Cyborg Cat and the Masked Marauder, page 9
Everyone nodded eagerly. They’d only had money for chips earlier, and watching other people eating chicken had made them desperate for some.
“Shehzad, could you make a list of what everyone wants?” his mum said. “Quickly, Dad wants to set off soon.”
Shed seemed a little embarrassed that his mum had called him Shehzad. My mum and dad always call me Doyin or Adedoyin instead of Ade – it must be a parent thing. Nobody batted an eyelid, though, and Shed got on with the job in hand, which actually wasn’t all that easy.
“Can I have a three-piece bucket of chicken, please?” said Emily.
“Sounds good,” said Salim. “I’ll have one as well.”
“Actually, you can’t,” said Dexter.
“Yes, they can,” said Shed.
“Yes,” I said. “In fact, I’ll have a bucket of chicken as well please, Shed.”
Dexter shook his head.
“No, Ade, you can’t. None of you can.”
“Dexter’s gone bonkers,” laughed Melody. “He’s turned into the Fried Chicken King – only he can decree who can and can’t eat chicken.”
“I like the sound of that,” chuckled Dexter. “I think my name would be King Cluck the Third. But that’s not it.”
“Well, what is it, Dex?” shouted Brian. “I’m starving!”
“And my dad’s waiting,” added Shed.
“None of you can have a bucket of chicken,” Dexter said, “because the shop doesn’t do a bucket of chicken. The clue is in the name of the shop. Chicken Basket. It’s a basket of chicken.”
We all threw whatever we could find at Dexter, which meant three pens, a pack of cards, two pillows and a lot of Lego.
“Right,” said Shed finally. “Who wants a basket of chicken?”
Four of us put our hands up. Shed wanted chicken with chips, Melody wanted chicken wings, and Dexter, believe it or not, didn’t even want a basket. He wanted a chicken burger and chips.
As Shed started writing down the order, I started to feel very odd. My head began to throb and I felt really scared something wasn’t right. I couldn’t work out what was going on.
Shed left to find his dad and when I looked up Emily was staring at me. No one else had noticed my distress.
“Are you okay?” she mouthed, trying not to let the others see.
Could Emily sense it too? Or was she making me feel weird – was she trying to use her Night Spider powers to destroy me again? Even worse, had Emily managed to totally fool us: was she the real Masked Marauder?
The throbbing in my head got worse. Shed’s room suddenly started to go all hazy and a swirling wind whooshed around me. I thought I might faint or throw up, but then a gap appeared in the haze and my senses were drawn to a poster on Shed’s wall.
Above me, Luke Skywalker seemed to be pulling me nearer and nearer to him. Or perhaps he was coming towards me. I couldn’t tell.
Using all my mental strength, I tore myself away from the poster. The haze began to fade, but a strange and uncomfortable thought had crept into my head.
No, that’s ridiculous. Loads of people like Star Wars. I have posters of the film on my bedroom walls too.
The thought wouldn’t go away, though. The throbbing in my temples was getting stronger. My body was tingling and the word ‘close’ kept repeating itself over and over in my head. Close. Close. Close. Was I close to what I was looking for? Maybe then this stupid headache would stop.
Usually, my Cyborg Cat powers gave me strength, made me feel undefeatable. This time it felt different. I was sure my chair was buzzing and glowing downstairs, but I wasn’t in it, and I couldn’t even see it. I felt out of control. Instead of excitement, I felt nervousness and dread. A moment later I found myself moving towards Shed’s bed. I couldn’t stop even if I’d wanted to.
I put my hand underneath the mattress and felt around. I brushed against something and pulled it out.
A mask! A Darth Vader mask!
That didn’t prove anything, I told myself desperately. Star Wars was a massive blockbuster; the stuff was everywhere. I bet Shed didn’t even remember he had this mask …
Suddenly, the laughter I had heard when I’d found the first clown mask came back again.
Hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha!
