grade nine says Chuckie. You never saw that thing with him and Will Anderson.
Right I say. I’m hungry.
You didn’t know Will Anderson he says.
Right.
He was only here for half a year. Him and Noel were roommates. And a couple of other guys. He was annoying, Anderson, you know, kind of . . . he looked older than he was and he tried to be all fuckin tough. Dad owns Anderson Ford.
Right I say. I don’t know what Anderson Ford is.
And he was . . . you know, except for me and Ant, he kind of thought he was better and bigger than anyone in grade nine. He bumped into me once outside the library or the gym and he, you know, squared himself up and I started laughing. And he smiles like he wasn’t squaring himself up and he’s, like, slapping my back without slapping my back. There’s a word for that. When I’m a journalist I’m gonna use it. Pfff he says.
There’s tobacco on his lips ’cause he’s smoking a rollie.
So he was the guy who first called Wink Wink.
Ok.
Always. Wink this, Wink that.
It’s a mean name.
Yeah.
And funny.
It is he says. And Noel, he was always quiet about it. Didn’t complain. You know that way he looks sort of past everything, right.So you couldn’t tell whether it bothered him or not, and Anderson kept at it, kept pushing it in a really obvious way. And in gym class, you know, he would fire a basketball at Noel’s head and say Wink blinked. That sort of shit.
Mm.
And I don’t know whether Anderson would have lasted or not. One of these fuckin losers who’s proud of being at St. Ebury. Dad with his car dealership. And it’s pretty obvious that he’s never gonna fit in. What they call an arriviste, if you did your homework.
You’re a genius.
So one day. Pfff One of those weird witches days when everything’s happening on the Flats, me and Ant are tossing the Frisbee down the hall. Fling, fling, and out comes everyone from different rooms. And zitty Chris, you know, Tim, he’s walking innocently down the hall and out comes Anderson. He takes off his stinking gym shoe and shoves it in Chris’s face. He puts Chris in a headlock and makes him smell his shoe, you know, and Chris is struggling and all the zits in his face are popping and bleeding.
Nice.
So whatever. Another dumb day. Anderson’s laughing like a moron and a couple of others are smiling and Chris is bleeding and away he walks and I toss Ant the Frisbee. Anderson’s walking around looking for mischief. And there’s Noel down the hall, looking on in his weird way. And Anderson starts walking toward him saying Wink this Wink that. You know, Hey Wink, what
aren’t
you looking at. He walks up to him and does the old shoulder push. And, fuck, have you noticed how much Wink has built up.
Yeah. I told you.
Yeah. Beef! Eh. He was
nothing
like that in grade nine. He was a little guy. So Anderson walks up to him, does the shoulder push, and Noel falls back a mile, like a comedy fall, you know, like he’s falling and falling and it’s funny, and finally he falls and it’s, you know, pretty sad. And Anderson’s laughing his
ass
off when Noel falls. Crack goes the tailbone and Anderson’s in hysterics. And he’s standing over Wink and laughing. He tries to get up and Andersonholds him down. And Wink shuffles back and gets up, Anderson does the shoulder push, then Noel does the shoulder push and we all think, here we go, and next thing you know Anderson is popping him in the eye. In his
bad
eye, you know. Pop, pop, and Wink is just kind of taking it. Ducking a little, you know, flinching, but not knowing what to do. And Anderson’s getting a taste for it, you know, he’s popping Noel harder, always going for the eye. It made you want to cringe, you know. I remember squeezing the Frisbee and thinking, what the fuck. Should we step in. And a Prefect comes by, what’s his . . . Haffey. He comes by and shouts hey! And those two, you know, Anderson barely looks over, gives Reece another, both of them in
Right I say. I’m hungry.
You didn’t know Will Anderson he says.
Right.
He was only here for half a year. Him and Noel were roommates. And a couple of other guys. He was annoying, Anderson, you know, kind of . . . he looked older than he was and he tried to be all fuckin tough. Dad owns Anderson Ford.
Right I say. I don’t know what Anderson Ford is.
And he was . . . you know, except for me and Ant, he kind of thought he was better and bigger than anyone in grade nine. He bumped into me once outside the library or the gym and he, you know, squared himself up and I started laughing. And he smiles like he wasn’t squaring himself up and he’s, like, slapping my back without slapping my back. There’s a word for that. When I’m a journalist I’m gonna use it. Pfff he says.
There’s tobacco on his lips ’cause he’s smoking a rollie.
So he was the guy who first called Wink Wink.
Ok.
Always. Wink this, Wink that.
It’s a mean name.
Yeah.
And funny.
It is he says. And Noel, he was always quiet about it. Didn’t complain. You know that way he looks sort of past everything, right.So you couldn’t tell whether it bothered him or not, and Anderson kept at it, kept pushing it in a really obvious way. And in gym class, you know, he would fire a basketball at Noel’s head and say Wink blinked. That sort of shit.
Mm.
And I don’t know whether Anderson would have lasted or not. One of these fuckin losers who’s proud of being at St. Ebury. Dad with his car dealership. And it’s pretty obvious that he’s never gonna fit in. What they call an arriviste, if you did your homework.
You’re a genius.
So one day. Pfff One of those weird witches days when everything’s happening on the Flats, me and Ant are tossing the Frisbee down the hall. Fling, fling, and out comes everyone from different rooms. And zitty Chris, you know, Tim, he’s walking innocently down the hall and out comes Anderson. He takes off his stinking gym shoe and shoves it in Chris’s face. He puts Chris in a headlock and makes him smell his shoe, you know, and Chris is struggling and all the zits in his face are popping and bleeding.
Nice.
So whatever. Another dumb day. Anderson’s laughing like a moron and a couple of others are smiling and Chris is bleeding and away he walks and I toss Ant the Frisbee. Anderson’s walking around looking for mischief. And there’s Noel down the hall, looking on in his weird way. And Anderson starts walking toward him saying Wink this Wink that. You know, Hey Wink, what
aren’t
you looking at. He walks up to him and does the old shoulder push. And, fuck, have you noticed how much Wink has built up.
Yeah. I told you.
Yeah. Beef! Eh. He was
nothing
like that in grade nine. He was a little guy. So Anderson walks up to him, does the shoulder push, and Noel falls back a mile, like a comedy fall, you know, like he’s falling and falling and it’s funny, and finally he falls and it’s, you know, pretty sad. And Anderson’s laughing his
ass
off when Noel falls. Crack goes the tailbone and Anderson’s in hysterics. And he’s standing over Wink and laughing. He tries to get up and Andersonholds him down. And Wink shuffles back and gets up, Anderson does the shoulder push, then Noel does the shoulder push and we all think, here we go, and next thing you know Anderson is popping him in the eye. In his
bad
eye, you know. Pop, pop, and Wink is just kind of taking it. Ducking a little, you know, flinching, but not knowing what to do. And Anderson’s getting a taste for it, you know, he’s popping Noel harder, always going for the eye. It made you want to cringe, you know. I remember squeezing the Frisbee and thinking, what the fuck. Should we step in. And a Prefect comes by, what’s his . . . Haffey. He comes by and shouts hey! And those two, you know, Anderson barely looks over, gives Reece another, both of them in
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