Teacher's Dead (18 page)

She picked up the phone on her desk and pressed a button.

‘Mrs Franklin, can you bring Terry Stock and Alex Morris to my office, please.’

‘And the girls,’ I said. ‘Priti Shah and Lola Muir.’

Mrs Martel continued, ‘Mrs Franklin, could you also bring Priti Shah and Lola Muir?’

For a while we said nothing to each other. Mrs Martel sat down at her desk and began to look at some papers. I listened to the sound of pupils going to their lessons.

I wondered who would break the silence first. It wasn’t me.

‘Registration over, they shouldn’t be long now.’

‘It sounds like it,’ I replied.

There was another long silence, then she spoke again.

‘How’s your mother?’

‘She’s doing well.’

‘And have you seen Mrs Joseph lately?’

‘Yes. She’s fine. She’s really into chess.’

‘I didn’t know that,’ she said.

Just as she finished speaking there was a knock on the door.

‘Come in,’ said Mrs Martel.

Mrs Franklin opened the door just enough to put her head in and said, ‘The four pupils you wanted to see are here.’

She opened the door fully and Terry walked in followed by the others. They lined up with me in front of her desk but I stepped away from them and put myself in between them and Mrs Martel. Mrs Martel sat back in her seat and folded her arms.

‘Right. Why did you threaten and assault Jackson this morning?’

In perfect unison the two girls said, ‘I didn’t, miss.’

She started again. ‘OK, boys. Why did
you
threaten and assault Jackson this morning?’

‘Miss,’ said Terry. ‘You’re always picking on us; he’s not perfect you know. He keeps talking about us behind our backs.’

‘I’m not always picking on you,’ said Mrs Martel. ‘There’s four of you and there’s one of him. Now
answer my question. Why did you threaten him?’

‘We didn’t,’ said Alex.

‘You did,’ I said.

‘No we didn’t,’ he said again.

‘Yes you did.’

‘No we didn’t.’

Mrs Martel had had enough. ‘Yes you did, no we didn’t, yes you did, no we didn’t. You’re acting like primary-school kids. I want to know what happened.’

I decided it was time to make my move.

‘Actually, Mrs Martel, what they did to me is not that important. Why don’t you ask them about the cider?’

‘What cider?’ she asked.

‘Why don’t you ask them?’ I said, looking at them trying to hide their surprise at my question.

She turned to them. ‘Have any of you been drinking cider in school?’

They all said, ‘No.’

‘That’s right, miss,’ I said. ‘And I believe them, but ask them about the cider they used to get off Ramzi. Ask them about that.’

Alex and the girls held their heads down whilst Terry got more aggressive.

‘He doesn’t know what he’s on about, miss, he’s just jealous because everyone thinks he’s a nerd; he’s always making up stuff about people. He should get a life. Loser.’

Mrs Martel began to sound like she was getting angry. ‘Now stop that and tell me about the cider.’

‘I’ll tell you about the cider,’ I said to Mrs Martel. ‘Ramzi and Lionel were different, so they used to gang up and bully them all the time, and then they started taking things off them, money and food, and watches, and it just got worse and worse.’

‘He’s taking rubbish, miss,’ said Terry.

I turned to address them directly.

‘It got so bad that you started getting cider from Ramzi, you made him bring bottles of cider to you a couple of times a week, and I know where he got that cider from. Do you? Well, let me tell you. He got it from the old lady you were throwing things at yesterday, the same lady who was in court saying she was Ramzi’s mother. She longed for a son, so she struck up a friendship with Ramzi. Ramzi used to go and see her from time to time, but in the end she just used to buy cider for him, which you would take from him. Everyone knew that Ramzi and Lionel were weird, but you also knew they were weak, so you picked on them and made them serve you, and if I was weak you’d do the same to me.’

‘He’s talking crap, miss, he’s losing it,’ said Terry.

Then Alex put his foot right in it.

‘They used to like bringing us stuff.’

‘So,’ said Mrs Martel. ‘You admit that they used to bring you things?’

‘I said stuff, not drink,’ said Alex, trying to cover himself.

Now Terry was getting angry with Alex.

‘Why don’t you keep your big mouth shut? I told you to let me do all the talking.’

‘You’re not doing a very good job,’ said Alex.

‘Better than you, you stupid dunce,’ Terry said, clenching his fist.