The laughter was loud but there was something else too. I concentrated hard, focusing in. I could hear a different word being repeated now.
Order order order order order order order order order.
Suddenly, I knew what it meant. Shuffling on my backside, I pushed past my friends and out of the door, clutching the side of my head in agony.
“Ade!” shouted Salim. “Where are you going?”
I didn’t have time to answer. I slid down the banister and got into my chair. It felt good to be reunited with my two-wheeled companion and I raced to the front door. Shed’s dad was in the car, but I managed to bang frantically on the window. He turned and saw me.
“Ade,” he said. “What’s the matter?”
“I’m sorry, Mr Akram,” I spluttered breathlessly. “Can I have a look at the order, please?”
“Of course,” he said, handing it over. “Did you want me to get some more chicken? You need to keep your strength up if you want to get into that basketball team. Shehzad tells me those boys are very strong. He worries about you, Ade, you know.”
I didn’t answer. By now my headache was so bad I could barely hear what Mr Akram was saying. I looked down at the order.
Chicken and chips.
Chicken wings.
Chicken burger and chips
Then I saw it.
Barsket of chicken x 4
Barsket. That was the spelling mistake that had been on the first note I’d got, the one that had come with the clown mask.
An eerie, cold feeling came over me.
I had discovered the identity of Darth Vader.
16
Chicken, Chips and Spilled Beans
SHED.
It didn’t make sense. I felt my Cyborg Cat senses powering down and my headache easing off. I’d finally got the right answer but …
Shed?
I was making my way very slowly back up the stairs, feeling dazed and confused when the bathroom door opened.
“Oh, hi, Ade.”
Shed had been in the toilet when I’d charged out to the car, so he hadn’t seen me desperately rushing to get to his dad before he drove off.
I looked at him. A million thoughts whizzed around my head, but in the end I just said, “It’s you, Shed. You’re Darth Vader. You’re the Masked Marauder.”
He reacted as if I’d punched him. He reeled backwards and put his head in his hands.
“I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m sorry,” he kept saying over and over.
I was pleased he wasn’t denying it, but I didn’t like seeing Shed like that. He was one of my best friends. I was confused and hurt. Most of all, I just felt really sad.
“It’s okay, mate,” I said. “Just tell me why.”
“It’s not okay,” said Shed. “It’s not okay. I should never have done it and then it got out of hand and now we’re in a real mess.”
“What got out of hand?” I said. “Shed, I don’t understand.”
“No,” said Shed, suddenly standing up straight. “I’ll tell you everything, Ade, but not just you. I’ll tell everyone. And then … well, then you can kick me out of the Parsons Road Gang.”
“We’d never do that,” I said, and I meant it. Whatever it was that Shed had done, he’d always be part of our gang. I knew the others would back me up.
We headed back to his room in silence.
“Hey, where’s my chicken?” shouted Dexter.
“It … it’s not here yet,” said Shed, looking down at the floor.
The others could tell straight away that something was up.
“Erm, Shed has got something he wants to tell us,” I said. “Go on, Shed.”
He took a deep breath.
“I … I’m Darth Vader.”
“What?!” yelled everyone, pretty much in unison.
“Don’t be a silly sausage, Shed,” said Brian. “You can’t be.”
“I am,” said Shed quietly. “And I was the original Masked Marauder. The money that was stolen from Brian’s shed and the clown mask and the message – it’s all my fault.”
There was a stunned silence. No one could quite believe it. Emily was the first to speak.
“Why, Shed?” she asked quietly.
“I-I did it because … because …” Shed looked down. “Because I was jealous.”
“Jealous?” said Dexter. “What were you jealous of?”
Shed kept looking at the floor.
“I was jealous of Ade getting more friendly with Salim,” he mumbled. “It felt like he didn’t need me any more. I thought if Ade joined the basketball team that would be it, and we wouldn’t be friends.”
I didn’t know what to say. I looked over at Salim, who seemed horrified. The others were open-mouthed.
