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Aug. 5th, 2017 03:44 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
fry_sandhu"I think maybe you would have a better day if you stop crying." Fry says, helpfully, as he sits on a log with his neighbour Archie, watching the moving van.
Archie is moving. For real this time. He's pretended to move a couple of times, so that he could change schools, the latest being Berry Hill Top where Joram goes. Berry Hill Top is very oversubscribed, so they prioritise the children who live closest. Joram had accidentally let slip one day that Archie didn't live where his parents said he did.
Things had gone downhill rapidly after that.
Archie and his siblings had made life very difficult for Joram. Archie had argued, in a moment of anger, that it was no less fair than Joram getting bumped up the waiting list for being a refugee. By the next day, Archie had come back and apologised to Joram, realising that Joram couldn't have understood the situation and that the comparison he made was unreasonable; but it was too late. Joram had told his uncle, who had gone ballistic.
"I don't want to leave our lovely house." Archie says now, tears running down his cheeks. "But someone's told the education authorities that we're in the habit of lying about our address, so if I want to get into a good secondary school next September we've got to move for real."
"Aren't there good schools here?" Fry asks.
"There are. That's why we moved here in the first place. But I'm going to be bottom of the waiting list now." Archie says. "Which means I'll probably end up at Farmeade."
Farmeade was the roughest, toughest council estate in Holby. It was well known for gangs and trouble.
"Maybe it won't be so bad." Fry says. "I know you're not mega popular at Berry Hill Top but you've not been beaten up since you went there."
"I wouldn't last five minutes at Farmeade." Archie says. "I'm a posh kid with a posh voice. Everyone will hate me there."
He wipes his eyes. Fry watches him. He feels slightly sorry for him. But not very, because Joram is his friend too, and he knows Joram didn't come out of this unscathed either. And because lots of people can't just move house to get themselves into a different school.
"Have you tried not being posh?" he asks. "It seems to cause you a lot of problems."
At that moment, Archie's parents call him to come and get in the car. Archie offers Fry a handshake. Fry, for once, accepts it.
"Can I write to you?" Archie asks.
"If you want." Fry says.
Archie turns to go, then hesitates.
"Take care of Joram. He's starting at your school next term."
Fry stares after him in surprise. Then he goes into the kitchen to ask Mum about that.
"Mum, is Joram going to my school next term?" he asks.
"Yes." Mum says, looking up from the cakes she's making. "His uncle said he was being bullied at Berry Hill Top. I didn't tell you in case Archie was involved. He would have gone to your school last year, but they didn't have a TA to help him learn English from scratch."
"How can he afford it?" Fry asks. "Being a refugee."
"Well his British uncle and aunt are both doctors, remember." Mum says. "If there was a war here and you had to flee the country, you'd be a refugee. It can happen to anyone." She looks at him seriously. "Fry, Joram may not want everyone to know he's a refugee. Remember, his family in Syria were killed. It might be too painful for him to answer lots of questions. You mustn't tell anyone in school about him being a refugee. If he wants to tell people, he can do so himself. Just be a good friend to him."
Fry nods seriously. Okay, all of that makes sense.
"Fry, come and see!" Coral yells, suddenly, from the front window upstairs. "The new neighbours are arriving!"
Fry runs up to the window. Brooke and Gil come and join them, and Fry lifts Gil up to sit on the windowsill.
"Do you think they'll be posh like the Beauchamps?" Coral asks. "It's a big house so they'll have to be quite well off."
"I hope not, posh is boring and YUKKY!" Brooke declares.
"Look, a noo!" Gil shouts, pointing.
"A noo? What's a noo?" Coral asks, as the moving men come out of the van with a long object.
"Canoe." Fry says.
The moving men bring another canoe out of the van.
"I don't see any people yet." Brooke says. "Except the moving men."
"You don't pack the people in the moving van." Fry says.
Just then, a jeep pulls into the long driveway next door. The four children watch as the family get out of the jeep.
"Look, they're a gay couple!" Coral says.
"No they aren't, that's a woman with short hair, silly." Brooke says.
"I agree it's a woman." Fry says.
The back car doors open and three children come out of the car. The first is a teenage boy, followed by another boy about Fry's age, and a girl who looks to be about six, between the ages of Coral and Brooke. The three children have an 'outdoorsy' look about them.
"Well they don't look like the Beauchamps." Fry decides, after a few minutes.
