It was as if I was moving through a long tunnel, getting nearer and nearer, but before I could reach the light, there were some twists and turns to deal with. I hadn’t told Mum and Dad about the trial yet, but I figured that when I did it would be best if things were going well at school and at home. So I had to take a detour into some side tunnels marked ‘homework’ and ‘washing up’ from time to time, but my main focus was still the trial.

  I’d been meeting up with Salim as often as possible for basketball practice. He was a great teacher. The rest of the gang had improved as well, and Dexter had even started calling Salim “Professor Basketball”.

  Dexter didn’t always take it too seriously, though. One day he turned up with a set of giant foam hands with pointy fingers. He reckoned the big hands would give him an advantage. We had to laugh. He had no chance of catching, dribbling or even holding the ball with them on.

  In contrast, Salim was always super-focused. He concentrated mainly on me, and I’d come on leaps and bounds.

  “I know you’re right-handed, but try to dribble the ball with your left hand,” he told me. “That way you won’t be predictable. Remember, let the chair do the work. You only need one or two pushes and even your chair will roll forever.”

  I did as he said and sailed past Brian into clear space. Salim looked pleased.

  “Okay, if this was a real game,” he continued, “I’d want you to keep your head up, look to pass to someone in a better position, then cut to open space and –”

  I interrupted before Salim could finish.

  “Yeah, but it’s not a real game,” I said cheekily. “So instead, I’m going to do this.”

  I glanced up quickly, raised the ball into a shooting action and let it go. I was a long way from the basket but it arced through the air and …

  SWISH!

  That was the beautiful sound the ball made as it splashed through the hoop without touching the sides. The net seemed to flutter with satisfaction as if it approved of my shot.

  “Woo-hoo!” shrieked Melody. “That shot had added Cyborg Cat power, Ade.”

  “I know,” I said. “I think I even surprised myself with that one.” My heart was pumping like mad; it felt like the beginning of something great.

  “You’re going to blow them away at the trial, Ade,” said Brian.

  “Well, I don’t know about that,” I replied modestly.

  The truth was, I was feeling more and more confident about my basketball ability. I loved playing and even though the others said my Cyborg Cat superpowers were helping me, I wasn’t so sure. Out on the court it just felt natural having a ball in my hands and dribbling and shooting. It didn’t feel like when I became Cyborg Cat; somehow it just felt like me.

  “Are Shed and Dexter coming or shall we just play a quick two-on-two?” asked Salim.

  “Nah, they won’t be here,” Brian told him. “Dex said he had an England football match to finish off in his head and Shed said he had to go straight home after school.”

  “So me and Ade against you and Salim then?” Melody suggested.

  “Fine with me,” I said. “But shouldn’t you be doing more football training to prepare for your trial?”

  “Yeah, Melody,” said Brian. “Basketball isn’t going to help you get onto the school football team, is it?”

  “Actually, it could do,” corrected Salim. “It’s good fitness training, and some of the skills, like pass and move, are much the same. Plus, there’s the mental alertness. You have to stay switched on the whole time in basketball, just like football.”

  “Thanks, Professor Football,” said Melody, grinning. “Don’t worry, Brian, I’m doing plenty of football training, and anyway, I’ve got my lucky boots. I’ve scored every penalty I’ve ever taken with them on. I’m not worried about the trial. I’m going to be the first girl on the football team, you’ll see. Let’s play!”

  For the next ten minutes we played a fast and frantic two-on-two game. No one could really keep score, but I sank a good few baskets, so I was feeling pretty positive.

  “You know, if Dad comes home from work in a good mood tonight, I’m going to tell him and Mum about the trial,” I said.

  “Go for it,” Salim said.

  “Yeah, and maybe do this at the same time!” Brian had picked up the basketball and was attempting to spin it really fast on one finger. Unfortunately, it lasted about a second before falling off and rolling into the bushes.

  We all laughed.

  “Great idea,” said Melody. “That’ll really impress Ade’s mum and dad.”

