Chapter 2

He had some time before dinner and decided that he could finish his homework to give him the weekend off. He usually left it to Sunday morning. When he went down for dinner neither his father nor his brother were at the table and he asked his mother where they were. His mother looked very unhappy and tried to palm him off but he pressed on.

In the end she relented and, as they sat eating, she said that they were both at the police station. As far as she knew, Brenton had played truant during the day and had met up with a couple of boys from Timothys’ school. They had been caught on CCTV defacing a couple of walls but the worst was when they had been caught shoplifting. His mother had tears in her eyes and he got out of his seat and went to comfort her, much to her surprise.

She got out some Sunday ice-cream and then asked him why he was acting a little different today. He told her that he had been doing some important thinking but could not tell her about it yet, maybe tomorrow. She did tell him that he was suddenly acting very adult and that it was a problem for her that her baby was growing up. He helped her clear up after and she put the other two meals into the oven to keep warm. Being Friday he could watch TV for a couple of hours before bed but was not particularly engrossed in it, wondering just who, from his school, was in real trouble.

The others had still not come home when he went to bed. He brushed his teeth and got into his pyjamas and then into bed. It took him a long while to go off to sleep, wondering how much trouble his brother was in. When he did go to sleep it took a while before his dream started and he found himself holding his mothers’ hand as they were being let into a prison to visit his brother. There were endless doors and locks and corridors and then, when they reached what he knew was the final door, the dream faded and he found himself looking at the Unicorn again.

“Hello, Rosalie” he said “how was your day?” Rosalie said “My day has been good. I am clean and looked out the window at the garden and birds and it was good. You had a good day as well, didn’t you?” He thought and then said “Yes, I did. I started something. I don’t know where it will go but it is a start.” The blue eyes seemed to glow as the Unicorn said “Whatever happens, you do need the support of your parents, especially your mother. You need to tell her everything. You know that, don’t you? With her behind you things will be a lot easier for you. She knows things and she knows people who can help. Speak to her, you won’t regret it.” She then faded and he had a dreamless sleep until his bladder woke him in the morning.

In the morning he did his ablutions without seeing his brother. In the kitchen his mother was fussing with a cooked breakfast, their usual Saturday treat. He helped by setting the table and she smiled at him as she put his plate in front of him. They sat and ate and he asked about the other two. She told him that they were very late getting in so were having a sleep in. She laughed and said that their dinner had been kept warm for them for breakfast. When she got up to get ready for her work in the library he asked if he could come with her.

She was surprised but took him along and found him a place to sit and asked him what he wanted to read. He again surprised her by asking for any book from English class that he had not yet read. He had been concentrating more on the maths and science but had skimmed through all of the books listed so far in the year. She had the book list for this year so got him a couple of the books to see if he could get interested in anything. When she took her break for lunch she was surprised that he had passed over Robinson Crusoe but had got halfway through Watership Down. She asked him how much of it he had read so far and was surprised when he told her he had read everything but that he could, somehow, read very quickly. She took him to the café at the back of the library and bought him a pie and chips. As they ate he started to tell her why he had been unhappy lately.

She was amazed at just how sad he had been and the harassment that had made him lose his joy. He then told her about the plan to have a study group. She asked about the others in the group and surprised him by saying that she had met the other parents. She told him that Jason lived with his mother and she had divorced her husband some years before. Jasons’ mother came into the library a lot because she had been a teacher and the love of books never leaves you. He found out that Jasons’ mother, Sharon, was a volunteer at the big grammar school in the town.

She then asked the question “Why now?” and he told her that if he carried on in the way he had been, his future would be the rougher school with his brother and not a very good life afterwards. “I imagined the road I was taking and suddenly understood that there was another way. That way can only happen if I go to grammar school” he told her. She hugged him and told him that he had her full support and, together, they would make the new road the one to follow.

That afternoon he finished the book and, on the way home his mother asked him what he thought of it. He took a few moments and then said “It is about people, or rabbits in the book, who overcome disaster by working together and thinking on their feet. It made me think about what I hope to do and the result that is waiting at the end.”