“So I came up with the idea of the Masked Marauder,” went on Shed. “And I was going to do it myself, I wrote the note and everything, but I couldn’t … I couldn’t take the money.”
Shed took a deep breath and continued.
“That’s when I contacted Andy. His dad works … well, worked with mine. They both got laid off at the same time, so I knew his family wouldn’t have much money. Steph had told me how upset her brother was because now he wouldn’t get the goalie gloves he wanted and that gave me the idea.”
Shed paused. We were all gobsmacked and hanging off his every word.
“I secretly put a note in one of his books asking him to meet me if he wanted to make some money. I didn’t even know if he would turn up, but he did. I couldn’t reveal my true self to him, though, so I wore the Darth Vader mask and spoke in a deep voice.”
“Wow,” said Brian. “This is like a film.”
“Shhh,” hissed Dexter. “Go on, Shed.”
“He thought it was a joke at first, but I said he could have thirty pounds for the gloves so he agreed. He didn’t ask me why or anything, and I was going to use money from my savings to pay him. I always meant to give the money we’d raised back.”
We couldn’t believe what we were hearing.
“I bought another strongbox. They all have the same key you see …”
“Told you,” said Brian.
“Shhhh,” said the rest of us.
“Yeah, anyway,” continued Shed, “I gave it to him, so he could easily take the money. Then I met him again in the restaurant so he could hand it over. It was the same table right at the back – I didn’t think anyone would see us.”
Shed was getting a bit agitated now.
“So who saw you?” I asked.
“One of Spencer’s mates – Gavin. He was getting takeaway and he clocked us. Well, he clocked Andy and someone in a Darth Vader mask. He didn’t know it was me then.”
“I knew Spencer had to be involved somehow,” I said angrily. “What happened then, Shed?”
“Yeah, well,” he said, “the next day at school, Gavin and Spencer and a couple of others had a word with Andy, if you know what I mean.”
We knew what he meant.
“So Andy left me a message. I’d given him my cousin’s phone number and told him if he needed to get in touch to leave a message on the answering machine. He asked me to meet him the next day back at the restaurant because there’d been a problem.”
“Spencer had taken all the money!” shouted Melody.
“It’s worse than that,” said Shed. “Andy wasn’t there when I arrived, so I waited, and then Spencer and his mates turned up. I tried to get away, but there were four of them. They made me take the mask off. They couldn’t believe it was me either – they just laughed and laughed.”
Suddenly, I heard it.
Hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha.
My whole body reacted to the laughter this time. Rather than fear, I could feel myself pulsating with anger. I could handle it when Spencer and his mates went after me, but when they picked on my friends it was like an attack on my family.
“They made me tell them what I’d done,” Shed continued. “They laughed again – they thought it was great and even suggested I should join their gang. I thought they’d had their fun, but Spencer suddenly stopped laughing and looked at me.”
I could just picture Spencer’s froggy little face staring right at Shed. It made me even angrier thinking about it.
“He said that if I didn’t keep stealing the money he’d tell you everything, Ade. I said I didn’t care. I’d already decided to tell you anyway, but he said he’d go to the police, and then my family would get involved …” Shed gulped. “Well, with everything that’s been going on, I couldn’t let that happen. Mum and Dad had enough to worry about. So … so I agreed.”
Shed was staring hard at the ground now. We were all looking at him, but I knew none of us were angry. We all felt sorry for him.
“Blockmail!” shouted Dexter suddenly.
“What?” said Salim.
“Shed is being blockmailed by Spencer. You know, it’s where they stop you getting any letters unless you do what they say.”
That properly broke the tension and we all burst out laughing.
“It’s blackmail, you dozy dummy,” said Melody, tears rolling down her face.
“Oh yeah,” said Dexter. “So what’s blockmail?”
We all laughed again, but I noticed that Shed didn’t join in. He was taking lots of deep breaths, desperately trying to hold back his tears.
