Fat Boy Swim

Chapter 1 Fat Boy Fat "Oi, boobsy. Move your fat butt! We're under pressure here." One rasp from Maddo McCormack in goal was enough to set Jimmy stumbling up the pitch, as though someone had given him a wedgie up the backside. He only shuffled half a dozen steps, each one making his thick flesh judder. The impact of his foot hitting the ground had him wheezing like an old accordion. It was hopeless. Pointless. Jimmy halted. Leaned forward, hands on knees. Gasping. Knackered. Somewhere to his left he could hear the flat clack of hockey sticks as the girls played their interschool final. Voices rose through the heat and drifted across to the field where Jimmy panted. Summer sounds. He hated them. This summer was off to a bad start. For Jimmy anyway. Unlike most years it hadn't crept in: one wee glimpse of sun in April, followed by three weeks of rain and back on with the winter clothes, bit of snow in May, then a disappointing June. First of May this year, a furnace blast of sunshine had scorched the west of Scotland. Day after day after day of stifling heat. Night after sleepless stuffy night. Even the ice cream vans struggled to chime through the thick air. After two months of weather like this, Jimmy felt he was suffocating under his own sticky weight. Made worse because it was serious school sports season. No getting out of it. At least today's match was the payoff for eight weeks of peace. Blow the whistle, Jimmy willed Hamblin, the ref. It had to be game over, otherwise he'd never have been forced from the sanctuary of the subs' bench. Although St. Jude's insisted that every pupil had a stint on the field, it was unspoken policy that Jimmy Kelly was only played in the dying moments of a game, and only then if St. Jude's were winning. They'd been up 21 when Jimmy went on. Blow the whistle. Jimmy panted, lungs struggling to inhale enough air to let him straighten up, let alone move. "Jimmy!" "Jimmy! J-i-i-i-m-m-y!" His name came hurtling toward him, screeched at maximum volume. A primitive chant. Carrying the threatno, the promisethat he'd be ripped apart if he didn't snap to it. He had to look up. Wasn't going to get away with playing the invisible hulk. "Never mind them, moron. Get your eye on that ball! Kick it back up the pitch, Kelly. It's at your feet, man!" GI Joe was level with Jimmy on the sideline, eyeballing him. His proximity didn't make him lower his voice any. He bawled as though his lungs would burst. "Come on, big man. Chase that ball. Boot it up the field. He's on your back. Aaach! What you playing at?" Jimmy's head went down. But that didn't matter. He could see what GI Joe was doing without looking. Swinging his whole body round from left to right in utter despair. Like he always did when he tried to get Jimmy to shift. Shaking his head in dismay was never enough. Every bit of him had to join in. Jimmy knew GI Joe's face would be beet red, wriggly veins bulging from his temples under the line where his bristly crew cut began. His forehead would throb visibly from the effort of screeching down the field at Jimmy. Later, when GI Joe tried to speak at normal volume, his voice would crack. If you didn't know what kind of bloke Coach was you might think he'd been weeping. Jimmy knewagain without having to look upthat even the charitable guys in defense were throwing him daggers over their shoulders as the play moved off up the field. Muttering curses under their breath. Wanting Jimmy taken off once and for all. Others were more straightforward with theiForde, Catherine is the author of 'Fat Boy Swim', published 2004 under ISBN 9780385732055 and ISBN 0385732058.