Before dinner he took the Unicorn off the ledge and used his comb to unravel the mane and tail. At dinner it was a very strained atmosphere. His father just stayed quiet and simmered while his brother looked like there were a lot of places he would rather be. Timothy and his mother made all the running by talking about their day and the people they had seen while they were out. Timothy had inherited his mothers’ love of people watching and Timothy thought that it would have to be his main weapon over the next two terms and a half if he was to survive.

That night he went off to sleep and was dreaming about running through tunnels with a family of rabbits. He knew that there must be a way out but they seemed to race around in circles until they came to a wooden door. He was about to open it when the vision faded and he was looking at the Unicorn, now resplendent with her flowing mane and tail, her blue eyes bright with happiness.

She said “Well, Timothy. You did it and now you have the support of your mother. You know that she will talk to your father and he will keep Brenton off your back if he can. Thank you for brushing my mane, it does feel good. You are really a very caring boy.” Timothy said “I just thought I should do that for you, especially after all your time out in the dirt. No-one should be as grubby as that! I just hope I can get into the grammar after all, it will mean a lot to me and I now know it will mean a lot to my Mum.”

The Unicorn just said “If you keep focussed it will work out the way you want. You are now sure of the prize. Like the rabbits, you will find your new home if you keep to the right road.” With that the Unicorn faded and he was back in his dream, looking at the wooden door. He opened it and saw sunshine, a meadow and a field of carrots. The other rabbits raced past him shouting with delight. He left the tunnels and wandered through the meadow until he came to a bench next to a babbling creek. He sat and watched the creek until his bladder woke him with an urgency that took no prisoners.

Sunday was a different day to most Sundays he had experienced before. His father ordered his brother to accompany him to see a soccer match in the morning. It was in another town and was between two schools. His father said that one side was mainly boys whose fathers worked for the trucking company and that it would do Brenton good to meet lads his own age who were doing well for themselves. Timothy and his mother watched them drive away, his brother barely hiding need to scream and run down the road. A bunch if weak-chinned high schoolers were the last guys he wanted to spend the day with.

Timothy wondered how he would spend his own day. Normally he would need to finish his homework but that had been done Friday afternoon. He would often go out and see if he could get into a game of scratch soccer but that did not match his new thinking. His mother then surprised him by telling him to make himself presentable as she was going to take him to meet his two study friends and the other adults. She said that she had rung the other parents last night to organise it. The rendezvous place was a fast-food restaurant and he was advised not to ask for too much early as they would need to save room for lunch.

When they got to the restaurant they saw the others already there at a large table. Timothy and John high-fived but when he looked at Jason he was unsure of himself. He just gave Jason a big smile and Jasons’ face, which had been serious up to now, lit up with a big smile as well. Both of Johns’ parents were there and he met Jasons’ mother, Sharon, for the first time. The first thing was for Timothy and his mother to order a drink each and then the parents chatted for a while, mainly about his brother and the events of Friday which had gone through the grapevine like wildfire. The children were horrified to hear that the other two that were arrested were Bruce and Tommy. Criminals at ten!

While the parents discussed the logistics of the study group, the three boys went off to the play area where they could talk in private. John said “When Bruce comes back to school he is going to be fearless, now. He won’t care what they do to him because he will think that he is the big man with a record. I don’t know about Tommy; he was just as bad as Bruce sometimes.” Jason said “I am sure that Geoff would never go along with spray-painting walls or stealing. He always seemed to be holding back a bit when they picked on me.” Timothy had to agree. They talked a bit about the study group and what each one of them could do better than the others. Timothy was the only one good with science while John was ahead with the English and Jason said he loved art. When Timothy told John that he had read Watership Down the day before John was amazed “It took me three weeks to read that!” he exclaimed.

Sharon called them to come back to the table so they went and sat down, ready to hear what the adults had decided. It turned out to be good. Sharon had offered her big spare room that had been set up as a study for Jason. She also offered to pick them all up after school on study days, give them a meal and drop John and Timothy at their homes afterward. Johns’ father knew a few of the teachers and said that he would see if he could get them old exam papers to look at to see where they stand. They would be taking a mock exam in the middle of the next term, anyway, so it was considered to be a way to get up to the standard needed. When they broke up the meeting Jason surprised the other two by giving them a hug and saying “Thank you so much”.

Marianne G 2021