“It’s probably best if you all leave now,” he said quietly, opening the bedroom door.
“What?” we all shouted in disbelief.
“After everything I’ve done, I don’t deserve to be part of the gang. I know you must all want me out. So I think you’d better go, okay?”
“No way,” I replied. “Not okay, Shed. I meant what I said before – we’d never kick you out of the Parsons Road Gang.”
“Yeah,” Melody said, stepping in front of him. “What happened was a mistake, Shed, we can sort this.”
“But after what I’ve –”
I didn’t let him finish.
“Shed, just because I’m getting more confident in the chair doesn’t mean I don’t want you to be my friend. When I first moved to London I felt really scared and lonely. I didn’t think I’d ever have any mates here, because I’m different.”
I sighed and looked down at the metal caliper on my left leg.
“But, Shed, you didn’t care about that.” I looked at the others. “None of you did. I’m really lucky to have you all as my friends. If you leave now, Shed, the Parsons Road Gang will never be the same.”
As I finished talking I heard sniffing. It was Dexter. He had tears in his eyes. Salim put one of his big hands on Dex’s shoulders.
“You okay?” he asked.
“Sh-Shed,” Dexter said. “I really want –”
“Don’t worry, Dex,” Shed replied, obviously worried. “I’m gonna stay – if you really want me to.”
“I know you are, Shed,” Dexter said. “It’s not that. I really want my basket of chicken. When is your dad going to get back? I’m wasting away!”
With that, Dexter dramatically threw himself onto the floor and burst into tears.
“Are you lot always so emo?” Emily said, looking perplexed. I guess she was still getting used to being around the gang.
“I can’t believe you weren’t upset because you thought I was leaving the gang!” shouted Shed. “There’s only one punishment for that. Bundle!”
Before anyone could say any more, Shed jumped on Dexter, followed by the rest of us, all laughing and shouting in a massive heap on the floor. I was relieved. The Parsons Road Gang were staying together.
“So, what are we going to do then?” asked Melody, picking herself up and dusting herself down.
“Well,” I said. “I thought …”
“No, please, no,” said Salim. “Not another emergency summit meeting.”
“Well, technically,” Brian remarked, “we’re still having one now, so it wouldn’t actually be another one.”
“Knock knock.” It was Shed’s dad. “Chicken’s here,” he said cheerily.
“Woo-hoo! Make way! Talented and hungry boy coming through,” Dexter screamed as he steamed over to Mr Akram, making sure he was first in line for his basket of chicken.
After a long day, and all the drama, hot fried chicken was just what we needed.
“Right,” I said, after I’d polished off my chicken. “We can’t let Spencer and his horrible mates get away with this. We need a plan. Any ideas?”
No one said anything at first, but then …
“I’ve got an idea.”
It was Shed.
17
Wheelchairs, Attack!
I WAS in the park, hiding in the bushes.
About fifty metres away, I could see Spencer and Gavin, standing opposite Shed.
Shed had asked to meet just Spencer, so Gavin being there complicated things a little, but it didn’t matter. We were going ahead as planned.
“So what is it?” sneered Spencer. “What are you going to do this time and why do you need to talk to me about it?”
“I’ll tell you what I’m going to do this time,” said Shed bravely. “Nothing.”
“What do you mean, nothing?” said Gavin.
“I mean nothing,” said Shed. “I’ve had enough of this. I’ve had enough of your blackmail. I’m not doing anything any more.”
“I see,” said Spencer. “Well, then, Gav, me old mate, you know what that means, don’t you?”
Gavin gave Spencer a bemused look.
“Er … it means we’re going to, er … throw him into the paddling pool?” he said.
“Yeah, yeah,” said Spencer. “We’ll do something like that, Gav, but not before we tell his peg-leg best mate Ade everything. Or maybe I should call him creepy cripple crawly? I’m sure Ade will be very interested to find out you’ve been stealing the money for his stupid sports wheelchair.”
