Hero the greyhound (Simon's Hero)

Hero the Greyhound (Chapter 6)

"I can't eat it like that" whispered Simon

"Why not?" asked Muriel the Dinner Lady (there was only one Muriel at Simon's school but she was always known as Muriel the Dinner Lady) "and speak up sonny, I can't hear you"

"Because, well, erm...because..." Simon knew Jecko was lurking in the queue behind him, eavesdropping and trying to find even more reasons to tease and bully him in the playground so he leaned a little closer and tried to explain.

"It's because you've put the tuna fish with the broccoli instead of with the mashed potato and now, it's all mixed together which means I can't eat it, because it's all mixed together and, and.." Simon could feel one of his meltdowns brewing; he took a very deep breath and hoped he was making himself understood.

"Well, I never did! No, I never ever did, honest I didn't!" exclaimed Muriel the Dinner Lady "what on earth do you mean? What difference does it make where the tuna fish goes? I put this lovely, nourishing food on your plate and you eat it. Isn't that how it works?"

"Well, not quite" Simon's whisper was almost inaudible now. He could see that Jecko had moved up two places in the queue and was now standing right behind him, breathing his yucky breath down the back of Simon's neck.

"What's the matter Mrs Muriel?" asked Jecko "can I 'elp?" He knew he would find out more about Simon the Skinny Weirdo by joining in with this conversation and then, he would have even more ammo with which to taunt him after lunch.

"Well" said Muriel the Dinner Lady, in her most sainted voice "I try my best, really I do. I do my very utmost to please all you young people in this school, really I do. What with my varicose veins, my lumbago, my sciatica and my giddy spells, I'm a martyr to my own body and all I get is moaning, complaining and unreasonable requests. I mean, I ask you! What different does it make whether the mashed potato is mixed with the tuna fish or with the broccoli? It all goes down the same cakehole dunnit?"

"Yes, yes it does, Mrs Muriel" grinned Jecko, who now knew Simon was in a tizzy because his food had been mixed together on the plate.

" 'Ere, Smellis, why don't I 'elp you with this?" he hissed, leaning forwards and pushing the tuna fish and broccoli towards the mashed potato with his fingers. Simon gulped; there was no way on earth he was going to be able to eat the food now that Jecko has touched it with his filthy dirty germ ridden digits. Simon's mum had informed the school office, when he started at St Bede's that Simon had certain 'requirements' which included having the scratchy labels cut out of any new uniform, not being able to sit near flickering fluorescent lights and only eating certain foods, placed on the plate in a particular way. Muriel the Dinner Lady, who had been off sick (with her varicose veins, her lumbago, her sciatica and her giddy spells) for the first few weeks of the autumn term, simply didn't understand any of this; she thought he was just being difficult and now, horror of horrors, Jecko knew he had a problem with the layout of the food on his plate and he could use this information to make his life even more difficult from now on.

Simon's brain had paused the scene and although he could see Muriel the Dinner Lady and Jecko's faces and he could see their mouths moving, he couldn't hear anything because his brain had temporarily frozen, this sometimes happened when he was stressed. Suddenly, his brain decided to start working again and he tried to take control of the situation.

" 'Erm" he said "erm, I'm not actually feeling that hungry at the moment. I think I'll wait until I get home..." and before Jecko could grab his arm, he squeezed past him and legged it out of the dinner hall, over to his 'secret place', the place even Jecko and his friends hadn't yet discovered when they came looking for him. The cubby hole behind the school bins was a bit smelly, it was where they dumped all the lunchtime leftovers, into huge green wheelie bins ready to be taken to the local tip and today, it smelled much worse than usual because yesterday, there had been fish on the menu. Nondescript square fish in some sort of white gluey sauce which most of the children had put into the slops bin because it was so revolting. The bins were really ponging today but despite the horrible smell, the place was quiet and nobody would bother him there so he just sat on the wall, holding his nose and breathing through his mouth, waiting for the after lunch lesson bell to ring.