Read Online The Day the Ear Fell Off by T.M. Alexander - Free Book Online

miaowed too,’ I said. They’re not called the Alley Cats for nothing.
    ‘On the button, Keener,’ said Copper Pie. ‘They miaowed all right.’
    ‘I tried to get past them again but they all moved and made a wall. I had no idea what to do,’ said Jonno.
    ‘And then they started all their rubbish teasing . . .’
    Copper Pie and Jonno used squeaky voices to act out the scene.
    ‘Are you late for something? Some cartoon that you like to watch after school? Or do you want to hurry and see your mummy?’
    ‘We haven’t seen you before, Frizzy. We’d remember you with that fluffy hair and those cool glasses. Are you Ginger’s new friend?’
    ‘Hey Ginger, where’s your girlfriend? Has she dumped you?’
    ‘We’ll find you a new girlfriend, won’t we girls? A nice redhead.’
    ‘And they kept shifting about to stop us barging through,’ said Copper Pie. ‘But I’d had enough, so I grabbed Jonno’s arm, put my head down and we drove through the
wall of Alley Cats like we were in a rugby scrum.’
    ‘Did it work?’
    ‘Well, we lived,’ said Copper Pie.
    ‘There were hands and feet everywhere but we kept moving,’ said Jonno. ‘They patted us on the head – no one’s done that to me since I was about two! – and
tried to trip us up, but Copper Pie wasn’t stopping so neither was I. No matter how many ballet pumps were in my way.’
    ‘I’d have ploughed through a brick wall if I’d had to.’
    ‘He would too,’ said Jonno.
    What the Alley Cats do is torture. They don’t beat you up, they tease, like my big sister does. They’re crazy. No matter what you do, they embarrass you. They sing, and shout, and
dance and clap. Copper Pie would normally stand up for himself with his fists but you can’t do that to girls (and I can’t do it to anyone). Last time they said Bee was his girlfriend
and asked them if they’d kissed. They were both nearly sick.
    For once, I was glad I’d had a lift home with Mum!
    ‘You got through, though – that’s the main thing,’ I said.
    ‘And they all lived happily ever after. The End,’ said Fifty.
    ‘Not quite,’ said Copper Pie. ‘Tell Keener what you said when we stopped running.’
    ‘“Remind me never to go that way again.”’
    ‘You missed a bit,’ said C.P. ‘The bit about me being right.’
    ‘You were right, Copper Pie. The alley’s a no-go zone, like you said.’
    ‘Is it the end now ?’ I said. My writing hand was about to crumble and fall off like Charles Stratton’s ear.
    Copper Pie and Jonno exchanged looks.
    ‘The end,’ they said. ‘Definitely.’
    Except of course it wasn’t.

Tribe initiation
    Bee threw her legs out of the hammock and stood up.
    ‘Tribers, I hate to say it, but this must be a sign. We need to make the alley safe, not just for us, but for all the kids from school who are scared to set foot on what is a piece of
public property. We need to go down the alley. We need to show them that Tribe isn’t scared.’
    But we are scared, I thought.
    ‘Wow! Some speech,’ said Fifty.
    ‘You might be right, Bee,’ said Jonno. ‘But once was enough. I’m not wild about the alley.’
    ‘Same,’ said Fifty.
    ‘Come on, guys. Why should a few big girls stop us from using a short cut home? It’s not right.’ Bee wasn’t going to give in without a fight.
    ‘Well, I’m not going down there ever again,’ I said.
    ‘Nor me,’ said Copper Pie.
    ‘I can’t believe you all,’ said Bee. ‘Sticks and stones and all that. The Cats wouldn’t actually hurt us – it’s just words. We’re in Year 6.
Shouldn’t we be tough enough to barge past a load of silly girls in silly shoes with pouty lips?’
    Jonno moved his head from side to side as though he was weighing it up. ‘You’re right,’ he said.
    ‘As usual,’ said Bee.
    ‘But that doesn’t mean I want to go back.’
    ‘But you will?’
    Jonno nodded.
    ‘What about you, Fifty?’
    ‘If all the Tribers agree . . . maybe.’
    ( Fifty being brave?