it. We all know it was about revenge.’
Tyler Bennett was a tough, cocky kid from a highly dysfunctional family on a notorious estate, an unpleasant thug who, when at school which wasn’t often, had done his best to disrupt lessons, goad and humiliate teachers and ridicule those who wanted to learn. Everyone was nervous of him; there was never any knowing who he’d turn on next, no way of guessing what sort of punishment he was planning for a victim who had no idea they’d even committed an offence.
The last person anyone had expected him to turn on was Mr Leonard, the art teacher. Everyone liked Mr Leonard; his lessons were fun even for those who weren’t much into the subject. He had the ability to make trips around galleries and museums interesting, and if some of the girls had a crush on him, which invariably happened, he always pretended not to notice. The same went for the boys, though Blake couldn’t remember suspecting any of them of being gay, only of some misplaced hero-worship.
Though Tyler Bennett would never have admitted it, he was one of those boys. He didn’t tend to act up in Blake’s class in the aggressive way he did in others, although he was often loud and argumentative, or did his best to put down the more talentedstudents. But he was rarely difficult with Mr Leonard himself. It was only when Blake had one day shouted across the art room, ‘Tyler, leave it alone if you can’t get it to stand up,’ that the trouble had begun. In spite of the students knowing he’d been responding to Tyler’s noisy and fruitless efforts to erect an easel the entire class, with the exception of Tyler, had exploded into laughter.
Tyler Bennett can’t get it up appeared scrawled on the art-room blackboard the next morning. By the end of the day it had made its way on to just about every black- or whiteboard in the school.
Two weeks or more went by and there was no sign of Tyler. Calls to his home from the secretary’s office elicited no reply, and none of his regular gang was forthcoming about where he might be. Then out of the blue he was back, not for assembly or classes, but for a visit to the art room where Blake was still clearing up after school. He said he was looking for one of his mates, and Blake half expected a posse of them to come piling in behind him to teach him their own kind of lesson. Instead, Bennett closed the door, stayed for ten minutes or so chatting about Man United’s game the previous Saturday, and then left.
In spite of finding the visit odd, Blake hadn’t thought much more about it until the Head called him into his office the following day. Tyler Bennett was waiting with his mother and uncle and Blake sensed right away that this wasn’t going to be good. Apparently the boy had made some very grave allegations, and though the Head told Blake privately afterwards thathe wasn’t inclined to believe them, he was sorry, he had no choice but to suspend Blake while the matter was investigated.
So the police and social services came to interview Blake, as well as questioning other teachers and students, Jenny, his neighbours, and parents of other students, some of whom were, like Tyler, from the notorious Ordsall Estate. Exactly what the authorities were told Blake never found out, he only knew that in spite of no charges being brought it was no longer possible to go on teaching at that school, or living where they were. Tyler’s gang had already targeted their house several times with paint bombs, packs of dog poo, fireworks, and the kind of threats that Blake couldn’t afford to ignore. He knew, because everyone did, that Tyler had been involved in the beating of a man whose only crime was to ask the boy to pick up the litter he’d tossed into his garden. The man’s injuries had been extensive, and might have been even more serious had a neighbour and his Rottweiler not come to the rescue.
Then came the shock of discovering that many of their friends and neighbours seemed
Tyler Bennett was a tough, cocky kid from a highly dysfunctional family on a notorious estate, an unpleasant thug who, when at school which wasn’t often, had done his best to disrupt lessons, goad and humiliate teachers and ridicule those who wanted to learn. Everyone was nervous of him; there was never any knowing who he’d turn on next, no way of guessing what sort of punishment he was planning for a victim who had no idea they’d even committed an offence.
The last person anyone had expected him to turn on was Mr Leonard, the art teacher. Everyone liked Mr Leonard; his lessons were fun even for those who weren’t much into the subject. He had the ability to make trips around galleries and museums interesting, and if some of the girls had a crush on him, which invariably happened, he always pretended not to notice. The same went for the boys, though Blake couldn’t remember suspecting any of them of being gay, only of some misplaced hero-worship.
Though Tyler Bennett would never have admitted it, he was one of those boys. He didn’t tend to act up in Blake’s class in the aggressive way he did in others, although he was often loud and argumentative, or did his best to put down the more talentedstudents. But he was rarely difficult with Mr Leonard himself. It was only when Blake had one day shouted across the art room, ‘Tyler, leave it alone if you can’t get it to stand up,’ that the trouble had begun. In spite of the students knowing he’d been responding to Tyler’s noisy and fruitless efforts to erect an easel the entire class, with the exception of Tyler, had exploded into laughter.
Tyler Bennett can’t get it up appeared scrawled on the art-room blackboard the next morning. By the end of the day it had made its way on to just about every black- or whiteboard in the school.
Two weeks or more went by and there was no sign of Tyler. Calls to his home from the secretary’s office elicited no reply, and none of his regular gang was forthcoming about where he might be. Then out of the blue he was back, not for assembly or classes, but for a visit to the art room where Blake was still clearing up after school. He said he was looking for one of his mates, and Blake half expected a posse of them to come piling in behind him to teach him their own kind of lesson. Instead, Bennett closed the door, stayed for ten minutes or so chatting about Man United’s game the previous Saturday, and then left.
In spite of finding the visit odd, Blake hadn’t thought much more about it until the Head called him into his office the following day. Tyler Bennett was waiting with his mother and uncle and Blake sensed right away that this wasn’t going to be good. Apparently the boy had made some very grave allegations, and though the Head told Blake privately afterwards thathe wasn’t inclined to believe them, he was sorry, he had no choice but to suspend Blake while the matter was investigated.
So the police and social services came to interview Blake, as well as questioning other teachers and students, Jenny, his neighbours, and parents of other students, some of whom were, like Tyler, from the notorious Ordsall Estate. Exactly what the authorities were told Blake never found out, he only knew that in spite of no charges being brought it was no longer possible to go on teaching at that school, or living where they were. Tyler’s gang had already targeted their house several times with paint bombs, packs of dog poo, fireworks, and the kind of threats that Blake couldn’t afford to ignore. He knew, because everyone did, that Tyler had been involved in the beating of a man whose only crime was to ask the boy to pick up the litter he’d tossed into his garden. The man’s injuries had been extensive, and might have been even more serious had a neighbour and his Rottweiler not come to the rescue.
Then came the shock of discovering that many of their friends and neighbours seemed
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