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Previously on Mickey
“Sydney, you’re a nice girl – you can make friends anywhere.†Jack picked up a folder and brought it over to the spot where Sydney was sitting.
“Dad, what’s this leading to?†She asked suspiciously.
“Well, I don’t think it’s really fair on you to keep moving around following me from job to job.†Jack opened the folder and placed a brochure on the table in front of Sydney. “What do you think?â€
Seeing the front cover, Sydney stood abruptly in her place and leapt back from her father. “You have got to be kidding me!â€
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Chapter 9
“What is this?†Sydney asked, sliding the brochure back towards Jack. “Boarding school?â€
“Sydney, I think it’s the best thing that could happen to you. I mean you won’t have to move from one place to another anymore, you could just stay kaput in one place. Look at this Sydney,†Jack said, flicking through the brochure. “It’s lovely.â€
“Do you really hate me that much?†Sydney asked, her eyes avoiding the brochure and intently watching her dad. “Seriously, do you hate me that much that you want to send me off to some place where you will only get to see me three or four weeks a year?â€
“No! No Sydney! It’s not like that!â€
“Well, it certainly seems like that to me.â€
“That’s not true Sydney, and you know it. This place, it’s a prestigious day and boarding school. So when I’m home, you can go to the day school and when I’m away you could board in-â€
“Don’t you get it dad?†Sydney said, raising her voice. “Aren’t you understanding me here? Because I’m trying to tell you that I don’t want to go!â€
“Sydney…â€
“I don’t want to go. Full stop. The school I’m going to at the moment is as prestigious as I want to go, ok? The people there are nice, I understand the teachers and I’ve made some friends already. I’ve only had a few days at the place and I have achieved more than what some of seniors have done. Don’t you see that I’m happy?â€
“I don’t think you are Sydney. Really, I don’t. At this school you’ll have the time of your life and make life-long friends, unlike the place you’re going to now. If you can list twenty reasons why you want to stay there to me, you can stay there. But my mind’s made up and when you do realise that I’m looking out for you here, you’ll thank me for making you do this.â€
Sydney stepped back from her father, her hands clenched in anger. “That’s not fair dad. I don’t have any choice in the matter do I? That’s so felgercarb! How could you?â€
“Sydney, I’ve already told-â€
“Well stop telling me! I don’t want to go to some bitchy so-called ‘prestigious’ boarding school! So just leave it.â€
“Sydney! Don’t ever talk to me like-â€
“Whatever!†Turning her back on her dad, Sydney turned and ran out the door. Unsure what to do or where to go, she kept running in the general direction of the school, turning the occasional corner and stopping only to cross the street.
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“Michael… Little Mikey. Mickey, come on. Stop procrastinating… Vaughn! Time to come out! NOW! You haven’t fallen down the plughole have you Mike? Mikey?â€
“Oi, who you looking for?â€
Weiss looked up at the partially open shower door. “Huh?â€
“I said, who you looking for?â€
“Not you…â€Weiss said, trying to peek around the door. “Have you always been in that shower?â€
“Yeah.â€
“Okay… It’s just that I swear that my mate was in there and now he isn’t so-â€
“Ah, I understand now.†The stranger smiled through the small gap in the door.
“You understand what?â€
“What the dude told me?â€
“What dude?â€
“The dude before. He said he had to get away, and so he climbed through that window over there,†the guy said, indicating to the ventilation windows. “Seemed as though it was really urgent, you know? And now I see why…â€
“Hey! What’s that supposed to mean?†Weiss asked, annoyed not only at what the guy was saying but also at what Vaughn had done.
“Understand it however you want.†The stranger smirked at Weiss one last time and then shut the shower door with a bang.
“Bastard…†Weiss said under his breath.
“I heard that!â€
“Care factor – zero!†Weiss grabbed his gear bag and stalked out of the bathroom.
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Vaughn pulled up short of the traffic light crossing, and looked back at the lights of the soccer field in the distance. Struggling to catch his breath, the constant niggling of laughter threatened to overcome him. But the thought of Weiss catching up to him whilst he was doubled over would not be a very smart thing to do. It was just friend’s intuition, but Vaughn had a tiny inkling that Weiss wouldn’t be very happy with him.
