Friday Excerpt

In the darkness he heard her sing. No words, she just hummed the melody. Her soft voice trailed in the afternoon air. A quiet murmur easy on the ears. The birdsong echoing from the nearby forest blended in with the chatter of the school yard. Neither could drown out her soft hum close by.

Trevor was happy to let the moment linger. Just him lying there on the grass, eyes closed, head pillowed in his hands. A dark place far from home and free of strife. In time the humming ceased, and Trevor blinked his eyes open. He sat up in the wooded clearing, taking care to brush the grass off his elbows, and looked around. Josefina was still smoking a fag as she leaned back on the tree trunk, shielded from view by any passing teachers. Meanwhile Del sat close by, cross-legged, tinkering with the bracelet on her wrist. She cast her dark eyes on the fragile silver, paying no mind to the outside world. Her bird’s nest of short black hair bobbing as she picked and played with the metal chain.

Trevor spoke first.

‘That’s a nice tune, Del.’

She answered without looking up.

‘Thanks.’

‘Where’s it from?’

Del shrugged her shoulders, still averting his gaze.

’I don’t remember.’ 

A silence followed, until Josefina stepped in and changed the subject.

‘Trevor, did you hear about that scarecrow they found in the woods yesterday?’

‘A scarecrow?’

‘Yeah, some langer put sheep-bones in a noose and hung it from a tree. Scared the shite out of some old fella who was out walking the dog.’

Trevor let Josefina take a long pull of her fag before replying.

‘Do they know who did it?’

‘Nah. Probably a joke or some pagan shite, I think. All I know is that the guards haven't said anything about it.’

‘That’s pretty eerie, I guess.’

‘Eerie, sure, but there's feck all else going on in town.’

‘Where’s the scarecrow at now?’

‘They took it down and stuffed it a shed before anyone else could see it. Morrissey’s, I think. Probably destroyed it by now.’

Trevor’s eye caught Del when she started humming again, lower this time.

‘Wasn’t it Peter Butler who pulled a stunt like this? A year ago, they caught him red-handed slipping a cow’s heart into Orla Lynch’s bag.’

Josefina stubbed out her fag on the trunk she was leaning on, then slipped the fag end into her shirt pocket.

‘That’s the thing, Trevor. Peter’s a fucking idiot. He was caught that time because of the blood stains on his uniform, and he even admitted to it himself. Nah, whoever hung that scarecrow is still out there.’

Suddenly, Josefina narrowed her eyes at some sight in the distance, then she stood up and balled her right hand into a fist by her waist. Trevor got to his feet, turning to see what she was looking at, and his good mood soured as he did.

Two boys stepped into the grassy clearing, both smiling though neither welcome. The boy in front strutted forth, hands in his trouser pockets. His only notable feature being his closely shaved hair and protruding ears. The boy in back, however, bore nothing to distinguish his bland appearance.

Josefina addressed the boy in front, teeth clenched.

‘Leech.’

The boy in charge acted oblivious to her tone.

‘Josefina! Having a good afternoon?’

She shut him down.

‘What do you want, Leech?’

He put his hands up in weak defiance.

‘I just wanted to talk with you ladies. There’s nothing wrong with that, is there?’

Trevor butted in and pointed a finger at Leech.

‘You talked to Eileen last week, remember Leech? Said some awful shite about her weight. She’s still hasn’t gotten over it, so we don’t want to hear about it.’

Leech rolled his eyes and turned to Trevor.

‘I wasn’t talking to you, Trevor.’

‘You are now.’

He turned back to Josefina.

‘Well, this is a fine welcome! I just pop in to say hello, and I get treated this. Is it any wonder why you three are alone out here?’

Leech set his gaze down to Del, who remained sitting on the grass and facing away. She continued humming to herself as she played with the silver on her wrist, choosing to ignore the matter she was in. Still smiling, Leech knelt down to her level and faced her.

‘Hello Del. It’s me, Will.’

No answer.

‘I called out your name in the hallway this morning, and you ignored me. Why is that?’

‘Back off, Leech,’ said Josefina, stepping closer.

‘Why do you ignore me, Del? I know you’re not simple or a spaz. I’ve seen you hold a conversation with these two. Hell, you even put up your hand in class when you’ve got the answer. So why the quiet act?’

Trevor begged.

‘Leech, please just fuck off.’

Leech ignored him.

‘That’s some nice jewellery you got there, Del. Don’t worry about me nicking it, though. I don’t have sticky fingers like your boy Trevor here.’

Trevor opened his mouth to argue, but the words didn’t come. 

‘Yes, that’s right, I do know. Trevor once slipped a few pounds from his mam’s purse. Got more than a slap from his dad for that. Stolen a few other bobs in school, too.’

Trevor stood angry but mute. Josefina turned to him and shook her head.

‘Don’t let him get to you, Trevor. That was ages ago.’

Uninterested, Leech waved them both off with a weak flick of his hand. Then he inched closed to Del while crouched, his face now inches from hers.

‘But never mind that thief. I wanted to talk about you, Del. What is it about you that makes you special? That makes you think you’re above me?’

Leech’s eyes narrowed.

‘It’s not your mammy or your sister. Can’t be your dad, I’ve never seen him around. So who?’

