Some winter fun! Enjoy as the action heats up! Thank you for reading! I have been talking to a publisher and a possible illustrator. This story is going places!
Six:
It started right away. “Plunk!” He had barely left his house when the snowball hit him dead in the face. He was stinging hot with pain. He tried to quickly clear the snow from his eyes so he could see the attacker. “Whack!” Another one smacked him in the left ear. Sammy dropped to the ground dizzily. That one really hurt. He could feel tears welling up in his eyes. As he bent on his knee trying to regain his composure, he was blasted with a half dozen more snowballs. He could hear the evil snickering of the boys all around him. He quickly lifted his book bag to protect his face and peered out from the side to see what he was up against. Jimmy Babcock was hiding behind the car directly across the street and he was prepared for war. He had a big grin on his freckled face and a dozen more snowballs already rolled up on the trunk of the car. Jimmy was short and scrappy for a boy of fourteen and had the biggest mouth in the neighborhood. He could fight like a dog, but did most of his intimidating with his words, which were always awful. “Don’t try to run now Nichols! There’s nobody here to protect you, unless you are gonna run back to your mommy!” Jimmy shouted, much to the amusement of the rest of the gang. To the right was Charlie Grossman, hiding behind Mrs. Mendola’s tree. Charlie was Jimmy’s main sidekick, another Valley kid who barely went to school and did whatever Jimmy told him to do. Charlie was taller than Jimmy and far better looking, but he hadn’t nearly the vocal bravado. Charlie wasn’t to be messed with though; he once knocked Jimmy out with one punch. That feat alone had earned him the reputation of being “baddest” in the neighborhood, though he now played second fiddle to Jimmy. Jimmy, being of reasonable intelligence, quickly scooped Charlie into his gang shortly after that infamous day, for it was always better to make an ally of a boy like him instead of an enemy. The car next to Jimmy’s was manned by the Zazchec boys, Brad and Billy, but they were standing in the middle of the street instead of behind it. Brad was a big, overweight, goon of a fifteen year old, with rosy red cheeks and a big pink belly that usually hung out of his clothes. His brother Billy was a skinny little ten year old with blonde hair and blue eyes that ran with the crew on account of Brad’s say so. He was more of a tag along than anything, there for his brother’s amusement. All four were armed with a mountain of pre-made snowballs, which they were viciously firing at Sammy. Sammy took a deep breath and thought quickly about how he was going to try to avoid the inevitable. There was no talking to these boys and backing them down. They were always out for blood. The odds were terribly stacked against him.
He kept his book bag up to keep the blistering balls from hitting him in the face again, but he was virtually surrounded without a good escape route on the street. He had a feeling if they caught him, he would be in for a severe beating since he had been saved from the gang a few nights ago by a passing car. They closed in a bit and threw harder. He had to do something fast or he was going to be in for it. He decided his best chance of escape would be to make a dash between the Zazchec boys. He knew he was faster than Brad and he figured he could just push little Billy to the side if was able to keep up with him. It was time to act. He sped down the sidewalk and into the street straight for the gap between the boys. The snowballs were whizzing crazily about his whole body and Jimmy Babcock was screaming hysterically to the boys to “catch him! Or else!” As he got closer to the boys he made a move like he was going to run straight into big Brad’s arms. Brad was smiling and drooling as if he was being handed a big greasy steak. He perched down and got ready to capture the fleeing fugitive. Charlie Grossman had left his position behind the tree and was in hot pursuit. He had almost caught up to Sammy. He was within arms length of grabbing Sammy’s book bag and had every intention of dragging him down by it. Sammy was running into his own doomsday for a few more strides and he would certainly be pummeled by the angry gang!
“Splat!” The sound of the collision was horrible. It was an awful, bone crunching sound and there were sure to be a few teeth missing, and possibly some broken bones! But, alas! It was not the sound of Sammy, but rather the sound of Charlie Grossman colliding with Brad Zazchec! In a split decision of sheer genius, Sammy had dropped to the ice covered street and slid between Brad’s legs in a super man like maneuver leaving the two boys to their own fate! He was now running full bore down St. Stephens Place far from the Babcock gang! There was no way they would catch him now. He sped to the corner of the street and straight into the school bus that had pulled up in the nick of time. He was barely able to catch his breath as he took his seat in the middle of the bus. The bus aide commented, “I ain’t never seen a boy so excited to go to school in my whole life! You got a hot date today or somethin’?” Sammy grinned and leaned back into the cold vinyl seat.
Charlie Grossman was the first to rise from the wreckage of human bodies and his face was a mess. He was bleeding from his nose and had a big cut running across his forehead. He staggered and breathed heavily as he tried to stand up straight. Brad Zazchec lie on the ground in silence, eyes closed, like a dead man in his tomb. Jimmy and Billy had dropped to his side to see if he was indeed dead. Billy cried, “You stupid, stupid, stupid Grossman! You killed him! You killed my big brother! I hate you! I am gonna kill you now!!!” Billy grabbed Grossman by the leg and began punching him with all his might, which was barely phasing Charlie at all. “You idiots! He ain’t dead,” said Jimmy Babcock tending to the fallen giant. “Looky here, he’s breathing. He’s just out cold. Charlie Grossman knocked him out cold! Ha ha!” “You would know!” Billy chimed in. Charlie chuckled a bit. “Mind your tongue Billy Zazchec or you will be next!” Jimmy scolded. “Damn that Sammy Nichols! He’s really gonna pay for this!”
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