His breathing returned to normal, Vaughn walked to traffic light pole and pressed the crossing button. He watched and waited as car after car zipped by in front of him, most of them filled with business people returning home. A rumble in his tummy made Vaughn figure that the lack of joggers on the paths was probably due to the time – it was dinnertime. Finally though, the pedestrian man light changed from red to green, making the traffic rush stop and allow for him to cross and head home to dinner.
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“How could he do that,†Sydney said, each word emphasised by a running foot hitting the ground, “how could he?â€
A sharp twitch in her lower leg told her it was time to stop. Wiping the line of sweat that had developed along her brow, Sydney limped to a phone box up ahead and sat down with her back leaning against it. Cars passed by in front of her, dinner aromas drifted out and a chorus of blaring televisions could be heard from the line of houses surrounding her. “Oi!â€
A voice disturbed her, and caused her to turn around to find where it was coming from.
“Sydney?â€
A figure walked towards her, their features silhouetted from the street light behind them.
“It’s me, Michael.â€
“Michael?†Sydney said, racking her brains to remember a Michael.
“Yeah, Michael Vaughn,†the figure said, a hint of laughter in his voice.
“Oh, hey.â€
“You ok?†he asked, standing before her. “What are you doing out at this time?â€
“Um, not much. Just sitting here,†Sydney told him, giving him a small forced smile.
“Are you good? Here, I’ll help you up,†he said, offering a hand. “Do you live around here? ‘Cos I’ll walk you home.â€
“Nah, it’s right. I’m just going to stay here for a moment or two.â€
“You’re not ok, are you?†Vaughn crouched down, and looked hard at her face.
“I’m o-“
“Give me your phone for a sec,†he said, holding out his hand. “Please?†he added, as an afterthought.
Sydney handed it over to him, and watched as his fingers flew over the keypad. Flipping it close, he handed it back to her and smiled broadly.
“What did you do?†Sydney asked him.
“Whenever you’re at your absolute lowest, at your most depressed, just remember that you can always… You’ve got my number. Well, now you do,†Vaughn said, shrugging his shoulders.
“Thank-you,†Sydney said, genuinely smiling. “That’s really sweet.â€
“You’re welcome, and it’s my pleasure.†Vaughn stood and walked to Sydney’s side, sliding down the side of the phone box to sit down next to her. “You wanna tell me what’s wrongâ€
“Uh, is that your phone?†Sydney asked, hearing a faint ringing sound.
“Oh! Yeah, thanks for that!â€
Reaching into his sports bag, Vaughn pulled out his ringing mobile and looked at the ringing number. Seeing the unknown caller ID, he knew that it could be only one person.
“Really sorry , but I should answer this…†He told Sydney with a smile.
“Bonjour?†he said, assuming his French accent.
“Vaughn… How could you do that to me! Getting out through the ventilation windows! Uh! How did you even fit through there!â€
“Je suis désolé. Je ne parle pas l'anglais. (I'm sorry. I don't speak english.)
C’mon Vaughn. Time to drop the act. Seriously mate! You promised that you’d tell me what’s going on with you if I waited for you and you wrecked your side of the bargain. That’s not cool. I’ve been your mate for hang on a tick, let me count the years… I don’t know how many, but I know everything about… Oh. Oh, I’m sorry Vaughn. It’s that time isn’t it? I’m so sor-â€
“Au revoir.†Vaughn said, flipping his phone closed.
“So if I called you, is that what you’d do?†Sydney asked.
“What? No! No-way! It was just Weiss that’s all.â€
“Rightio… And you speak French?â€
Vaughn chuckled out loud. “Yeah, I do. My ma is French.â€
“Serious? So you’re fluent?â€
“Not quite. But I get by. Anyway, back to you. What’s going on?â€
Unsure how to answer, Sydney turned away and watched the passing traffic.
“Sydney?â€
“Um, I might be moving again,†she rushed out.
“Again? But why? You just got here!â€
“I know, but it’s my dad. We’ve moved around so much that he just wants me to go to one school and stay in one place. Basically, he wants to send me to some boarding school,†Sydney said, still avoiding Vaughn’s look.
“Wants to send you or sending you? Do you have a choice in it?†Vaughn asked.
