Home Defenses Breached

Tags

books, crime, vigilantes

Part 2: Home Defences Breached

Seventeen year old Jacob Beech was certainly feeling the effects of the weed as he swayed back and forth to his front door. Maybe that was why the van parked on the road near his home looked unfamiliar. After a short fumble, he took his keys out of his pocket and let himself into his council house. However, when he tried to close the front door, it immediately stopped and swung back open. A group of people stood in the doorway. All Jacob could think was, “I thought I hadn’t seen that van around here before.”

The first of the bodies bulldozed his way past. making room for the others to start pouring in to his house. Before he could register what was going on, two more bodies pinned Jacob up against the wall, allowing the remainder of the group to rush in. A female voice suddenly called out, “Jacob, is that you making all that noise? You better pack that in or so help me!”

After receiving no reply to her question, Jacob’s mother, Angie Beech, stood up. As she did, two shadowy figures burst into the living room and were quickly upon her. Her scream was shortened by a quick slap to her face, which put her down onto her bottom while the second figure stomped out the cigarette which had from her hand. Before she could react further, she was grabbed under her armpits and hoisted back up to her feet. Angie’s struggles quickly proved useless and she watched the remaining invaders swarm into the living room, three of which forcibly brought Jacob in with them.

Mother and son were now forced to watch as one of the invaders produced a steel bar and brought it crashing down on the digital television. After three successful swings, the expensive television shattered into what a million pieces. He turned and inwardly struggled to contain his glee when he was the terrified faces of the two hostages. While this was going on, another intruder snatched up Angie’s mobile phone from off the coffee table while Jacob was quickly searched and his mobile was discovered and taken. The two mobile phones looked as if they had all the latest technology on them and were hurled mercilessly onto the floor. When one didn’t break and the other only breaking in half, several of the invaders joined in the game of mobile phone stomping until both phones were in similar condition to the television set.

The one holding the steel bar looked around for more things to smash up. Seeing two shelves on a nearby wall holding an array of small ornaments and family photos, the armed figure went over and with one mighty downward stroke, split both shelves in two, sending everything on them crashing to the floor. What didn’t shatter upon initial impact, did so after a few stomps from heavy boots. Angie and Jacob could only gasp in horror.

As quickly as they had entered, the hooded home invaders began exiting the house. As the thugs made their departure, one paused and produced a piece of A4 sized paper. He handed it to Angie. While she read the message in large black print, “Now you know what it’s like to have your home broken into,” the remaining invaders made their escape.

Jacob managed to come down from the effects of the weed enough to rush out the door in an attempt to see any of the home invaders or that mysterious van. Unfortunately, the van was already gone and all he could make out was the last couple of invaders disappearing at the end of his close.

The van, now moving very slowly on a road adjacent to the close where it had launched the raid, paused until the last of its passengers had slipped inside. It drove out of the estate and went a further half mile down the road. When the driver and passengers were fully confident they were away from any witnesses or CCTV cameras, the van pulled over. One hooded figure swiftly jumped out and removed the pieces of cardboard which hid the van’s registration number before just as swiftly getting back in. It was only when the van was back on the road did those inside breathe a collective sigh of relief and began removing their hoodies.

No one spoke as the van drove through the streets of Hull that night. They made two stops to let out some of their passengers, who quickly disappeared into the night. On the third stop, four men got out and walked to a nearby car park. They immediately found their car and got in before driving off into the night. It took fifteen minutes for the driver to navigate his way out of the unfamiliar streets of the city. When they were clear of the city, the silence was finally broken.

“You couldn’t have planned that any better,” Gurpreet congratulated a rather pleased looking Phil Baker.

“Aw, come on,” Phil said trying to sound humble. “It was a team effort.”

Looking over to his friend sitting in the passenger seat, Christian added, “True, but your plan worked perfectly and I really enjoyed smashing up those smug white trash people’s television.”

Not wanting to ruin a great night and a job well done, Phil inwardly agreed to accept his friends’ compliments. Besides, the raid was a bigger success than even he would let himself imagine. Therefore, he and his friends basked in the feeling of victory which engulfed the car all the way back to London. Phil was especially exuberant and he believed he had masterminded the perfect revenge plan.

Socio-Economic Factors of Bullying in Literature: He Was Weird

Tags

books, bullying, He Was Weird, school shootings, social settings, We Need to Talk About Kevin

Now it’s time to assess my own contribution to socio-economic factors in bullying via my book, “He Was Weird.” Like the other books I’ve reviewed in this series, “He Was Weird” is about a boy who gets bullied so badly, that he feels that there is no other alternative than to pick up a gun and shoot up his school. Something which he does very well because although it wasn’t my goal when I began writing, protagonist Mark Leversee, racks up the highest body count of all the books. His choice of weapons did play a big part in that though.

