Free Slam by Nick Hornby Page A

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    At that family lunch, when I was invited because I was part of the family, I was just sitting there minding my own business when her dad asked me what I was going to do after my GCSEs.
    â€œNot everybody is academic, Robert,” said Alicia’s mum quickly.
    You see how it worked? She was trying to protect me, but what she was trying to protect me from was a question about whether I had any future at all. I mean, everyone does something after their GCSEs, don’t they? Even if you sit at home watching daytime TV for the rest of your life, it’s a future of sorts. But that was their attitude with me—don’t mention the future, because I didn’t have one. And then we all had to pretend that not having a future was OK. That’s what Alicia’s mum should have said. “Not everybody has a future, Robert.”
    â€œI know not everybody is academic. I was just asking him what he wanted to do,” said Robert.
    â€œHe’s going to do art and design at college,” said Alicia.
    â€œOh,” said her dad. “Good. Excellent.”
    â€œYou’re good at art, are you, Sam?” her mum said.
    â€œI’m all right. I’m just worried about if we have to do essays and stuff at college.”
    â€œYou’re not so good at English?”
    â€œNot at writing it, no. Or speaking it. I’m fine at all the rest.”
    That was supposed to be a joke.
    â€œIt’s just a matter of confidence,” said her mum. “You haven’t had the same advantages as a lot of people.”
    I didn’t know what to say to that. I have my own bedroom, a mum who’s in work and who likes reading and who gets on my case if I haven’t done my homework…To be honest, I don’t really know how many more advantages I could use. Even my dad not being around was a good thing, because he’s not into education at all. I mean, he wouldn’t actually stop me trying to study, but…Actually, maybe that’s not true. It was always a thing between him and Mum. She was desperate to go to college, and he’s a plumber, and he’s always made decent money, and there was this thing going on between them, because Mum reckoned he felt inferior and tried to cover it up by telling her what a waste of time it was getting qualifications. I don’t know. As far as people like Alicia’s parents are concerned, you’re a bad person if you don’t read and study, and as far as people like my dad are concerned, you’re a bad person if you do. It’s all mad, isn’t it? It’s not reading and whatever that makes you good or bad. It’s whether you rape people, or get addicted to crack and go out mugging. I don’t know why they all get themselves into such a stew.
    â€œI think Sam was joking, Mum,” said Alicia. “He’s good at speaking.” I didn’t find that very helpful either. They’d heard me speak. They could make their own minds up. It wasn’t like we were talking about my skating skills, something they’d never seen. If they needed to be told that I could talk, then obviously I was in trouble.
    â€œNo, he is good, I know,” said her mum. “But sometimes, if you don’t…If you haven’t…”
    Alicia started to laugh. “Go on, Mum. Try and finish the sentence in a way that doesn’t piss Sam off.”
    â€œOh, he knows what I mean,” she said. And I did, but that’s not the same as saying I liked it.
    I liked Rich, her brother, though. I didn’t think I would, because he plays the violin, and any kid who plays the violin is usually King of the Nerds. He doesn’t look like a nerd, though. He wears glasses, but they’re quite cool, and he likes a laugh. I suppose what I’m saying, if I think about it, is that he likes me. Liked me, anyway. I’m not so sure about now. And that makes a difference, doesn’t it? I mean, he