“What the bloody ‘ell’s going on!” William’s dad barked when he returned home.
William burst into tears and darted into his room where he threw himself upon his bed and cried his heart out.
His mother gave him ten minutes before going up, by which time he’d removed his socks and dress, knickers and vest and had donned his own clothes.
She wasn’t surprised.
“You could have hung it up.” she said as she did just that.
“Actually… I’ll hang it elsewhere, for safekeeping.” she said, before ordering the boy downstairs where his father wanted to talk to him.
Sheepishly, he descended the stairs where he was given the third degree.
Then he explained what had happened and how he and Andrew ended up being tricked into wearing dresses.
He played the victim all the way, calling Mrs Vaughn a lying bitch and other names.
Meanwhile, Andrew is going through more or less the same at his home.
His dad is going bonkers, his Mum is disappointed and Andrew’s been forbidden to remove his dress.
“We only thought you needed petticoating so you’d be a good boy for your sister.” he’s told.
“How wrong we were! If only we’d kept it up, you wouldn’t be in this mess.”
Both were sent to bed early, and both were out of bed early too.
Andrews’s mother had a bath full of pungent bubbles waiting for him, and just as Mrs Vaughn had done the day before, she scrubbed his skin and washed his hair as if bathing a toddler.
He whined when his mother gave him the very same clothes that Mrs Vaughn had given him, reminding her that she’d said it doesn’t matter what they wear.
“And how do you think Wayne will feel if he gets on the bus wearing his dress and you’re not wearing yours?” his mother asked.
Alan claimed that William won’t be wearing a dress but he couldn’t be sure.
At seven-thirty sharp, a mini bus pulled up outside Andrew’s house bearing the St Urshalla’s school crest on its doors.
He wanted the world to open up and swallow him whole as he approached it.
A handful of kids are on board, staring through the windows at him.
It’s bad enough having to wear a dress but his mother has added to his sense of shame by tying his hair into two high bunches that bounce around his ears.
The door slides open and he climbs inside, briefly glancing at the faces before taking a vacant seat.
One of the girls smiled at him and asked “First day?”
Andrew gulped and nodded, but on hearing her speak, he realised that she wasn’t a girl at all!
The van pulled away.
His mother waved but he didn’t wave back.
He kept his head down as best he could whilst the handful of other kids chatted.
Andrew felt completely out of place in his white pumps, knee socks and dress whilst the others wear black Mary Jane style shoes, burgundy tights, blue plaid pinafore dresses over a white shirt & tie with a burgundy school blazer.
Initially, he presumed the minibus was full of girls, then he quickly realised some boys were on board too…
However soon enough he discovers that they’re all boys!
Those with hair long enough for plaits, ponytails or bunches wear them tied with white or burgundy ribbons.
Those with short hair wear clips bearing either white or burgundy bows.
The minibus draws to a halt.
A boy wearing the same uniform trots toward it.
The door slides open and he climbs inside, greeting his classmates before looking at Andrew and saying “Another new boy?”
Andrew gulps and nods.
The boy asked if he’s been excluded or suspended.
“Suspended.” Andrew meekly replied.
“How long for?”
“Two weeks.”
“That’s not so bad.” the boy says.
“By the time you’ve got used to it you’ll be back at your old school,” he claimed, before asking which school he normally goes to.
“Cromwell Road.” Andrew replied. He’s asked why he got suspended.
“Bunking off.” he replied. “Me and my mate William.”
“Oh.” the boy replied.
“Is he coming to Saint Urshalla’s too?”
“Yeah.” Andrew replied.
The minibus trundled trough the residential streets and eventually drew up outside William’s house.
But rather than William walking towards the minibus, it was his mother.
She spoke to the driver before opening the sliding door.
“Do you know where he’s got to Andrew?” she asked.
“No.” Andrew replied.
“You sure? You didn’t arrange to leave early and meet up somewhere?”
“No, honestly Mrs Davison.”
“Well if you can think of where he might have gone, please say something.”
“I will.” Andrew said. Although he wasn’t sure he’d grass on his pal.
“OK.” William’s mother replied.
“Your hair looks cute.” she said, before sliding the door shut.
It’s hard to imagine but Andrew had almost forgotten what his mother had done with his hair.
He hung his head and his bunches flopped forwards, brushing his ears.
The minibus continued its journey, picking up a few more boys and before long, drove through the gates of St Faint Urshalas’s School for Girls.
The kids alighted and since Andrew is the only one not in uniform, the awaiting teacher knew he was one of the new boys.
The driver spoke to the teacher and the teacher grilled Andrew as to where William may have gone.
“Anywhere really.” Andrew claimed, listing the town centre, the arcade, the canal towpath, the copse on Hunter’s Hill.
A few minutes later, the minibus driver exited the school building with a group of around eight or ten schoolgirls.
“Right girls… the boy we’re looking for is called William Davidson, of 73 Rutlodge Avenue.
His mother said he’ll most likely be wearing a green parka jacket, blue jeans and brown monkey boots with yellow laces… and this boy will describe his face.”
The girls surrounded Andrew.
They towered over him as he sheepishly described William’s hair colour, style and facial features.
“Is he taller or shorter than you?” they asked.
“Err… a bit taller.” Andrew replied.
“Thin or stocky?”
“Errr… neither. About the same as me.” Andrew told them.
The girls climbed in the back of the minibus whilst two teachers sat in the front.
As the door slid shut, Andrew was certain one of them said something like ‘I love going on a boy hunt’.
The one remaining teacher looked Andrew up and down before assuring him they’d find his friend.
“Come on, lets get you settled in.” she said. “Have you got your sizes?”
“Er… yes miss.” Andrew humbly replied before following the teacher inside.
He glanced back towards the minibus as it pulled out onto the street.
