This choice: Pippi winds up protecting a kid from some bullies • Go Back...Chapter #3Standing up for the banjo girl by: Unknown Pippi was going to walk home in the usual way, but felt an indefinable tug in another direction. She'd learned to trust her instincts in these matters and turned on her heel, heading opposite her accustomed course and cutting over a few blocks.
Once she emerged from the residential sidestreets, Pippi could see what had drawn her in. A few doors down from a music store, there was a raunchy little hamburger joint where bad boys from the high school often hung around. Four older boys were handling a guitar case and taunting a younger girl with it. She had sandy-red hair and was dressed like a girl from an academy Pippi had heard was nearby, which meant she was in a school uniform a bit more posh than Pippi's own. The girl was keeping her head level and staring the bullies down, though she looked about ready to cry... the sort of tears arising from helpless fury rather than fear, which made them that much harder to hold back.
"Hello, music lovers!" Pippi called out, loudly. That tended to stop things as everyone realigned themselves, making sense of the new face. Pippi walked into the breach, still smiling and not giving an inch. The tallest boy was the obvious ringleader, still with the girl's case held at shoulder height, frozen in mid-taunt. Pippi reached up and snatched the cased instrument away from him easily, passing it back to the girl while keeping herself front and center. "You might as well let her have it. I've heard you lot couldn't carry a tune in a bucket. That's... what do they call it? Assignment by merit!"
The bad boys didn't look all that bad. They were fairly clean-cut and didn't seem the sort to be hanging around trying to cause trouble all day - Pippi could see it in their eyes. These were bullies of opportunity, not habit. The tall one had a toothpick his sneer sucked itself around, but that was just unpracticed enough to look like a show rather than a trademark with him. The boys were probably four to five years older than Pippi.
"Let's just be on our way," said the previously bullied academy girl, trying to get some steel back in her voice. She'd realized she was a couple of years older than Pippi herself and was clearly worried the young redhead was about to get creamed as payment for her bravery. She had a prefect's way of speaking, someone who was used to being obeyed in a stricter social regime.
"Who does this squirt think she is?" the tall boy asked, essentially stalling until his brain could catch up. The boys couldn't make heads or tails of Pippi's chutzpah, and clearly didn't know how to act once they were off their semi-familiar script. The lead bully tossed his dark brown quiff back as though on the verge of sneezing, then made a move to shove Pippi hard to the sidewalk. Pippi let him get his hands on her, bent back a bit, then snapped herself forward, sending him stumbling back into his buddies.
"Check out her socks," said the guy in the woolen flat cap. Pippi had indeed kept her colorful socks on after changing back into her school uniform, but she was baffled that a guy in a cheese-cutter would be giving her lip on fashion. He didn't look lippy, though. His face looked drawn and white. He was already backing off and, bumping into one of his friends, danced away as though he'd touched a hot stove. With churlish mutters, the group withdrew. Pippi stamped one of her T-strap Mary Janes on the sidewalk and they walked off that much more quickly.
"They were lightweights," Pippi told the girl, taking a quick breath and letting it back out. "I'm really glad I didn't come in swinging." She realized it was true. Beating people up didn't seem much of a task, but Pippi worried she'd become like those boys if passing out thick ears became a casual occurrence for her.
"Thanks for coming over to help," said the banjo girl. Pippi could now see it had to be a banjo, the case too round for a standard guitar. The head girl's blood must be boiling a bit, since she likely told girls like Pippi what to do all day at school.
Banjo girl introduced herself as Melinda, and Pippi gave her name in return. They began walking slowly toward wherever Melinda had been heading before having her banjo grabbed away, trading small talk about school life. Melinda talked about an upcoming talent show, Pippi talked about her hopes for the football team, and they both found a convenient intersection at which to break off the awkwardness. The girls went their own ways and "hoped to see each other around."
"That could've gone a lot worse," Pippi said to herself, headed back to her place. She had a dark suspicion her next bully encounter wasn't going to go as smoothly.   indicates the next chapter needs to be written. |
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