“No, he told me after dinner, and I pretty much have no say in it what-so-ever.â€
“Are you serious? That’s felgercarb.â€
“That’s what I think too. He told me-†Sydney said, clearing her throat to assume her father’s low voice. “‘-at this school you’ll have the time of your life and make life-long friends, unlike the place you’re going to now. If you can list twenty reasons why you want to stay there to me, you can stay there. But my mind’s made up and when you do realise that I’m looking out for you here, you’ll thank me for making you do this.â€
“Twenty reasons, hey? That’s tough,†Vaughn said thoughtfully. “So is that why you’re out here now?â€
“Yeah, I just had to get out of that house and clear my head.â€
“Fair enough,†Vaughn said, leaning his head back on the cool glass of the booth. “So all this moving around, is that why you didn’t want to join the athletics squad?â€
“What? How did you know about that?†Sydney asked.
“Will told me. I saw you run today, you’re really good!â€
“No I’m not…†Sydney said, rolling her eyes at Vaughn. “I’m not, seriously. Don’t get me wrong - I love to run and train by myself but when it gets to comps and team stuff, I just can’t deal with it all. It probably doesn’t make sense to you but…â€
“It does, it really does. It used to be the case with me too. You see, my dad used to be like, a huge soccer fan. So ever since I could remember I always played soccer. But there was this one game. I can remember it so clearly. I was playing so awesome, and the coach at half time congratulated me in front of the team and made me feel on top of the world.â€
“How old were you?†Sydney asked.
“Nine. I had just turned nine.â€
“Oh, ok…â€
“Anyway, so I came off the field, we had won the game. And everyone was really happy. I looked out for mum, but she wasn’t there. She had been watching with my little sister, I knew that because I can remember waving at her. But by the final whistle, she’d gone and Mrs Weiss, Eric’s mum came up to me and told Eric and I that we were going to go to the café. Which I might add, was really exciting for us. It took my mind off my mum and sis not being there…â€
“Why did Eric’s mum take you to the café?†Sydney asked him, encouraging him to continue his story.
“Because,†Vaughn paused to take a deep breath. “Mum left my game to get to my dad’s side in hospital.â€
“Oh my gosh.†Sydney said, placing a hand on his arm.
“At half time, when I was being praised by my coach he was in an ambulance being rushed to hospital. During the second half, when I was playing, they were trying to resuscitate him. And his time of death was around the time of the final whistle,†Vaughn said, his voice cracking with emotion. “I was celebrating winning the game and he had just died.â€
“I’m so sorry Vaughn, I really am.â€
“Don’t say that, it wasn’t your fault Sydney.â€
Sydney patted his arm, trying to comfort him. “You shouldn’t have had to go through that, really.â€
“I wish I hadn’t either. He was like, my hero. My dad was the coolest. I wish that my dad was one of these men,†Vaughn said, indicating to the businessmen driving in the passing cars returning home. “I just want to see him one last time, and say good-bye.â€
“Vaughn…†Sydney softly said.
Vaughn looked at her and placed his hand on top of her. “Thanks. But after that I hated playing soccer games. I got a phobia of the full time whistle, and I was always paranoid that at the end of the match mum and sis wouldn’t be there. So, just before the end of the game, I’d always ask the coach to pull me off or I’d fake an injury or I’d just run off. I just knew, that if I got off tefore full time it’d all be ok. But it didn’t fix anything, he never came.â€
“Hey,†Sydney said in a soft voice. “His anniversary is coming up soon isn’t it?â€
Looking down at their intertwined hands, Vaughn answered. “Yeah, it is. How’d you know?â€
“I find that the memories, things you don’t think about come flooding back around the time they died. All the small things you do in someway reminds you of them.†Sydney shrugged a shoulder and turned back towards to road. “I know with my mum, I should have moved on a little and then it wouldn’t hurt so much. But I still haven’t been able to do that yet. And as hard as it is, I… I would rather feel it than to not feel anything.â€
“I understand†Vaughn said, squeezing her hand.
“I kinda wish that my mum was in one of those cars too, and she’s heading home now,†Sydney said longingly.
“So do I,†Vaughn said. “So do I.â€
