Freddy Tangles

by Jack Brand

  ‘Get him! We’re gonna pulverise you!’

  Vinnie flew over the gutter after me, but just as he went to grab me I jumped the gutter back onto the road – right into the path of Sid, who swung his arm to knock me off, but I veered away and there it was in the distance … HOME!

  I had to move fast. They were boxing me in but I thought I could make it … until one of them threw a stick in my back wheel. My bike bucked like bull and shot off sideways straight into Toddo, knocking him over. They had me trapped! They all wheeled around between me and my house like an impossible wall across the road.

  Sid got off his bike. ‘We’ve got you now, Tangles, and you’re gonna pay!’

  A car on the road behind me honked its horn. The wall of bikes gave way to the car. This was my chance! As the car went past, I tucked in behind

  it, straight past Sid!

  I heard swearing as I charged up my driveway and into the garage. I leapt off my bike and ran into the house, leaving the bike to rattle across the garage floor.

  Sid yelled so loud that the whole neighbourhood must have heard…

  I was so scared. I couldn’t see anyone in the house so I hid in a wardrobe. I was sure Sid would come in and get me.

  I sat puffing in the darkness of the wardrobe listening desperately for the sound of Sid coming into the house, but there was only the sound of me trying to get my breath back.

  Slowly, everything I had done came crashing in. I had been so stupid!

  I thought of Block and how he would have never joined that gang, of Cooper who was too cool and Scabs who was too nice and Tabby … who was too smart … ‘run’, she had whispered and I hadn’t because I wasn’t brave enough … until it was too late, until I made Sid my enemy.

  I joined his gang and then I left. Nothing could be worse. Sid was going to hunt me down.

  Mum came home and everything came out. I told her about pretending to be in Sid’s gang to stop people calling me Fartboy and joining his gang and running away because it was so terrible and now how Sid Malone was after me.

  ‘Why did you ever pretend to be in Sid’s gang?’ asked Mum.

  ‘They were calling me Fartboy.’

  ‘But it was just a silly name!’

  ‘It isn’t! Not to me. The whole school was calling me that and it hurt and I had a way of stopping it so I did. I’m sorry, sorry I did it and sorry I joined Sid’s gang but I was just so scared and now everything is worse!’

  ‘Well, I’m sorry I didn’t take the name-calling more seriously. I’m sure we can fix this.’

  That was easier said than done.

  Every day Sid stopped outside my house and called out…

  It was so scary.

  Mum would run out onto the street every time Sid called but he just rode slowly away.

  One of our windows got smashed with a rock and one day our letterbox disappeared. It had to be Sid but no-one saw him do it.

  Mum wouldn’t let me go anywhere on my own. She dropped me off at school and picked me up, and when I wasn’t at school I had to stay at home.

  Not even Dad could stop him.

  He found out where Sid lived and went over to talk to his parents but that didn’t work. Dad found out that Sid’s parents were worse than Sid.

  Sid’s dad told my dad that if he didn’t go away, then he would belt him. He sounded just like Sid! Which did make me feel a bit sorry for Sid. He was teased at school and when he went home he had bullies for parents.

  That would be really tough.

  Sid came past my house every day for two weeks. After that he started coming over less but it didn’t seem to matter. You just didn’t know when he would appear. It was so freaky.

  The one thing I was allowed to do was run over to Block’s house because he lives just across the street. But even that was scary. It felt like Sid was hiding behind every tree or car.

  It was while I was sneaking over to Blocker’s house one day I that came up with a plan. The answer was so easy!

  As soon as I saw Block I told him, ‘Block, we need to move to Russia.’

  No way could Sid get me if I was in Russia.

  Block didn’t seem all that keen but I was like, ‘Yeah, come on, let’s go, it’s a perfect plan.’ I told him we could live together in the same house. We could be like Russian brothers and I could change my name so Sid would never find me.

  I asked him what Russian name I should have and he said I looked like a cousin of his called Bogdan.

  Bogdan?

  I never knew that I looked like a Bogdan. Still, anything was better than Freddy Fartboy and getting beaten up by Sid, so Bogdan it was.

  Block said it didn’t matter what I called myself. He wasn’t going back to Russia, no matter what.

  Okay, fine … then maybe I could stay with some of his relatives … maybe with Bogdan.

  That was it!

  I was moving to Russia to live with Bogdan and be called Bogdan.

  It’s funny how things change. A couple of minutes ago I was doomed to be bashed by Sid, but now I was going to live in Russia for the rest of my life and be called Bogdan.

  Block’s mum came in and gave us some cookies and I said, ‘Thank you, Mrs Dukarsky,’ because I know how much she likes good manners. ‘And thank you for letting me stay with your relatives in Russia.’

  She said, ‘Freddy, you have been a good friend to my Ivan, the best friend he has ever had, so I will help you.’

  I said, ‘Thank you, Mrs Dukarsky, but you can call me Bogdan from now on. Do you know where in Russia I will live?’

