Nowhere Boys (5 page)
‘It’s a formality, okay? What’s her name?’
‘Sarah. Sarah Riles.’
The cop stopped, pen poised above his piece of paper.
‘Sarah Riles?’
‘Yes.’
‘You sure about that?’
‘I think I’d know my own mother’s name.’
‘Any relation to Gary Riles?’
‘They used to be married. He’s my dad but there’s no point calling him. He doesn’t even have a phone.’
The cop put his pen down, then called over his shoulder. ‘Boss? You might want to come out here.’
A moment later, Senior Sergeant Gary Riles appeared. He looked Jake up and down.
‘What’s your problem, kid?’
Jake’s mouth fell open. His loser of a dad was a freaking cop?
Sam was cruising. Man, it was good to have wheels again. A whole twenty-four hours on the soles of his feet? That was probably a record for him. His mum always joked that he’d skate from his bed to the fridge and back again, if only she’d let him.
His brothers, Vince and Pete, clearly couldn’t have cared less when he got home. They hadn’t even looked up from
Mortal Kombat
when he’d walked through the door. He’d had a hot shower, grabbed his skateboard, eaten whatever he could find in the fridge and, in all that time, the only conversation they’d had was to tell him his parents were at some cross-country thing.
He curved down a hill. It was good to be back. Although it was pretty random that his parents were out competing in a race when he’d been missing in the bush overnight.
Maybe they thought he’d stayed at Mia’s? He hadn’t told them he wasn’t too welcome there after Mia’s dad had caught them making out in front of
The Exorcist.
Scary movies were such a turn-on. He smiled at the memory. Mia was such a hottie. He couldn’t wait to see her. She was going to love hearing about his night in the bush – how it was just like being in a horror film, with all that crazy stuff hanging in the trees. Then there was the weird twister that chased them, and the mad hobo who tried to attack them. Yeah, that would make a much better story than Roland feeding them eggs and driving them home. Sam could be the one who fought him off and got everyone safely home. Girls love a hero, right?
He looked down at the friendship bracelet on his wrist. Mia had given it to him the day before to celebrate their one-year anniversary. He actually hadn’t remembered, but Mia was cool with that. She knew he had other things on his mind. He’d had to get his application in to the Big Break Competition that morning. He wondered when he was going to hear back about it. If he was a finalist he’d get to compete at the skate trials in Sydney and then maybe go to Brazil for the internationals. Man, his skills were way too big for Bremin. He was going to take on the world.
He barrelled under the railway bridge, streaming up the other side in a perfect arc. He was on the edge of town, where the houses gave way to the forest. Sam did an ollie up onto the footpath and flicked up his board. It was a bummer but he’d have to walk this last bit.
He pushed through the scrub. He hadn’t expected to be back in the forest this quickly but he wanted to see his mum and dad and tell them he was okay.
Sam reached the old fire track and tucked his skateboard under his arm. He knew that the cross-country finish line was next to the old viaduct. He and his brothers used to come out here all the time as kids and dare each other to jump off. Vince had broken his arm once, and Sam had caught Pete kissing Fiona Press one summer’s night. He’d thought that was pretty gross at eleven but maybe Pete had had the right idea. Coming here would be way better than being booted out of Mia’s house by her pissed-off dad.
Sam stopped. There was the crumbling bridge and the finish line. He could see his dad doing calf stretches. He looked around for his mum. She was probably still racing. She wouldn’t be happy to be beaten by his dad. Even when they were training, his parents were crazy competitive, especially with each other. Probably where he got it from.
‘Hey, Dad!’ Sam called.
His dad lifted his arms and stretched out his shoulders.
Sam called again. No response. Probably couldn’t hear him. He jogged down towards his dad and put his hand on his shoulder.
His dad turned in surprise.
‘I’m home!’ said Sam, with a big grin.
His dad did a double take. ‘Er … are you racing?’
What kind of a question was that? ‘After the night I had? I don’t think so.’
‘Okay, well you might want to move away from the finish line as we’ve still got competitors coming through.’
