Ishmael and the Hoops of Steel (36 page)

Then came the hard part: saying goodbye to her.

First we gave her our presents – some flowers, a big box of chocolates and a huge, illustrated, leather-bound edition of
The Complete Works of Shakespeare
. For some reason Scobie had given me the job of writing the inscription inside the cover for all of us to sign. I kept asking, ‘Why me?' It took ages to come up with something that sounded anywhere good enough. In the end I wrote, ‘To Miss Tarango from the Fab Five. Somewhere in here we hope might be the words to match you.' When I showed it to Scobie he just said, ‘
That's
why you.'

Miss really liked the book. When she read the inscription she stared at it for ages with her hand on her chest. Then she said, ‘So lovely. Thank you.'

‘We were supposed to get you something else as well, miss, but Operation Tarango ended up an epic fail,' Razz said.

‘Operation Tarango?'

‘Yeah, well, we sort of had this plan, right from the beginning of the year. We were gonna win the College Cup for you. That was gonna be our big end-of-year gift. Except we blew it.'

Miss Tarango looked around at all of us and frowned.

‘Blew it? Epic fail? You gave me much more than a cup. You
gave me this year and everything you've put into it. I've never had so much fun in my life. That's your gift to me, boys – the whole year, every day of it. And you,
all
of you, right from my very first day in Year Nine, that's the gift you've given me.'

Miss looked at each of us in turn and unleashed the dimples.

‘Best. Gift. Ever,' she said.

And we thought James Scobie was the master of finding the right words.

Then Miss Tarango took a deep breath.

‘I'm a terrible teacher, really I am' she said. ‘My father was a teacher and he always told me that good teachers never have favourites. But I can't help it. You guys are my favourites. I'm certain you always will be.'

‘Hey, don't beat yourself up, miss,' Razz said. ‘After all, look at us. We're clearly adorable. And you're only human.'

Miss Tarango laughed and wiped her eyes.

‘Thank you, Orazio. I feel a lot better now that I realise I never stood a chance.'

Then Miss breathed in again and threw her shoulders back.

‘Right, time to say goodbye. But I refuse to blubber because I want every one of you to promise me under pain of death that you will visit St Daniel's whenever you can to let us know how you're going, and when Charlton
does
win the cup next year because of your inspiration, you will come back to celebrate with us.'

No arm twisting needed for that one. Then Miss spoke to us in turn and ended each time with a hug and a kiss on the cheek. Prindabel was first in line.

‘Ignatius,' she said, ‘who am I going to turn to when I need the answer to an obscure question? I'll be lost without you. The only reason I'm letting you go, is so you can use that incredible brain of yours to discover cures and other amazing things and make the world a better place. So don't let me down.'

‘I won't, miss,' Ignatius said as the Prindabel Power Pointer quickly brushed at his eye.

Miss Tarango moved on.

‘Billy,' she said, shaking her head. ‘Those Jedi guys are nothing compared to you. After that hooping performance, you will always be my hero. And when you're picking up your Oscars for all those brilliant movies you are going to make, remember, I'm always available for the red carpet.'

‘Thanks, miss, I will,' Bill said.

Scobie was next in line.

‘James, what can I possibly say? You have spoilt us with your presence. You have single-handedly made St Daniel's a better place. I can't wait until you're running the country.'

‘Thank you, miss,' Scobie said with a quick mouth twist. ‘Will you be my Minister for Education?'

‘Believe me, Mr Future Prime Minister,' Miss Tarango replied, ‘it would be an absolute honour.'

Then she turned to Razz.

‘Orazio Victor Zorzotto – the face that launched a thousand “awesomes”. I have two pieces of advice for you, Orazio. The first is to do everything in your power to hold on to that amazing girlfriend I chatted to at the Formal. She is gold.'

‘Already know that, miss.'

‘Good. Well, the second piece of advice is, when you qualify for uni, which of course you will, make sure you knuckle down and study and get that degree. And after you do, apply for a job back here at St Daniel's, because there are boys here who desperately need you, and unless I am very much mistaken, as a teacher,
you
will be awesome.'

‘Wow, miss … I …' Razz clamped his mouth shut and shook his head. Silencing the Razzman. Was there nothing that Miss Tarango couldn't do?

