Benworden (10 page)

Wally let go of the back of their shirts and Peter stood back while Wally and the other three goons grabbed one of each boys' arms and stretched them out like they were tied between posts. Peter was taking deep breaths like he had probably seen
in some B-grade karate movie. He then started his warm-ups by waving his fists and legs around like a rap dancer with his pants on fire while screaming like a puppy that had just had its tail stood on.

Brian looked at Sean and said, “I'd rather he just hit us – his screaming is bursting my ear drums.”

It wasn't long before he got his wish.

Wally yelled out, “Let them have it, Tap Out, just don't hit them in the face. It's too hard to find an excuse.”

The boys began to wiggle like worms but the four thugs had a tight grip on their arms. Peter kicked and chopped Brian and Sean in the arms and legs until they could barely stand, then Brian spat in Peter's face and said, “Pick the bones out of that, you creep!”

Peter wiped his forearm with one quick swipe across his face like an amateur actor and began beating into the boys again.

When Wally felt they had had enough he said, “That should do, mate. They'll show a bit more respect next time.” He told the others to let go and both boys fell to the ground in pain.

Wally stood over the top of them and said, “If you tell anyone what happened here today we will make sure it's a lot worse next time.”

The boys lay on the ground in agony and watched as the gang walked away with their arms thrown across each other's shoulders while laughing and joking about the pain they had inflicted on the two little nerds. Sean held back his emotions until they were almost out of sight. He then struggled to get to his knees and Brian noticed a solitary tear run down his cheek.

Kneeling upright Sean wiped his sleeve across his face and
said, “I hate them!”

He staggered to his feet and reached down to help Brian up and Brian replied, “I know, mate. I hate them too!”

Sean's emotional pain was quickly turning to anger and his eyes bulged when he said, “No mate. I really hate them and they're going to pay for this! I don't care how long it takes; they're going to get theirs!”

Both boys helped each other hobble back to the school.

When we had found out about what had happened and saw the bruises all over Brian's and Sean's arms and legs we felt as angry as Sean did. We knew we had to put a stop to Wally's bullying.

We sent the boys to see Harry in our first aid room as soon as they got back to the boarding house after school and he made up a balm to put on their arms and legs to ease the pain. Like all of Harry's secret recipes it worked a treat and the boys were moving a lot more freely within an hour of it being applied.

Enough was enough and it was time for Scar to feel the bite of the Bull Ants, so we held an emergency meeting that evening to discuss the situation. All club members were asked to think about what they could do and come up with their own plan for stopping the bullying once and for all. We asked them to bring their ideas to the next meeting in one month's time. Gerry and I made it very clear that this was a priority project and that all other projects needed to be put aside until this had been resolved.

Normally there would be a lot of protesting when other club members had to put their plans aside, but on this occasion there wasn't even a whisper of discontent. Everyone showed Brian and Sean that they were part of a team and when you hurt one
you are answerable to all.

After his recovery, Sean spent every moment he could in the club rooms working on his project. He had become absolutely obsessed with getting Wally and his band of thugs back and it was engulfing his every thought. Brian had emotionally moved on from what had happened and he could see that the way Sean was acting was completely out of character, so he took him aside and discussed the situation with him.

Gerry and I were also worried about Sean so I asked Brian how he thought Sean was coping. He said, “Don't worry, Dylan. I spoke to him and everything is cool now.”

I knew that I had to be assertive due to the circumstances and I replied, “My concerns aren't only for him. You know what his capabilities are when it comes to explosives and other devices. We don't want this getting out of hand.”

Brian nodded in agreement and said, “I know, that's what I was worried about too, but I promise you it's going to be ok now.”

The conviction in Brian's voice was enough to convince me that he had the situation under control so I said, “Ok. I'll leave it in your hands for now but I'm going to have to keep an eye on things just in case. You understand, don't you?”

Brian nodded his head again and replied, “Yes I do, but after speaking with him earlier he understood what he was doing and he said he was going to work on it. Just to make sure he's ok I'll work on his project with him and that way we can be sure it's safe.”

I thanked Brian for his efforts and left. However, I still had some concerns as we all knew what Sean was capable of and the damage that he could do if not monitored.

What Brian said to him must have made a huge impact though, because not long after their discussion I could see a change and we were all happy to have the old Sean back.

12

T
HE
S
MELL OF
S
UCCESS

T
he month flew by and on the day of the meeting I was keen to see what everyone had come up with. We were all seated around the big oak table we had in our meeting room. Most of the members had worked in groups and had brainstormed some very good ideas, but it was now Sean and Brian's turn to exhibit their plan and the devices they were going to use.

Sean stood up and it wasn't hard to tell by the look on his face that he was about to relate something that had significant importance to him. He hung his head for a fraction of a second like a maestro who was about to conduct a symphony orchestra, then he lifted it slowly and focused his eyes down the end of the table where Brian was sitting.

A respectful look appeared on his face and he said, “Before I tell you what Brian and I have been working on over the past four weeks I'd like to thank all of you for the support you've given both of us. It made us realise how much you guys care and we both needed that to get through our ordeal.”

At this point I caught a glimpse of Carla who was sitting opposite me and noticed she was wiping away a tear.