  ‘No, you will not be going to Russia,’ she said. ‘And you will not be changing your name. You will stay here and you will stand up to this boy. You will be the Russian bear. We have a saying in Russia…’

  Actually, they seem to have a lot of sayings in Russia.

  Mrs Dukarsky said, ‘If the Tsar will not help us, there is no Tsar.’

  I didn’t have the first clue what she was talking about. I knew that Tsar was their word for king and that he liked to wear clothes, but that was it. She had to explain the rest.

  ‘It means, if there is no one to help you, Freddy, then you must help yourself. You cannot be the mushroom any longer.’

  I thought I was the Russian bear. Now I’m a mushroom?

  Then she said, ‘You must walk out and meet this boy.’

  Okay, now I knew she was crazy.

  So I said, ‘Thanks, Mrs Dukarsky, but I need to go home now.’

  I started to leave but she gripped my shoulders really hard and stared right into my eyes.

  ‘Listen to me, Freddy Tangles. Nothing that this bully can do to you is worse than the fear he has gripped you with right now.’

  Maybe that was true. I was scared all the time. And that included right now with the staring of Mrs Dukarsky.

  She said, ‘In Russia we fight. Sometimes we die but we have a saying…’

  Oh no, another one.

  ‘The hammer shatters glass but it also forges steel.’

  I really wanted to get away from her now. I couldn’t take any more sayings.

  ‘I have a hammer at home,’ I suggested. ‘I’ll go and get it for you.’

  I tried to leave but she wouldn’t let me go.

  ‘No Freddy, it is time for you to be the steel.’

  ‘I’ll just go home and ask my mum.’

  Mrs Dukarsky stamped her foot really hard. ‘No! When the eagle is flying, he doesn’t need his mother to count his wing beats.’

  I’m pretty sure that was another saying.

  ‘Go out and meet this boy, Freddy. Your fears will end only when you do this.’

  I wished she would stop telling me to go out and meet Sid because

  No WAY was I doing that!

  It was just too stupid. Like, no-one ever goes and shakes a beehive just so the bees can come out and sting them or like, no-one goes into the ocean and calls, ‘Here, sharky-sharky, dinner time!’

  People don’t do that an
d they don’t go outside to get bashed by Sid.

  It was just crazy and I was so relieved when Blocker pulled me away from his mum.

  Blocker knew what it meant to face Sid.

  But then he said, ‘I’ll come with you.’

  I was a bit confused at first. For a moment I thought he was saying that he was going to come with me to meet Sid like his crazy mum wanted me to. But then I realised he must mean that he was coming to Russia with me after all.

  That was really good news. At least it was until he said, ‘We’ll meet Sid together.’

  Like, WHAT?

  And his mum said, ‘Of course you will, Ivan, you are his friend. You will go with Freddy to meet this Sid boy.’

  Surely Block was joking, or maybe he was just pretending so that I could escape his mum? That must be it … yes … but no, he was nodding his head and agreeing with her, saying, ‘That’s what friends do.’

  He was AGREEING!

  I couldn’t believe what I was hearing.

  Blocker wanted to come with me, to get beaten up by Sid, and his mum was going to let him! In fact, she thought it was a good idea!

  I just looked at the two crazy Russians, smiling back at me, being as brave as anything … and it hit me.

  I was actually going to do it.

  I was going to go outside and stand up to Sid.

  I was actually going to do it!

  I was going to be crazy too.

  No, not crazy … I was going to be the Russian bear, and oh yeah, I was also going to be steel for when I got hammered by Sid, and I was going to flap my wings like an eagle too…

  I was going to face up to Sid.

  I had never felt more brave in my entire life.

  Or more scared.

  ‘Okay,’ I said.

  It was such a little word, okay, but it meant so much. My heart was thumping in my chest like a hammer.

  ‘Alright then,’ said Mrs Dukarsky, clapping her hands. She opened the front door and stepped aside.

  ‘You mean like now?’

  ‘Why not?’

  Why not? Like for starters I hadn’t even written a will. Who was I going to leave all my stuff to after I was dead?

  And what about Mum? I hadn’t properly thanked her for all the dinners or Dad for teaching me how to ride a bike or Jessica for … for … I’m sure if I had more time I could have thought of something!

  I thought it was important that I did things like that before Sid killed me.

  ‘Well,’ I said. ‘Maybe we can do it after my birthday.’

  I was pretty sure Dad was buying me a fishing rod so maybe after I caught some fish with that, and oh yeah, then there was Christmas too.

  Mrs Dukarsky stamped her foot hard.

  ‘No! You do it now! You face up to this boy, and you be brave, like the bear!’

  I just stood there. I didn’t know what to do or say. My legs wouldn’t work. There was no way I could walk through that door even if I wanted to.

  Blocker said, ‘Come on, Freddy, we can do this together. We’ll show Sid something he’ll never forget.’

  And I was thinking … Yeah, like how to bleed to death.

