Dick
(1969)

Dick was to say the least untidy! He was a tall gangling boy with a mop of unkempt ginger hair. He possessed an almost featureless face, that could easily be lost in a crowd of two! Dick took no pride in his appearance, and it was a cold-blooded certainty that he had a button missing, or he was wearing odd socks, or his shoes were coated with mud, and as often as not it was a combination of all three.

Dick was extremely short-tempered, as any one who had the misfortune to cross his path soon discovered, to their cost. For Dick fought like a wild cat, and he had a reputation for meanness of which he was immensely proud. He forced the school bullies into paying him lip service, and the younger boys literally cringed in his path.

Dick bullied continually! He seemed to take a morbid pleasure in seeing others suffer, and he was the torment of all boys weaker than himself. Dick thought nothing of fighting boys two, three, or even four years older than himself. Defeat or even defence never occurred to Dick. Science played no part in Dick's fighting technique. He simply engaged his opponent in a struggle of sheer brute strength. His method, if a little crude, was at least effective.

Dick openly flouted authority and after a brief, but useless struggle, the school staff admitted defeat, and gave him an almost free hand, except for occasional curbs on the worst of his bullying.

le was utterly useless to resist Dick. You either submitted or get knocked down. Dick's friends were real "hard nuts", but they were all careful to stay on the right side of Dick. To do otherwise was just plain foolhardy.

Surprisingly Dick attracted girls, as bees are attracted to a honey pot! He flattered them outrageously, and spent his money like water. His taste was extravagant in all things, and price was no object. He had a line of patter which entranced the female sex, and he could charm any girl with his smooth tongue.

A week after his sixteenth birthday however, Dick's exploits came to a sudden end. There is a plaque in the local church which reads:

"In memory of Richard Stevens
who was drowned in the River Teem
while attempting to rescue a dog.
12th October, 1953."

R. BOURNE, 4B