I got there first. I guessed I would, Pete likes to make people wait. I would've been late instead, to get one over on him, but I wouldn't have the guts.
I told mum I was going to a friend's house for some help with my homework. I didn't mention a name I wouldn't have known what name to say I don't have any friends in my year. Well there are a few guys but none that I talk to outside of school.
The street was empty, except my shadow and me. It was silent. It was a murky evening. I leaned on the wall of a house on the corner of the street and waited. I heard the footsteps coming. It wasn't just Pete. He'd bought his little gang of chums.
The steps got louder and louder until they turned into the street.
"Pickles, you got the message," Pete laughed. He knew I did, but he was trying to act like a gangster from a movie. I didn't reply. Tessa, Pete's rather boyish pal came over to me.
"Look, he's put on some weight," Tessa said grabbing my coat.
"Skinny, give us the jacket," Rod, Pete's other friend demanded. I didn't know what to do, but Tessa started yanking at the coat. She unzipped it and took it away. I was cold. Pete and his friend were all wearing coats, but they knew how cold it was.
"Bit old, isn't it?" Rod said getting a look.
"When did you get this? Last year!" Pete said holding up the coat. I laughed in my head, as it had been two years but I dare not laugh aloud with them in front of me. Again I said nothing. Pete chucked the coat on the ground and stomped on it. Tessa and Rod started kicking at it, it wasn't long before it ripped.
"What's the matter? Your friends not here to speak for ya?" Rod said. The others laughed.
"Those kids think they're so cool," Tessa said talking about Chuckie, Phil, Lil and Kimi.
"What's up with your brother? Looks like he got some sense staying out of our business," Pete said stepping closer to me.
"Come on say something skinny," Rod said stepping closer as well.
"You hear us?" Tessa asked pushing me back. Then they treated me the same way as they treated my coat. I was kicked to the ground. My body ached. My clothes were dirty. I was a mess. They finally went. Ran off laughing. I looked at my watch. 15 minutes? That had gone slowly. I picked myself up from the ground and put my ripped coat on. I felt dreadful.
I couldn't go home. Mum would wonder what had happened. I couldn't let her worry. I looked around the street. Perhaps I could sort myself out at Phil and Lil's.
I walked up to their door and rang the bell. 'Please be Phil! Please don't let him shout out to Lil and Kimi. PLEASE don't let it be Betty or Howard!' I prayed on the doorstep. I was in luck Phil answered.
"Dil! What happened to you?" Phil asked looking at me in shock.
"Please don't tell anyone, can I use your bathroom?" I whispered. Phil let me in and he followed me to the bathroom. I looked in the mirror at the mess I'd made myself. I turned on the taps and washed my hands and face. I was lucky I wasn't cut badly. My hands were bleeding, just as much as someone to believe I'd fallen over.
"Come on, what happened?" Phil asked me, talking rather quietly.
"I...just fell over," I lied.
"Yeah? Why'd you come here then?" Phil asked.
"I didn't want my mum to worry," I snapped.
"Come on Dil, you don't fall over and rip all your clothes," Phil said looking at my messed up jumper. He was right. I took off my ripped coat and the jumper. Underneath was my polo shirt. My jeans were ripped too, but not so badly that mum would worry. I realized that if I didn't tell Phil what was up, he'd tell his mum or my mum. I took him outside, onto the street, so that no one would hear except him.
As I stood in the street I was starting to wish Lil had answered the door. I think I could trust her more and she wouldn't laugh about it. I took a deep breath and told Phil everything. It felt good to say something. I felt like a weight had been lifted. I smiled. I told him about Pete's constant picking and laughing and bullying and beating. The names he and his friends called me and the stuff they had taken from me. But I was wrong about Phil. He didn't laugh he looked dead serious. He was lost for words.
"Who you told about this?" Phil asked as he sat himself on the step of his house.
"You," I replied.
"I can see why you didn't want to tell your mum or dad...but why not Tommy. He's your big brother, he'd look out for you at school," Phil questioned. I hung my head.
"I wish I could. I try; I've tried every night this week. But he's busy now he has no time for me. He has Olivia," I shuddered as I said her name. Phil understood. I smiled again. Perhaps telling Phil was a good thing. He can get my brother's attention like at lunch today.
"So what you going to do about it now," Phil asked.
"Nothing," I said immediately. "I can't tell anyone. I shouldn't have told you. You can't tell anyone about this. Please Phil, they'll kill me if they knew I'd told someone. They're capable of anything! Look at my face," I said pointing at the cut on my lip. I don't think Phil knew what to say. He just said okay and that I should go home now and act like everything's all right.
I hid the jumper under my bed. I put the coat in a bag and stuffed it into my wardrobe. I heard Tommy's footsteps coming along the corridor. Olivia's as well though. They were laughing, having a good time. They went downstairs without looking into my room. I heard mum coming upstairs; I turned and looked at myself in my long mirror. I was still a mess. My hands and knees had scabs and there were small cuts on my face.
"Dylan! What have you done!" She cried as she came into my room and saw me in the mirror.
"I fell over while I was out, but I've tidied myself up now," I lied again.
"Your face, your hands, you haven't fallen over like this since you were a few years old," Mum said worrying over me. I was angry though. I shouted at her, telling her to go away, that I didn't need her help. I was a big boy and I was fine.
Mum left the room in a huff. I'd made her miserable now. I looked at myself in the mirror again. What was I becoming? What had Pete and his friends turning me into?