Author: Shanna Fa’aita
My book is about Liyah and her uncle joey. One day Liyah was in school waiting for him and the time was nearly five thirty she went around looking for toothpaste, some smears and was also retying her shoelaces When she could hear his car in the driveway. Followed by the two short toots.
The car was really filthy, the same empty bottles there were chip packets on the floor, also some half eaten sandwiches across the floor. There was the same sour stink of the same creeping damp. Liyah could smell a tacky air freshener. He would alway spritz before she jumps into the car, another failed attempt to try to mask the chaos.
Liyah said to her uncle I thought you were about to clean up this big mess she said.
Liyahs uncle said didn’t get around to it, I will do it tonight, Liyah laughed But you said that you were going to do this yesterday. He was shuffling his hands on the wheel. He was embarrassed before he put the car into reverse mode and backed up into the road.
They drove into this strange half light Liyah liked this in between time with some street lights on and nobody up. Liyahs uncle's fingers picked at the radio dial as he tried to search for stations but soon he gave up, he had an awkward minute passed before he started to clear up his throat and asked Liyah how is your Liyah said the same old. Good. That’s good. You should come over on Sunday, after church. She will like that. Really. Joey looked sceptical.
He hadn’t seen his younger sister for some months now. It’ll show that you are trying, yeah
Liyah said. She likes to hear about all our sessions at boot camp. Liyahs mum had been really close to Joey, but after he broke up with Liz he has not been the same again.He had moved back from sydney,he tried to go and look for a job.
A few months came by. Then a few more no jobs and still living with Nana, they began to argue about his long term plans. His friends and his drinking, Nana wanted him to have a clean break or maybe go and live with his cousin sana in auckland but joey was not interested.
Liyah’s mum defended her brother Joey, she told Nana to go easy on joey. Liyahs mother said that he just needed a bit of time, their support. Then came the fight on mothers day, Joeysaid some stuff that Liyah was not allowed to know but he moved into his friends house and his friends name is Sammy. Still jobless and still drifting. Sometimes he’d make it to boot camp but sometimes he doesn’t. That wasn’t a deal.No one ever told joey what to do
At the community centre Marcus was still setting up the boot camp. Liyah likes to go early mornings to go and do some training and also some sessions were better than the other sessions the first few minutes were alway hell until they get this kind of rhythm if they did not find the torture went on and on.
Let’s go, Marcus said. They started at the tyres. It was one of the hardest places to begin, Marcus believed in mixing stuff up. Crunches were really rough, the time trial was getting bad too. But Liyah hated bulky cumbersome tyres, Which left some dirty marks on her hand. Joey just started to do the task of flipping them over, Joey's face blank with effort. Liyah looked away, it was the same face she had seen that night when her mum went to go pick her up from sina’s house.
They’d been heading home to cook dinner lasagne but had needed some tomatoes so then they stopped by the dairy to go get them. Liyah walked and also carrying a stupid bag of tamatoes, when she saw him in the ally way joey was nutting infront of two police men leaning helplessly, on the fense for some support. There was a cartoon of some cigarettes on the floor, maybe he would have nicked them. It was so hard to tell what was going on, when one of the cops took off her cuffs Liyah ran back home to go and tell her mum.
Then after they were at the police station, waiting on hard plastic chairs, they forgot about dinner. When Joey appeared, he looked so terrible. He was now but the shame on his face though. Liyahs mum and her went to drop off joey to his friend sammy house where he lives, well driving to sammy’s it was complete silence in the car when they were dropping him off to sammy’s.
Five more seconds and they flopped over onto the tyres to catch their breath, Liyah chucked a bottle to joey then he took a long gulp then passed it back to Liyah for a drink. Joey’s face was deep red and his t-shirt was stuck onto his back. Then Liyah ask her uncle joey if he was alright and he said yes.
You know it. She held her hand up and then they both slapped palms, and was also in a very good space. Determined, this was going to be one of their best mornings and the hooter sounded. Then they moved to their next station. Where the ropes have been carefully arranged on to the Astroturf to form the horizontal ladder, Liyah watched how Joey went up the first big rope. Joey’s legs and arms and his arm were pumping, like a medicinal toy, Liyah followed. Not minding the effort then jogging back to the end of the queue.
A song by king kapisi came on Salvation, it was an older song that Joey likes. He began to nod his head. His posture relaxed, he even sang along with the song for only a bit the sessions were nearly done with the laps around the building, Liyah was dying she needed some food, but then joey in the zone joey stayed by her side encouraging her to ignore the pain on her legs and also the tightness in her chest. Her legs were burning, she had tried to breath slowly trying to push through the pain in her body but all the while her eyes never left Marcus will him, to call time.
When he finally did it, she dropped to the floor exhausted, Joey waited patiently until she pulled herself together then she said nice work to joey.
Joey laughed, then said you to bud.
Now breakfast my shout.
Liyah has never seen Joey this happy before.
Their sessions were definitely helping them.
Back at the car Liyah was waiting for Joey in the car well he rummaged to the boot, joey wanted to have a clean shirt before they go out then Joey asked, where do you want to go Liyah then she said let’s go somewhere nice, like that cafe near the beach Liyah said.
Then Liyah noticed them, Joey’s old friends, the three with the hoodies and also trackies, their uniform the same that Joey used to wear, they were hanging out at the back exit like three black crows. C’mon let's go Liyah said, then she said she had school at 9:00 clock.
It wasn’t too late, they could've left the parking lot the other way, Liyah held her breath, waiting for Joey to get back into the car, when Joey finally jumped back into the car, wasted time adjusting the air-con, then he looked at the side miroir.
Ready to reserve out, it’s okay Liyah she told herself. He might not see them, but he saw them both in the side of the car.
His face closed in and his hands began to shuffle, the wheel like that they had earlier that morning, just leave Liyah said quietly, we don’t have to talk to them.
Now the three men were right there one of them the older one knocked softly onto the glass window, and then smiled a too big smile, then joey opened his window a little more and peered out.
Then the guy tapped again, it was an order even liyah could see. What do you want, I am out, uncle joey said. No such thing, you know that uncle Joey shook his head, then he said forget about me and forget about us he said. I don’t, get out of here he’d overstep my mark.
Liyah could feel her chest pulsating as Joey winded his window up and then hit the Auto lock button, then he shoved the gear stick into drive mode and then he shot forward and an angry fist hit the side door. One of the men called. Liyah couldn’t see who was the one that was screaming then he yelled again and said you need us joey.