Spencer and Gavin began to cackle like a pair of wild hyenas. I could see Shed’s fingers on his left hand curling into a fist.
“Shehzad, could you make a list of what everyone wants?” his mum said. “Quickly, Dad wants to set off soon.”
Shed seemed a little embarrassed that his mum had called him Shehzad. My mum and dad always call me Doyin or Adedoyin instead of Ade – it must be a parent thing. Nobody batted an eyelid, though, and Shed got on with the job in hand, which actually wasn’t all that easy.
“Can I have a three-piece bucket of chicken, please?” said Emily.
“Sounds good,” said Salim. “I’ll have one as well.”
“Actually, you can’t,” said Dexter.
“Yes, they can,” said Shed.
“Yes,” I said. “In fact, I’ll have a bucket of chicken as well please, Shed.”
Dexter shook his head.
“No, Ade, you can’t. None of you can.”
“Dexter’s gone bonkers,” laughed Melody. “He’s turned into the Fried Chicken King – only he can decree who can and can’t eat chicken.”
“I like the sound of that,” chuckled Dexter. “I think my name would be King Cluck the Third. But that’s not it.”
“Well, what is it, Dex?” shouted Brian. “I’m starving!”
“And my dad’s waiting,” added Shed.
“None of you can have a bucket of chicken,” Dexter said, “because the shop doesn’t do a bucket of chicken. The clue is in the name of the shop. Chicken Basket. It’s a basket of chicken.”
We all threw whatever we could find at Dexter, which meant three pens, a pack of cards, two pillows and a lot of Lego.
“Right,” said Shed finally. “Who wants a basket of chicken?”
Four of us put our hands up. Shed wanted chicken with chips, Melody wanted chicken wings, and Dexter, believe it or not, didn’t even want a basket. He wanted a chicken burger and chips.
As Shed started writing down the order, I started to feel very odd. My head began to throb and I felt really scared something wasn’t right. I couldn’t work out what was going on.
Shed left to find his dad and when I looked up Emily was staring at me. No one else had noticed my distress.
“Are you okay?” she mouthed, trying not to let the others see.
Could Emily sense it too? Or was she making me feel weird – was she trying to use her Night Spider powers to destroy me again? Even worse, had Emily managed to totally fool us: was she the real Masked Marauder?
The throbbing in my head got worse. Shed’s room suddenly started to go all hazy and a swirling wind whooshed around me. I thought I might faint or throw up, but then a gap appeared in the haze and my senses were drawn to a poster on Shed’s wall.
Above me, Luke Skywalker seemed to be pulling me nearer and nearer to him. Or perhaps he was coming towards me. I couldn’t tell.
Using all my mental strength, I tore myself away from the poster. The haze began to fade, but a strange and uncomfortable thought had crept into my head.
No, that’s ridiculous. Loads of people like Star Wars. I have posters of the film on my bedroom walls too.
The thought wouldn’t go away, though. The throbbing in my temples was getting stronger. My body was tingling and the word ‘close’ kept repeating itself over and over in my head. Close. Close. Close. Was I close to what I was looking for? Maybe then this stupid headache would stop.
Usually, my Cyborg Cat powers gave me strength, made me feel undefeatable. This time it felt different. I was sure my chair was buzzing and glowing downstairs, but I wasn’t in it, and I couldn’t even see it. I felt out of control. Instead of excitement, I felt nervousness and dread. A moment later I found myself moving towards Shed’s bed. I couldn’t stop even if I’d wanted to.
I put my hand underneath the mattress and felt around. I brushed against something and pulled it out.
A mask! A Darth Vader mask!
That didn’t prove anything, I told myself desperately. Star Wars was a massive blockbuster; the stuff was everywhere. I bet Shed didn’t even remember he had this mask …
Suddenly, the laughter I had heard when I’d found the first clown mask came back again.
Hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha!
The laughter was loud but there was something else too. I concentrated hard, focusing in. I could hear a different word being repeated now.
Order order order order order order order order order.