Then before I knew it, Miss was standing in front of me.

‘Young Ishmael,' she said. ‘Mr Still Waters Running Deep. I have something for you.' Miss Tarango pulled a small rectangle of cardboard from her purse and waved it at me.

‘What's that, miss?'

‘This, Ishmael, is a business card. But not just any business card. This belongs to a friend of a friend of mine who is a publisher – a book publisher. I hope you don't mind, but I showed her some of your journal extracts from the past few years. She liked them. Said they were very rough around the edges and needed a lot of work, particularly the earlier ones, but that they “showed real potential” and she was “keen” to talk with you. She said to contact her if you were
serious
about writing and were planning to do a creative writing course at uni. So, will you … call her, Ishmael?'

‘I … yeah … I will … Thanks, miss … I don't believe it.'

I really couldn't. The other guys were patting me on the back and I could hear them congratulating me, but it felt so unreal. I had no idea anyone else would ever be interested in my journals when I began writing way back in Year Nine. I thought about the first words:

There's no easy way to put this, so I'll just say it straight out. It's time I faced up to the truth. I'm fourteen years old and I have Ishmael Leseur's Syndrome
.

There is no cure
.

It all seemed so long ago.

Miss Tarango's voice brought me back to the present.

‘And of course when you do write your bestseller about St Daniel's, Ishmael, the most important thing is to make me look good, OK?'

‘I think I'd have to tone you down, miss – otherwise no one would believe you're real.'

The other guys greeted that with a chorus of
Oooooos
and groans. But Miss Tarango just smiled cheesily at them and said, ‘Told you he had a way with words.' Then she turned to face me. ‘But mind how you use them, Ishmael, because they're powerful things, words. Remember – good, not evil.'

‘Got it, miss.'

Then after a hug and a kiss on the cheek she stepped back and looked at us all.

‘Right, that's the lot of you, then. See, no tears. All done with a smile.'

‘And dimples,' Razz said.

‘Dimples? What are you going on about, Orazio? I don't have dimples.'

We all laughed as Miss totally destroyed her own argument by breaking into a big grin.

‘Now I
definitely
have to get going,' Miss said, collecting up her presents. ‘Unlike some
lucky
people, I still have three weeks of school left and a stack of marking to get through.'

‘Then you'll be hitting the beach again, I bet, miss,' Razz said. ‘Hey, remember to wear a hat, use a thirty-plus sunscreen, and don't stay out in the sun for more than fifteen minutes at a time. I learnt that in Year Eleven. I'm a Sun Safe guru, miss.'

‘Sound advice, Orazio … but I'm actually not off to the beach this year.'

‘How come, miss? You always hit the beach.'

Miss shrugged her shoulders.

‘No reason … just decided to try something different … You know … as you do.'

‘So where're you going, miss?'

‘Nowhere that exciting, Orazio … just somewhere to get away for a bit.'

‘Where's that?'

Miss gave her head a little shake as if the answer wasn't important.

‘Just … You know … Nepal.'

We all looked around at each other and smiled.

‘
Nepal
, miss?' Razz said.

Miss Tarango's face hardened.

‘Yes, Nepal, Orazio. Have you lot got a problem with that?'

A jumbled chorus of
No, miss
came her way as we tried to maintain serious faces.

‘Good,' she said, still squinting at us suspiciously. She'd only taken a few steps away before Razz called after her.

‘Hey, miss, Nepal could be a bit more dangerous than the beach. Make sure you get yourself a good guide.'

Miss Tarango froze in her tracks, then turned slowly and levelled her big brown eyes on Razz.

‘Thank you for both your concern and your suggestion, Mr Zorzotto. But I've already found one. And I've been reliably informed … that he's the best.'

Miss Tarango's dimples returned then for one final curtain call.

‘An assessment with which I heartily concur,' she said.

We took our final photo out in the yard. It was one of the Fab Five sitting around our regular table in the Senior area. The very last, last. Then after we made sure everyone knew the arrangements for the beach, one by one Bill, Ignatius, Scobie, and their families headed off home.

That just left Razz and me sitting side by side.