Lola’s head shot up. ‘Don’t call him a dunce, you, who do you think you are?’

‘Forget it, Lola,’ said Priti.

‘I won’t.’

Their unity began to fall apart right in front of us.

‘So,’ said Mrs Martel. ‘You were making Ramzi and Lionel get cider for you?’

‘I’m not saying anything,’ said Terry.

‘Is anyone else saying anything?’ asked Mrs Martel.

They all stayed silent. I walked to the door so their backs were to me. I signalled to Mrs Martel that she should meet me outside. She got the message.

‘Wait one moment, I’ll be right back,’ she said.

On the other side of the door we whispered quickly. She started.

‘What’s going on here, Jackson?’

‘Miss, they were really bullying Ramzi and Lionel, and that bullying was much worse than anything I’m getting. On the day of the stabbing something happened that I don’t quite understand yet, but I am
pretty sure that Ramzi and Lionel didn’t bring a knife to school, and I know that one of them lot did.’

‘Why do you think this?’ she said, in a deadly quiet voice.

‘Lionel’s mum said she’s never known him to take a knife to school and there definitely wasn’t one missing from their house on that day. And Ramzi was stopped and searched by the police on the way to school; if he had a knife on him as big as the one that killed Mr Joseph it would have been spotted. And guess what? Martina Telford saw Terry and them with a knife on the day of the stabbing and when they saw me talking to her they began to get worried. That’s why they started on me again this morning. They knew I was working on the case and they didn’t want Martina Telford telling me what she saw.’

For the first time ever I saw Mrs Martel looking confused, and she was looking towards me for advice.

‘I don’t know what to think, and why are you so interested in this “case” as you call it.’

‘Do you remember when I said I was having a kind of therapy? I said.

‘Yes.’

‘Well, this is my therapy.’

‘So that’s what you meant when you said you were having therapy that was individually tailored to you. Tell me more.’

‘It’s simple really. After seeing the stabbing I did
need therapy, but I didn’t need to talk to a counsellor, I needed to understand what happened and why it happened, and I’m getting there – I think.’

She raised her eyebrows. ‘I understand. So what shall I do now?’

‘You have to trust me, Mrs Martel. I don’t know exactly what happened the morning Mr Joseph was killed but there’s more to it than we think. I’m getting very close to the truth, and I just know Terry Stock and his gang had something to do with it. Call the police, that’s what you should do.’

Mrs Martel’s voice got louder.

‘I can’t call the police. What do we say to them?

‘Shh. I know they’re going to crack, so it would be best if when they cracked the police were here. We could get them on underage drinking, we could get them on bullying, or if it helps I’d like to press charges on them for assault. But I know there’s more.’

‘No,’ she said. ‘I can’t do it. I can’t just call the police, we don’t have a good enough reason.’

‘You do, miss. They bullied me before and received a warning. They bullied me and hit me this morning. I want to charge them with assault. And that assault took place on these premises. I’m the victim here, are you going to support me?’

‘You are the victim, and I’ll support you, but are you sure you want to press charges, Jackson? Once the police are involved it’s out of my hands.’

‘I know,’ I said. ‘And I’m sure. I want to press charges.’

She walked off into Mrs Franklin’s office. I heard her say, ‘Call the police. Tell them to get here as quickly as they can.’ She came back and muttered, ‘I hope you’re right, Jackson, but then again in some ways I don’t.’

As we walked in the room we could see that we had interrupted a heated conversation.

‘Right,’ said Mrs Martel. ‘I need to know about the cider. You were obviously forcing Ramzi and his friend to give you cider. Now tell me how often.’

They stayed silent.

She continued trying to get something from them.

‘OK. How did it start? What did you do with all this cider? Did you pass it on to someone else? Did you sell it? Did you drink it? Come on now, have you suddenly lost your tongues?’

I looked at their faces. Alex was worried, Terry was looked grim and tense, Lola looked confused, and Priti was trying hard to hold back the tears. The moment she failed and I saw her wiping tears from her cheeks I knew I was winning.

Mrs Martel went over to look out of her window and said, ‘Now I want to ask you all something, and I want you to think about the answer very carefully. On April the twenty-forth this year, why did you bring a knife into school?

Now Terry really shouted.

‘Who said we brought a knife into school?’ He pointed to me. ‘Was it him? You’re so dead, you are, you know that, don’t you? You’re dead.’

