Shane and The Bullies

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Fair Money

As Shane backed up against the wall outside the school gym, the three bullies, led by Rocky, continued calling him nasty names.

“Hey, you little four-eyed wimp, why don’t you stand up and fight, you little yellow-bellied coward,” Rocky sneered. They closed in on Shane as he slid down to the ground in terror. They started kicking dirt at him causing him to put his arms over his face and curl up in a ball.

“Let’s see what you got in them pockets, you little sissy.” taunted Rocky as he searched Shane’s jeans’ pockets. “Wow, look at this dough, guys,” Rocky said with a look of wonder on his face. “We hit the jackpot. There must be fifty dollars here.”

Just then the door to the gymnasium opened and Mr. Hays appeared. Rocky and his thugs high-tailed it across the street running into the woods that bordered the school.

~~~

The stone skipped across the water as Joey vented his anger. He had come close to throwing the rock at Shane, but he had turned and slung it at the pond instead.

“Why didn’t you stand up to those bullies? That was our money for the Fair. How could you let them just take It?”

Shane looked down at his feet and kicked at the dirt. “I’m sorry, Joey. I didn’t know what else to do; there were three of them. There was nowhere to run.” Rocky and his thug friends always intimidated and taunted Shane, who was small for his age and wore glasses that made him look like Mr. Magoo. “I was trying to protect myself and my glasses. I had to keep my arms over my face.” But by doing this, Shane had allowed Rocky to empty his pockets of all his and Joey’s hard-earned money.

Joey and Shane had been mowing lawns in ninety degree temperatures for a month to save up to go to the State Fair. All that sweat and hard work was up in smoke. Now they would be sitting at home watching reruns while everyone else was riding the "bullet". The Fair was due to open tomorrow. Now all that hard work was for nothing. They were broke.

“Hey, I’ve got an idea. Remember that clown from the Fair that wanted us to put up posters when we were too busy mowing lawns? Maybe he still needs some put up.”

“Cool idea.” Shane’s face brightened up a little as both boys jumped on their bikes and headed to the fairgrounds. Everything there was hustle bustle in preparation for the opening tomorrow night. After riding around several of the little trailers the carny people called home, they spotted the clown called Sid, who had approached them earlier to tack up posters.

“Hey, Sid, how’s it going?” Joey didn’t want to seem too eager.

“Hi, fellas. What are you up to?” Sid was one of those hobo clowns who always look like they need a shave, never know how to match their patched pants to their shirt or socks, and usually have a shoe with the sole flapping. Sid was no exception to the rule.

“Well, you know we were busy mowing lawns, but if you still need us, we decided we’d rather help you.” Joey wasn’t really lying, just trying to get the best deal he could.

“Well that’s great, fellas. I never did find anybody to put up those posters. Let me go get them and a hammer and some nails and you can get to work. I’ll give you ten dollars apiece if you can get them all put up. Hit all the street corners you can.”

The boys were off in an instant, eager to make the twenty bucks. They even went into several stores and asked to put posters in their front windows. Since it was a small town and everyone knew Joey and Shane were nice kids, the shopkeepers agreed to help them out by letting them advertise for the Fair.

“Well, that’s the last one. A nice, cool swim sure would feel good, and we could clean up before we go pick up our cash. Let’s go back to the pond.” Joey loved to swim. He was thin like Shane but tall and blond where Shane was short and dark. Joey always had good ideas and was the natural leader of the pair.

Still on their bicycles, they cut into the woods and glided down the dirt path that led to the pond. Just before the water came into sight, they heard loud voices and lots of splashing. Joey motioned to Shane to stop and they both got off their bikes. Crouching down on all fours they half crawled over to some bushes and looked through them down at the pond. Rocky and his thugs were splashing and horsing around in the water. At the same time, both boys behind the bushes spotted the bullies’ clothes lying on the ground at the edge of the water. Shane could almost see the light bulb go on over Joey’s head. They both knew what they were going to do.

Running from one bush to another, they got to within a couple of feet of the pile of clothes. “Just grab the jeans,” Joey whispered to Shane. “We won’t be as mean to them as they were to you. Having to go home in underpants will be embarrassing enough.”

The thugs were making so much noise and were so wrapped up in their horseplay, they never saw Shane and Joey as they stealthily crept down, grabbed the three pairs of jeans, and took off back to their bikes. Huffing and puffing, they didn’t stop pedaling until they were back at the fairgrounds.

They laid down their bikes under a big oak and sat with their backs against the tree to rest. A grasshopper leapt on Joey’s arm and he was too tired to flick it off. It crawled down his fingers and into the fabric of the jeans he was still clutching. Getting his breath back he shook the jeans until the grasshopper jumped off and ran away to find his next plant to eat. As the jeans slid to the ground a roll of bills fell from one pocket. The boys looked at each other and big smiles spread across their wide-eyed faces. It was their mowing money, all fifty dollars of it! They got up and danced around until they fell down in exhaustion with their money spread around them. They would really be able to have a good time at the Fair now. They hurried over to Sid’s trailer and picked up their money from him, returning the hammer and tacks. Shane insisted that Joey keep all the money this time.

It was getting late so both boys parted and went to their homes not mentioning to anyone the events of the day. Tomorrow they had school and tomorrow night they would have loads of fun at the Fair.

The next day at school they expected to be swooped on by Rocky and his thugs but by lunchtime, neither boy had seen them. Shane decided to ask Mr. Hays, the gym teacher, if he knew anything.

“Shane, I told Principal Adams what those boys did to you and he suspended all three of them for the day. Not only that, seems some of the teachers caught them sneaking out of the woods in their underwear. They said somebody had stolen their jeans while they were swimming in the pond. I’m sorry but Principal Adams didn’t get your money back. They swore it was in their jeans when they disappeared.

Mr. Hays turned to go; but before he did, he looked back at Shane, winked and gave him the high sign.