In the story itself, Mark moves to the town of Ramsgate, New Jersey and is immediately bullied almost from day one on account of his perceived ‘weirdness.’ Like in so many instances of bullying throughout the world, the school doesn’t take the bullying seriously. After all, Mark is seen as a low achiever, lazy and not good at sports and teachers seem to believe the accounts of the bullies who are none of those things. However, even some of the school’s known trouble makers bully Mark without any apparent impunity. Why is this?

Ramsgate is a middle to upper middle class community. Like so many of these places, the jocks get treated like molly-coddled Gods so any bullying by them is largely ignored and the victim is blamed. Even the known trouble makers can get away with it because their parents are wealthy enough to make the problem go away by writing a check. Likewise, as in many small towns where everyone knows everyone, one of Mark’s bullies is the nephew of the chief of police. More reason why the police don’t do much when incidents concerning the victimization of Mark are reported to them. After all, it’s on account of this social setting why the adult who indecently assaults Mark in gym class one day, basically gets off with a slap on the wrist and Mark is targeted with reprisals from the jocks.

One part of “He Was Weird” which is different from the other books, although there is a tiny mention of it in “We Need to Talk About Kevin,” is what happens after the shooting. Owing to the economic make up of Ramsgate, many of the victims’ parents have access to lawyers who hornswaddle them into suing the school, the other parents, the police and others. The man who inadvertently gives Mark his access to guns is sued by just about everyone of the victims. It helps that a lot of lawyers live in the town.

Once again, we see how privilege for being rich or athletic can have an adverse effect on someone who is not one of those things and is bullied for it. No matter how rich, smart or athletic one is, it doesn’t give them permission to bully those they feel are undesirable because the result of bullying can be catastrophic.

Next post: Socio- Economic Factors in My Own Bullying

To buy He Was Weird, go to: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Was-Weird-Publisher-Generation-Publishing/dp/B00SLVHRFG/ref=sr_1_1?crid=36I8I1G32U0R4&dchild=1&keywords=he+was+weird&qid=1606251816&s=books&sprefix=he+was+%2Cstripbooks%2C148&sr=1-1

Song Lyrics Quote: Vaughn- Bad Water

Tags

Danny Vaughn, music, song lyrics

You will hide your face for he love of bad water,

You will turn your back on everyone.

You’ll deny your faith for the love of bad water,

You will feel how deep that water runs.

Sharing My Writing

Tags

books, crime

I thought I’d share the next segment of the book I am currently writing. The book will be called, “The V-Network” and this segment is from the chapter, “First Strikes.”

Part 1: No Proof Needed

At this time in the afternoon, the bus usually stopped a little longer to let in the influx of children from nearby Manor Park School, who were going home for the day. Like every other day, the most popular venue was the top level of the red double decker bus. It was here where two large groups splintered off and sat in their groups at opposite ends of the bus, while a few stragglers found empty seats where they could. If any of them noted the fifteen or so hooded figures sitting around the bus in different places, none of them said anything.

Two uneventful stops gave the impression that it was going to be another mundane bus ride home. However, around thirty seconds after the bus was on its way again, a boy from the large group of teens near the front of the bus sauntered up to the very front and had a quick scan to see if anyone was watching. Thinking no one was paying attention to him, he stuck a piece of paper over what was the bus’s camera. Once that was done, the forward group got up and suddenly surrounded a vulnerable looking boy with large black glasses and a hamster like face, sitting on his own. Without warning, the entire group rained slaps upon the boy’s head in between taunts of “Take that, weirdo!” When the victim attempted to slide down in his seat for protection, he was pulled up by his coat and the group continued their assault.

Meanwhile, the rearward group of teens surrounded a young girl who didn’t look as vulnerable. She had straight, auburn hair which slid down to the middle of her back and seemed to highlight her pale blue eyes. They in turn seemed to augment her slender body which gave the impression that she could be a model.

“Hey you bitch, you think you’re so much better than me!” shouted a short, stocky girl with short black hair that would have curled if allowed to grow. Before, the seated young lady had any chance to respond, the aggressor swung her arm and landed a back hand across her target’s face. Again, before the girl had any chance to respond, two boys from the group grabbed her arms. Now helpless, the aggressive female continued her slaps, joined by a second girl who aimed her slaps at the top of her target’s head. With their victim powerless, the two girls continued their onslaught to the laughter of the boys holding her arms.

