Bully door Yvonne Coppard

_____________________________________________ (This part happens before the book) One day, the girl Kerry and her mother are driving in a car. Unfortunately, the car slips and a car accident occurs. One of Kerry’s legs gets stuck, so that afterwards, she’ll never be able to use it properly again. Kerry has to give up her dream of going to the Junior Olympics for gymnastics. Her parents decide it would be better to move, because it would be hard for Kerry to see all her friends in the gym hall doing everything Kerry couldn’t do anymore. _____________________________________________
At the new house, she lives near to a school. The only thing between it is a park. Every day Kerry walks home from school, the group of Billy Taggart, Wayne Shaw and Fats Witkins, who are in the fourth, is waiting for her. She gets bullied every day. She feels humiliated because she could gain at them if the accident wouldn’t have happened, and because from the place of bullying, she could see her house already. One day, they take her bag and start to play Malcolm in the Middle with it, with Kerry in the middle. The bag lands in the dogshit. At home her parents say she could take her old gymnastics bag, but Kerry furiously says: “A cripple with a gym bag? That’ll give them something to laugh about at school!”. After an emotional discussion, Kerry takes a plastic bag to school the next day. Her father will buy a new bag for her. That day, Miss Jones asks Kerry to stay seated after the lessons and talks to Kerry. She asks if she’s all right, and if she would like to participate in one of the out-of-school activities. Kerry doesn’t want to talk about her problems, and she especially hates the question ‘Are you allright, Kerry?’. When Miss Jones tells her it could be a good idea to coach the school gymnastics team, Kerry’s attention is drawn.. Miss Jones knows what Kerry used to be. Kerry says she will think about it. Miss Jones gives her a lift home. At home, she has a small conversation with her mother. When Kerry wants to watch television, June Richards, a girl from school, comes in. They have a short conversation, and June leaves later in the afternoon. When she goes upstairs, she gets out her old stuff from the time before the car accident. She grabs a newspaper which has an article in it with Kerry winning a Junior Championship. When she leaves through the pages, she finds an article about a man who had been put in prison. This man seems to be Billy Taggart’s father. Billy himself always says his father works at the oil rigs in Scotland. When Kerry goes to school the next day, she talks with Billy, who is shocked when he finds out what Kerry knows. He is forced to agree with Kerry, which means he’ll be Kerry’s bodyguard, if Kerry doesn’t tell his secret to anybody. Because Kerry isn’t being bullied anymore she gets happier and happier and gets friends with June. A long times things keep going on well. Suddenly, in a lesson, Susie is sitting next to June, where Kerry used to sit. Susie won’t go away, and June doesn’t grant her a look. After the lesson, Kerry talks to June about it, and June says the following: “Firstly, sou are keeping secrets from me. Best friends are not supposed to do that. But also – the way you treat Billy is horrible. You look at him as though he’s an insect, and you push him around. And he doesn’t fight back. I don’t know why he takes it. You’ve got power over him for some reason, and you’re (mis)using it. I… I don’t like to think a friend of mine could do that to someone.” Kerry wants to tell June about the bullying, but not in the classroom. June agrees to come to Kerry’s house in the evening with her little sister, because she has to watch her. In the hall, she finds Billy. Kerry asks him to take her bag, and Billy walks to Kerry’s home with Kerry. When they arrive, Billy tries to run away, but Kerry’s mother calls him back. Billy is forced to come inside, but as soon as Kerry’s mother leaves after she has given them cake, Billy break out in a jealous speech and leaves. That evening, June arrives. Kerry’s parents look after June’s sister while June and Kerry are upstairs. Kerry tells and shows everything about her past up to the accident. After a short pause, she also tells about Billy and his father. June understands it, but tells her to watch out for Wayne. When June’s sister comes in, June and her sister go home. That evening, when Kerry watches out of her window, she sees Wayne. He points to her and then runs away. That morning, Kerry looks if Wayne’s still there. He isn’t. She tells June about Wayne, and June tells her to tell somebody about it. But Kerry is too proud to do so. At school, Wayne and Billy both don’t seem to be at school. After school, June and Kerry see Wayne in front of Kerry’s house. He asks them how they are but doesn’t do anything more. Kerry gets scared and asks June to come around that evening. June agrees. That evening, Kerry’s father has got a message for Kerry: “Anyway, he says he’s sorry he couldn’t make it tonight, but he’ll be sure to see you tomorrow after school. Billy can’t come, whatever that might mean.” June says to Kerry she should tell her father about the bullying, but Kerry only gets sort of angry at June; How could she understand what she had been through all the time? It doesn’t really improve their conversation, and June leaves. Next morning at school, Wayne is there without Billy. She doesn’t really understand, and only gets more frightened of Wayne. Mrs Tyson, the gymnastics teacher, tells her she could use the gym to train. Then she could think about coaching the school team. She tries a few moves. Her leg doesn’t really help, but after a few tries, it goes well. Suddenly, Wayne comes in. Kerry still lies on the ground, and Wayne stands over her so she can’t stand up. He pulls her hairs and tells her to dance, but Kerry refuses. When Wayne hits her in the face, what lets her nose bleed, Mrs Tyson comes in. She asks what the blood comes from, and Kerry agrees with Wayne - because of fear - that she fell. Mrs Tyson tells them to leave and is disappointed in Kerry. When Kerry’s in the changing room, she looks in the mirror. She tells herself she’s not the Kerry she was. In anger, she hits the mirror with her shoe. The mirror didn’t fall apart. When she hits it with one of the baseball bats, the whole mirror falls apart, and Kerry runs away. In one of the school halls, she sees an open office with school documents. No-one’s inside, so she goes in and searches for Billy’s file. She finds out that Billy has left school for some reason. Because she fears Wayne will wait for her after school again, she leaves the school and takes the bus to Billy’s house. When Kerry finds Billy’s house, (which is very poor,) Billy opens the door, who is surprised to see her. Billy makes up that Kerry has found one of Billy’s books and she is coming to return it. When Kerry comes in and sees Billy’s mother, her first association is a skeleton. Billy takes her to the garden on the back, where they sit down on a bench. The garden is the only real beautiful part of the house. There, Billy tells the complete story. That his mother has cancer, and she’s on the border of life and death. Billy will have to move. He himself thinks it will probably be with his brother. And he tells about his father. He indeed is in jail, and his mother doesn’t want anyone to know. That was the only reason Billy had agreed with Kerry. He also tells why it was SHE he bullied. He hates wealthy people, because his life is so poor. Kerry finds that a stupid reason, and tells about Wayne. He advises her to stand up against Wayne, but he won’t come back. Kerry spends the rest of the day at the shops, to be home at the normal time. On her way, she sees June, and June asks her where she had been. Kerry tells her everything, also Billy’s story. An June tells here Mrs Jones has called to her parents because she found out Kerry wasn’t at school. And she tells the teachers think it was Wayne who smashed the mirror. Kerry gets confused, but is also very happy. When Kerry comes home, her mother is already waiting for her. She tells her everything about the visit to Billy, and about the mirror. After the speech, Kerry is told to go upstairs. When she does go, angrily, she sees Wayne outside in the park. Getting more upset then she already is, she runs outside, and sneaks after him while he lits a cigarette. Then, she suddenly grabs him, and bangs his head against the ground few times. The path is full of gravel and it only makes the wound in Wayne’s head worse. In the end, her father, who comes home from works, pulls Kerry away, and tells her to go home. He takes the furious Wayne to the hospital, while Kerry walks home, still enjoying this moment.