Chapter 4

Wednesday morning both his brother and father ignored him so he and his mother made the running until they both left the house. At school the three boys walked in with a new purpose again. The classes went as expected and at the lunch break Timothy got to where the seating was and saw Geoff sitting alone again and looking very sad.

He then did something on the spur of the moment that would change the future. He went and sat opposite Geoff and said “Geoff, you look very sad, why is this?” Geoff looked at him in wonder and said “Why are you talking to me? I have made your life hell in the past.”

Timothy said “Geoff, we all thought that you really were not a full member of the bullies. We could see that it was Bruce and Tommy. I have the feeling that you only ran with them because you were afraid of being picked on. I was thinking of trying the same trick myself. I have seen you getting sadder and sadder this week and I wondered if there was anything I can do to help.” Just then John and Jason joined them and sat down.

Geoff looked at the three of them and said “Thank you for this. I will try and explain this once and only once. I only ran with Bruce and Tommy because I was scared of them and did not want to be bullied. Last Friday I played truant with them because I was told that if I didn’t I would become a target. When I found out what they had planned, along with some guys from the comprehensive, I took a turn away from them while they were not looking my way. I went to the pictures. When the headmaster found out about the arrests, he rang my father because he thought I had escaped being caught. My father hit the roof. He is a respected owner of a business in the city and would have been very angry had I been arrested.”

Timothy said that his family had been sent into a spin because his brother had been part of it and there was now a lot of friction. Geoff then asked why the three of them had been picked up the day before and Jason explained about the study group. Geoff was amazed, he had been resigned to ending up in the comprehensive with Bruce and Tommy but that was now a big worry for him and had been making him fearful. The four of them agreed that there was a long time before that happened but it did not help things when you had something hanging over your head. John said that they had to get through Christmas first and then the general exam was in September of the following year when they would be eleven and the starting date for the first term at whatever secondary school they ended up at would be the beginning of September the year after when they were twelve. Said like that they all felt that it was all a lifetime away.

When they had finished lunch Geoff was looking much happier and he stuck with them when he could. When it came time to go home he said that he only lived a street or so away from Jason so they walked one way while John and Timothy went the other. John said “Strange things are happening, Tim, it is as if last week someone pulled a lever in heaven and the points on our life railway had shifted us onto another track. I only hope that they don’t shift us back onto the same line later.” Timothy had to agree and also hoped that the situation at home wasn’t turning into a derailment.

Wednesday evening he did his homework and looked at his copy of the old exam papers. The more he looked at the Non-Verbal paper the more he wondered about the brain of whoever set it. That evening at dinner he found out that Brenton and his pals from the comprehensive were going to be sent to a ‘special school’ for the rest of the term and would only come home again for Christmas. He did not ask what happened at the ‘special school’ but did hope that Brenton would come back a bit happier. He could hear Brenton muttering to himself when he got ready for bed. That night he had a dreamless sleep and did not talk to the Unicorn. When he woke up he felt as if something was missing.

When he got down for breakfast he found the Unicorn sitting on the table and his brother started with a long rant about Timothy being almost a girl with her pink toy. His father asked him just what it all meant and Timothy told them that he had found the Unicorn under a bush and was saving it to give to some deserving little girl for Christmas. That morning his father took Brenton and his suitcase to the police station on his way to work. Timothy stood with his mother and waved them off. Brenton just stuck one finger up at them as he left. They went back into the house and his mother said “Now, the Unicorn is not going to be a gift, is it?” so he told her that it was his for the moment and that it had come to him in his dreams, giving him advice. She smiled and said “I had one just like that when I was a little girl. It helped me as well. Don’t you bother about it, just put it proudly by your bed and talk to it as much as you like. Whatever effect it is having on you, it has been good for you and you will need all the help you can get before you do those exams.”

When he got to school on Thursday morning there were three waiting for him and they walked in together. Having Geoff alongside them created quite a stir in their class but no-one was brave enough to question things, all happier to wait and see what happened when Bruce and Tommy came back. Later that morning their class was visited by the headmaster. He told them that Bruce and Tommy would not be coming back to school until the start of next term and that, when they did, they would be kept under observation to make sure that they did not revert to being bullies. He said that a number of parents had called him over the last couple of days to report that the two boys had been very nasty towards others and that the school did not want that to happen in future.