Suddenly, I knew what it meant. Shuffling on my backside, I pushed past my friends and out of the door, clutching the side of my head in agony.
“Ade!” shouted Salim. “Where are you going?”
I didn’t have time to answer. I slid down the banister and got into my chair. It felt good to be reunited with my two-wheeled companion and I raced to the front door. Shed’s dad was in the car, but I managed to bang frantically on the window. He turned and saw me.
“Ade,” he said. “What’s the matter?”
“I’m sorry, Mr Akram,” I spluttered breathlessly. “Can I have a look at the order, please?”
“Of course,” he said, handing it over. “Did you want me to get some more chicken? You need to keep your strength up if you want to get into that basketball team. Shehzad tells me those boys are very strong. He worries about you, Ade, you know.”
I didn’t answer. By now my headache was so bad I could barely hear what Mr Akram was saying. I looked down at the order.
Chicken and chips.
Chicken wings.
Chicken burger and chips
Then I saw it.
Barsket of chicken x 4
Barsket. That was the spelling mistake that had been on the first note I’d got, the one that had come with the clown mask.
An eerie, cold feeling came over me.
I had discovered the identity of Darth Vader.
16
Chicken, Chips and Spilled Beans
SHED.
It didn’t make sense. I felt my Cyborg Cat senses powering down and my headache easing off. I’d finally got the right answer but …
Shed?
I was making my way very slowly back up the stairs, feeling dazed and confused when the bathroom door opened.
“Oh, hi, Ade.”
Shed had been in the toilet when I’d charged out to the car, so he hadn’t seen me desperately rushing to get to his dad before he drove off.
I looked at him. A million thoughts whizzed around my head, but in the end I just said, “It’s you, Shed. You’re Darth Vader. You’re the Masked Marauder.”
He reacted as if I’d punched him. He reeled backwards and put his head in his hands.
“I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m sorry,” he kept saying over and over.
I was pleased he wasn’t denying it, but I didn’t like seeing Shed like that. He was one of my best friends. I was confused and hurt. Most of all, I just felt really sad.
“It’s okay, mate,” I said. “Just tell me why.”
“It’s not okay,” said Shed. “It’s not okay. I should never have done it and then it got out of hand and now we’re in a real mess.”
“What got out of hand?” I said. “Shed, I don’t understand.”
“No,” said Shed, suddenly standing up straight. “I’ll tell you everything, Ade, but not just you. I’ll tell everyone. And then … well, then you can kick me out of the Parsons Road Gang.”
“We’d never do that,” I said, and I meant it. Whatever it was that Shed had done, he’d always be part of our gang. I knew the others would back me up.
We headed back to his room in silence.
“Hey, where’s my chicken?” shouted Dexter.
“It … it’s not here yet,” said Shed, looking down at the floor.
The others could tell straight away that something was up.
“Erm, Shed has got something he wants to tell us,” I said. “Go on, Shed.”
He took a deep breath.
“I … I’m Darth Vader.”
“What?!” yelled everyone, pretty much in unison.
“Don’t be a silly sausage, Shed,” said Brian. “You can’t be.”
“I am,” said Shed quietly. “And I was the original Masked Marauder. The money that was stolen from Brian’s shed and the clown mask and the message – it’s all my fault.”
There was a stunned silence. No one could quite believe it. Emily was the first to speak.
“Why, Shed?” she asked quietly.
“I-I did it because … because …” Shed looked down. “Because I was jealous.”
“Jealous?” said Dexter. “What were you jealous of?”
Shed kept looking at the floor.
“I was jealous of Ade getting more friendly with Salim,” he mumbled. “It felt like he didn’t need me any more. I thought if Ade joined the basketball team that would be it, and we wouldn’t be friends.”
I didn’t know what to say. I looked over at Salim, who seemed horrified. The others were open-mouthed.
“So I came up with the idea of the Masked Marauder,” went on Shed. “And I was going to do it myself, I wrote the note and everything, but I couldn’t … I couldn’t take the money.”