  A moment later, the ball came rolling back out of the bushes. We waited for someone or something to emerge after it. Nothing appeared.

  My Cyborg Cat senses kicked in: something was strange. I had a definite feeling that someone had been there, even though, when we checked, the bushes were empty.

  Weird. I shook the feeling off as we headed home.

  “Here you go, Adedoyin,” Mum said. “Amala.” She smiled and put a plate of delicious-looking food in front of me. Amala means “pounded yam” in Yoruba, the Nigerian language she speaks. She poured a gooey, rich, spicy okra stew on top of it. My stomach rumbled. It was one of my favourite meals.

  “Wow, thanks, Mum,” I said, eager to devour every last morsel.

  “This is good brain food, Doyin,” she said. “It must be why you’re doing so well at school.”

  I beamed when she said that and a huge grin caterpillared across my face as I scooped up my first spoonful.

  “I’m home!”

  It was Dad. I instantly replayed his ‘I’m home’ in my head. It was upbeat, and he didn’t sound too tired. Sometimes if he’d had a bad day he could barely force the words out and they sounded heavy and distant. This sounded like a good ‘I’m home’.

  Of course, I didn’t pounce straight away. I let Dad sit down and have a cup of tea. He and Mum chatted about their days, and then Dad asked me about mine.

  I told him about a project we were doing in geography and getting one of the top marks in a maths test. Then I went for it.

  “So, erm, Dad,” I said. “You know I’ve been playing a lot of basketball with my friends?”

  “Have you now, Doyin?” said Dad. “Did I ever tell you about the time I was crowned Wastepaper Basketball Champion at work? I got fourteen baskets in a row and –”

  “Ah, ah, Bola,” interrupted Mum. “You’ve told us a million times.”

  “Yes, Dad,” I said. “And it’s a great story, but what I wanted to tell you was that Salim thinks I’m a really good player and –”

  “Of course you are,” said Dad, smiling. “It must be in the genes.”

  “Only if there’s a gene for throwing scrunched-up bits of paper into a rubbish bin,” Mum said, laughing.

  Dad laughed too. They were both definitely in a really good mood. I ploughed on.

  “Well, the thing is, Salim plays for a team called the Newham Rollers and they’re looking for new players. He thinks I could get in and there’s a trial, so I’m going to go along and –”

  “What?”

  Dad’s ‘what?’ landed with a big thump in the middle of my sentence. This wasn’t good.

  I took a big gulp of air. I suddenly felt really nervous and a jolt from my chair went right through me. I sensed I’d made a big mistake. Something was badly wrong.

  My brain said, “Stop now, Ade. Quick, change the subject,” but there was nothing I could do – my mouth just kept moving.

  “Next Saturday,” I went on. “That’s when the trial is. Of course, I might not get in, but if I play well I think I’ve got a good chance.”

  The atmosphere in the room had changed. It was as if a dark cloud had moved across the light. My powers seemed to be flickering jerkily, as if they were trying to connect, but something was stopping them.

  “No, Doyin,” said Dad sternly. “I do not think it is a good idea. It is one thing to mess about with your friends but playing wheelchair basketball for a team is something completely different.”

  “But, Dad, I really think I –”

  “I said no, Doyin. It is bad enough that people stare at you in the street, but there isn’t anything we can do about that. This is just asking for trouble, showing off in front of people. Anyway, it will be a distraction from your schoolwork. The only way you will get a good job and do something with your life is if you do well at school. There is no future in basketball.”

  I wanted to say something, but all the energy had drained from my body. My Cyborg Cat powers were totally gone. There was just nothing there. Would there ever be again?

  Dad hadn’t ever liked me being in a wheelchair but I’d thought he was getting used to it and that he might see possibilities rather than limitations.

  I was wrong.

  I looked at Mum, willing her to speak up for me. I was sure she’d understand how important this was to me.

  I was very wrong.

  “Listen to your father, Doyin,” said Mum. “This basketball thing is just a silly dream, like it was with football. It is foolish. Your studies are the most important thing. You must keep working hard and maybe one day you will get a good job as a lawyer or a doctor.”

