Miramar Dog by Denis Edwards

Author:Denis Edwards
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9780140280258
Publisher: Penguin Random House New Zealand
Published: 2010-12-22T00:00:00+00:00

chapter twenty-two

It is always the bus stop where things happen. There he is, Terry Taylor, coming up towards us. John and I get ready for trouble, which could come either way. We could get attacked. Or there would be another lot of those secret little smiles. Last time it was the smile so I am assuming it is going to be the same thing again.

It’s not. Just as he gets close to us I see a funny look in his eye, one I have seen in other people. Only by the time I remember where, it is too late. He has dropped into a boxing pose and hit John on the nose. I jump forward, but he hits me in the stomach. I only just get my head out of the way from the uppercut I know is coming next.

He stands there, yelling at us, ‘I got ya. I got ya. Got ya. Got ya.’ He is jumping with joy, bouncing around like a boxer. ‘I got ya, and I’m gonna flatten ya!’

He would do it too, except some adults arrive at the bus stop.

Terry looks around. This is trouble. The chances are that at least one of the adults knows his parents, so he settles for a hissed, ‘See, I’ve been learning to box too. I can beat ya, Tykes.’

He is off, on his way to school. John is left sitting in the bus shelter feeling his nose. ‘I think it’ll be all right. I never had a broken nose before, so I can’t tell if this is broken or not?’

I don’t think it is. John has been hit on the nose lots of times when he’s been boxing, most of them when I’ve got him with a straight left, and he has never had a broken nose. He’s got a really tough nose.

I am okay. I have been hit in the stomach lots. It gets you winded but not much else. But what is serious is Terry Taylor might have got better at boxing than either of us. If we don’t think of something to make his life miserable, he will bully us to death. Banning him from our street games probably won’t work. Our mothers will start talking and that’ll be the end of that.

We could wait till he comes out to play with us, and then grab the ball and take off. He won’t like that. He likes to be at the centre of things. Now that is good, but not good enough. No, the soccer game against Miramar North is the absolute key to this. Marist Miramar has to win both that game and the Wednesday afternoon league.

First things first. If we are to get his compulsory admission to our games cancelled, John and I will have to lobby Mum. We decide it would be best to wait till after dinner, when everyone is fed and relaxed and Tony and Jane are in bed asleep.

Which is what we do.

We sit quietly, really quiet, in case Mum and Dad decide it is our bedtime too.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.