Childhood

Chapter 3

Chapter 3

I was shoved back against the solid metal surface of the dumpster behind the school. I hit my head but kept a straight face, determined to keep out my emotions.

I looked up at Charles as he sneered down at me. Today was the day after he attacked me with these knives. Today it was only Charles and two other kids, but I was still at their mercy.

"I'm surprised you came to school today. I would of sworn you'd be in the hospital for a few days. Then again, you ain't human."

I stood and faced him. "That is not proper English." I stated.

Charles gripped my collar and yanked me close enough to him to detect fish and onions on his foul breath. "What was that, half-breed?" He snarled.

"'Ain't' is not proper English and yo are idiotic if you insist on using it." I said sharply.

Charles growled and drew back a fist, but he was halted when a pebble collided with his forehead. We all turned to look for the culprit.

"Hey Meat-head! Up here!" We turned towards the voice. Standing on top of the the dumpster was a very brash-looking boy in big jeans and a plain white T-shirt. He had shaggy, messy blonde hair and wore a confident smile. He was tossing a pebble into the air, catching it, and tossing it again.

"What the hell'd you call me!? Charles shouted at him. "Why don't you get down here and I'll turn YOUR head into pummeled meat!" The kid laughed.

I knew this boy. He was introduced in class earlier. He was new. But for the life of me I couldn't place his name.

"Hey, why don't you go pick on someone with your own intelligence? There's a pre-school down the street." He said, pulling an apple out of his pocket and taking a big crunchy bite.

Charles growled while his two companions tried, and failed, to get to the blonde boy. "Take that back, shrimp." He said, deadly."

The boy sighed an exaggerated sigh. "You're right, I take it back." He then stuck his thumb out at a small furry rodent in the grass. "Intelligence-wise, you're better suited to fight a squirrel."

A vein in Charles's forehead popped out and his face was completely red with anger. But he knew he couldn't get to the kid, so he turned his anger on me.

He threw me against the metal side and drew back his fist. I brought my arms up in front of my in an 'X' and closed my eyes. But the only thing that collided with me was another body.

I opened my eyes to find the blonde boy slumped against me. He had apparently jumped down in front of me and took Charles's hit.

He was clutching his stomach in pain but still climbed to his feet. He turned his head just slightly, where I could make out his eye and forced smile. He was looking at me. His mouth formed a single, muted word, but I still read it. 'Go.'

But I couldn't. I couldn't just leave him. I stayed where I sat, paralyzed.

Charles yanked him up by his collar and brought him close. "Apologize and I'll go easy on you, shrimp."

The boy simply laughed defiantly and slammed his head against Charles's forehead. He was dropped as Charles grabbed his head and screamed in pain. The blonde crumpled to the ground, face turned to me. His eyes wide open and staring. They were empty. A trickle of blood streamed down his head, dripping off of his eyebrow.

The thought came to me. 'He's dead.'

And I almost believed that thought too, until the boy blinked and shook the life back into his eyes. He grabbed his head. "Whoa, blacked out there for a second." Then he caught sight of me.