Tug Turner

by Brian Taylor.

Chapter 4.

When Neil visited Tug on Thursday, Tug was looking more like his old self. The bandage had been removed from his eyes. "Good news is it?" asked Neil.
"What do you mean?" said Tug.
"The bandages being off. Can you see again?"
"The nurse took them off this morning and I suppose it is good news because I can actually see rough shapes. I can see that you're there, but if it wasn't for your voice, I wouldn't know it was you."
"Well that's great … er… isn't it?" queried Neil.
"What is great is that I've had tests over the last couple days and the doctor says he doesn't think I'll be blind forever. But he can't say how soon my sight will be back to normal … if ever."
"Well," said Neil, "At least that"s something to thank God for. And I can cancel the order for the white stick I was going to get you." Tug chuckled. "That's better." thought Neil to himself.
Just then a young doctor and nurse came to the bedside, "Ah! Mr Turner. I'm Dr Stainforth. Mr Weeks, your specialist, and I have been discussing your case and we've decided there's no need for you to stay in hospital any longer. You can go home tomorrow. However, you will need to visit the eye clinic on a regular basis, at least to start with, so we can keep an eye on your eyes, if you'll excuse the pun!"
"Great." said Tug, "Can't wait to tell mum."
"I'll come and see you at home on Saturday then. If that's okay?" said Neil.

At 2pm on Saturday afternoon, a week after the accident, Neil arrived at No 619 of the Craven Hill Estate flats.
"My, my." said Mrs Turner as she let Neil in, "You sound as if you've just climbed Everest."
"I feel as if I have." gasped Neil, "The lift was out of action. Six floors is a long way."
Mrs Turner showed Neil into the sitting room where Tug was lounging on the settee listening to a CD. "I expect you'd like a cold drink," she said, "Will lemonade do?"
"Yes thank you." said Neil. Then turning to Tug he commented, "Didn't know you were a Phil Collins fan."
"I'm not really" replied Tug "It's not mine."
"No! It isn't." said a voice from behind Neil "Fatso here is listening to my music."
Neil turned round. The door was filled by a mountain of a young man. Neil guessed he must be about 19 years old. As he came into the room held out his hand to Neil, "I'm Savage Sid, Tug's eldest brother. Pleased to meet you." Neil put his hand into Sid's then immediately wished he hadn't. Sid squeezed and squeezed until Neil cried out.
"Don't! please don't … you're .. you're hurting me."
"That's what I like to hear a bit of respect for Sid." he said as he let go. He went and sat by Tug on the settee and turned his attentions on him. "My little blind brother here has to have what I put on … don't you?" And with that he grabbed Tug's knee, the one he'd twisted in the accident. Tug yelled out in pain.
"Stop it."
"Yes! Stop it Sid." said Mrs Turner as she came in with drinks on a tray.
"Sit yourself down Neil. Here's your lemonade. I did the same for you James."
When they were at last alone, Neil said. "He's worse than you, your brother."
"Much worse." agreed Tug, "He's always having a go at me."
As the pair talked, Neil began to take in his surroundings. It was clear that the Turners weren't very house proud. The furniture and carpet had all seen better days, and stuff was scattered round the room making it very untidy. Furthermore, there was a slight musty smell about the place. Neil thought it reminded him of the smell there was when he occasionally emptied the vacuum cleaner for his mum. He guessed the flat hadn't been thoroughly cleaned for some time.
As he walked home that evening, Neil felt really sorry for Tug. He felt he had begun to understand a little why Tug was the way he was. "If you're always on the receiving end at home, I suppose you want to get your own back on others if you get the opportunity." he thought.
Neil continued to visit Tug for about half-an-hour after school on Tuesdays and Thursdays and on a Saturday afternoon. The pair started to get to know each other quite well. They talked about their likes and dislikes in films, pop music and television programmes. Neil told Tug about 'Seekers' and 'XL', the young people's group at the church. Tug told Neil about the neighbour who was a pigeon fancier. This pensioner was a widower and spent a lot of time at his loft flying his pigeons. Sometimes he raced them. When he could, Tug would go with him and help out. Otherwise, it seemed Tug aimlessly wandered the streets getting into trouble.
As the weeks went by, Tug's bruising went down, his knee got better and his sight continued to return - albeit slowly. Eventually, Tug and Neil started taking short walks.
A month after the accident, Tug had a hospital appointment with Mr Weeks. The Consultant was very pleased with Tug’s progress. "I think you could now go back to school James." he said.
When Tug told Neil what the doctor had said, Neil said, "How do you feel about that?"
"I don't really want to go back yet."
But Neil was very persuasive,"‘Look the week after next is half-term. You could count next week as a trial. I'll go with you and sit with you. And you can have my notes to copy when you're fully better."
Reluctantly, Tug agreed to try just one day to see what it was like.