Then his eyes opened wide in mocking wonder.

‘That’s it! Your granny! She’s dead, right?’

Del stopped humming and finally turned her dark eyes to Leech.

‘I overhead you talking about her once. Saying how much you missed her and all that craic. Fecking hilarious, I’ll give you that.’

Both Trevor and Josefina tried approaching Leech, only for the other boy to block the way with his arms spread and expression smug. Trevor struggled at first to remember his name. Garry, wasn’t it? He was every bit the pain Leech was, but lacked the personality to earn a nickname of his own. In the time Garry held them at bay; Leech held Del’s attention and continued to speak.

‘She was a Jew, wasn’t she? That has to be the reason why, right? Why you look down on me and every other boy and girl in school. Because you’re different. That’s it. That’s why you’re wearing an old lady’s trinket.’

Del just stared at him. Eyes wide, mouth closed.

‘No reaction, huh? Maybe I’m wrong. Perhaps you really are a spaz?’

He turned his attention up to Trevor and Josefina, still behind Garry.

‘Well, I’m bored now. I should try talking to Eileen instead, if she isn’t stuffing her face again.’

Leech shared one last glance to Del.

‘I’ll see you in class, then.’

Without thinking, Leech laid a light hand on Del’s shoulder before motioning to stand. Trevor held his breath. Josefina looked away, and Garry didn’t turn around to see until it was too late. The smile on Leech’s face died when he heard the girl next to him yell, ‘Don’t touch me, you fucking ape!’

Del leapt from where she sat, spreading her weight on the unsuspecting boy, pinning him down. Now atop him, her right fist hammered down on his nose and mouth; breaking skin, drawing blood. Her left arm she drew back, only for her palm to come down on his cheek and ear with a hard slap. Then a swipe with her nails cut across his chin. Leech’s hands grasped her chest and shoulder, trying to push her off. But the girl’s anger kept her flailing body latched to his struggling form. She felt his right leg twitch and spasm beneath him, and from her skirt her right knee forced up, impacting his groin. Leech gasped the air out of his lungs, then spat blood in the livid face above him.

A second time Del bunched her right fist and held it above the defeated Leech. Ready to bring it down once more on his raw, bleeding flesh. Ready to end him for good. Only for her to feel the weight of another at her back, pulling her away. One soft hand reached to hold hers in the air, the other lay on her left shoulder. A girl’s voice spoke close to her ear.

‘Enough, Del,’ said Josefina.

A second passed, then Leech wriggled back on the grass and freed his legs from the weight of the two girls, yelling, ‘Jesus Christ, you crazy bitch!’

Garry, useless as ever, tried intervening when Del struck, but Trevor held him back by grabbing his wrists. After twisting himself free, he lifted Leech by his armpits, only for the other boy to scream, ‘Fuck off, Garry,' before shoving him away.

After standing up Leech felt around his nose and mouth with his bloodied fingers. His eyes stung when his fingertips touched the fresh jagged cut above his lip. Elsewhere on his face was a bruise in the making on his cheek, and little pricks on his chin whose pain ran deep. His right ear escaped only reddened. Trevor stepped in between Leech and Josefina while she hugged Del. Unmoved by Leech’s injuries, Trevor spoke.

‘We told you to leave, both you and Garry. Now go.’

‘She’s a fucking wild bitch, I tell you.’

‘Yeah, and she just fed you your arse. So off with you.’

Trevor watched with arms folded as Leech walked away from the clearing and back into the school yard, cupping his mouth with his sleeve to staunch the bleeding. Garry followed and laid a sympathetic hand on Leech’s shoulder, only for the other boy to slap him away and curse his hovering presence.

When the pair were finally out of sight, Trevor turned around to see both Del and Josefina standing there together. Josefina with both hands on Del’s shoulders and Del looking down at a bloodied length of silver in her palm. The fragile chain had severed with the blow to Leech’s face. Two or more of the links were warped out of shape. A century-old heirloom, passed from grand-daughter to grand-daughter, ruined in seconds.

‘I broke it,’ was all Del could say, not making eye-contact with either of them. 

Trevor answered, coming forward.

‘I’m sorry, Del.’

Del didn’t reply or even look at him. Instead, she slipped out of Josefina’s hold, wiped away the blood near her eye with one hand, clenched the length of silver with her other, and walked by him without a word. Josefina sighed when Trevor turned to follow.

‘Just leave her be, Trevor. She needs a moment to herself.’

Trevor heeded her words and instead kicked a stray pebble on the grass to vent.

‘We shouldn’t have let Leech come by in the first place. It was stupid to hear him out.’

‘It doesn’t matter now. They’re both going to get bollocked by a teacher after break.’

Right on cue came the sound of a hospital monitor flatlining over the school intercom. Three short beeps, then a long flat tone. It was a damn morbid noise to listen to every forty-five minutes, Trevor thought, even after all these years. Neither him nor Josefina spoke when they left the clearing. Other boys and girls joined them when they passed through the school yard, ignorant of the scrape in the nearby copse. Despite heading to the same class, he lost sight of the other girl, soon finding himself adrift in the crowd. Alone in the shuffle as he walked, Trevor started humming a tune. He didn’t know where it was from, only that it reminded him of a pleasant dark place far from home and free of strife.