First, the minibus drove up to the estate on which William lives with his parents.
All inside kept their eyes peeled for someone fitting the description they’d been given.
Three of the girls got out to explore the alleys and snickets whilst the minibus drove slowly around the neighbouring streets.
“I love it when the boys don’t turn up!” one of the girls said. “It’s so much fun.”
“Remember that one last year who we found hidden in a wheelie bin… he stunk to high heaven!”
“Oh god yes!” another replied.
“It was December and we had to have all the windows in the minibus open when we took him back to school.”
The minibus picked the girls up and drove them to the other places that William might be hanging out.
There was no sign of him on Hunters Hill, nor in the arcade or town centre.
But hopeful that his friend Alan would have also absconded early, William hung out in their usual haunts on the off chance they’d meet up.
He bought a packet of cigarettes from a kiosk and lifted a packet of Opal Fruits whilst the cashier’s back was turned.
He blagged a light of an old man who said he was too young to smoke but gave him a light none the less.
“Shut up granddad!” was Wayne’s reply before walking away, sucking on a Regal king size.
The girls drove all round town several times with no joy.
By now it was nine-thirty, but they weren’t disheartened.
They’d much rather be out and about, hunting boys than stuck in class.
The minibus was parked and everyone got out.
They separated into four groups of three and went in opposite directions, sweeping a quadrant of the inner city each.
Meanwhile, Williamwas holed up in a run down cricket pavilion… but boredom and a desire to smoke another cigarette (which meant getting a light of someone) forced him to vacate the secluded hideout.
He decided to saunter along the canal for two reasons; one: not many people apart from those enjoying the futility of fishing and two: a fisherman would likely have some matches.
He was right on both counts and soon found a light for his cigarette.
The kindly man even gave him the remainder of his box of matches, which although almost empty, contained plenty for his remaining cigarettes. “You skipping school son?” the man asked.
“None of your business mister!” William spat before walking off.
“No need to be like that.” the man said.
A short while later, three of the girls from Saint Urshalla were searching the tow-path and passed the very same man.
“Aren’t you girls supposed to be in school,” he said as they neared him.
“Yes, but one of our boys has gone missing and we’re trying to find him.”
“There was a boy about your age not ten minutes ago… cheeky little sod.”
“What did he look like?”
“A cheeky little sod.” the man replied, before describing a green parka jacket, blue jeans and long hair.
“…you know how boys have it these days… hangin’ on their shoulders.”
“Sounds like him. Which way did he go?”
“That way, about ten minutes since.”
“Great, thanks mister.” the girls said before briskly walking in the same direction.
They got as far as the next bridge and didn’t know whether to continue on the towpath or take the bridge and follow the road, but which way?
Towards or away from town?
“We might be able to see more from the bridge.” one suggested. “Can you see anything?”
“Not really.” she said, scanning the landscape.
“What about the old cricket ground?” she said as the others joined her on the bridge.
“It’s gonna be a housing estate soon.”
“Worth a try, but we’d better meet up with the others first.”
The three girls headed back to the minibus where the others were waiting.
“Any luck?” one of the teachers asked.
They told him about the man fishing who’d sem a boy fitting the description, and suggested checking the old cricket ground.
“We may as well.” the teacher replied as they all climbed inside.
The cricket ground has two main entrances; one on Hinckley Street and the other from the park.
He dropped five of the girls off at the park whilst the rest drove round to the other entrance.
Meanwhile, William is feeling very smug.
He’s relatively cosy in the crumbling old pavilion, enjoying another cigarette and munching on Opal Fruits.
He knows he’s going to be in big trouble when he does go home but for now, he feels as free as a bird.
His only disappointment is that Andrew isn’t with him.
He peers out of the dusty window but can’t see much.
He spits on it and wipes it with his sleeve, but most of the grime is on the outside.
He peers through it anyway, looking this way and that.
There’s nothing but the old cricket field, strewn with fallen leaves, dead weeds and a rotten old sight screen on either side.
Then, the sound of voices grabs his attention.
They’re not close and could be coming from the nearby park.
He selects a different window, one that gives him a better view of the park entrance.
He spies two girls, climbing through the broken fence.
Schoolgirls judging by their clothing, but it’s a uniform he doesn’t recognise.
“They’ll just be passing through.” William says to himself before slowly drawing on his cigarette and feeling like a character from a movie or TV drama.
He feels relaxed, smug even.
He has no idea that the girls from Saint Urshalla’s are looking for him, and a combination of cheek, ego and ignorance prompts him to open the door to the pavilion and greet the approaching girls.
He stands casually in the doorway, looking at them whilst toking on his cigarette.
The girls are close but out of earshot.
“Well that’s gotta be him.” one says to the other.
“What do you reckon? Fight or flirt?”
“Flirt.” the other replied. “Hiya!” she hollers to William. “Do ya live here?”
“Nah… just hangin’ out.” he replied, taking a final long drag on his cigarette and flicking it away.
“You got any more fags?”
“Maybe.” William replied.
“Whatcha gonna do to get one?” he asked,
descending the few wooden steps and removing the pack from his pocket.
“Dunno… whatcha gonna do to stop us from just taking them?” they replied as they drew to a halt.
“You wouldn’t do that girls.” William replied.
He’s beginning to feel nervous since the two girls are a good few inches taller than him and they’re more than a little intimidating.
“Well you don’t look old enough to smoke… and we’re concerned for your health.”
“Hey don’t do that!” William said as one of the girls plucked the entire pack from his hand.
“Gis ’em back!” he demanded.
The girl held the pack high above her head. William reached for it but wasn’t quite tall enough.
“Not as big as you think you are are you… little boy.” she said.
“Shouldn’t you be in school?”
“None of your business!” Wayne spat as he jumped and still failed to grab his pack of fags.