Chapter 6: An Onboard Meeting

Ron started off early Sunday morning, arriving at lock seventy-four by ten fifteen. He hadn’t long tied up when Quentin accompanied by his pal Brendan arrived. Quentin gave Ron a hug saying I never expected to see you again. Then he introduced Brendan. Ron shook hands with him and invited them both on board. He made them all a coffee then they sat around the table chatting.

Ron asked Quentin how his injuries were after a night’s sleep. Quentin told him he didn’t feel as bad, but a lot of the sore spots were very sensitive to the touch. I’ll have a look at them after we finish if you hang back, Ron told him.

Four of the other lads arrived more or less together at the set time, followed a few minutes later by the last one who was out of breath, clearly, he had been running. “Sorry I’m late,” he gasped out, “I went the wrong direction down the canal.”

Ron made some more drinks as they all squeezed around the table. It was a tight fit with four on each side, but they managed. Once they were all settled, Quentin said to Ron, “Will you start us off?” Ron nodded, “Ok.” Everyone had gone quiet, so Ron said, “Hi everyone, as you know I’m Ron, I’ll try and remember your names as we go. Just one rule before we start. There is a toilet through there, he nodded towards the forward door. Now when you flush a toilet on a canal boat, it doesn’t empty into a drain like your house does, neither does it empty into the canal, it goes into a tank under the floor.”

“Emptying it costs money, so we have a simple rule, especially when there are so many people on board. It’s easy to remember in verse. “If it’s yellow, let in mellow, if it’s brown, flush it down.” Seeing a couple of puzzled looks, Ron clarified, “Which means if you have a wee, leave it, don’t flush, but if you do anything else, then flush it.”

“Now on to why we’re here. For anyone who doesn’t already know, Yesterday I rescued Quentin here from a beating on the canal side from two of your school bullies. Whilst tending his wounds, we had a long chat and that’s why we are here today.”

“There are two things you should plant firmly in your mind. One is that bullies are usually cowards, they only pick on those who don’t hit back. Two is that statistics show that once you are victim to a bully, you end up being bullied all your life because you haven’t learned to stand up to them. Bullies aren’t just at school, they come in all shapes, sizes, ages and levels of society.”

“The purpose of today is to guide you into knocking the bullying you are all suffering on the head, literally, if necessary,” he added with a grin. “First, I’m going to tell you a story about a boy at my school some years ago, then make a couple of suggestions. After that it’s up to you all to discus and make your own decisions. Is everyone ok with that?”

With nods all round, Ron began. “At my school when I was fourteen, there was a boy called Graham. He was very thin, looked weak and was constantly being bullied by a thick set moron and his two mates. Graham also had two pals, one in his own class and one in the year lower, both of whom were also bullied. From what I saw yesterday, your bullies behave exactly the same as they did. It was quite usual to see Graham with cuts and bruises he had difficulty in explaining away.”

“Now I didn’t hear about this part until the whole school was agog with how Graham had stopped the bullying. It seems that Graham had had a bright idea and persuaded his two pals to join him in attending some local evening classes in self-defence. They also carried out regular fitness training between them also on the quiet. No one knew this was happening. They got fitter, stronger and they learned how to parry punches, or to turn the punch into a way of throwing the person throwing it over their shoulder.”

“Now all that took six months, so in the meantime, they arranged a rota so that the three of them were rarely alone in the playground or going to and from school. That worked pretty well as bullies rarely attack groups, there’s too much likelihood of them getting hurt.”

“Then came the great day. Graham and his pals decided they were as well trained as they would ever be, it was now or never. A few days later, Graham was alone at the side of the playground when the bully, followed by his two cronies headed for Graham. They didn’t notice that Graham’s two mates had spotted them and were also heading over.”

“The main bully started insulting Graham as he usually did, then realising Graham was no longer looking scared like he normally did, started throwing punches. At least, that’s what he intended. But it didn’t work out the way he planned. He threw the first punch in temper but instead of contacting with Graham, he found himself flying through the air to land very painfully on the ground. After the shock had passed, he got to his feet screaming obscenities at the top of his voice as he charged at Graham.”

“Now his screaming attracted the attention of the entire school, who all headed across to see what was going on. As this was happening, the bullies two cronies had arrived but so had Grahams pals. The first one to arrive threw a punch at one of Grahams pals and he also went flying. He was promptly sat on. The bully’s other crony did a quick about turn and left after seeing all this happening.”

“As everyone saw the bully charging at Graham screaming, it was noticed that Graham was standing his ground and looked quite unconcerned. As the bully came in reach, Graham grabbed his fist, turned and ducked. There was a loud ‘oooh’ from the audience as the bully flew through the air once more, landing on the ground with a sickening thud. Then to everyone’s surprise, this bully who had made many lives miserable all year, couldn’t stand the pain or the humiliation and burst into tears.”

“The whole school went silent in amazement. After that day, Graham was a school hero and there was no more bullying. Instead of being someone weak and a push over, Graham became a strong and confident person. According to his teachers, it even improved his learning abilities.”

“Now,” Ron said looking around at them all, “Every single one of you can become a Graham if you make the effort. No one can do it for you. Today you will all make a decision that will map the course of your life for ever. Do you really want to stay as you are?” As heads shook all around the table, Ron said, “I’ve had my say now, it’s your turn. If you want to ask me anything as you go along, do so, but otherwise I’ll try to keep mum!”

Everyone started speaking at once. Ron listened to them for a few moments then wrapped his knuckles on the table. “Right,” he said, “You’re talking over each other, you need to all shut up whilst someone is speaking. Let’s try another tack. Hands up how many of you are prepared to go to self-defence classes for as long as it takes?” Every hand went up. “Good, now how many are prepared to do a few daily exercises to get fit and toughen up?” Every hand went up again. “Finally, how many of you would rather do nothing and carry on being bullied.” No hands went up. “I should think not,” Ron said.

“Now you’ve all decided what you’re going to do, so all you need to decide now is what sort of self-defence class you want to go to and how you’re going to work your rota out, so no one is alone. Has anyone any preference regarding self-defence?” No one had so Ron said, “You need to choose a couple of you to look into what classes are available to suit your times and location. Who wants to volunteer to do that?” he shook his head slightly at Quentin as he spoke. Two hands went up. “Good,” Ron said, He passed a pad and pen to Quentin saying, “Put their names down under Locating Defence Classes. Now you need another two to keep everyone on their toes keeping fit.” Again, he shook his head at Quentin. “They will also organise occasional group walks, runs and exercises.” Two more hands went up, so Ron told Quentin to put them down under Keep Fit. “Finally, we need two more to work out rotas, so no one is left on their own.” The final two volunteered. Quentin put them down under Rota. “Now Quentin didn’t volunteer for any of those on my suggestion. I suggest we add his name to all three groups so that there is always one person who knows everything that is going on.”