"Shall we go and say hello?" Coral asks.
"Why?" Fry asks. "We can see them from here."
"I think that's what we're supposed to do." Coral says. "And you have to take a cup of sugar."
"A cup of sugar?" Brooke asks. "What for?"
"I don't know. I think it's tradition." Coral says.
They troop downstairs and get a cup of sugar to take with them. Then they go to the little gap in the hedge in the front driveway, and go through. Gil insists on picking some dandelions as a bouquet on the way.
"BAAAANDITS!"
The boy about Fry's age leaps out at him as he goes through the hedge, brandishing a stick. Fry squeals, much to the boy's surprise, and Coral drops the sugar. Brooke giggles and picks up her own stick.
"Who dares trespass into our newly claimed kingdom?" the boy asks, grinning and circling the four Sandhus. "Hazel, have you unpacked the keys to the dungeon?"
"You haven't got a dungeon." Fry says. "I've been in your house lots of times."
"EN GARDE!" Hazel shouts, jumping out at Gil brandishing another stick. Gil drops his flowers.
"Wee-wee!" he squeaks, running back through the gap in the hedge and abandoning his siblings to the scary neighbours.
"We come in peace. With sugar." Coral says, offering the half empty cup.
"Oh all right then." the boy says, dipping his finger in the sugar and licking it. "I'm Rowan, that's Hazel, my older brother is Flint."
Fry introduces them. "And the littlest of us is Gil."
"Cool. So, have you built anything epic in those woods behind our houses?" Rowan asks. "What are the climbing trees like? Any good ones?"
"Oh no." Fry says. "There's a danger of falling down holes, so we don't go there."
"Oh." Rowan looks disappointed. "So what do you do?"
"I like the piano, and computer games, and maths." Fry says. "Coral likes playing with toys and gardening, and Brooke is on the under fives ice hockey team."
"Oh good, one of you isn't a softie then." Hazel says, grinning at Brooke.
Fry isn't convinced that he likes Rowan and Hazel very much. A part of him suddenly wishes Archie would come back. But another part of him doesn't. It's like as they've got older, he and Archie haven't got on as well.
As his sisters play with the new neighbours in the canoes, he excuses himself and goes back home. It's four o'clock so it's time for piano practice.
Archie is moving. For real this time. He's pretended to move a couple of times, so that he could change schools, the latest being Berry Hill Top where Joram goes. Berry Hill Top is very oversubscribed, so they prioritise the children who live closest. Joram had accidentally let slip one day that Archie didn't live where his parents said he did.
Things had gone downhill rapidly after that.
Archie and his siblings had made life very difficult for Joram. Archie had argued, in a moment of anger, that it was no less fair than Joram getting bumped up the waiting list for being a refugee. By the next day, Archie had come back and apologised to Joram, realising that Joram couldn't have understood the situation and that the comparison he made was unreasonable; but it was too late. Joram had told his uncle, who had gone ballistic.
"I don't want to leave our lovely house." Archie says now, tears running down his cheeks. "But someone's told the education authorities that we're in the habit of lying about our address, so if I want to get into a good secondary school next September we've got to move for real."
"Aren't there good schools here?" Fry asks.
"There are. That's why we moved here in the first place. But I'm going to be bottom of the waiting list now." Archie says. "Which means I'll probably end up at Farmeade."
Farmeade was the roughest, toughest council estate in Holby. It was well known for gangs and trouble.
"Maybe it won't be so bad." Fry says. "I know you're not mega popular at Berry Hill Top but you've not been beaten up since you went there."
"I wouldn't last five minutes at Farmeade." Archie says. "I'm a posh kid with a posh voice. Everyone will hate me there."
He wipes his eyes. Fry watches him. He feels slightly sorry for him. But not very, because Joram is his friend too, and he knows Joram didn't come out of this unscathed either. And because lots of people can't just move house to get themselves into a different school.
"Have you tried not being posh?" he asks. "It seems to cause you a lot of problems."
At that moment, Archie's parents call him to come and get in the car. Archie offers Fry a handshake. Fry, for once, accepts it.
"Can I write to you?" Archie asks.
"If you want." Fry says.
Archie turns to go, then hesitates.
"Take care of Joram. He's starting at your school next term."
Fry stares after him in surprise. Then he goes into the kitchen to ask Mum about that.
