Chapter 2. A Day at School
February 1973
It's Monday morning! I hate going to school. I have to walk up this big hill and I feel quite lonely. This morning it was very foggy, and I couldn't see much in front of me.
I felt better when I saw that the old man was there. Halfway up the hill there's an old man who always sits on the same bench. He wears a hat and he has a very big grey moustache. He has a kind face, and he always says hello to me.
‘Hello, Cherub,' he said.
‘Hello,' I said. ‘It's very foggy today.'
‘Yes, it is,' he said. ‘Be careful you don't fall down. I have to be careful. That's why I've got this walking stick.'
When I'm older I want to have a walking stick. Then I can use it when I go for a walk in the woods. I love the woods. Sometimes my dad takes me. He always pretends that we're lost. I know we're not lost really. Dad knows the woods really well, but I pretend we're lost as well. It's very exciting.
After speaking to the old man, I went to the sweet shop. The lady there is always nice to me. I didn't want any sweets. I just wanted to say hello.
‘Hello, Mrs Jarvis,' I said.
‘Hello, dear,' she said. ‘Put your hat and scarf on. It's very cold out there.'
‘OK, Mrs Jarvis,' I said. I put my hat and scarf on and went out again. I felt quite good now. I belonged. This was my street and nobody called me names here, or made me feel small and stupid.
When I got to the top of the hill, the school was near. Then I stopped feeling happy. I looked around, but I couldn't see the school. I couldn't see it because of the fog. ‘Maybe it's not there anymore,' I thought. I started to pray. ‘Please God. Take the school away. Make it go away,' I said. I walked down the road to school. I still couldn't see it. I got nearer and nearer, and nearer and nearer, and then … I saw it. The school was still there. I wanted to cry but I didn't. I had to be strong. ‘Maybe today will be better.' I thought.
But it wasn't. It started as soon as I went into the classroom.
‘Oh no, it's Egghead,' said Kevin.
‘I didn't see your ugly face this weekend,' said Clive. ‘Where were you? At the zoo?' The other boys and girls in the class laughed. I don't know why. It wasn't funny at all.
‘Quiet,' said Miss White. ‘Today we're going to do some exercises about…
‘Don't listen to them,' said Andrew. ‘Just do what Miss White says. Don't listen to Kevin or Clive. They don't know what they're talking about.'
Lessons were quite easy. I didn't have to work too hard. I always knew the answers to Miss White's questions. I didn't always answer her though. I didn't want the other boys and girls to notice me. I finished the exercises very quickly. Then I waited for everybody else to finish. While I waited, I looked out of the window. ‘How I'd like to be in the woods now,' I thought. ‘Or at home reading my book. Or talking to the old man.' But here I was in this classroom, waiting for the lesson to end.
After half an hour Miss White said, ‘OK, class. It's break time. I'll see you in twenty minutes.'
‘WE WANT MORE MEN. WE WANT MORE MEN.'
At break time, the boys shouted this, walking around the playground. They walked together. Boys joined them as they marched around. It was like a very long chain. When the chain was long enough they would play a game together. It was very exciting. I tried to join the chain.
‘WE WANT MORE MEN. WE WANT MORE MEN.'
‘Get out, Freeman. Eggheads can't play,' said one boy.
‘Yeah. Leave the chain now. We don't want you to play with us, Egghead,' said another.
So I left the chain. I sat in the corner of the playground, watching the other boys and girls play. They were having so much fun. Why couldn't I join? Why do I belong when I walk up my hill, but not here at my school? What did I do wrong?
‘Don't worry,' said Andrew. ‘You're doing nothing wrong. I'll think of something.'
‘Thank goodness for Andrew,' I thought. He was always there for me. He's so important and he really wants me to be happy.
At lunchtime in the school dining hall, Andrew was still there, helping me. ‘Be careful,' he said. I was at the table, having my school dinner. ‘That potato is hot.'
‘Thanks Andrew,' I said. Everybody tried to finish their potato very quickly. When it was cold it was impossible to eat. It tasted horrible and you have to finish all your dinner. You can only leave when you finish everything, so you have to eat the potato very quickly.
After lunch, we had a history lesson, then school finished at four o' clock. That was the best time of day for me. Finally, I could go home to my bedroom. I could read my books and nobody called me names. I was thinking about this when I heard some boys on the other side of the road. They were shouting something,
‘Oink, Oink! It's Bacon,' said one voice.
‘Bacon, piggy, piggy, piggy,' said another.
They were some boys from my class. They were shouting at David, a boy from another class. The boys in my class called him, ‘Bacon.' David was just in front of me. He was bullied a lot, just like me, because he had a very red face, and he lived on a farm. People are bullied for the most stupid things. But at that moment I had a stupid idea. ‘If I fight David, the others will like me,' I thought.
And so I ran up to David, and jumped on him. Then I held him down. This was my chance.
‘Look,' said one of the boys on the other side of the road. ‘Egghead has got him. Well done, Egghead!'
At first I was very happy. ‘Maybe now they'll like me, I thought. Maybe now, I'll belong.'
But then I turned and looked at David's face. It was the face of somebody who was always afraid. The face of somebody who was hated for no reason. It was a face like my face. ‘Why am I doing this?' I thought. ‘This is wrong.'
‘I'm sorry, so sorry David. I don't know why I did that. Please forgive me.'
Then David and I heard another boy from the other side of the road. ‘Ha Ha Ha! Look at them. It's Egg and Bacon.' Egg and bacon looked at each other and at that moment we understood each other. At that moment we became friends.