Both groups continued their beat downs until a boy from the forward group spied a hooded figure removing the piece of paper used to cover the camera lens. “He’s taken the sticker off!” the boy shouted raising the alarm.

The forward gang immediately stopped their assault. “You better put that back or we’ll give you a hiding,” warned the tallest and toughest looking boy in the group. While he was talking, two of his friends suddenly fell forward into him. As he turned around, the two friends were grabbed back and four hooded figures were punching and kicking them. Before the tall boy could help his friends, he was sent flying forward by a well placed kick to the middle of his back. As he tried to recover, he was pulled up by his collar and received a fistful of brass knuckles across his cheekbone. Bewildered by what was going on, the two remaining members of the group, one a girl, both received brass knuckle sandwiches before they could react.

Someone from the aft group spotted what was going on at the front of the bus and shouted out, “Oh my God!” Whereupon the rest of the group, including the two girls, stopped their assault on the young girl to see what was happening. Suddenly, seven more hooded figures surrounded them and brass knuckled fists found their marks on the assailants. The speaking girl was punched several times while the boy holding the victim’s arms, closest to the window was grabbed by two pairs of strong hands and his head smashed against the bus window. Seven hooded figures now rained punches and kicks and in the case of the non-speaking girl, she was grabbed by the hair and her face smashed into the seat. The attack continuing for several minutes before the hooded gang made sure no one was able to get up.

“You need to get off the bus,” was whispered to both of the original intended victims.

“But this isn’t my stop,” the boy victim whined to his saviours.

The female victim also indicated she had five more stops to go but the hooded group was having none of it. A reassuring voice whispered to her, “Don’t worry, we have that sorted.”

At the next stop, the vigilantes took the two youngsters they had rescued and escorted them off the bus. None of the beaten teens dared to do anything to hinder the departure. However, as the last hooded figure made their way to the steps to go down, one brave boy from the beaten hoodlums shouted, “I’m calling the police on you!”

Before the last hooded figure turned to deplane the bus, they responded with a voice which was obviously disguised through a voice distorter, “Go ahead. Now, you’ll think again before you attack any innocent victims on the bus.”

After the bus had departed for its next stop, the hooded group did everything possible to reassure the bewildered teens they had just rescued that all would be well. “They won’t ever bother you again, if they try, we’ll be back,” one of the group promised. Meanwhile, a taxi suddenly appeared from nowhere and stopped and one rescuer indicated, “Here’s the taxi, I called.” Both children were ushered into it and one of the hooded figures handed the driver a twenty pound note with the instruction that he take both children home.

The hooded group watched the taxi drive off and then, without any congratulatory ceremony, splintered off in different directions. In less than a minute, it seemed as if the vigilantes had never been there.

Marcel Richards, known as Denzil Washington to the group because he liked “The Equalizer” movies, had walked half a mile before he was confident that he was on his own. Trying to be as discreet as possible, he scanned the surrounding area looking for surveillance cameras. Seeing none, he continued up the main road before turning into a narrow side road some one hundred feet further. Walking a little ways down that road and positive no one was looking, he removed the hoodie which had concealed his true identity. Tucking it under his arm, he reversed direction and headed back to the main road, all the while, feeling a great sense of justice and satisfaction. He had helped in dispensing justice that had been previously denied. While he walked to the remaining distance which would take him back to the train station to go back to Birmingham, Marcel could only hope that the same type of justice would be meted out in his case.

Socio-Economic Factors of Bullying in Literature: Rupture

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books, bullying, Great Britain, Rupture, Simon Lelic, social settings

“Rupture” by Simon Lelic is different from the other books I have covered in the series of Socio-Economic factors in bullying for several reasons:

1. The story takes place in Great Britain and not the US.
2. The target of the bullying is a teacher as opposed to a student and the teacher gets bullied by both students and a fellow teacher.
3. The school is in a low income part of London and not a middle or even upper middle class high school.
4. The story is told from the point of view of the investigating police officer.
5. The chief bullying student is a known trouble maker and not one of the ‘popular jocks.’

In spite of this, we have a few glaring similarities:

1. Someone is bullied to the point where they snap and go into the school with a gun and carry out the unthinkable.
2. School authorities know the bullying is going on a do nothing about it.

My obvious conclusion here is that bullying is not limited to wealth, status or even athletic ability. Anyone can bully or be bullied and that includes adults as well as children. Likewise, any target of bullying is capable of snapping and doing something horrific in response. Furthermore, it doesn’t matter how rich or poor the school is, if bullying is allowed to happen at a school, then it’s a serious matter and must be stopped.

