Boyfriend Trouble (1982)

Gold cherry

By Canonette

Tue, 21 May 2013
  • 2493 reads
16 comments
 

"Keep your fucking hands off Mark Thompson."

Tracey grabbed me by the hair and spun me round to face her. She had taken me completely by surprise: ambushing me as I walked to Helen's house, clutching a paper bag of chips.

"What do you want me to do?" I asked her, "Cut them off?"

She laughed, and I knew then that she wouldn't hit me. It was a trick I'd learned from years of being bullied at school.

Now that I was out of danger, I felt bored. I sat down on a wall and waited for her to continue. It seemed that I had inadvertently stolen Tracey's boyfriend. I wasn't bothered: she could keep him. I certainly didn't want to get a beating because of him, especially not from the rather robust Tracey Lam.

Poor Tracey, rumour had it that she had masturbated the family pet, an Alsation dog, as a drunken dare. Her life was blighted by this mistake, and the boys from school would hound her to tears of shame, by barking at her as she walked past. Despite this achilles' heel, she was quite a forceful girl and I didn't want to get on the wrong side of her.

I had copped off with Tommo at a party and we had seen each other a few times since. Nothing heavy: after all, I was only twelve. We would sit in his bedroom listening to records by The Jam and The Who while he told me about his day at work.

He was a seventeen year old Mod and worked in a light bulb factory. I admired him for his American parka and purple Lambretta (painted "Rock on Plum" he would proudy inform me). Still, I was happy to relinquish this relationship, interesting as it was, for the sake of peace with Tracey.

"I'm sorry, Tracey," I said, " I didn't know he was already seeing you."

I offered her a chip as a parting gift.

Certificate 18
Story
Unclassified

Comments

Submitted by Canonette on
Yeah, sorry - I know it's short. I'm new to this - they're sort of warm up exercises!

 

Submitted by blighters rock on
Love it! There aren't many snippet stories that generate a quiver of a tear at the same time as a hearty laugh but this did the trick. For me, this is flash fiction at its best; crude without being insensitive, unashamed without being shameless, direct without urgency, lazy but effortlessly constructed. You have a future. Grab it with both hands and squeeze it for all it's worth! There's money in this writing game for you. Check out Alibob, Maggyvaneijk, Vera Clark, Silver Spun Sand and many others on this site. Get to it!

 

Submitted by Insertponceyfre... on
really enjoyed this one too. Don't apologise for the length, just keep writing. Love the dry humour one small thing: you've categorised this as an 18 rated piece which is fine, but the teaser appears on the front page of ABC so it has to be U rated, and yours has a fuck in it. Could you possibly either change the teaser or put in a few asterisks? Thanks

 

Submitted by Canonette on
Sorry I'd tried to delete the f-word from the teaser but the server kept crashing.

 

Submitted by tcook on
This is our Facebook and Twitter pick of the day. Join us on Facebook at ABCtales.com Join us on Twitter @tcookabctales Get a great reading recommendation most days.

Submitted by The Walrus on
Great piece, Canonette, keep 'em coming (the stories, not en Alsatians).

Submitted by hudsonmoon on
I'd like to see more of this, Canonette. You tell them very well. Rich

 

Submitted by VeraClark on
Tommo's a two-faced, cheating skid mark. A deserved pick of the day. I ripped a few belly laughs reading it but it is deliciously sensitive too. No matter length, no matter size. Just move your fingers. It's about quality writing.

 

Submitted by scratch on
See? I told you.

 

Submitted by Canonette on
I'm stunned by the incredible welcome I've received here. Thank you everyone.

 

Submitted by The Walrus on
We're a nice lot, mostly. And we like your stuff - keep it coming!

Submitted by leroy mockbee on
Nicely done. Keep coming back.

 

Submitted by leroy mockbee on
Nicely done. Keep coming back.

 

Submitted by Parson Thru on
Great! Can see the scene.

Parson Thru

Submitted by Sooz006 on

 She had taken me completely by ...I'd get rid of the completely. Reads better without it. 

It was a trick I'd learned from years of being bullied at school...what was? Explain. 

from the rather robust ...again I'd lose the rather. 

she had masturbated the family pet,...yes, that's not something peers would forget in a hurry...or the dog. 

He was a seventeen year old...good god didn't his parents intervene.  My eldest has been with his wife for twelve years and married for nine. but when they met she was fourteen and he was nineteen. I hated it and did everything I could to stop it, it caused a huge rift between us. I was wrong, they are devoted and stable with three lovely kids ... but that's a fluke, I should have been right. 

Another fantastic little snippet of childhood angst. Keep `em coming. 

 

 

 

 

Submitted by Sooz006 on

Just addressing the length issue...though it's not an issue. Thank god for the new two five word  alowance,I've trawled through some full length novels on here in one hit. I kid you not, entire novels posted on one submission and some haven't been anywhere near the standard of this. These are fast, they're fresh and they are very easy snapshot reading. A tail is as long as the animal needs it to be and a tale is as long as a tale is.