drained me of all other emotion. Sinking to the ground, I watched as Colin gently checked Randy, being careful to not disturb him. Focussing on my brother, I was vaguely aware that Colin asked my dad to call an ambulance, just to be safe. He suspected a broken nose since that’s where all the blood was coming from, but he didn’t want him moved until either he regained consciousness or a paramedic arrived.

I heard Colin telling everyone that he was calling the game off, but I didn’t care. There was only one thing in my mind at that time — a fervent prayer that Randy would be all right.

As I waited outside the hospital, time passed me by without touching. People came and went, and all I could do was stand there and stare blankly into space.

A touch on my shoulder pulled me out of my musings. I turned and found Mum smiling softly.

“He’s going to be okay. He woke up for a few minutes while we were with him. The doctors suspect concussion, and want to keep him in overnight for observation. They will also treat his broken nose, but they said that it looks worse than it really is. Your dad is just filling in some paperwork and then we can all head home.”

The knot of fear that had been twisting my heart broke apart at Mum’s words. The surge of relief I felt flew up from my soul and shone through my face. I pulled Mum into a huge hug, physically passing on the thanks I felt for the good news.

And then I saw Adam standing behind her.

“You!” I screamed in anger as I pulled away from Mum.

Shaking my fist at him, I yelled, “This is all your bloody fault. You keep away from my brother! You come near him again and I’ll make sure it’s your turn in hospital!”

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