Free CHERUB: People's Republic by Robert Muchamore Page B

you’re still dissing my phone after I’ve stuffed it up your big fat arse?’
    Yannis looked scared, and Sal’s reaction came as another surprise. Ryan didn’t know if Sal was sensitive to remarks about the Latino kids being poor, or if he had some past beef with Yannis, but he flipped from peacemaker to aggressor and gave Yannis an almighty slap across the face.
    Shocked ooohs and mean laughs went through the crowd.
    ‘Smack that fatty boy up!’ one of the Latino kids shouted.
    ‘We can’t all be rich boys like you,’ Sal told Yannis, as he drove a finger into his belly. ‘So you shut your mouth.’
    Ryan realised his rescue plan was back on. Sal and Guillermo were both bigger than him, but he reckoned he could handle both if he moved fast and knocked one of them out with his first blow. Before Ryan got his chance, he was jostled by three other Latino kids.
    ‘Did you hear this?’ Sal shouted, as he looked back at his pals. ‘Running us all down?’
    ‘Racist,’ someone hissed. ‘Saying we all poor.’
    ‘I didn’t say anything,’ Yannis protested. ‘Just … it’s an old phone, so why would Ethan steal it?’
    Sal raised his hand again, getting a kick out of the way Yannis was squeezing himself into the corner.
    ‘I bet you taste like KFC, don’t you, fatty?’
    Ethan could have backed out at this point, because Sal and Guillermo were focused on Yannis. But he stuck up for his friend, even though Yannis had abandoned him a few moments earlier.
    ‘I’ve got lunch tickets,’ Ethan stuttered. ‘Have as many as you like. Just leave us be.’
    Sal turned furiously towards Ethan, ‘You think I’m a charity case, punk? You think your friend can insult me, then buy me off with a two-dollar lunch ticket?’
    Besides Sal and Guillermo, there was now a posse of four Latino boys blocking Ethan and Yannis’ exit from the row of lockers. Ryan didn’t fancy his chances against a gang of six and he felt guilty as Sal slugged Ethan in the guts.
    ‘Nice shot!’ one of the posse shouted, as Ethan doubled over in pain. ‘Mess him up, Sal!’
    The lunchtime bell saved Ethan and Yannis. A good spot in the lunch queue was one of the few things kids valued more than a good view of a fight and there was a rowdy pile-up as bodies and backpacks squeezed through the door.
    ‘Sensible,’ Mr Orchard shouted, as he came out of his office to deal with the mob. ‘Mr Lowell, stop pushing.’
    As Orchard turned back towards his office, he spotted the situation with Ethan and Yannis.
    ‘What’s going on?’ Orchard shouted. ‘It’s lunchtime. Out of my locker room, now.’
    As the kids dispersed, Sal hissed at Ethan, ‘Be seeing you boys after school.’
    ‘Hey,’ Mr Orchard said, as he grabbed Sal. ‘You’ve been suspended twice this year already. Would you care to tell me what’s going on?’
    Sal shrugged. ‘Friendly discussion, sir.’
    ‘I’ve got my eye on you,’ Mr Orchard warned. ‘Get outta here.’
    There were only five kids left in the locker room and Ryan couldn’t stick around any longer without looking suspicious. He waited by the exit, pretending to look for something inside his pack while feeling queasy about the situation he’d engineered: it was meant to be over in a minute with a quick flash of his Karate skills saving Ethan from Guillermo, but now it had the potential to be way more serious.
    Mr Orchard held Ethan and Yannis back, but Ryan couldn’t hear what was said. Yannis came out of the locker room first. Ethan was behind, holding his stomach and with rings around his eyes, like he was close to crying.
    Most other kids had raced off to get lunch in the cafeteria at the opposite end of the building, so the corridors were empty enough for Ryan to stay a few metres back and hear what Ethan and Yannis said.
    ‘Should have kept your stupid mouth zipped,’ Ethan told Yannis in an angry whisper. ‘It was over. They were walking away.’
    ‘Well you offered lunch tickets. That