Priti started to cry aloud.

‘And what are you crying for?’ Terry shouted.

‘Leave her alone,’ said Alex.

Terry leaned over towards Alex and snarled, ‘I told you to keep it shut. Why can’t any of you lot listen to me?’

‘Come on now,’ said Mrs Martel. ‘Tell me why you brought a knife to school, which one of you got the knife, and what happened to that knife.’

Then Alex cracked.

‘Tell her, Terry, just tell her will you? I can’t take it any more, she’s gonna find out, just tell her and get it over with.’

Terry rocked forward and hit Alex with a punch that looked as if it went halfway round the room. Alex went down.

‘How dare you!’ screamed Mrs Martel.

‘How dare I?’ shouted Terry. He then proceeded to run around the room, kicking the furniture and throwing papers in the air. He went crazy, shouting like a boy possessed as he went on his rampage. ‘How dare I? How dare I? I do what I want, no one tells me what to do, that’s how dare I.’

The two girls ran into a corner, a lampshade just
missed Mrs Martel, who dived to the ground, Terry came and swung one of his wild punches at me but that missed and I dived to the ground.

Mrs Martel shouted, ‘You’ll not get away with this, the police are on their way.’

And as soon as he heard that he ran out of the door, knocking over Mrs Franklin, who had come to see what the noise was about. I ran after him. Through the corridors and out into the playground we went. Then I wondered what would happen if he stopped running. I couldn’t fight him, but he outran me anyway. He went out of the school grounds and disappeared into the streets.

Alex, Priti and Lola were taken to the police station for questioning and Terry was easily caught by the police as he was trying to break into his own house. It didn’t take long for all four of them to break down and speak up.

It was a tough case and it took me some time, but I got there in the end. Now let me break it down for you.

The day before the stabbing Terry and his gang ordered Ramzi and Lionel to bring them some cider but they were tired of it all and said no. Terry then told them that if they didn’t bring the alcohol they would get beaten up even worse than before, but they still said no.

The next morning Terry brought a large knife to school in his bag; he was showing it off outside near a local newsagent’s when Martina Telford saw them. All day they had been asking Ramzi and Lionel where the cider was but Ramzi and Lionel told them they hadn’t brought any. Terry threatened to stab Ramzi and Lionel when classes were over. Terry’s gang surrounded Ramzi and Lionel in an empty classroom and began to push them around. They were both slapped around their heads a couple of times then Terry pulled the knife. Alex, Lola and Priti ran away,
which meant that Terry was outnumbered. The tables were turned and now Ramzi and Lionel managed to get the better of Terry and overpower him. Lionel now had the knife. This was where Lionel really went wrong. Instead of throwing the knife away or telling a teacher, he kept the knife to protect him and Ramzi just in case the gang came back, and they walked out to the playground. But the gang got back together and told Mr Joseph that they had just been threatened by Ramzi and Lionel. All Mr Joseph did when he caught up with them was touch Lionel on his shoulder, but Lionel was in such a state that he thought it was Terry and turned and stabbed him.

After all the abuse and hardship they had been through Ramzi and Lionel didn’t really care that they had stabbed the wrong person. For them, in their state of mind, there was no wrong person. Things had got so bad that they wanted to be locked away, it would relieve them of the terrible lives they were living, so when the police suggested a sequence of events they didn’t challenge them, they agreed with them. It all looked so straightforward, even for those of us who saw Mr Joseph go down.

I have learnt that you can see something happen right in front of you but still you are only seeing part of the picture. Nothing is as it seems. Seeing is not believing. Sometimes as well as seeing you have to feel, touch, experience, and use your intelligence, and
even then you should still question. When I see people smiling now I don’t presume they are happy. Ramzi and Lionel’s lives were so different from each other’s, but from everything I found out they were never happy. Can you imagine living for fifteen years unable to record any happiness in your life? They were constantly being called evil, but no one is born evil.

Terry Stock’s gang were charged with underage drinking, perverting the course of justice, common assault, damaging property and possessing a dangerous weapon. The girls were both put on probation and Alex was given probation and twelve months’ community service, and Terry got twelve months in youth custody to be followed by twelve months’ probation. On the basis of the evidence I’d uncovered, Lionel and Ramzi were advised that they may be able to appeal against their convictions and hope to get reduced sentences at a retrial.