The Malloys, 1

Big Mike Malloy pounded down the sidewalk and the ground trembled beneath his feet. Well, in his head it did. Everything trembled when Big Mike walked by.

On the outside, he was not so big. He was a puny little kid really, on the outside.

In mining towns, it's common for people to be given familiar names, or nick-names. Of course, trying to be funny, the locals often pick on a feature of a person and name them the opposite. 'Blue' had red hair, 'Rowdy' Daglish was a very quiet guy, 'Tiny' Johnston was huge and Big Mike Malloy was little.

That's not how he saw himself though, Mike really did think that he was big. He'd been called that ever since he could remember and he'd come to believe it, sort-of. His older brothers had hung the name on him. He was still a pre-schooler when they were teenagers and when he protested that they were allowed to do things that he wasn't, he always claimed, "I'm big. Big Mikey!"

Over the years, Mikey had been shortened to Mike, but the Big still remained. His brothers were men now and they were not small. Maybe, one day, Big Mike might grow into his name, but it hadn't happened yet and he was 14 already. Fourteen years old, 4 foot nothing and 70 odd pounds, with blond hair and blue eyes, he looked like a little kid. His best friend was twice the size of him, and she was a girl.

Harri Roberts lived next door. She called him Big Mike, she always had, everybody did. Harri was the reason that he was not so happy. They were down at the river, getting dressed after swimming and Harri was proudly showing off her new boobs. She looked at his dick and laughed at him!

"Damm, Big Mike, a few less centimeters and you'd be a girl too!"

Ha bloody ha! She was so not funny. What did she expect anyway? They'd just been in the river and cold water shrinks things. She was a girl and girls knew nothing. Pity her boobs didn't shrivel up too - disgusting uddery things that they were.

He was big - Big Mike Malloy and the ground shook when he walked.

On the main street, around the corner by the newspaper office, he nearly crashed into a supermarket trolley and he scowled at the kid pushing it.

"Watch it, Mate."

"I am watching. Why don't you try it? And, I'm not your mate."

Whoah, the attitude! There was no time for fighting with strangers in the street, Big Mike backed off. "Suit yourself." He shrugged and went to walk around him.

"Hey Kid," the stranger said, "are you a local?"

"Yeah, of course, I've always lived here. Why?"

"Well I'm not. I'm a stranger here."

"Lucky you." Big Mike started walking.

"Can you tell me where Tommy Malloy lives. Tommy and Nancy Malloy?"

"Tommy and Nancy Malloy?" Big Mike was puzzled. "Yeah, I know where they live. What are you looking for them for?"

"I've got to talk to him. I've come a long way and I've got nowhere else to go."

"You haven't? You have? Why do you have to talk to Tommy?"

"I just do. It's really important; I need his help."

"You need his help? Good luck with that. Tommy's a drunken bum and he don't help nobody."

"I'm hoping that he'll help me. I've got nowhere to go," the kid was pleading.

"Hmm. Okay then, come with me and I'll show you where he lives."

"Oh, great! Thanks."

"No probs. Come on."

Tommy and Nancy were Big Mike's parents, so he was curious now. What did this kid want his father for? Tommy was not the type to help anybody, he couldn't look after himself. It was Nancy who ran their house, not Tommy. 'This could be interesting.'

He started for home in a hurry, but had to stop and wait. The kid was limping and he wasn't keeping up.

"Sorry," the stranger shrugged when he caught up to him. "I'm having trouble."

"So I see. What've you done to your foot?"

"I twisted my ankle, and I think I've got blisters. I've been walking for hours."

"Pushing the trolley?"

"No. I found it up the road and I've just borrowed it. I thought it would be easier than carrying my pack and stuff. It's dammed hard to steer though."

"They're made like that to slow you down."

"You might be right. Have we got far to go?"

"No, not far at all. It's just a couple of blocks up the road."

"Good!"

"Yeah. What's your name anyway?"

"I'm Michael Malloy."

"You what? You are not!"

"Yeah I am. That's my name - Michael Thomas Malloy."

"For real? But that's my name. I'm Michael Thomas Malloy."

"You are? Are you related to Tommy Malloy?"

"Unfortunately, yes. He's my father."

"He is? Really? He's my father too."

"No!"

"Yes."

"Oh, wow! Just wow. I've never heard anything about you. Does Tommy know? He's gonna be in SO much trouble!"

"Yeah, he knows. Well, he used to. I hope he remembers. He used to send maintainance money for me, sometimes, but it stopped years ago."

"That sounds like him. I hope you don't think you're going to get money out of him now. You've got no show because he hasn't got any. The only people Tommy supports are publicans.

Come on, I can't wait to get home. This is gonna be fun! Can I push the trolley for you?"

"No, it's okay, thanks. It helps to support my foot."

"Still looks like hard work. I'll tell you what, get in it, sit on your pack and I'll push you."

"Well . . . yeah, thanks. That'd be great if you'll do that, it'd be a big help."

"No probs. If Tommy's your father, then we're brothers, I guess."

"That is so cool. I wasn't expecting to find any brothers. Are there any others?"

"Yeah, there's two - TJ, which means Tommy Junior, (poor bugger), and Blue, but they don't live at home, they're grown-up and they've got their own places."

Michael climbed into the trolley while Big Mike stood holding it steady. He settled down and Big Mike started walking. It wasn't too bad, once he got going.

"You, I mean, we, have a brother named Blue?"

"No, his name is Gavin, but he's called Blue because he's got red hair."

"Of course. What do they call you?"

"I'm Big Mike."

"Because you're little?"

"No, Dork. Because I'm big!"

"Umm. Okay then. Do you always call your father Tommy?"

"Yeah. Everybody does. They're just Tommy and Nancy. How old are you?"

"I'm fourteen."

"Fourteen? Me too! When's your birthday?"

"The 3rd of July."

"Mine's the 5th of August. We're not twins then."

"We're not. We've got two different mothers but the same father."

"Yeah, wow. Nancy is too, she's very different, you'll see. It's Nancy that you'll have to charm if you want to get your foot in the door. Nancy's the boss, Tommy's just useless."

"Thanks, I'll remember that."

"No-one forgets it. Oh, Blue's not your brother. He's mine but not yours. He's got a different father - Nancy had a fling when Tommy was in Pap one time."

"In Pap?"

"Paparoa Prison. Tommy's a bit of a crim. He's not very good at it, he keeps getting caught."

"Our father is no saint then."

"Definitely not! Neither is Nancy, but she's okay. Oh, there's two sisters too. Sarah's the oldest, but she lives at home. She's got 2 kids of her own, but they're just little. She split with her boyfriend so now she's back at home with her kids. And there's Molly, she's the youngest and the baby. She's 8."

"It's a busy house then."

"It surely is. Have you got any other brothers and sisters?"

"No, there's just me and now Mum's decided that there's no room for me either. She's got a new boyfriend, they've gone to live in Aussie and they don't want me. She told me to bugger off and go find my father. It's about time that he was responsible for me."

"Good luck with that!"

They carried on up the street. It was just as well they didn't live on a hill!

They both had a lot to think about. Big Mike was mostly thinking, 'Wow!' It was never boring around there for long, but today could be the most interesting ever. As fast as he could, they went home.