A ten-year-old boy bravely confronts a gang of hooligans to protect his disabled older brother. The next day, he is almost arrested by the police while investigating the incident.
Andy was nine years old when his brother Jack had an accident that left him in a wheelchair. Andy couldn’t believe it was his brother Jack lying in a hospital bed, pale, thin and disfigured.
Jack was healthy and strong and knew everything. He always knew when Andy was sad or when he was in trouble. When some of the boys in Andy’s class started picking on him, Jack felt it.
One afternoon he walked Andy home, putting his hand on his shoulder. When the bullies met his gaze, they knew better than to cross him.
Who was going to protect Andy now?
With tears in her eyes, Andy’s mother told him that after a motorbike accident Jack had injured his back and would never walk again.
“We have to be patient with him, Andy … He’s very angry and very sad,” his mother added.
“How can one be angry and sad?” Andy asked. His mother only shook her head and cried some more.
Builders came to their house and made many improvements. They installed a ramp as Jack had to get around in a wheelchair, widened some of the doors, and installed special toilets and a bath adapted to Jack’s condition.
Then Jack finally came home, and it was a strange feeling for everyone. He stayed in his room most of the time, playing games on the computer and refusing to see his friends.
Andy, however, tried to tease him. “Hey, Jack,” he said, “guess who’s back? That weird kid who was in my class last year…”.
Jack burst into laughter, clutching his hands into the handles of his wheelchair. “Don’t expect me to defend you, Andy! I’m just as useless as you are now!” – he shouted.
These words shocked Andy and he ran to his room to cry. In reality it was true. He was useless. Jack had taken care of him all his life, and now that his brother needed him, what use was he? He was useless!
Andy’s mother asked Jack to apologise. So she took away his computer and made him go out into the garden every afternoon to enjoy the sunshine.
One afternoon she walked into Andy’s room. ” Honey, I have to go to the mall. Keep an eye on Jack for me, will you? He’s on the front lawn doing some exercise.”
Andy nodded, and went outside after his mother had left. Jack sat in his wheelchair and wheeled him back and forth, over and over again. He took his shirt off and Andy could see how thin he was. His older brother, the best athlete in school, was so thin you could see all his ribs.
“Hey, freak!” – said a harsh voice. Andy saw Gary, Torrance and Len, three of the meanest boys in school.
Six months ago they had treated Jack with respect, maybe even feared him a little. He was a senior in high school and a basketball star. Now they saw him in a wheelchair and felt strong.
“Get out,” Jack shouted.
“Get out…” repeated Len in a little girl’s voice, before adding, “Oooh Jack, I’m so scared! What are you going to do? Get up out of your wheelchair and hit me?”
The other two boys started laughing and jeering at Jack.
“Big Jack’s not so big anymore!” shouted Gary.
Then Torrance noticed Andy hiding on the porch. “Hey, kid,” he said. “Looks like your big brother is a cripple! You’re supposed to be the big man! Can you stand up for yourself?”
“Leave him alone!” – Jack shouted angrily. “You’re a coward, Torrance! You wouldn’t dare look me in the face if I wasn’t sitting in this chair. The only people you’re not afraid of are little children and cripples!”
Torrance shouted and jumped over the hedge, lunged at Jack and hit him. It was a mistake. Jack’s legs could no longer work, but his fists could. Jack punched him, and Torrance fell to the grass with a bloody nose.
“You broke my nose,” he shouted. Immediately Len and Gary came to his rescue and surrounded Jack in a chair, but Andy could see that they were afraid to get too close.
“Get away from my brother!” – Shouted Andy.
Len turned and laughed, “Or what? Are you going to shoot me?” – he asked.
Then an idea popped into Andy’s head. “YES!” – he shouted. “I’m going to shoot you!” He turned and ran inside, towards his father’s wardrobe.
Three years ago Andy’s aunt gave him a water pistol. His father was not happy because the toy looked EXACTLY like a real gun. It was just as heavy as a real one, but it was a water pistol.
“I forbid you to use it, Andy,” his father said. “Give it to me.”
Andy was very upset with his father and hated him all that day.
His father then explained to him that he had to be careful with firearms and that his water pistol was so realistic that it was dangerous.
At the time Andy did not understand the meaning of these words, but not now. He took the gun and went down to the garden. He raised the heavy pistol with both hands and pointed it at Len.
“Get away from my brother!” – he shouted. “Or I’ll shoot you!”
When Len looked up, his mouth was open. “Hey!” – he said. “Hey, lad, we were just having fun…”
“Come on!” – Jack said. “My brother’s crazy, if I were you I’d get away without wasting a second!”
The three brutes ran off at great speed. They were so scared they didn’t look back or they would have seen Andy point his gun at Jack and shoot water at him.
“You did good, kid,” Jack said.
“You too!” – Andy replied. “Did you see Torrance’s nose? You’re still strong, Jack!”
“Yeah…” laughed Jack. “World heavyweight boxing champion in a wheelchair!”
“Maybe,” Andy said. “I know there are Olympic wheelchair basketball players!”
When Andy’s mum got home, she was delighted to see her boys having so much fun. But that evening they received an unexpected visit from the police.
“Madam,” said the policeman. “We have been informed that your child has threatened three boys with a gun…”.
Andy’s mother was puzzled. “We have no guns!” – she said. “My husband is away on business, but I assure you…”
“Ma’am, we need to talk to the children in the house,” said the second policeman.
Andy’s mother called them over and explained to the police, “Andy is 10 years old and Jack is 16. He has had an accident and can’t walk”.
The first policeman came to the door and invited Len, Torrance and Gary in. Torrance’s nose was so swollen he could barely see in front of him.
Len pointed at Andy. “That’s him! Stop him! He pulled a gun on me, he almost killed me!”
“No, I didn’t!” – Andy shouted.
“Andy!” – Shouted his mother. “What happened?”
“Where’s the gun, son?” – asked the second policeman. “Show it to me.”
He followed Andy into his room, where he had hidden the gun, and returned a few minutes later, holding it and frowning.
He looked at Torrance, Len and Gary and asked them, “Is that the gun?”
“Yes,” shouted Len. “He fired, but I dodged and the bullet hit a hedge…”
“He fired,” the policeman repeated. “Are you sure?”
“He fired,” Torrance insisted.
Gary added: “He wanted to kill us because we were harassing his crippled brother…”
“Really?” the first policeman asked. “That’s interesting!”
“Very interesting,” the second policeman added. “Because, you see, it looks real, but it’s a water pistol. This boy didn’t do anything wrong, but you three just admitted to committing assault!”
The policemen took the three boys to their car and then the first policeman returned and told Andy’s mother, “Madam, we will make sure that these boys never bother your family again.”
“As for you, young man,” he said to Andy. “I understand that you want to protect your brother, but don’t use guns anymore, toy or not. The greatest danger of guns is the fear they cause, and fear is not power.”
Andy nodded. “No more guns,” he agreed. “I’ll get Jack to teach me how to box!”