Across the playground a few groups of people were still gathered outside the gym chatting. One group was made up of Mum and Dad, Mrs Zorzotto and Mr Barker. Inside we could see Mr Guthrie and Miss Tarango with a small army of Year Eleven boarders stacking tables and chairs and cleaning up. Prue was in there helping them. The boarders looked pretty happy about that.

‘Hey, what about me getting Mr G and Miss T together? How rigid was that? I really worked the old Razz matchmaking magic on that one.'

‘You? What did you have to do with it?'

‘Are you kidding me? I planted the seed, dude.'

‘Oh right, of course, and don't tell me, let me guess. That would be because you are the … Gardener of Luuuurve … um … cultivating romance … in the … ah … barren soil … of broken hearts.'

‘Man,' Razz said with a look of amazement on his face, ‘you must have been reading my resume!'

We both laughed then Razz went serious.

‘Hey, man, heard any news from the Kelster? You know, about the beach or anything?'

Apart from a couple of emails wishing each other good luck with our exams I hadn't been in contact with Kelly since the night we saw
Hamlet
together.

‘Nuh, nothing. Has Sal said anything to you?'

Razz squirmed a bit in his seat and wouldn't look at me. It wasn't a good sign.

‘Not really, man.'

That was an even worse sign. If Kelly was coming to the coast she would have said something to Sal by now and if Sally knew, Razz would know.

‘You should totally ring her tomorrow, dude – that's when Lourdes finishes up. You got all Friday before we head to the beach. You should see if she wants to do something, man. Seriously.'

‘Yeah, I think I will.'

Razz scanned the playground.

‘It's so weird to think we're not coming back here.
Uni
next year. Never thought I'd be saying that. Hey, wouldn't it be awesome if we all ended up at the same place – you, me, Sal, Kelly and all the guys. How rigid would that be, dude?'

‘It'd be great, but we'd have to be pretty lucky. It all depends on who gets offered what courses and what we all qualify for.'

The smile on Razz's face fell a little and he picked at a loose splinter of wood on the table for a moment.

‘Yeah, I suppose. But whatever happens … wherever we end up … you and me, man … we'll always be tight. We'll always be hoops of steel, right?'

I looked at the face that had been there with me through all the highs and lows of the last four mad but unmissable years.

‘I don't know about that, Razz,' I said.

That face was now gawking at me like I was Ignatius
Prindabel explaining advanced Chaos Theory. ‘What? What are you talking about, dude? What don't you know?'

I gave him a classic Bill Kingsley shrug.

‘About us being hoops of steel.'

Razz stare crazy-eyed at me until I couldn't take it any longer. Then, Scobie-like, I hit him with just the right words.

‘More like hoops of carbon nanotubes, I would've thought.'

A grin the size of a crescent moon grew on Razz's face. Then he wrapped an arm around my neck and wrestled me into a headlock.

‘You think you're a bit of a comedian, don't you, Ishmael? Thought you had me going there for a while, eh? Well, I wasn't fooled for a minute, you dirt bag. Let this be a warn–'

Suddenly Razz stopped and released his grip. He looked around behind him and under the table.

‘Hey, where's my blazer gone? Geez, Mum'll kill me if I lost that thing. She wants to sell it. Aw, man! It's got my graduation medal on it too. Must have left it in the gym. Wait here, dude. I'll be right back.'

Razz bounded from his seat and raced off a few metres before spinning round and continuing to skip backwards. He was pointing two fingers at me like a gunslinger.

‘Love ya, man!' he called out. ‘You know, in a totally non-Hoop Boy sort of a way.'

‘Love you too, Razz,' I laughed. ‘Same way.'

‘I'm totally cool with that!' he said, then charged off towards the gym, throwing in a few of Melvin Yip's ninja moves for good measure.

Then there was just me.

It felt so strange sitting at our regular table, without the normal chaos in the yard and without the other guys. After the pressure of exams and all the rush and excitement of the graduation, everything was now so quiet and still. Bit like I was sitting in the eye of a cyclone, and I guess in a way I was. It was a brief moment of calm between the end of school life and the
beginning of whatever the future might hold. The future? For a moment I tried to picture what that might be like.