Shed took a deep breath and continued.
“That’s when I contacted Andy. His dad works … well, worked with mine. They both got laid off at the same time, so I knew his family wouldn’t have much money. Steph had told me how upset her brother was because now he wouldn’t get the goalie gloves he wanted and that gave me the idea.”
Shed paused. We were all gobsmacked and hanging off his every word.
“I secretly put a note in one of his books asking him to meet me if he wanted to make some money. I didn’t even know if he would turn up, but he did. I couldn’t reveal my true self to him, though, so I wore the Darth Vader mask and spoke in a deep voice.”
“Wow,” said Brian. “This is like a film.”
“Shhh,” hissed Dexter. “Go on, Shed.”
“He thought it was a joke at first, but I said he could have thirty pounds for the gloves so he agreed. He didn’t ask me why or anything, and I was going to use money from my savings to pay him. I always meant to give the money we’d raised back.”
We couldn’t believe what we were hearing.
“I bought another strongbox. They all have the same key you see …”
“Told you,” said Brian.
“Shhhh,” said the rest of us.
“Yeah, anyway,” continued Shed, “I gave it to him, so he could easily take the money. Then I met him again in the restaurant so he could hand it over. It was the same table right at the back – I didn’t think anyone would see us.”
Shed was getting a bit agitated now.
“So who saw you?” I asked.
“One of Spencer’s mates – Gavin. He was getting takeaway and he clocked us. Well, he clocked Andy and someone in a Darth Vader mask. He didn’t know it was me then.”
“I knew Spencer had to be involved somehow,” I said angrily. “What happened then, Shed?”
“Yeah, well,” he said, “the next day at school, Gavin and Spencer and a couple of others had a word with Andy, if you know what I mean.”
We knew what he meant.
“So Andy left me a message. I’d given him my cousin’s phone number and told him if he needed to get in touch to leave a message on the answering machine. He asked me to meet him the next day back at the restaurant because there’d been a problem.”
“Spencer had taken all the money!” shouted Melody.
“It’s worse than that,” said Shed. “Andy wasn’t there when I arrived, so I waited, and then Spencer and his mates turned up. I tried to get away, but there were four of them. They made me take the mask off. They couldn’t believe it was me either – they just laughed and laughed.”
Suddenly, I heard it.
Hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha.
My whole body reacted to the laughter this time. Rather than fear, I could feel myself pulsating with anger. I could handle it when Spencer and his mates went after me, but when they picked on my friends it was like an attack on my family.
“They made me tell them what I’d done,” Shed continued. “They laughed again – they thought it was great and even suggested I should join their gang. I thought they’d had their fun, but Spencer suddenly stopped laughing and looked at me.”
I could just picture Spencer’s froggy little face staring right at Shed. It made me even angrier thinking about it.
“He said that if I didn’t keep stealing the money he’d tell you everything, Ade. I said I didn’t care. I’d already decided to tell you anyway, but he said he’d go to the police, and then my family would get involved …” Shed gulped. “Well, with everything that’s been going on, I couldn’t let that happen. Mum and Dad had enough to worry about. So … so I agreed.”
Shed was staring hard at the ground now. We were all looking at him, but I knew none of us were angry. We all felt sorry for him.
“Blockmail!” shouted Dexter suddenly.
“What?” said Salim.
“Shed is being blockmailed by Spencer. You know, it’s where they stop you getting any letters unless you do what they say.”
That properly broke the tension and we all burst out laughing.
“It’s blackmail, you dozy dummy,” said Melody, tears rolling down her face.
“Oh yeah,” said Dexter. “So what’s blockmail?”
We all laughed again, but I noticed that Shed didn’t join in. He was taking lots of deep breaths, desperately trying to hold back his tears.
“It’s probably best if you all leave now,” he said quietly, opening the bedroom door.
“What?” we all shouted in disbelief.