Sam was taken aback. ‘Nice welcome home, Dad.’
His dad looked at him oddly, then turned to cheer on Sam’s exhausted-looking mum, who was nearing the finish line.
‘Come on babe, get that PB!’ yelled Sam’s dad.
Sam crossed his arms. Sure, being obsessed with sport was great, but if your son had been missing all night, wouldn’t you be just a tiny bit worried?
His mum crossed the finish line and bent over in exhaustion.
Sam ran to her. At least his mum would be pleased to see him. ‘Mum!’
‘Sorry?’ she said, looking confused and still trying to catch her breath.
Sam went to hug her. ‘I’m back! I’m okay.’
His dad quickly intervened. ‘You okay, babe?’
Sam’s mum had gone very pale. ‘Just … feeling … a bit …’
‘Maybe you should sit down.’
She staggered, and Sam and his dad both moved in to support her.
His dad moved Sam’s hands away. ‘We’re fine here, thanks.’
‘But Mum looks terrible,’ said Sam.
His mum’s breathing was now coming in short, raspy bursts. ‘I’m … not your mum,’ she said.
Sam looked at her. What did she just say?
‘Look, just back off, okay kid? She’s not your mum,’ his dad said firmly.
Sam stared at them for a moment, then started to laugh. ‘Very funny, guys. Did Pete put you up to this?’
But Sam’s mum started to gasp for air. She clung to his dad.
Sam stopped laughing. She looked seriously bad. He reached for her again. ‘Mum!’
Sam’s dad pushed him away, more forcefully this time. ‘Look. She is not your mum, and I am definitely not your dad. Now get lost, before I call someone.’ He helped Sam’s mum walk away towards their car.
Sam watched them, feeling like he’d been hit hard in the guts. What was happening? How could his mum and dad not know who he was?
Sam raced back down the fire track. He had to get out of the bush.
He’d thought his family would welcome him with open arms, but they didn’t even seem to know who he was.
Sam ran faster.
He burst out onto the road and put his skateboard down on the hard surface.
Okay. Breathe, Sam. Breathe.
He looked around. Everything looked normal. An old dude was mowing his lawn. Some kids cruised around on their bikes. Bremin seemed the same as ever. He put his foot on his skateboard.
Solid. Good.
This he knew. He just had to stay on hard surfaces. Everything would be fine. His brothers hadn’t rejected him, so everything was okay. His parents probably had exercise fatigue. That could happen, right?
He pushed himself along on his skateboard. As he moved, he began to calm down.
His mind was playing tricks with him, that was all.
He skated back into town, keeping the board on a nice, easy line.
Keep it steady and his mind would stay steady.
He’d go to the skate park. That’s what he’d do. Everyone knew him there. He was Sam the Man.
He eased his way into the main street of Bremin. He passed the supermarket, the police station, the wholefood cafe – everything in its rightful place. And there, in the main street, was the skate park. A few kids were flipping boards on the half-pipe. Pretty lame moves, Sam noted. Then he saw her: Mia. She was sitting on a bench with her laptop open.
Thank God.
He spun his board across the concrete and collapsed into the seat next to her.
‘I have never been so glad to see you in my entire life.’
Mia looked up from her laptop. ‘Sorry?’
‘Weren’t you worried? We were, like, missing for twenty-four hours. What did Bates say? Man, I bet he got in so much trouble.’
Mia held his gaze. ‘Do I know you?’
‘Mia, don’t mess with me, babe. It’s me, Sam.’
‘I’m not messing with you. I’ve never seen you before in my life.’
Sam felt the air go out of him. ‘But I’m your boyfriend.’
Mia laughed. ‘You’ve got to be kidding me.’
Sam looked away.
So, this wasn’t a bad dream, a hallucination, something he’d eaten. Mia didn’t know who he was and neither did his parents.
But his brothers did. Or did they? Now that he thought about it, they hadn’t actually
looked
at him when he’d come home.
He felt his head begin to spin. God, what was happening to him?