Next Monday morning Neil called for Tug at eight-fifteen and they walked to school together. It wasn't the easiest of days for Tug. The other pupils were not particularly nice to him and many made hurtful comments. The worst thing, though, was trying to cope when he couldn't see very clearly. "Just listen to the teachers" said Neil, "I'll photocopy my notes so you have them as soon as you can see."
Tug was mightily relieved when the bell rang for the end of classes. He'd made it through the day without too many major crises.
As Tug and Neil walked down the school drive on their way home, Neil suddenly remembered he'd left behind a textbook he needed that evening. "Stay here by the Caretaker's hut." he said to Tug, "I've just got to go back to my locker. I'll be back in a couple of minutes."
When Neil approached the spot where he'd left Tug, there was no sign of him. "Don't tell me he's tried to go home on his own." muttered Neil. When he got to the hut, he stopped and looked around to see if Tug had wandered off somewhere. It was then that he heard heavy sobbing. It was coming from behind the shed. Neil ran calling out as he went, "That you Tug?" It was Tug. He was lying huddled-up on the ground. His knees were pulled up to his chest, and his hands and arms covered his head and face. "Whatever's happened to you now?" sighed Neil taking clean white hankie from his pocket and handing it to Tug. "Here, wipe your eyes."
"Thanks!" said Tug, still sobbing and relieved that Neil was back.
Neil helped Tug to his feet. "C'mon, let's get you home." he said.
As they walked along, Tug told Neil what had happened "Just after you went a group of boys and girls came up to me started tormenting me and pushing me. I backed off. One of them said,"‘Huh! Not so brave now Tug are you? Time you had some of your own medicine." They grabbed me and brought me here. I think they must have formed a circle because when one pushed me one way there was always someone there pushing me back. Because my back is still sore, I yelled whenever they touched me but it just seemed to make them do it more and more. I was shouting for them to stop and they were yelling "Tell us who pushed you blind boy!"
"How cruel." commented Neil.

Tug continued, "Anyway, one of them must have got on his hands and knees behind me because when I was pushed I fell backwards over something and landed flat on my back. The pain was awful. Anyway, they grabbed my arms and legs so that I couldn't move. Then a few of them took turns to bounce on my tummy. Each time I got a stabbing pain in my back. When I could take it no more I just started blubbing. One of them bent down and whispered in my ear. 'Now you know what it feels like to be on receiving end. We hope this teaches you a lesson.' Then they went. You won't tell my mum what happened will you? I'm not coming to school tomorrow … or ever again.!"
"We'll see about that." said Neil.

The following morning, at ten to eight, the phone rang in the Downs’ house. Mrs Downs answered it then shouted upstairs, "Neil! It's Tug … for you."
"Tell him I'm in the bathroom. I'll call back in five."
When Neil rang back, the phone at the other end was answered almost before it rang.
"Hi! That you Neil?"
Neil immediately knew something up. The tone of Tug's voice was very different from what it had been the previous afternoon. "It is." answered Neil, "What’s up? You decided to go to school?"
"No! I haven't changed my mind about that. But there's some news I just had to tell you."
"Yeah! Go on then."
"Well, when I awoke this morning and opened my eyes I could see so much better. I could recognise mum’s and Sid's faces. They're not just shapes any more. I can't see perfectly. I still can't read writing. But I can see a lot better. It's great isn't it?"
"Sure is." Said Neil, "Perhaps that group did you a favour when they duffed you up. Shall I pop in tonight on way home then?"
"I'll see you then." said Tug stressing the 'see'.
When he came off the phone, Neil told his parents Tug's news. "Mum! Dad! I've been wondering. Could I ask Tug to come to Wales with us next week? Seeing we've hired a cottage it won't cost any more – apart from extra food. I could sleep on the floor or the settee. I'm sure it'd do him good. Can I?"
"I don't see why not." said Mrs Downs, "What do you think Jim?"
"It'd be a squash in the car for them all …it is a 3-hr journey. But if Neil and Samantha are okay with that, why not ?"
That afternoon, Neil found Tug in high spirits. "They won't dare pick on me again."
Neil ignored this remark "I wondered if you'd like to come on holiday with us at half term? Mum and dad are cool about it. We've booked a cottage in North Wales … on the edge of the Snowdonia National Park. It's a great place. We've been there before."
Tug was quite taken with the idea. He'd never been on holiday before, never mind to North Wales. "I'm not sure my mum will let me." he said.
When the pair mentioned it to Mrs Turner she said, "It's very kind of your mum and dad to offer, but I don't think it's a good idea."
By the time Neil left, however, it was a done deal. Mrs Turner spoke to Mrs Downs to thank her and offered to bake some cakes for them to take with them.

