I tried to tell her I hadn’t but she wasn’t in a listening mood.
‘Anyway, I didn’t do anything. You did it all yourself.’
‘Diane I know, I wouldn’t …’ But she only pushed me away.
‘If that’s all you think of our friendship you can just forget it. I don’t want to be friends with you any more.’
And though I called her back, she ran off, wouldn’t listen.
That was the worst thing of all. Diane was no longer my friend. That was finally what made me cry in the quiet solitude of my room, away from everything. I cried because I had lost the only friend I had. I had lost Diane.
If I’d had the nerve to run away from home then, I would have.
I was suspended for a week.
No one phoned to ask where I was.
No one phoned to find out when I was coming back.
No one cared.
My only consolation was that J.B. didn’t get the job. He pretended not to be disappointed when the letter arrived. But he was.
So was Mum, but she looked at me as if it was my fault. ‘Your mind wasn’t on the interview, Jonny.’ I heard her comfort him. ‘You had so many other things to think about.’
The main other thing being me.
Well, J.B., we all have problems, I felt like telling him. I had been expected to go to school, sit exams, do well, when the front pages were full of your trial and your guilt and your villainy.
You’ve just got to get on with it.
Anyway, I had lots to think about myself.
Like going back to school.
Chapter Eleven
My mum offered to come with me the morning I went back to school, but I said no. The last thing I needed was to walk in through the school gates protected by my mother.
So I went alone. Knowing I would be alone the whole day. I wouldn’t even have Diane.
It was even worse than I could have imagined.
As I neared the gates I could see them all waiting for me. All the pupils in my year. They were standing on the pavement forming two lines across from each other. To get into the school I would have to pass between them. They were silent as I approached, so quiet it was terrifying and if I’d had the courage I would have run away then. But all I could do was to walk towards them, my whole body shaking.
Murdo had once told us about ‘running the gauntlet’. I never thought then that one day I would have to do it myself.
I stepped between the rows and held my breath. They didn’t shout. They didn’t scream at me. What were they going to do? Harry Ball was the first. He produced a whole bagful of rotten tomatoes and threw them at me. They splashed straight on to my face, into my hair. I let out a yelp as they exploded against my lips. I gagged and tried to spit them out but they were on my tongue, in my mouth, down my throat.
That’s when I started to run. Then they all took their turn, pelting me with every rotting thing they had, rancid pears and squashy bananas and more tomatoes. I tried to duck and dive and avoid them, but it was impossible. I tasted mould and tried hard to keep my mouth shut, but with every direct hit I let out a yelp and my mouth was filled with rotten fruit. I immediately imagined maggots crawling down my face, wriggling round my tongue. I was crying out and I began to run faster through that angry crowd, dying to be past them. The smell was all over me, in my hair, in my clothes. I’d turn from one side and only get hit from the other. And all the time not a word, not a murmur escaped their lips.
At the end of the line, there was Nancy and Asra, their faces grim. They pelted me harder than the rest. Nancy spoke the only words. ‘I never thought you could be this bad.’ And she let go with another handful of tomatoes straight into my face.
I ran, crying, heading for the toilets. Ralph Aird hadn’t been in that crowd, and I was soon to understand why. He was standing at the revolving doors that led into the main school. I hesitated when I saw him, sure he was waiting to throw something even more disgusting at me. I would have to pass him, and I’ve never been so afraid in my life. He had a look of such venomous hatred. He spat in front of me. ‘I’ll show you, Blythe. You’re goin’ to be sorry.’ It was all he said, but it made me even more afraid.
And then, suddenly from behind me, all of my year came sprinting forward. I was so sure they were after me again and I almost tripped through the doors and into the main school. They wouldn’t dare touch me there.
But they weren’t interested in me any more. They drew Ralph into their circle, Nancy and Asra and the rest and pulled him away, laughing.
And that’s when I understood.
Ralph had not been one of the ones who had pelted me. They had made sure of that. If I told on them, and I suppose they expected that I would, no blame would be attached to Ralph Aird. Now, it was being made very clear to me that Ralph Aird was one of them. I wasn’t.