Wheels and wings 14

Chapter 14

Character List.

Jack Thomas Later AKA Ellie... Transvestite/intersexual and keen cyclist.
Amanda Thomas AKA Amie... Jack's sister.
Charlotte Dawson... Keen girl cyclist and Jack’s soon-to-be girlfriend.
Bob... Cycling club captain.
Mr Thomas Weston... School games master and keen rugby player.
Billy Davies... Rugby ‘jock’, kind to Jack, he fancies Charlotte.
Marjorie Spencer... Holder of unofficial ‘Prettiest-girl-in-the-school’ title.
Miss Elizabeth Postlethwaite... The English Mistress.
Aunty Olwen... Where Jack changes for school and leaves his bike.
Mandy... Olwen’s daughter, Jack’s older cousin.
Mr Griffiths... The County solicitor.

Chapter 14

At the news of their cousin’s help with the make-over, Amie’s eyes lit up.

“Oooh! Can she fit me in as well?”

Her mother smiled.

“I expected you to ask that. Yes, you’re included. After school every day this week, you’re to go with Jack to Auntie Olwen’s and Mandy will make you over. Lessons are finished, the exams are over and there’s no more homework for this term. She’s bringing a friend with her to stay at Auntie Olwen’s so be polite and courteous.”

“Oooh, has she got a boyfriend then?” Amie wondered.

“They didn’t say. I don’t know if her friend is a boy or a girl.”

On the Monday, Jack relented and visited the Games master in his office; however nothing came of the confrontation. Jack had learned a lot about his condition by now and he stubbornly refused to let the games-master brow-beat him into any sort of remorse or compunction. When the games-master threatened him with punishment Jack simply refused to accept it.

“I wasn’t breaking any rules. I wasn’t breaking any laws and I wasn’t offending anybody. The girls and I were just having fun.
The cafe manageress wasn’t objecting and we were outside school. You’ve no right to punish me and I refuse to accept your imposition. ”

“What d’you mean not offending anybody? You offended me and my wife!”

“What, because I was wearing heels. That’s like saying I offended you because I was wearing the wrong colour rugby jersey! You have no right to say how I should be dressed ... outside of school and school hours that is.”

“You were letting the school down.”

“So what you’re saying is that it’s okay for me to nearly get my leg broken playing a stupid game of rugby, that’s okay is it. I wasn’t letting the school down then was I? I was doing something that you wanted and you like, but because I choose to do something I want and you happen not to like; that’s not acceptable; is that it? Who died and made you king?”

Mr Weston nearly turned purple with rage but he managed to contain it for he was tempted to hit the boy hard. Instead he counted mentally to ten and breathed a deep breath before replying.

“There’s no need to be cheeky. I’ve a good mind to keep you in detention just for your rudeness.”

“I wasn’t being rude; I was just arguing my corner, standing my ground. I haven’t been rude just honest. No other adults were objecting, in fact the cafe manageress likes to see us there. She thinks it’s amusing. I’m not going into any detention for something I did with my mother’s consent. She knows I fool about with my sister in the mall on Saturdays after I’ve finished.”

Even as he said ‘I’ve finished’, Jack realised he might have revealed too much. Mr Weston picked up on Jack’s words straight away.

“Finished what?”

Jack hesitated and cursed inwardly.

“Nothing, I sometimes ride my bike, that’s all.”

Mr Weston was so bound up in his rugby he was totally dismissive of Jack’s statement.

“What! Cycling!? . That’s a waste of time if ever there was one. It’s not even in the school curriculum. You’re just wasting time doing that. You should be showing your support in more practical terms like playing for the school; you know we need your speed.”

“I’ll be running track for the athletics team next term. You’ll get my speed then.”

“Oh; running? Next term, well you haven’t entered your name.”

“I wasn’t sure if I could, this bruised thigh takes a long time to heal. At least I shouldn’t get bumped about on the sprints; they’re supposed to stay in their lanes.”

“I hope you don’t take the same attitude as you do with rugby, namely only turning up when it suites.”

“I’ll be there every Saturday that you need me. I can’t do Sundays. I cycle on Sundays and you can’t stop me.”

Now he was banned from cycling team events and competitions until December, Jack could only practice alone on his bike. That curtailed the hard Saturday rides but he could still get plenty of exercise on his bike and he knew what days the club trials were taking place so he could avoid those routes on the days the club was out riding.

His intransigence and stubbornness caused the gym master to stop and think. He concluded that Jack was getting to be an uppity, cheeky yob. In truth though, Jack had become an angry disillusioned young man because he felt abused by both the school and the cycle club. He had been pressured; almost bullied, into playing rugby then punished for trying to circumvent his injuries by injecting painkillers to do the cycle time trials ... as much for the club’s reputation as himself.

His anger had started to spill over into his private life and had been mainly responsible for his coming out to the girls. It was a moment of impetuous madness but Jack was beginning not to care. He left Mr Weston’s room escaping any censure only because he had agreed to run track for the summer term. It wasn’t a capitulation by Jack, for, despite refusing to play rugby Jack really enjoyed running. He would run track because he enjoyed his speed and revelled in the buzz it gave him when he flew down the track, invariably leaving the other boys floundering in his wake.

~~oo000oo~~