Get Some Read Free Page B

right.’

Chapter Three
    HULL, COLEFORD PRIMARY SCHOOL – 1983

    ‘ Friends are God’s way of taking care of us’, least that is what my mother used to tell me. Most of the time I would disregard my mother’s religious quotations but, for the day I met Tommy, she kind of had a point.
    ‘ What a goal!’ cried a big fat kid called Timmy as he celebrated his goal. The playground was always bedlam during playtime, especially in summer. Kids running around going in all-different directions would have made anyone dizzy. It was hard for the playground supervisors to keep an eye on everyone, but they tried their best.
    The supervisors could have done a hell of a lot better on that morning.
    Playing on a small stretch of grass away from most of the noise and schoolyard mayhem, two children were in a world of their own.
    Sat down with his lollipop in his mouth, the little boy finished the daisy-chain and handed it to his little girl friend.
    ‘ There you go,’ the little boy said, as he smiled happily, innocently, oblivious to the vultures circling.
    ‘ Thank you. You’re my best friend,’ the little girl replied, and passed him a daisy chain in return.
    ‘ Wow! Yours is even better and bigger than mine,’ he smiled, putting the chain round his neck. He had no idea this wasn’t what boys did. He had no idea that boys were supposed to be tough and didn’t play around making daisy chains with girls.
    ‘ We need another player.’ Timmy wasn’t asking, he was telling the young daisy chain maker that his services were needed on the football field.
    Looking terrified he answered quietly, almost under his breath, he was sad ‘but I don’t like football.’
    Timmy approached him ’you what? You don’t like football? But you like playing with girls? Ha-ha!’ Timmy turned to the other boys, all watching and waiting for Timmy to stamp his authority. ‘You are playing football. We are short.’
    He then broke the poor boy’s heart. Walking close to him, the brittle boy quivered with fear as Timmy broke the daisy chain.
    The little boy found guts he never knew he had and kicked big Timmy in his shin. ‘I don’t want to play!’ he cried as he tried to pick his daisy chain up, but Timmy was on him in a flash.
    Kicking the little boy’s legs away from him, Timmy jumped on top of the little boy as he cried, and started to strangle him.
    That’s when I met him, that’s the first day I met Tommy, for that little scared boy was me.
    BANG! Out of nowhere I saw a fist hit Timmy, then again, then again. The look on his face was priceless, as was mine I should imagine, for up to that day that was the scariest moment in my life. I had never known violence, so this was like the scariest thing ever! I would have screamed for my mother if I thought she would have heard me.
    I was truly terrified.
    ‘ Get off him fat boy,’ Tommy snarled as he stood with both fists clenched.
    ‘ But Tommy, look at him, he’s a girl! He plays with girls and makes daisy chains.’
    ‘ He’s a girl, is he?’ Tommy asked as he walked towards me and offered his hand. I took his hand and stood up, behind him.
    Spotting the daisy chain on the floor, Tommy picked it up. He quickly fixed it as the other kids looked on, wondering what he would do next. He put it on around his neck, he looked at me. ‘Fasten it would you?’ I did as he asked. He then looked at all the other kids, addressing them with his seniority.
    ‘ Look. Everybody look! I wear daisy chains.’ His eyes wandered the crowd of kids which had gathered, waiting for a challenger to fight him.
    ‘ Now who wants to call me a girl?’
    Nobody did. Ever.
    ‘ The name’s Tommy,’ he smiled and offered his hand. I shook it with a beaming smile whilst wiping my tears with the other.
    ‘ I’m Joey Graziano, and I’m seven.’
    ‘ I’m eight next month’ replied Tommy. ‘And on my birthday, my stepmother’s buying me an army suit!’
    ‘ Wow’! This kid was soooo cool. We left the