Page 259 of Knox Academy Omnibus
One word: Bojangles?
Baxter
Do you have a point? I really am busy.
Amelie
You’re named after a fictional character in a song?
Baxter
Bojangles wasn’t fictional. He was a homeless guy that the singer met. And I happen to like that part of my name. It was the only part that my mother picked, and she secretly added it to my birth certificate without my father’s permission. He was too busy to register my birth with her so she took advantage of that. It’s the only thing of hers that I have left.
Amelie
Shit, I’m sorry. I didn’t realise. You never talk about your family. Or yourself.
Don’t think this is going to stop me putting shit on you though...I mean, your damn initials are BJ for shit’s sake! Lol!
Chapter Seventeen
Amelie
I snort thinking about Baxter’s middle name. I mean, how awesome must his mother have been, to give her child the middle name Bojangles behind his father’s back considering how pretentious the rest of his name is.
Bellowing laughter filters through my slightly ajar door and I decide it's time to get up from my afternoon nap. Chelsea had us at the beach all day and Kalen was so excitable the entire time. Making sandcastles, body boarding in the waves, chasing seagulls. There was never a dull moment.
I follow the laughter down the stairs and into the kitchen.
"Help me, it burns. It's so thick."
I rush towards the kitchen even faster. What the hell are they doing to Kalen? Rushing in, I Tom-Cruise-slide on the lino. Kalen has his head sideways under the kitchen sink, black gunk washing down the drain.
"What are you doing?" I demand, hands on my hips.
"Giving your boy toy a welcome to Australia."
Kalen surfaces, his face still scrunched up in disgust and dripping with water.
"How do you eat that stuff? It tastes so bad!” he whimpers. My lips twitch.
Aadi and Smalls smile; Kalen’s reaction has made their day.
"It's an acquired taste," Smalls says. "You did insist you were areal manand wanted a whole spoonful."
"You let him eat it off the spoon?”
They both nod.
"I can still taste it in my nose,” Kalen whines.
"Less is more when it comes to Vegemite." I laugh. "Probably best to go brush your teeth."
He nods and runs out of the kitchen. Aadi and Smalls both look at each other and fall into hysterical laughter.
"What have you done?" I ask with dread.
"Just wait for it," Smalls replies.
