Excerpt from HOW TO HANDLE A BULLY
by Nancy Wilcox Richards
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I was surprised to see James, Aaron and Claire there when I arrived. It seemed like we all had the same idea. Everyone wanted that new bike. James was swinging across the monkey bars. Aaron was trying to do a few chin-ups. But I think he was finding it pretty hard. Claire was crawling as fast as she could through a big tube. Everything looked like so much fun.
“Hi, Rilla! You’re early,” came a voice from across the park.
I turned to see Nicholas and Lauren ride their bikes through the gate.
“Let’s get started!” shouted Nicholas. “Race you to the monkey bars!”
We were having a blast when Lauren nudged me. “Look over there,” she said. She pointed to some kids coming through the gate.
There were only three of them. But one was really big — and they all looked mean. And the bad thing was, they were heading our way.
I gulped. “Who are they?” I asked Lauren. But before she could answer, the big kid came right over to us. “We’re here to use the equipment,” he snarled. “So beat it.”
“W-w-what?” I stammered.
“You deaf or something? I said, me and the other River Rats are here to use this stuff.” He pointed to the equipment. Then he pointed at Aaron. “Hey, Oliver, check this out. That baby can’t even do a chin-up.”
I glanced over at Aaron. His face was red and he looked ready to cry. So now I knew one of the kids’ names — Oliver. And River Rats? What was that? A gang?
Lauren spoke first. Her voice sounded quivery. “We were just leaving.” She looked at the Bayfield kids. “Let’s go.”
From How to Handle a Bully. Copyright © 2010 Nancy Wilcox Richards. All rights reserved.
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