Sean continued, “I was so angry with Wally that I hated everything about him and his stupid gang and all I could think about was how I could get them back in the worst possible way. Then my good friend Brian came and explained to me how my behaviour was not only affecting me but all of you guys as well. He also explained how I was letting Wally control
me emotionally, and that Wally definitely didn't deserve it.” We all turned and looked down the table at Brian with pride as Sean continued. “Thanks to Brian, I began to think more clearly and realised that I no longer wanted revenge. But I also knew that the bullying had to stop before someone got seriously hurt, so with the help of Brian and Harry I've made two things to not only end the bullying but to have a bit of fun at the same time.”

Every one of us sat there in complete silence knowing that Sean and Brian had shown maturity way beyond their young years and that the two youngest members of our club had taught us a lesson as well. There wasn't one of us older members in the room who hadn't felt hate towards those bullies, and we could now see we had handed over our emotional control to them, yet the only one to make us realise that we should consider prevention rather than pay-back was the one who suffered most in the hands of the bullies.

Geraldine looked at Sean and gave him a motherly grin and said, “Well spoken Sean. We're very proud of both of you! So, what do you have for us?”

Sean glanced around the room with a cheeky grin on his face and said, “Now, just because we're going to stop old Wally's bullying doesn't mean we can't have a bit of fun while we do it, does it?”

Everyone looked around at the other members and the replies came thick and fast: “Nup”, “Not at all”, and, “No way.”

Sean continued, “Ok, here's our first idea,” and he pulled a small plastic box from his pocket. The box was small enough to fit in the palm of his hand yet too big for him to make a fist over it. Then Brian stood up and grabbed a bag he had near his feet. He placed the bag on the table and removed more of the boxes from it and asked us to hand them around. He took three spray
bottles out of the bag and placed them at both ends of the table and one in the middle. The bottles contained a yellow liquid with a green tinge to it.

I nervously asked Sean what was in the box. I'm not sure if I did this out of curiosity or fear, as I was trying to block out some of Sean's previous experiences in chemistry when he was at junior school. I could see he had picked up on my apprehension, and he gave me the type of look a father would give his son if he was too frightened to hop on a new bike he had just been given. He said, “Come on, Dylan, it hasn't blown up yet. Why don't you lead the way and open the box first?”

The sight of this little sprite speaking to me in this manner started everyone laughing and I must admit it took all my efforts to keep a straight face myself. This wasn't such a bad thing as it kept my mind from thinking about the danger I might be facing when opening the box.

I slowly unclipped the lid and peeked in and then I very gently closed it down again and said, “Sean! That's not gelignite in there, is it?”

I had turned quite pale by now and the others in the room must have picked up on my fear as they had all gone deathly silent. I could feel the beads of sweat forming on my forehead and the blood pumping through my body like an express train through a railway station.

Sean was quite annoyed now as he said with a firm voice, “No Dylan! It's not!”

I tried to break down the tension that had started to build by saying, “Only joking, mate,” – which wasn't entirely true – and to show good faith I lifted the lid of the box again without showing any signs of apprehension, although I must admit I
was feeling it inside.

Once the box was opened again I could see I had made a simple mistake. It initially looked like a clear gel like plasticine but on closer inspection it was a gelatine surface and beneath it was a liquid white slime with black splodges through it.

Sean looked at me and said, “What do you see?”

I looked up at him and then back at the slime, like I would in a science class. If a teacher had asked me a similar question I would have answered, “It looks like bird poo in jelly.”

Both of the twins twisted up their noses and said, “Yuck!” and, “Ooh!”

Sean smiled and said with pride, “Yes! That's exactly what it's supposed to look like. The upper jelly is to keep it safe but the bottom bit is supposed to look like bird droppings.”

Everyone had been lifting the top of their boxes for a peek and had closed them just as quickly when Sean had said the jelly was there to keep it safe. Everyone but Bungles, that is – he had plunged his index finger into the jelly.

Sean yelled, “WAIT!,” but it was too late. Half the room had hit the deck and the other half sat at the table with both hands over their heads while grimacing in anticipation of what might follow.

Sean said to Bungles, “Don't pull your finger out yet,” and Bungles sheepishly looked back and nodded while fearing he was about to be blown to smithereens at any given moment.

I couldn't hold back any more and angrily said to Sean, “I thought you said it wasn't an explosive!”

Sean turned from Bungles to me and wearing a frown on his face said, “I never said that. I said it wasn't gelignite!”

All I could hear then was loud shuffling from the club members beneath the table as they tried in vain to find a safer position in order to protect themselves. I was extremely worried now and said to Sean, “So it's an explosive in the box!”

Sean's mouth twisted as he shook his head side to side in disappointment and then said, “I honestly thought you had more faith in me than this. There is no way I'd bring an explosive device into this room knowing that I could endanger my good friends. I'm much more cautious than I used to be.”

“So what is it?” I replied. Everyone started to reappear from under the table and Bungles let out a sigh of relief. Sean rose from his seat and grabbing one of the spray bottles from his end of the table walked over to Bungles.

“I'll show you. Ok, Bungles, pull your finger out of the container,” and Bungles gently lifted his finger from the goo.

Then all of a sudden a smell like rotten egg gas began wafting through the room.

Greg said, “Ok, who let one go?”

And Bonnie, like everyone else, grabbed her nose and said nasally, “My goodness. That's disgusting!”

At the same time the twins and Gerry had begun dry-retching. The only way to describe that rank smell is by imagining that you're in a room filled with every disgusting thing you have ever smelled in your life, and even then you would only be halfway to experiencing what we were smelling at that very moment.