Aleksi walked through the school gates and down the path to the courtyard where kids were playing ball games and tag. Aleksi's friends Benjamin and Antoni were playing hopscotch. They stopped when he came closer and Aleksi put his bag down to join them.
"How was the hunting trip Aleksi?" Antoni asked.
"It was super fun! We caught lots of animals, and guess what? We found a wolf pup and took him home with us! He lives on my grandpa's farm," Aleksi said.
"A wolf!? I always wanted a wolf," Benjamin said.
"Maybe you can come over to the farm today after school? And you can meet Storm," Aleksi suggested.
"That's a great idea!" exclaimed Antoni.
"All students line up in front of your classrooms! It's time for class!" The headmaster's deputy shouted.
Aleksi, Benjamin, and Antonio ran to their lines with their bags. Their teacher, Mr Zielinski, walked out and inspected the line of boys. Then he opened the door and let them go and stand behind their desks.
"Alright sit down," Mr Zielinski said. "Today we are learning math."
The class moaned in disappointment. The teacher grabbed a piece of chalk and wrote on the blackboard.
"Can anyone tell me what a negative number is?" the teacher asked.
None of the class answered. Until Benjamin raised his hand.
"A negative number is less than zero," he said.
"Well done Benjamin, at least one of my students has been studying. Now, you all will be taking a test today. No cheating alright, you have half an hour to answer them all." Mr Zielinski handed out the papers to everyone in the class.
Aleksi looked down at the paper, he had not studied, so he had to think hard. The first question was easy, Benjamin had already answered it to the whole class.
"Hey, what's the answer to number three?" Antoni whispered to his mates.
"Forty-two," Benjamin whispered back.
Two boys sitting behind Aleksi and Benjamin peered over their shoulders to look at the answers. Benjamin noticed this and raised his hand.
"You little snitch!" one of the boys hissed.
"Filip, Jakub, to my office now!" the teacher said very angrily. "You as well, Antoni."
The three boys got up from their desk. Filip glared at Antoni, but the teacher hit the desk with his ruler and the boys hurried to the office.
"Oh no, poor Antonio," Benjamin said.
The class began to murmur, until the teacher called for quiet. They continued the test.
After ten minutes, Aleksi heard a smack and one of the boys in the office yelped in pain. The teacher smacked them with his ruler twice before letting them into the classroom.
"You alright Antoni?" Aleksi asked.
"Yeah," Antoni sat back down, wincing in pain.
At the end of the lesson, the three boys went outside to eat recess. Filip and Jakub stopped them and grabbed Antoni by the shirt.
"Listen here, we are gonna give you an even worse beating for snitching," Jakub said.
Filip snatched Antoni's sandwich and took a bite. Watching the shorter boy stare at them with fear and frustration.
"My mother made me that! That's my only meal that I have had in three days!" the boy protested.
"Yeah, we are all poor! I get it, but it's every man for himself nowadays," Filip said.
Benjamin lunged at Filip and got him in a headlock, punching him in anger. Aleksi pushed Jakub away before he could go at his mates. The two boys rolled on the ground, punching until both of them were bruised and Filip's nose was bleeding.
The headmaster hurried over with another teacher and broke up the fight.
"What is the meaning of this?" he asked.
"They stole Antoni's lunch, headmaster" said Aleksi.
"Fighting is still not allowed. Benjamin, to my office! Filip, go see a nurse," the headmaster said.
Benjamin obeyed and headed off to the principal's office. While Aleksi and Antoni walked away to have lunch.
Aleksi met his mother at the school gate. She was not happy with him. The teacher was talking to her, but he left when Aleksi approached.
"Ma, can Antoni and Benjamin come over today?" Aleksi asked.
"No, you all got in a fight with two other boys today. You will stay home, understand? And your friends won't come over," Mrs Adamik said.
"Yes mum," Aleksi smiled and walked to the car parked outside.
When Aleksi got home he went upstairs to his room. Sitting down to look out the window at the countryside beyond. He wished he could visit Storm, but he knew he was grounded.
YOU ARE READING
The Wolf
Historical FictionAleksi is a Polish boy who lives with his parents near his grandfather's farm. He frequently goes on hunting trips with his father and their team of four dogs. Hunting hares and ducks. One day they come across a wolf pup beside a dead she-wolf. Ale...