Mia reached up to shut her laptop. ‘Listen, I’ve got to …’
Sam saw the leather bracelet on her wrist, and grabbed her arm. ‘Wait. That thing on your wrist. Look!’ He pulled up his sleeve and showed her the identical bracelet he was wearing.
Mia looked at it curiously. ‘But I made that.’
‘I know. Of course you made it. You gave it to me for our anniversary.’
Mia grabbed her laptop and stood up. ‘I don’t know how you got that bracelet, but it wasn’t made for you. I made it for my boyfriend.’ She slung her bag over her shoulder and walked away.
Sam jumped up and ran after her. ‘Mia! Wait!’
Mia had reached the street. Sam grabbed her again. ‘Listen to me. I
am
your boyfriend.’
She pulled her arm away. ‘Let go of me.’
‘Mia, please. Just listen to me.’
Mia turned on him. Her eyes flashed with anger. ‘No! You listen to me. You are
not
my boyfriend. So stop freaking me out and leave me alone!’ She turned and walked off down the street.
Devastated, Sam stood on the footpath, staring after her. Shoppers and schoolkids moved around him like he wasn’t there. Sam couldn’t move. Couldn’t take his eyes off his girlfriend,
his
girlfriend, walking away from him like he didn’t exist.
‘Same thing happened to me.’
Sam dragged his eyes off Mia’s retreating figure and saw Andy sitting on a bench, watching him.
‘When I got home, I went to my room,’ said Andy. ‘Only it wasn’t my room anymore. It was my sister, Viv’s, and she’d re-decorated it with posters of Pink and Lady Gaga. She threw a lamp at me and then my
nai nai
chased me out of the house with a meat cleaver.’
Sam stared at him. ‘So … what?
None
of your family knew who you were?’
‘My sister called me a stalker,’ Andy said bitterly. ‘Like anyone would want to stalk her.’
Sam didn’t know whether to be relieved or terrified. ‘My parents don’t know who I am either.’
‘My dad once told me about an order of monks who had mass delusion and thought they were possessed by lizards.’
Sam looked at Andy blankly. What the hell was he talking about?
‘I think the same thing has happened to our families. The stress of us going missing has caused them to have mass delusional hysteria, resulting in collective amnesia.’
‘What about the others?’ asked Sam. Andy made no sense at the best of times, and right now the last thing he wanted to hear was theories about monks and lizards.
Andy shrugged. ‘If this is happening to us, it’s probably happening to them too.’
Jake was picking up a tiny bike outside the police station when Sam and Andy found him.
Sam watched him, wondering how you ask someone if their family has forgotten them. Not exactly something you ask every day.
‘Hey, Jake.’
Jake looked up defensively. He didn’t look great.
‘Is everything okay?’ asked Andy.
‘Why wouldn’t it be?’
Sam and Andy looked at each other.
‘We were just wondering if you’d found your parents,’ asked Sam carefully.
Jake turned away. ‘I’m looking for my mum.’
Sam felt his stomach turn. ‘So, you haven’t seen her since we got back?’
Jake shrugged. ‘She’s probably just shopping.’
‘What about your dad?’ asked Sam.
‘What’s he got to do with anything?’ Jake snapped. ‘I just need to find my mum.’ He straddled the bike and went to push off from the footpath.
Sam stopped him. He had to give it to Jake straight.
‘Listen, Jake. Andy and me? When we found our parents they didn’t know who we were. It’s like we were complete strangers …’
Jake looked at him like he was crazy. ‘What are you talking about?’
‘And it’s not just our parents. Mia didn’t know who I was either.’ Man, it hurt to say that out loud.
‘My theory is that our families are experiencing mass delusional hysteria caused by –’
‘Does anyone ever understand a word you say?’ Jake interrupted Andy.
‘My family do. Or did,’ Andy corrected himself.
‘Yeah well, sad story guys, but I’ve got to find my mum.’
‘When you do find her I’d say there’s a seventy to eighty per cent chance she’ll have no idea who you are,’ said Andy. But Jake wasn’t listening. He was staring at a woman walking down the footpath on the other side of the street.