  4

  I Spell Trouble

  “ADE? Ade? Ade!”

  “Eh? What? Where am I?”

  Then I remembered. I was at school.

  “Oh, sorry, Mr Hurst, I … erm … is the answer twenty-seven?”

  “Well,” said Mr Hurst, “the question was, How do you spell the word ‘introduction’, so what do you think?”

  “I … think it’s not right,” I said, feeling embarrassment rise up through my body.

  “Course it’s not right, you idiot!” I knew that was Spencer, but I couldn’t even be bothered to react to him. Most of the class was sniggering.

  “That’s quite enough, thank you, Spencer,” said Mr Hurst. “Ade, you’ve been doing very well in class lately, so I’m going to let this small lapse pass, but do please try to concentrate.”

  “Yes, sir,” I said.

  I managed to get through the rest of the lesson without incident, but I was pretty relieved when the bell went for break.

  “The bell is for me, not for you,” said Mr Hurst as we all started to get up. “Please sit down again.”

  “But sir, it’s play time,” came a voice from the back of the classroom that sounded suspiciously like Dexter.

  “This will only take a minute,” said Mr Hurst. “Mrs Bolton has asked me to remind you about the whole school assembly at the end of term. Mr Jenkins is planning what I’ve been told is a fascinating science talk, but other contributions are welcome, so if you have any ideas, sign up on the noticeboard. There, that wasn’t too long was it? Off you go.”

  “What shall we play?” Dexter asked me excitedly as we got into the lift.

  Since I’d started using a wheelchair, school had made some adaptations to help me, and installed a small lift over the summer holidays. There was just room for me and one other person. There had been so many arguments about who should come with me in it that eventually Brian had drawn up a rota. It was colour-coded and had taken him an entire weekend, but it actually worked well.

  “I don’t know,” I said dejectedly. “I don’t really feel like playing anything.”

  “But it’s Play Time,” said Dexter. “We have to play at Play Time, otherwise they might stop calling it Play Time, and then we’d have to do whatever they decide to call it, and it might be Eating Worms Time or Smelling Feet Time.”

  I smiled weakly, but even Dexter could tell something was up.

  As the doors opened the others were waiting.

  “You’re it,” said Melody, tagging me and running away.

  I wheeled out of the lift slowly.

  “Come on, Ade,” said Shed. “Try to catch us.”

  “Yeah,” said Brian. “You should know how to play tag by now – we’ve played it every day for the past two years.”

  “And this is a really good way to stay fit for your trial,” shouted Melody, who was now quite a long way away.

  “There isn’t going to be any trial,” I said, the words tumbling out of my mouth like rocks.

  “What?” said Dexter. “Have they cancelled it?”

  “Does Salim know?” asked Brian.

  “No, I don’t mean there isn’t going to be a trial at all,” I explained. “I just mean there isn’t going to be a trial for me. I’m not doing it.”

  My friends reacted as if I’d just fired a freeze-ray gun. They all stopped moving and stood completely still with their mouths wide open.

  Melody was the first to crack.

  “Wh-why?” she stuttered.

  “Because it’s a waste of time,” I snapped. “I watched some of the team play yesterday and they’re brilliant. I haven’t got a chance of getting in, so I’m not going to bother trying. I’d just look stupid.”

  That wasn’t true, of course. I was too embarrassed to tell my friends the real reason I wasn’t going for the trial. Apart from anything else, if I did go for it and get onto the team, when Mum and Dad found out they would be so angry I’d gone against their wishes that they would stop me playing anyway, so it was pointless.

  Brian was the next to defrost.

  “But, Ade,” he said, “Salim thinks you’re good enough, and he should know!”

  “Yeah,” said Dexter. “And you’ve got superpowers as well and we’ll all be there to support you because we’re the Parson’s Road Gang and we always stick together.”

  I knew my friends were disappointed. They’d been looking forward to watching me play and cheering me on if I got onto the team, but the way I felt that was another reason not to do the trial. If I didn’t get through they’d all be gutted and I didn’t want that responsibility.