"Mum, is Joram going to my school next term?" he asks.
"Yes." Mum says, looking up from the cakes she's making. "His uncle said he was being bullied at Berry Hill Top. I didn't tell you in case Archie was involved. He would have gone to your school last year, but they didn't have a TA to help him learn English from scratch."
"How can he afford it?" Fry asks. "Being a refugee."
"Well his British uncle and aunt are both doctors, remember." Mum says. "If there was a war here and you had to flee the country, you'd be a refugee. It can happen to anyone." She looks at him seriously. "Fry, Joram may not want everyone to know he's a refugee. Remember, his family in Syria were killed. It might be too painful for him to answer lots of questions. You mustn't tell anyone in school about him being a refugee. If he wants to tell people, he can do so himself. Just be a good friend to him."
Fry nods seriously. Okay, all of that makes sense.
"Fry, come and see!" Coral yells, suddenly, from the front window upstairs. "The new neighbours are arriving!"
Fry runs up to the window. Brooke and Gil come and join them, and Fry lifts Gil up to sit on the windowsill.
"Do you think they'll be posh like the Beauchamps?" Coral asks. "It's a big house so they'll have to be quite well off."
"I hope not, posh is boring and YUKKY!" Brooke declares.
"Look, a noo!" Gil shouts, pointing.
"A noo? What's a noo?" Coral asks, as the moving men come out of the van with a long object.
"Canoe." Fry says.
The moving men bring another canoe out of the van.
"I don't see any people yet." Brooke says. "Except the moving men."
"You don't pack the people in the moving van." Fry says.
Just then, a jeep pulls into the long driveway next door. The four children watch as the family get out of the jeep.
"Look, they're a gay couple!" Coral says.
"No they aren't, that's a woman with short hair, silly." Brooke says.
"I agree it's a woman." Fry says.
The back car doors open and three children come out of the car. The first is a teenage boy, followed by another boy about Fry's age, and a girl who looks to be about six, between the ages of Coral and Brooke. The three children have an 'outdoorsy' look about them.
"Well they don't look like the Beauchamps." Fry decides, after a few minutes.
"Shall we go and say hello?" Coral asks.
"Why?" Fry asks. "We can see them from here."
"I think that's what we're supposed to do." Coral says. "And you have to take a cup of sugar."
"A cup of sugar?" Brooke asks. "What for?"
"I don't know. I think it's tradition." Coral says.
They troop downstairs and get a cup of sugar to take with them. Then they go to the little gap in the hedge in the front driveway, and go through. Gil insists on picking some dandelions as a bouquet on the way.
"BAAAANDITS!"
The boy about Fry's age leaps out at him as he goes through the hedge, brandishing a stick. Fry squeals, much to the boy's surprise, and Coral drops the sugar. Brooke giggles and picks up her own stick.
"Who dares trespass into our newly claimed kingdom?" the boy asks, grinning and circling the four Sandhus. "Hazel, have you unpacked the keys to the dungeon?"
"You haven't got a dungeon." Fry says. "I've been in your house lots of times."
"EN GARDE!" Hazel shouts, jumping out at Gil brandishing another stick. Gil drops his flowers.
"Wee-wee!" he squeaks, running back through the gap in the hedge and abandoning his siblings to the scary neighbours.
"We come in peace. With sugar." Coral says, offering the half empty cup.
"Oh all right then." the boy says, dipping his finger in the sugar and licking it. "I'm Rowan, that's Hazel, my older brother is Flint."
Fry introduces them. "And the littlest of us is Gil."
"Cool. So, have you built anything epic in those woods behind our houses?" Rowan asks. "What are the climbing trees like? Any good ones?"
"Oh no." Fry says. "There's a danger of falling down holes, so we don't go there."
"Oh." Rowan looks disappointed. "So what do you do?"
"I like the piano, and computer games, and maths." Fry says. "Coral likes playing with toys and gardening, and Brooke is on the under fives ice hockey team."
"Oh good, one of you isn't a softie then." Hazel says, grinning at Brooke.
Fry isn't convinced that he likes Rowan and Hazel very much. A part of him suddenly wishes Archie would come back. But another part of him doesn't. It's like as they've got older, he and Archie haven't got on as well.
As his sisters play with the new neighbours in the canoes, he excuses himself and goes back home. It's four o'clock so it's time for piano practice.
