how to do the decorating.
Sass had said she was sorry. ‘No more teasing, we promise. Everyone is welcome in the alley.’
Copper Pie had shown his collection of toy guns and even let some of the girls have a go.
And Jonno had explained about Tribe and the initiation. They were all really interested, even though they’re at secondary school.
‘Being a Tribe sounds really wicked,’ said Sass. ‘Can I join?’
‘No, sorry,’ said Jonno.
‘Only joking,’ she said and gave him a sort of squeeze.
Jonno suddenly found something interesting to look at on the floor.
‘So where did you get the kooky idea to do cakes or war?’
We all did different versions of a shrug.
So Fifty spoke. ‘Well . . . Bee likes cooking and Copper Pie likes guns.’
‘I thought you were going to say something really clever,’ said Sass.
‘Like what?’ asked Bee.
‘Well, they say everything people do is because of love or fear. That’s like cakes or war, isn’t it? Love cakes. Fear war.’
I thought about that. It made sense. Tribe had made a good choice, even if it was accidental.
‘Time we were off,’ said Sass. ‘See you then, Tribers. And thanks for the cakes. Awesome.’
As Sass walked off with some of the others, Bee said, ‘I’m going to grow my hair that long.’
Girls!
Copper Pie put out his hand. I slapped mine on top. The noise made Sass turn round. She watched as Jonno and Bee and Fifty added theirs. We shouted, ‘One. Two. Three,’ and threw our
hands in the air.
‘Is that a Tribe thing?’ shouted Sass.
‘Yep,’ said Copper Pie.
‘Cool,’ she yelled.
‘Yeah, it is,’ we shouted back.
late home
Bee was full of it on the way home.
‘We freed the alley. All the kids can use it now. Yeah!’ She punched the air.
She said that the reason Tribe succeeds is because we believe in it. We’re still the same kids we were before but, because of Tribe, we’re powerful. It’s made us different.
‘So what shall we do next?’ she said. ‘Now that we’ve proved ourselves.’
‘Go home and have tea,’ said Copper Pie. ‘Initiations make you hungry.’
‘Not possible. You’re full of cake,’ she said. ‘Seriously, guys, what’s our next job?’
‘Bee, we can’t expect to change something every day,’ said Fifty.
‘Why not?’
‘Because we’d be too tired,’ he said and we all laughed.
‘What’s next,’ said Jonno, ‘is explaining to Miss Walsh that we got my birthday wrong.’
‘When is your birthday?’ asked Fifty.
‘October eleventh. We were only six months too early.’
‘Easy mistake to make,’ said Fifty.
At the end of the high street, Fifty and I went straight on and the others went left.
‘Bye,’ we all shouted.
The turn to Fifty’s house is before mine so I walked the last part on my own. I had lots to think about. I knew what Bee meant about being in Tribe. It was like wearing armour or being
given a lion’s heart. My mind wandered, like it does in dreams. I thought about a tribe in South America that Jonno told me about that doesn’t have a word for ‘worry’, so no
one worries. That would suit me. They don’t have words for numbers either, so Copper Pie would like it because there’s no counting. And I thought about how good it is now there are five
of us. And about how Copper Pie is the Triber I’ve known the longest because he saved me from Annabel Ellis at nursery.
‘The agreement was that you would walk straight home. I have been sitting here with Flo trying not to worry. The first day you’re allowed to . . .’
Mum went on and on but nothing went in. I stared at the evil grin on my nasty little sister’s face. She loves trouble, as long as she’s not in it.
Scowl away, Flo, I’m so not bothered.
When Mum finally stopped I said, ‘Sorry’, went up to my room and laid in my hammock.
What a great day! Nothing could take away the feeling, not even Mum’s telling off.
So she didn’t know what had come over me . . .
So I
Sass had said she was sorry. ‘No more teasing, we promise. Everyone is welcome in the alley.’
Copper Pie had shown his collection of toy guns and even let some of the girls have a go.
And Jonno had explained about Tribe and the initiation. They were all really interested, even though they’re at secondary school.
‘Being a Tribe sounds really wicked,’ said Sass. ‘Can I join?’
‘No, sorry,’ said Jonno.
‘Only joking,’ she said and gave him a sort of squeeze.
Jonno suddenly found something interesting to look at on the floor.
‘So where did you get the kooky idea to do cakes or war?’
We all did different versions of a shrug.
So Fifty spoke. ‘Well . . . Bee likes cooking and Copper Pie likes guns.’
‘I thought you were going to say something really clever,’ said Sass.
‘Like what?’ asked Bee.
‘Well, they say everything people do is because of love or fear. That’s like cakes or war, isn’t it? Love cakes. Fear war.’
I thought about that. It made sense. Tribe had made a good choice, even if it was accidental.
‘Time we were off,’ said Sass. ‘See you then, Tribers. And thanks for the cakes. Awesome.’
As Sass walked off with some of the others, Bee said, ‘I’m going to grow my hair that long.’
Girls!
Copper Pie put out his hand. I slapped mine on top. The noise made Sass turn round. She watched as Jonno and Bee and Fifty added theirs. We shouted, ‘One. Two. Three,’ and threw our
hands in the air.
‘Is that a Tribe thing?’ shouted Sass.
‘Yep,’ said Copper Pie.
‘Cool,’ she yelled.
‘Yeah, it is,’ we shouted back.
late home
Bee was full of it on the way home.
‘We freed the alley. All the kids can use it now. Yeah!’ She punched the air.
She said that the reason Tribe succeeds is because we believe in it. We’re still the same kids we were before but, because of Tribe, we’re powerful. It’s made us different.
‘So what shall we do next?’ she said. ‘Now that we’ve proved ourselves.’
‘Go home and have tea,’ said Copper Pie. ‘Initiations make you hungry.’
‘Not possible. You’re full of cake,’ she said. ‘Seriously, guys, what’s our next job?’
‘Bee, we can’t expect to change something every day,’ said Fifty.
‘Why not?’
‘Because we’d be too tired,’ he said and we all laughed.
‘What’s next,’ said Jonno, ‘is explaining to Miss Walsh that we got my birthday wrong.’
‘When is your birthday?’ asked Fifty.
‘October eleventh. We were only six months too early.’
‘Easy mistake to make,’ said Fifty.
At the end of the high street, Fifty and I went straight on and the others went left.
‘Bye,’ we all shouted.
The turn to Fifty’s house is before mine so I walked the last part on my own. I had lots to think about. I knew what Bee meant about being in Tribe. It was like wearing armour or being
given a lion’s heart. My mind wandered, like it does in dreams. I thought about a tribe in South America that Jonno told me about that doesn’t have a word for ‘worry’, so no
one worries. That would suit me. They don’t have words for numbers either, so Copper Pie would like it because there’s no counting. And I thought about how good it is now there are five
of us. And about how Copper Pie is the Triber I’ve known the longest because he saved me from Annabel Ellis at nursery.
‘The agreement was that you would walk straight home. I have been sitting here with Flo trying not to worry. The first day you’re allowed to . . .’
Mum went on and on but nothing went in. I stared at the evil grin on my nasty little sister’s face. She loves trouble, as long as she’s not in it.
Scowl away, Flo, I’m so not bothered.
When Mum finally stopped I said, ‘Sorry’, went up to my room and laid in my hammock.
What a great day! Nothing could take away the feeling, not even Mum’s telling off.
So she didn’t know what had come over me . . .
So I
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