What I liked about “Rupture” is that it debunked the myth that school shootings in the UK were impossible because it is so difficult to get access to guns. Well, Samuel Szajikowski proved that it is possible. Furthermore, there was a contemplated school shooting in the UK, a couple of years back, fortunately, it didn’t happen.

https://peacefulrampage.wordpress.com/2017/09/11/attention-uk-it-could-now-happen-in-your-country/

Next post: He Was Weird

To buy He Was Weird, go to: ttps://www.amazon.co.uk/Was-Weird-Publisher-Generation-Publishing/dp/B00SLVHRFG/ref=sr_1_1?crid=36I8I1G32U0R4&dchild=1&keywords=he+was+weird&qid=1605525174&s=books&sprefix=he+was+%2Cstripbooks%2C148&sr=1-1

Song Lyrics Quote: Blackfoot- Morning Dew

I thought I saw a flash in the sky this morning,

I thought I saw a flash in the sky today

The earth is trembling and the sky is no longer blue

And there is no more morning dew, today.

In memory of former Blackfoot and Uriah Heep keyboardist, Ken Hensley, who sadly passed away last week.

A Week of Anxiety Over

Tags

Americans, anxiety, Donald Trump, Great Britain, Joe Biden, Politics, social media

Even though I have been living in the United Kingdom for the past 34 years, I am still American born and bred. Once upon a time, I had to point this out to one American who admonished me for ‘chiming in from the UK when I didn’t vote in the US,’ after making a comment on an internet feed about Obama. That’s not my point today, although my comment did get a good number of ‘Raves.’ What I want to talk about now is the that this week, not only I, but all of America had with anxiety over the presidential elections and more importantly, some of the myths generated by the media.

Following the close election result, some of the UK, right wing tabloids have been wetting their pants with glee because Joe Biden’s victory wasn’t the landslide some on the left were predicting. I never thought it would be. Sad to say that my country has become so polarized, I didn’t dare to predict any election result. True, many Americans despised Donald Trump but a lot didn’t. Therefore, I always thought the election was going to be close and it was. However, it did result in nearly four days of anxiously waiting to hear what the final result would be. Personally, I think this would not have happened if we disposed of the outdated Electoral College but that’s just my opinion. FTR, my views on the college wouldn’t change despite who won.

Some contributors to these right wing media sources are now saying that the US is heading for a second civil war. God, I hope not, as many Americans died in the first Civil War as all of America’s other wars combined! Others say that Joe Biden is out to punish Britain for voting to leave the European Union four years ago. From what I understand, Biden just wants to make sure the terms of the Good Friday Agreement between Great Britain and Ireland is honoured. Anyway, we’ll have to wait and see. I’m just glad the whole election thing is over!

Some of you are wondering how I voted, probably most of you don’t give a damn. Yes, I voted for Biden. In 2016, I voted for Green Party candidate Jill Stein but she didn’t run this time and the Green candidate didn’t make any impact on me at all. At least this time, the Democrats didn’t make the ridiculous claim that voting Green was a vote for Trump.

This made me want to vote for Jill and not Hillary even more!

My anxieties on the election are over. Now I worry over a supposedly divided America. Can Joe heel the rift? I hope he can.

A Brief Ray of Joy

Tags

baseball, LA Dodgers, World Series

The LA Dodgers

I have decided to delay my intended post in the series of socio-economic factors in bullying in literature till next week. Reason is because while 2020 has been a total gloom-fest, last week I have one piece of good news which I found very uplifting. My favourite baseball team, the Los Angeles Dodgers, won the World Series!

This wasn’t the Dodgers’ first trip to the big game, (and I am not going to explain why it’s called the World Series when only American teams play in it, I have a previous post for that). Their first trip to the big series was three years ago and it was also their first time there since 1988. Unfortunately, they lost to the Houston Astros four games to three. They returned the following year but lost again. This time it was to the Boston Red Sox four games to one. Last year, they didn’t even make it to the World Series as they were beaten in the previous round, the National League Championship Series. But this year, they won it all, beating the Tampa Bay Devil Rays four games to two.

So, with all the gloom of Covid and England about to go into a second lockdown this week, I can delight in my baseball team winning the big one. In these times, one must look for any happiness coming their way just to preserve their mental health. Besides, I wouldn’t be a man if I didn’t let the performances of my sports teams dictate my moods.

This was when I went to see the Dodger s play against the Philadelphia Phillies last year.

Song Lyrics Quote: Semisonic- If I Run

I keep thinking it will be all right if I just get on the road

If I run I can free my worried mind

Keep thinking the day I die I’ll lose my heavy load

But I wouldn’t want to leave you behind.