That Saturday, the Downs' red Ford Mondeo headed west out of Spurthorpe for Carnedd View Cottage, Gorddinog, North Wales. The roads were quite busy with half-term holiday traffic and, as a result, the journey took a little longer than expected.
"Here we are, all in one piece." said Mr Downs as they pulled up in front of the cottage in mid-afternoon. Neil and Tug were first out of the car, stretching their arms and legs and taking in the view. They looked north and saw the blue-grey Irish Sea a couple miles away while behind them a mountain climbed steeply into the sky.

Carnedd View was small but very comfortable. Neil and Tug shared a bedroom. Tug was allowed to sleep on the bed because of his bruised back while Neil inflated a blue and red airbed and lay his sleeping bag on top of it. The arrangement worked well.
Tug was on his best behaviour all week. He was polite and helpful and kept his appetite under control. "You seem more relaxed than I think I've ever seen you." said Neil at breakfast one morning.
"I sure am. And I'm enjoying every minute of it. Thanks Mr and Mrs D for letting me come with you." What pleased everyone even more was the fact that by mid week Tug's eyesight, which had continued to improve day-by-day, was to all intents and purposes back to normal. He could read.

On Sunday the whole family plus Tug went to the village church for Morning Service. Afterwards they drove to Caernarvon Castle where they sat in the sun with their backs against the castle wall and ate a picnic that Mrs Downs had prepared. Monday found them parking the car in the Llanberis car park. They walked to the train station and caught the train to the summit of Snowdon. As a treat they had lunch in the summit café then walked down in the afternoon. Everyone was excited when they saw a RAF helicopter flying around the mountains. "It'll be from the Search and Rescue Flight at RAF Valley on Anglesey." said Neil's dad proudly displaying his knowledge.
"I hope no one is in trouble." piped up an anxious Samantha.
"They are probably just training." said her mum, "I'm sure there's nothing to worry about."
The beach at Llandudno was Tuesday's destination and on Wednesday, because the weather wasn't so good, they all went to the cinema in Bangor.
"Please can we go to see the birds of prey." asked Tug as the group arrived in Colwyn Bay Zoo on the Thursday morning.
"Of course we can." said Mrs Downs, "We've got all day so should be able to get around everything."
When they eventually got to the birds of prey, they were just in time to see the handler giving a free flight demonstration with a couple of falcons and hawks. "I'm not very keen on the guy feeding them dead day-old chicks as a reward." commented Neil with a grimace.
Friday came all too soon. After breakfast, the children started packing so that it wouldn't be such a rush on the Saturday morning. "We have to clean the cottage thoroughly and be out by 10am." said Neil's mum, "So, we won't have a lot of time tomorrow. We need to do the bulk of the work today."
Neil and Tug had finished their packing, or at least as much as they could, by mid-morning and lay in deckchairs in the back garden.
"How about I ask dad if you and I can climb this mountain behind the cottage this afternoon?" Neil said to Tug.
"I'm game if you are." came the reply.
After lunch, Neil asked his dad if he and Tug could have an adventure on their own.
"That's Moel Winion" said Mr Downs. Everyone laughed because it sounded like Mole Onion. "Yes! You can go, but you'll have to take care. You should take some fruit … and some sweets for energy … Oh yes! And a bottle of water each. According to the map it's only 1200 ft so it's more like a hill than a mountain. It shouldn't take you more than an hour and a half to walk up."
"Excellent!" said Tug.
"And don't climb straight up. It's best to walk back and forward across the hillside. In a zigzag. Take a sweater too, it'll be a couple of degrees colder at the top because of the height and the wind. It's okay when you're walking, but you'll soon cool down when you stop."
Tug carried their supplies in a rucksack and they set off just after 1pm. "See you about 4 then." said Neil as the pair left the cottage.

To be continued ...

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