  I was about to change the subject when Shed suddenly thawed out.

  “You’re exactly right, Dex,” he said. “We always stick together. If Ade doesn’t want to do the trial, we should support him and not try to change his mind.”

  It was like Shed had fired his own freeze-ray gun. I was stunned. I’d expected them all to try to convince me to go for it. Especially Shed, who was always on my side.

  “Erm, yeah, thanks, Shed,” I said eventually, a little unsure about what I really felt. I mean, I guess he was being on my side. But I wasn’t sure I liked it.

  “But Cyborg Cat can do anything, Shed,” said Brian. “Ade could get on to the team, I know he could if he wanted to.”

  “But he doesn’t want to, does he?” retorted Shed.

  They all looked at me. I knew I was expected to say no I don’t, but my stomach felt as if it had thousands of ants crawling around inside it. I just felt confused.

  “Hey, loser, spell introduction – ha ha ha ha ha!”

  For once, I was almost happy to see Spencer and his mates.

  “Get lost, Spencer!” I shouted.

  “Yeah, you couldn’t even spell it, anyway,” snapped Melody.

  “I know it’s not spelled twenty-seven, though, ha ha ha ha ha!”

  “That’s because you probably think it’s 1,396,” Dexter shot back.

  Spencer looked at Dexter oddly – we all secretly did – then shrugged his shoulders and went to walk away. He suddenly turned round to face us again.

  “Oh yeah,” he said, “good luck with your trial, Melody. You’re going to need it.”

  “What did he mean by that?” I asked Melody as we watched Spencer walking off.

  “He doesn’t want a girl on the football team,” she said. “Spencer and his mates have been trying really hard to make me look bad at practice. They almost never pass to me, and when they do they hit the ball so hard I can’t control it.”

  “Probably because they know you’re brilliant and ten times better than all of them put together,” blurted out Brian, immediately turning a little red.

  “Ten times? I’d say a hundred times,” said Melody, shaking off her concerns. “You’re it!”

  She tagged Brian and we all headed away from him as fast as we could. The weird mood was broken.

  It felt good to be playing together again, but I knew the confusion about me not taking part in the trial hadn’t completely gone away.

  Had I made the right decision?

  5

  The Best of Friendlies

  “WHERE are we going? I can’t see a thing.”

  It was Sunday morning and I was blindfolded. Melody and Dexter were taking me to a mystery location.

  “You’re not going to wheel me onto that roundabout in the middle of the North Circular and leave me there, are you?”

  “Actually, that wasn’t the plan,” Dexter said. “And just so you know, this part of the plan was all my idea. Brilliant, eh?”

  “Yes,” I replied, baffled. “Totally brilliant, you are a genius.”

  “I know,” Dexter went on. “But that roundabout idea sounds great. We could call it EXTREME WHEELCHAIR NINJA WARRIOR.”

  “What?!” Wearing the blindfold, I couldn’t tell if he was being serious or not.

  “You silly sausage!” Melody chuckled. “Of course we wouldn’t do that, Ade.”

  “Phew,” I responded. “Well, then, maybe you’re going to take me to a space rocket and send me to the moon?”

  “Believe me,” said Melody. “If we could do that, I’d be the one going myself. Don’t worry, we’re nearly there and then you can take off the blindfold.”

  I tried using my Cyborg Cat powers to figure out where we were going, but nothing happened. Either there was no danger ahead or my powers still hadn’t returned. I very much hoped it was the former. I used my ordinary senses instead, but that turned out to be a mistake when we turned a corner and my sense of smell told me that a lot of dogs had been using the area for a toilet.

  Five minutes later we stopped.

  “Okay, Ade, we’re here,” Melody announced.

  “Where’s here?”

  “Here!” said a different voice as the blindfold was whipped off me.

  I blinked as light hit my eyes. I was on the basketball court in the park and in front of me were Shed, Brian and Salim.

 

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11