Before he left he looked straight at Geoff and said “Geoff, I am sorry that I got you into trouble with your father but I have to say that you have dodged a very serious setback to your future. Think well on it and I don’t want to see you going with Bruce when he gets back, you are a better student than that.” Geoff looked very relieved and there was much chatter after the headmaster left the room. When they went for their lunch they were a lot happier. Geoff told them that he had spoken to his father about the study group and that his father had told him that he would look into things.

Sharon picked the three of them up that afternoon and they worked on just what they needed to do to get through the exams. Sharon told them to take one paper at a time and to start with the Non-Verbal first as it was the hardest to get right unless you were a very gifted person when it came to patterns. This time she worked with them and showed them some tricks about not getting frustrated with the various patterns and to just look at each segment individually. By the time she took John and Timothy home they were starting to see what it was all about.

Thursday evening was much better at home. His parents were a lot happier and he felt that he could talk to them without the fear of Brenton being nasty. He did his homework and showered and said goodnight to Rosalie as she stood proudly on his bedside cupboard. That night, in his dreams, he had a long talk with Rosalie who told him to be happy that his brother was getting help and that the time before Christmas would be good to settle his own place in the family without his brother pushing him down. Rosalie reminded him that he must have taken after his mother when it came to looks and brains and that she must have been good at school to be working where she was.”

Friday morning he did ask his mother where she had gone to school and what she needed to do to get the job she had. She told him that she had gone to a grammar school and then university to get an arts degree. His father told him that his schooling was as an apprentice diesel mechanic before he started driving the trucks for a living. Timothy had never thought about how his parents had got to be where they were now and it all opened his eyes. Before he left for school his mother told him that Sharon would be picking them up again because there was going to be another meeting of the parents but this time they were to be treated to a meal in one of the restaurants in the Crown Gate Centre. She said she would walk from work and meet him there.

All four of them were buzzing during the day and Geoff said that he had an idea what the meeting was about but was not sure enough to tell them anything. When they walked out of school Sharon was there and she told all four of them to get in. Geoff, being a bit bigger, was put in the front seat and the other three were in the back. She drove them across the river and into the big shopping centre car park. When they found a parking place they all got out and went into the building. As they walked along Geoff pointed out a shop and told them that it was the one his father owned. Timothy saw that it was a mens outfitter and also had part of the window display showing school uniforms for girls and boys.

At the restaurant they were shown to a long table and given soft drinks while they waited for the others. When Geoffs’ father joined them he ruffled his sons’ hair and gave Sharon a hug. When Johns’ parents joined them he shook hands with Johns’ father as if they were old friends. When his mother joined them Timothy was again amazed that she was also greeted with a hug. The talk while they ate was about old days and the four boys were staggered to learn that Geoffs’ father had known Johns’ father at school and had also been to university with both Sharon and Timothys’ mother.

When they had finished the meal and had coffees or soft drinks in front of them Geoffs’ father stood up. He said “For you lads that do not know me, I am Harold Downing, father of Geoff and the owner of Downings Menswear, here in the Crown Gate Centre. My son has finally told me just what he has been up to with his former friends. I have to apologise on his behalf as I know how hard it can be if you are bullied. He has also spoken to me about a study group that you three have started. I have brought you all here to ask that Geoff be allowed to study with you as well. I know that he has the brains to avoid the comprehensive but he does have to have someone to help him use them.”

He took a sip of his drink and then carried on “I believe that you boys have just started to study for the general exam and applaud that. What I am going to suggest is a little braver on your parts. The big independent grammar school here in the city gets all of its school uniforms from my store and I have a good interaction with the administration there. I spoke to my contacts there today and I have been assured that if all four of you pass the general exam, they are prepared to let you sit for their own entrance exam. It will be a lot more complete than the general exam and I have been told that there will be a bunch of old papers for Sharon to take home next week. I am prepared to pay the fee for any of you who get to sit the exam, as long as Geoff is sitting it. If Geoff gets offered a place, I will also supply the school uniforms free of charge for any, or all, of the rest of you for your whole time there.”

Marianne G 2021