Читать книгу Radio Boy and the Revenge of Grandad - Christian O’Connell - Страница 15

‘Are you kidding me? Are you actually suggesting I sack my own grandad? A harmless old man down on his luck, whose wife has just thrown him out?’

‘YES!’ shouted Artie and Holly in perfect unison.

‘Yeah, OK, fair enough,’ I said. I understood, but the thought of what I had to do made me feel physically sick. You ever had to fire a family member?

‘Plus, harmless? That man is as harmless as Mr Harris’s stinking bad breath,’ said Holly. ‘He’s no cute grandpops, Spike. He’s a bitter old cruise-ship entertainer whose career didn’t happen.’

Artie was next. ‘Your poor dad, growing up with him. I’m surprised he didn’t run away and join the circus.’

‘I know, I know,’ I said. ‘But you’ve seen what he’s like. If I sack him, he’ll … well, I don’t know what he’ll do. He’s pretty …’

‘Insane?’ said Holly.

‘Crazy?’ said Artie.

‘Um. Yes.’

‘Well, I’ll make it easy for you,’ said Holly. ‘Either he goes or I go, Spike.’

Wow. Even thinking about trying to do without Holly was crazy. But I really didn’t want to fire Grandad Ray. I’d won a round of poker one night and he’d thrown the pack of cards out of the window. I dreaded to think what he’d do if I dumped him from the show. I tried to reason with her.

‘Yeah, OK, I get it. He’s just … in a tough spot right now … maybe after a little chat he’ll be back on form and apologise …’

‘ME or HIM,’ Holly said CLEARLY, SLOWLY and LOUDLY. Then she went in for the kill.

‘I’m telling you right now, Spike, you enter Radio Star with him on the show, you’re guaranteed to lose. Merit Radio will sound brilliant compared to us, with your crazy grandad in our shed. The judges, if they are still awake after hearing our entry, with boring stories about cruise ships, will think it’s HIS show—’

‘OK, OK, I’LL FIRE HIM!’ I yelled.

She was right, as always. Radio Star was my big break and I couldn’t let anyone get in the way of that. I’d come too far. The thought that they would think it was Grandad’s show really got me angry. It was MY show. I was the star. Now I was starting to understand why Dad felt the way he did about him. ‘Tough love,’ Grandad Ray had said earlier. Maybe he needed a dose of that himself.

By the way, ‘Tough Love’ sounds like a bad rapper.

‘Hi, my name is Tuff Love and I’m here to rock.’

No, you’re not. Your real name is Christopher Pringle. You live in your mum’s basement and work in a dry cleaner’s.

‘How do I do it, though?’ I asked. ‘You’ve seen him. He’s got the emotional sensitivity of a great white shark who hasn’t eaten in a month. He’ll eat me alive.’ Just thinking about it frightened me. He could be very intimidating with that overly high hair.

‘Well, I’m sorry, Spike, he’s your grandad, you invited him to join the show so you’ll have to fix this,’ said Holly.

I looked to Artie for answers. He steepled his fingers and cocked his head to one side, like a wise old owl with some insight to share. I appreciated the fact he was giving my tricky situation the thought it deserved.

‘Do you really think a tiger ate his hair?’ he said, at last.