  Block said, ‘We’ll get everyone together. We’ll have so many people by the time he finds us, that we’ll beat him.’

  It never occurred to me that we could actually win a fight against Sid but what Block said made sense. A lot of kids had a grudge against him. We could have a gang of our own.

  Blocker went to the door and kissed his mother goodbye. She started tucking in his shirt like she always did, until he stopped her.

  ‘No, Mother, this is not a time for manners.’

  His mum nodded and Block pulled his shirt back out. Now I knew that he really meant business.

  There was nothing left to do except go. Blocker touched my shoulder and together we walked out of the house.

  Before I knew it we were walking down the street. I felt kind of light-headed, like I was in a dream. Or maybe my brain just couldn’t believe it was floating down the street inside a head that had decided to get smashed.

  I was definitely starting to feel scared again.

  ‘We can beat Sid,’ said Blocker, noticing how scared I looked. ‘If we have enough people with us, we can actually beat him.’

  We walked towards the park. We called up to Cooper’s house as we passed and he came out with Scabs. Further up the road we saw the boy I saved from Sid, and his friends. His name was Ben and he said they’d been trying to find me to thank me.

  I told them I was going to find Sid right now and fight him.

  Ben said, ‘You saved us so we’ll help you fight him.’

  Suddenly there were seven of us. We really could win!

  We passed more kids and some of them joined us and others didn’t. Everyone who joined us said they were sick of Sid and wanted to help. Soon there were thirteen of us!

  Then we were fourteen because Tabby came up the street.

  ‘I called her,’ said Cooper.

  She came straight up to me. ‘You’re really going to fight Sid?’

  ‘Yeah, we’re all going to fight.’

  She looked at us all.

  ‘Are you crazy?’

  I said, ‘No, I’m a Russian bear.’

  Blocker nodded, which was helpful, as Tabby was looking at me as if maybe my brains had already been rattled.

  ‘A Russian bear?’

  I could see that she was struggling with the

  Russian bear thing. Maybe I shouldn’t have mentioned it.

  ‘So you are crazy then!’

  I tried to explain. ‘No, I’m a Russian bear who is made of steel for when the hammering starts.’

  ‘Like a hammering from Sid?’

  ‘Yeah … I mean no, we can beat him if we fight all together, can’t we, guys?’

  They all called out, ‘Yes!’

  Blocker said, ‘We can be a gang too. A better one than his gang.’

  ‘A gang?’ Tabby was starting to scrunch her mouth. ‘You know that Sid and his gang will fight all of you as hard as anything. A lot of you will get hurt.’

  ‘We’re ready for anything!’

  Tabby grabbed my arm. ‘You come over here right now!’

  She pulled me away from the others.

  Cooper called out, ‘Ooooh, looks like Freddy’s in trouble with his girlfriend.’

  Tabby ignored him.

  ‘A lot of you are going to get hurt. Is that what you want?’

  ‘No, of course not.’ ‘So you’ve started a gang!’

  ‘No we haven’t. It’s just for this, to get Sid.’

  ‘You’re doing what Sid would do!’

  ‘No I’m not!’

  ‘Yes you are! A gang to beat up people.’

  ‘Well, how else do we beat him? He’s too strong.’

  ‘So you’re going to let your friends get hurt.’

  I looked over at my friends. I didn’t know what to do.

  ‘What choice do I have?’

  ‘You’re the Russian bear. They don’t fight in packs. A Russian bear fights his own battles.’

  ‘So you want me to fight Sid on my own?’ That was madness. ‘I’m not that stupid, or brave!’

  ‘Who says you’re not brave? I think you are.’

  ‘But you know I’m not. You saw me when I joined Sid’s gang. I was too scared to even run away.’

  ‘But you did in the end. When you realised how bad it was, you ran away and you saved some kids doing it.’

  Those kids were standing just a little way from me right now. They were there because I saved them, and now what was I getting them into?

  Tabby went on, ‘I think those kids would say that you were brave.’

  She didn’t know they were standing there, ready to fight for me.

  ‘But I was still running away. I wasn’t standing and fighting. There’s no way I can fight Sid, so just forget it! I’m not doing it!’

  ‘I don’t want you to fight either.�
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  ‘Then what do you want?!’

  ‘I have four older brothers that I stand up to, and you know how I do that?’

  ‘Yeah,’ I said impatiently. I felt like going back to my friends. Tabby wasn’t helping. ‘You know their weaknesses. You told me that.’

  ‘And it works. So what’s Sid’s weakness?’

  I breathed in deep, resisting the urge to walk away. ‘I don’t know … he’s over-confident, um, and there’s only four of them and a lot more of us …’

  ‘No! That’s fighting stuff. What did you notice when you were with them, as a gang?’

  I had thought of my ride with the gang a million times in the last three weeks, wondering how I could have done it differently.

  Tabby added, ‘Maybe how they talked … were there any who didn’t like each other…’