and neglect—tidily disposed of; a smug NO SMOKING sign and a laminated timetable showing departmental meetings, duties, clubs, and work groups, hung on the wall.
For a time, there was nothing to say.
“I’ve got your stuff, boss,” said Jimmy. “Shall I bring it up for you?”
Why bother? I knew when I was beaten. I slouched off back to the Common Room to drown my sorrows in tea.
2
Over the next few weeks, Leon and I became friends. It was not as risky as it sounds, partly because we were in different Houses—he in Amadeus, whilst I claimed to be in Birkby—and in different years. I met him in the mornings—wearing my own clothes under my St. Oswald’s uniform—and arrived to my own classes late, with a series of ingenious excuses.
I missed Games—the asthma ploy had worked very well—and spent my breaks and lunches in St. Oswald’s grounds. I began to think of myself almost as a genuine Ozzie; through Leon I knew the Masters on duty, the gossip, the slang. With him I went to the library, played chess, lounged on the benches in the Quad like any of the others. With him, I belonged.
It would not have worked if Leon had been a more outgoing, more popular pupil; but I had soon learned that he too was a misfit—though unlike me, he remained aloof by choice rather than necessity. Sunnybank Park would have killed him in a week; but St. Oswald’s values intelligence above everything else, and he was clever enough to use his to good advantage. To Masters he was polite and respectful—at least, in their presence—and I found that this gave him an immense advantage in times of trouble—of which there were many. For Leon seemed to actively court trouble wherever he went: he specialized in practical jokes, small neat revenges, covert acts of defiance. He was rarely caught. If I was Knight, then he was Allen-Jones: the charmer, the trickster, the elusive rebel. And yet he liked me. And yet we were friends.
I invented tales of my previous school for his amusement, giving myself the role I sensed he expected of me. From time to time I introduced characters from my other life: Miss Potts, Miss McAuleigh, Mr. Bray. I spoke of Bray with real hatred, remembering his taunts and his posturing, and Leon listened with an attentive look that was not quite sympathy.
“Pity you couldn’t get your own back on this guy,” he commented on one occasion. “Pay him back in kind.”
“What do you suggest?” I said. “Voodoo?”
“No,” said Leon thoughtfully. “Not quite.”
By then I had known Leon for over a month. We could smell the end of the summer term, its scent of cut grass and freedom; in another month all schools would break up (eight and a half weeks; limitless, unimaginable time) and there would be no need for changes of uniform or perilous truancies, forged notes or excuses.
We had already made plans, Leon and I; for trips to the cinema; walks in the woods; excursions into town. At Sunnybank Park exams—such as they were—were already over. Lessons were ramshackle; discipline, lax. Some teachers dispensed with their subjects altogether and showed Wimbledon on television, while others devoted their time to games and private study. Escape to Oz had never been easier. It was the happiest time of my life.
Then, disaster struck. It should never have happened; a stupid coincidence, that was all. But it brought my world crashing down, threatened everything I had ever hoped for—and its cause was the Games teacher, Mr. Bray.
In the excitement of everything else, I had almost forgotten Mr. Bray. I no longer went to Games—had never shown aptitude in any case—and I had assumed that I was not missed. Even without him, Games had been a weekly torment: my clothes tossed into the shower; my sports kit hidden or stolen; my glasses broken; my lukewarm efforts to participate greeted with laughter and contempt.
Bray himself had been the principal instigator of these jeering sessions, repeatedly singling me out
For a time, there was nothing to say.
“I’ve got your stuff, boss,” said Jimmy. “Shall I bring it up for you?”
Why bother? I knew when I was beaten. I slouched off back to the Common Room to drown my sorrows in tea.
2
Over the next few weeks, Leon and I became friends. It was not as risky as it sounds, partly because we were in different Houses—he in Amadeus, whilst I claimed to be in Birkby—and in different years. I met him in the mornings—wearing my own clothes under my St. Oswald’s uniform—and arrived to my own classes late, with a series of ingenious excuses.
I missed Games—the asthma ploy had worked very well—and spent my breaks and lunches in St. Oswald’s grounds. I began to think of myself almost as a genuine Ozzie; through Leon I knew the Masters on duty, the gossip, the slang. With him I went to the library, played chess, lounged on the benches in the Quad like any of the others. With him, I belonged.
It would not have worked if Leon had been a more outgoing, more popular pupil; but I had soon learned that he too was a misfit—though unlike me, he remained aloof by choice rather than necessity. Sunnybank Park would have killed him in a week; but St. Oswald’s values intelligence above everything else, and he was clever enough to use his to good advantage. To Masters he was polite and respectful—at least, in their presence—and I found that this gave him an immense advantage in times of trouble—of which there were many. For Leon seemed to actively court trouble wherever he went: he specialized in practical jokes, small neat revenges, covert acts of defiance. He was rarely caught. If I was Knight, then he was Allen-Jones: the charmer, the trickster, the elusive rebel. And yet he liked me. And yet we were friends.
I invented tales of my previous school for his amusement, giving myself the role I sensed he expected of me. From time to time I introduced characters from my other life: Miss Potts, Miss McAuleigh, Mr. Bray. I spoke of Bray with real hatred, remembering his taunts and his posturing, and Leon listened with an attentive look that was not quite sympathy.
“Pity you couldn’t get your own back on this guy,” he commented on one occasion. “Pay him back in kind.”
“What do you suggest?” I said. “Voodoo?”
“No,” said Leon thoughtfully. “Not quite.”
By then I had known Leon for over a month. We could smell the end of the summer term, its scent of cut grass and freedom; in another month all schools would break up (eight and a half weeks; limitless, unimaginable time) and there would be no need for changes of uniform or perilous truancies, forged notes or excuses.
We had already made plans, Leon and I; for trips to the cinema; walks in the woods; excursions into town. At Sunnybank Park exams—such as they were—were already over. Lessons were ramshackle; discipline, lax. Some teachers dispensed with their subjects altogether and showed Wimbledon on television, while others devoted their time to games and private study. Escape to Oz had never been easier. It was the happiest time of my life.
Then, disaster struck. It should never have happened; a stupid coincidence, that was all. But it brought my world crashing down, threatened everything I had ever hoped for—and its cause was the Games teacher, Mr. Bray.
In the excitement of everything else, I had almost forgotten Mr. Bray. I no longer went to Games—had never shown aptitude in any case—and I had assumed that I was not missed. Even without him, Games had been a weekly torment: my clothes tossed into the shower; my sports kit hidden or stolen; my glasses broken; my lukewarm efforts to participate greeted with laughter and contempt.
Bray himself had been the principal instigator of these jeering sessions, repeatedly singling me out
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