Dark Tidings

Chapter 20 - Just Good Friends

Faith and Suzie lived together in a small flat in North Acton, a relatively nice commuter suburb of London. It was quite a trek into the city centre where she worked but she was close to a tube station which brought her, without changing trains, to Bank station. From there it was just a short walk to the IIBE headquarters building. She could have found a place which was handier but living with her best friend made up for any inconvenience.

She'd lived with Suzie for about four months but they'd been friends since childhood, having met at secondary school. They'd connected more or less immediately, initially because they were two out of only three children who received free school meals. They both came from poor families so they never had the latest fashions, accessories or gadgets. In fact, they often came to school in hand-me-down clothes and they were teased mercilessly about it.

One particular incident, early on in their relationship, had cemented the friendship. A group of older children were tormenting Suzie in the playground after school. That in itself was a fairly common occurrence and the girls had agreed that their best defence was to ignore the unpleasantness as much as possible.

The ringleader was a nasty piece of work called Brian Clarke. He'd spearheaded the harassment over the last few months; harassment which became ever more offensive as time went on. What started as unpleasant teasing evolved into overt bullying. It had only been verbal up to now but on this particular day it turned physical.

Clarke had started pawing at Suzie's clothes, pulling at them with his finger and thumb, and turning up his nose as if was holding something dirty.

"Tramp, tramp, tramp," he shouted in her face.

Like sheep, the watching children joined in the chant.

"Tramp, tramp, tramp."

Spurred on by the support, Clarke pulled hard at her cardigan which ripped as he tugged it off her. She tried to hold on but the harder she resisted, the more he pulled and the more it ripped.

"Let go, you tramp," he shouted as he wrenched it away from her and held the tattered garment above his head like a trophy.

"Bastard," screamed Suzie.

Her hand flashed through the air and slapped his face, hard. CRACK. His reaction was swift and brutal, two full-force punches to the side of the head knocked her to the ground. The two kicks to her back stunned the onlookers.

"Oh my God."

"Stop, she's had enough."

Clarke ignored the cries and stood over his victim, posing like a victorious boxer. The suddenness and viciousness of the violence was shocking; things had gone way too far this time. However no one did anything, they were all too afraid. No one wanted to intervene in case they became the next victim. Only Faith, who'd been held back at the outskirts of the crowd, reacted. Rage overtook her as she shoved and elbowed her way through the throng of children and raced towards Clarke. She was approaching him from behind so he didn't see her although he may have sensed the mood change in the spectators.

She had no idea what she was going to do, until she got to him. She pulled hard at his trousers and they, along with his underpants, came down past his knees. He stood stunned, still in the boxer pose with his fists above his head. What a ridiculous stance it was now; a boxer with no boxers. The crowd erupted with laughter. Girls pointed and boys jeered. Clarke's face turned a strange puce colour; the colour of deep embarrassment tinged with anger. He pulled up his trousers and without reacting to Faith, pushed his way through the crowd to begin the futile search for his dignity, the sound of cheers and laughter ringing loud in his ears. Any respect he'd gained through his bullying was gone and gone forever.