Tribes by Catherine MacPhail

Author:Catherine MacPhail [MacPhail, Catherine]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9780141927688
Publisher: Penguin Random House Children's UK
Published: 2013-03-04T00:00:00+00:00

16

‘OK, we’re waiting. What are we going to do with him?’

Doc sounded impatient. Only seconds had passed since he’d first asked, but those seconds had taken ages to drag by.

Power. That was what Kevin had. Power over MacAfee.

Kevin looked at MacAfee. MacAfee couldn’t take his eyes off Kevin. He swallowed nervously, and beads of sweat formed on his brow.

Kevin had never liked this boy. He had a cruel streak in him. If he had caught Kevin in the same situation … in his power … Kevin shook the thought away. MacAfee would have no mercy. But Kevin wasn’t MacAfee. He could never be like him. He never wanted to be.

At that moment his eye was caught by a swinging door to the left of MacAfee. It flapped open, belonging to one of the derelict shops in the alley. TO LET was painted in cracked lettering on the front. Then Kevin realized that what it actually said was TOILET, but the ‘I’ was missing.

‘Take him over there,’ he said, nodding toward the door.

Salom and Doc grabbed MacAfee. He struggled, but he wasn’t strong enough to fight against both of them. Torry danced with glee towards the door. Suddenly he stopped. ‘It is stinking in there!’ He held his nose.

So it was. The stench hit them all at the same time. Some old tramps must still be using this, but now the toilets didn’t flush. Disgusting.

‘I’m not going in there!’ Torry said, taking a step back.

‘No, you’re not,’ Kevin agreed. ‘But he is.’ He turned to MacAfee. ‘Don’t worry. It’ll only be for an hour or two.’

MacAfee’s eyes widened in horror. Physical pain would be better than this. ‘You’re not serious!’ he yelled. ‘You’re not putting me in there.’

Salom was laughing now too. ‘Yes, in with the other turds, MacAfee.’ He began pushing the boy into the toilet.

MacAfee exploded with rage. He lashed out and caught Doc in the eye with his fist. Doc fell back and let go of him, but Salom still held him fast.

‘Help me, Kev!’ he shouted. Kevin grabbed MacAfee’s arm and pushed him with all his strength. MacAfee tripped and fell headlong between two of the open cubicles. He gagged from the smell, tried to stand up but was not quick enough. Kevin, Doc and Torry slammed the door shut on him and leaned their combined weight against it.

‘How do we keep him in there?’ Torry shouted.

Kevin glanced around. There was an old cooker dumped in a corner. ‘Can we push that against the door?’ he said breathlessly.

Doc and Torry struggled to lift it and drag it closer. All the while MacAfee was thumping the door and shouting all sorts of horrible abuse at them.

Finally, they managed to wedge the door tight with the old cooker. ‘Gotya, MacAfee!’ Salom shouted.

MacAfee was going crazy inside. He banged ferociously on the door. ‘Let me out! It’s stinking in here.’

‘Well, you should feel at home then. You’re stinking as well,’ Kevin called back.

‘I’ll get you all for this!’ MacAfee threatened.

‘We’re shaking in our shoes, aren’t we, boys?’ Salom laughed.

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