I can still remember her getting back to her seat after a toilet break, as she sat down I'd get a gentle waft of tobacco, she smoked B&H just like me. Cigarette smoke smelled different on her than anyone else, it mixed with that lovely perfume and her natural smells. I would close my eyes and take an extra deep breath, all quiet like, so she wouldn't clock.
Oh God, I can remember it now so clearly, I can still track that scent as it made its way up my nose and spread out at the top of my nasal passage, warming the back of my forehead, and then pow! Boner city.
She was a ginger, her pale skin and green eyes framed with blonde/ginger eyelashes that you could hardly see in the sun. She couldn't have been more opposite from me if you'd designed her, maybe that's why I liked, no, loved Kelly Cane.
Kelly lived on the estate just up the road, I liked that, away from prying eyes. After school I used to walk her to the entrance to the flats, I lied and said I preferred the bus stop outside the Woolworths just so I could spend an extra couple of minutes with her.
This one particular time I remember I was sitting next to her while the science teacher was going on about something I couldn't quite be bothered to pay attention to. I watched her taking notes out of the corner of my eye, such neat handwriting and her fingers, oh her fingers. She had loads of little cute freckles and she wore a stylish little silver ring on the middle finger of her left hand. Not like most of the girls I knew, they were into sovs just like the boys. I mean, gold sovereign rings are cool and that, I wouldn't mind one myself, but they're a bit naff on girls I think.
Anyway I'm sitting there not listening to the teacher, taking in Kelly's smell whilst watching her write and she suddenly whispers something to me.
"What's that?" I whispered back.
"Have you heard; Boxer wants to fight me?"
She carried on looking at her work in front of her as she spoke. I on the other hand turned fully towards her.
"What? Jackie Boxer? Jackie Boxer wants to fight you?"
"Yeah, reckons I called her a slag. Tina Mitchell told me at break time."
I didn't know what else to say, so I just said; "Fuck."
"Will you come down with me? She wants to fight me in the flats at lunch time." She gave me a sideways glance as she asked.
The sun outside was perfectly placed to light up those beautiful eyelashes, and I swear it made her eyes even greener.
"Course I -"
"Got something you'd like to share with the class Robbie?" That was Mr Trench, our physics teacher.
"No sir." I said as I looked back down to my work.
"Well then, perhaps you can share with the class what we mean in physics when we talk about a mole."
I knew damn well what a mole was and I almost told him just to take that smug sound out of his voice.
"I dunno sir, aren't they those things that sniff around underground and that? I think they eat shit don't they sir?"
The uncontrollable laughter ensuing from my peers more than made up for the one hour detention he gave me. Kelly's laugh was the best, she looked like she was trying to stop the giggle escaping her mouth by using her fingers as she bent double over her desk.
Lunchtime now, I've gathered a few of the lads, good geezers, good in a fight, but really we're only here if Jackie decides to bring brothers or other male support. It's an unwritten rule, you don't hit girls and you don't interfere in their fights, even if she's getting steamed by loads of them. You can rescue, but you can't steam in yourself, you'd be as good as dead if you steamed a girls fight. Every geezer in school or on the estate would be looking to bash you.
The noise of the playground recedes into the background as we walk out of the West gate. We're like a funeral procession, complete silence nobody saying a word. I hear a crow making that ugly cawing they do, it's a fitting sound for what's about to happen.
Kelly walks in front with her best friend Gill, then there's me, Karl and Eddie Joyce behind them, then a bunch of third years I didn't really hang out with and right at the back there's Adam Swift the hardest kid in lower school.
Nobody's talking coz we all know what Jackie Boxer can do, I dunno what her real last name is, Baxter maybe? Anyway, she's called boxer for obvious reasons.
I've never met them, but she clearly has brothers coz she fights like a geezer, a fucking tasty geezer. I'd never actually seen her fight, but I'd heard enough stories of her fucking up boys and girls. Johnny Grimshaw told me he saw her smashing this 17 year old boy's head in with a milk crate after kicking the shit out of him. Usually I wouldn't believe anything Grimey Grimshaw told me, especially a story about a 13 year old girl taking out a 17 year old boy, but this was Jackie.
"Here she comes." Said a voice behind me.
I looked up and saw her, like most geezers my age I secretly fancied her, she had huge boobs and always had her hair scraped back immaculately and she did that thing I liked, where she walked around with her arms folded, which pushed up her already massive bosom. If I was a braver man I would have gone down her estate and asked her out.
Jackie was flanked by two much smaller girls, they marched towards us, Tina took a couple of steps towards her, Gill stayed back, me and all the boys moved back to form a loose semi-circle.
In what looked like a rehearsed move, the two smaller girls suddenly stopped allowing Jackie Boxer to carry on.
Usually girls fights start out with something like 'You called me a slag' or 'stay away from my boyfriend you fucking slag.' Or something like that. Not this one, Jackie walked straight up to Kelly and POW! Right cross straight to her nose.
Kelly went down in a heap, fuck, she wasn't a fighter, not like Jackie.
Boom-boom-boom, Jackie hit her three more times, right-left-right. Kelly knew the rule, never go down in a fight, but she couldn't help it, she dropped to the floor and curled up into a little ball.
Jackie reached down and grabbed her by that shoulder length ginger hair and dragged her over to a low wall that fenced off a small garden.
Bang-bang-bang-bang!! She smashed Kelly's head against the wall and just as suddenly as she started, she stopped. She looked at us boys, challenging us to do something, then turned and walked off, her two little minions following her.
Fights are usually fun, especially if you're just spectating, you get to shout FIGHT! FIGHT! FIGHT! And maybe steam the loser after. But not this one, we all just went over to Kelly and helped her to her feet. Blood was pouring from her nose and forehead where Jackie had smashed it against the wall.
Tears stung my eyes, I couldn't do anything, if Jackie was a geezer I would have died defending Kelly's honour, but all I could do was help her to her feet as she sobbed softly.
"Come on, let's get you to the nurse." Gill said.
I watched as they took her back to school, I'd had enough for the day.
"See you later Karl."
"You bunking off?"
"Yeah, I got shit to do."
But I didn't, what the fuck did a 13-going-on-14 year old kid have to do on a Tuesday afternoon except be in school?
Oh well, I'd got good at intercepting the school letters if I played it right mum would never know. I headed back to the bus stop, maybe Trev is bunking back on the estate.
All the way home, all I could think about was Kelly's smell, Jackie's boobs and those punches, fuck, those punches man.
Cryptogee