“After everything I’ve done, I don’t deserve to be part of the gang. I know you must all want me out. So I think you’d better go, okay?”
“No way,” I replied. “Not okay, Shed. I meant what I said before – we’d never kick you out of the Parsons Road Gang.”
“Yeah,” Melody said, stepping in front of him. “What happened was a mistake, Shed, we can sort this.”
“But after what I’ve –”
I didn’t let him finish.
“Shed, just because I’m getting more confident in the chair doesn’t mean I don’t want you to be my friend. When I first moved to London I felt really scared and lonely. I didn’t think I’d ever have any mates here, because I’m different.”
I sighed and looked down at the metal caliper on my left leg.
“But, Shed, you didn’t care about that.” I looked at the others. “None of you did. I’m really lucky to have you all as my friends. If you leave now, Shed, the Parsons Road Gang will never be the same.”
As I finished talking I heard sniffing. It was Dexter. He had tears in his eyes. Salim put one of his big hands on Dex’s shoulders.
“You okay?” he asked.
“Sh-Shed,” Dexter said. “I really want –”
“Don’t worry, Dex,” Shed replied, obviously worried. “I’m gonna stay – if you really want me to.”
“I know you are, Shed,” Dexter said. “It’s not that. I really want my basket of chicken. When is your dad going to get back? I’m wasting away!”
With that, Dexter dramatically threw himself onto the floor and burst into tears.
“Are you lot always so emo?” Emily said, looking perplexed. I guess she was still getting used to being around the gang.
“I can’t believe you weren’t upset because you thought I was leaving the gang!” shouted Shed. “There’s only one punishment for that. Bundle!”
Before anyone could say any more, Shed jumped on Dexter, followed by the rest of us, all laughing and shouting in a massive heap on the floor. I was relieved. The Parsons Road Gang were staying together.
“So, what are we going to do then?” asked Melody, picking herself up and dusting herself down.
“Well,” I said. “I thought …”
“No, please, no,” said Salim. “Not another emergency summit meeting.”
“Well, technically,” Brian remarked, “we’re still having one now, so it wouldn’t actually be another one.”
“Knock knock.” It was Shed’s dad. “Chicken’s here,” he said cheerily.
“Woo-hoo! Make way! Talented and hungry boy coming through,” Dexter screamed as he steamed over to Mr Akram, making sure he was first in line for his basket of chicken.
After a long day, and all the drama, hot fried chicken was just what we needed.
“Right,” I said, after I’d polished off my chicken. “We can’t let Spencer and his horrible mates get away with this. We need a plan. Any ideas?”
No one said anything at first, but then …
“I’ve got an idea.”
It was Shed.
17
Wheelchairs, Attack!
I WAS in the park, hiding in the bushes.
About fifty metres away, I could see Spencer and Gavin, standing opposite Shed.
Shed had asked to meet just Spencer, so Gavin being there complicated things a little, but it didn’t matter. We were going ahead as planned.
“So what is it?” sneered Spencer. “What are you going to do this time and why do you need to talk to me about it?”
“I’ll tell you what I’m going to do this time,” said Shed bravely. “Nothing.”
“What do you mean, nothing?” said Gavin.
“I mean nothing,” said Shed. “I’ve had enough of this. I’ve had enough of your blackmail. I’m not doing anything any more.”
“I see,” said Spencer. “Well, then, Gav, me old mate, you know what that means, don’t you?”
Gavin gave Spencer a bemused look.
“Er … it means we’re going to, er … throw him into the paddling pool?” he said.
“Yeah, yeah,” said Spencer. “We’ll do something like that, Gav, but not before we tell his peg-leg best mate Ade everything. Or maybe I should call him creepy cripple crawly? I’m sure Ade will be very interested to find out you’ve been stealing the money for his stupid sports wheelchair.”
Spencer and Gavin began to cackle like a pair of wild hyenas. I could see Shed’s fingers on his left hand curling into a fist.
