Wrong Side of the Street by Sapphire Hughes (best free ebook reader TXT) 📕

see. Toothbrush, check, hairbrush, check, pyjamas, check…

(Sound of door opening)

Mum: Hey darling.

Amethyst: If you are going to beg me not to go with Daniel then you can leave. Don’t I deserve a break?

Mum: I’m not going to stop you. In fact, I want to encourage you. You need some relaxation after everything that happened with Flex. Look at you. My attractive, fifteen-year-old Felicity. I know you like to be called Amethyst, but you are so much like your Grandma Felicity; the woman you are named after. She was exactly like you; pretty, bright, creative. All the things I’m not.

Amethyst: You’re a wonderful Mum.

Mum: My mother was a whole lot better than I am. She taught me everything useful in my life and I screwed up big time by getting involved with a married man. But the real surprise for me is that out of all the deception and mistrust I caused, such a beautiful and wise girl was born.

Amethyst: Oh, Mum.

Mum: I mean it with all my heart. I am so sorry for all the times I made you feel neglected and ignored. Go to Brighton. Have fun. Then, we you get back, I will be right here, waiting to turn a new page in both our lives.

Amethyst: Mum, I need to tell you something…

Mum: Yes, dear.

Amethyst: Actually, never mind. Like you said; a new page in our lives.

Mum: Alright. I’ll go make us some coffee.

(Sound of door opening then closing)

Amethyst: Sun cream, check, towel, check…

(Tyler enters through window)

Tyler: Hey, Amethyst.

Amethyst: Tyler, how did you get in here?

Tyler: Through the window. Your flat is only on the first floor, so for a guy who sneaks into his girlfriend’s house when her parents are asleep, it was a piece of cake.

Amethyst: Get out or I’ll scream
.
Tyler: No, you won’t. I heard about your little trip to Brighton. Do you really think this is your happily ever after? Because once Daniel gets his chance he’ll be out of this estate and you will never see him again. Then you’ll be all alone when we come for you.

Amethyst: You’re lying. This is a trick.

Tyler: Is it? Think about it; what are you to him; a stupid tramp who needs him to take beatings for her? Well, you might want to stay in your flat, since the moment you step out that door, my gang will be waiting for you, and what we are going to do to you will not be pretty. Maybe we ought to force your Mum to clean up after us. See you later, Freak.

(Tyler exits)

Amethyst: This is it. There’s no way out. I can never escape. No…way…out…

(Brief music.)


Scene 15- The School

Mrs. Greenwich: And so if we compare both charts we can see a positive correlation between the two.

(Sound of school bell)

Mrs. Greenwich: Well, that’s our time up for today. Make sure you hand in your coursework on Monday. Daniel, stay behind for a minute, I want to talk to you.

Daniel: Oh, Mrs. Greenwich. Is this about my attendance record? A lot has happened at home…

Mrs. Greenwich: No, no. I wanted to congratulate you on the book you showed me. ‘The Reality of Homophobia and Other Bullying’. I read it; very insightful, made me really think about today’s prejudiced society. I think you should try sending this to the publishers.

Daniel: Really? That’s amazing.

Mrs. Greenwich: Indeed. Oh, and what is the name of the girl who did the illustrations?

Daniel: Amethyst?

Mrs. Greenwich: Yes, her. Ask her to come to my office on Tuesday. Her drawings are incredibly good quality. I have an inkling she could go far.

Daniel: Great. I’ll tell her. Goodbye, Mrs. Greenwich.

Mrs. Greenwich: Goodbye. Such a nice boy.

(Brief music.)


Scene 16- Amethyst’s House

(Sound of a rope swinging. Daniel enters. Sound of door opening then closing.)

Daniel: Amethyst, I have some great news. I talked to my tutor and… (Seeing Amethyst hanging from the ceiling) Amethyst? AMETHYST?! Oh my God! AMETHYST?! (Cuts her down) Please be okay! Can you hear me?! WAKE UP! Please, for the love of the Lord, WAKE UP! Please…

(Brief music.)


Scene 17- St. Matthew’ Church

(Sound of a funeral taking place. Tristan and Daniel stand by Amethyst’s grave.)

Vicar: As I walk through the shadow of the valley of death…

Tristan: (To Daniel) Daniel, baby, how are you? Say something.

Daniel: She was wonderful, Tristan. Everyone thought she was different from them, yet she was wonderful. She could have been an artist. I can’t carry on anymore, not with the burden of her death and the gang still hounding me. I spent half of my savings helping Mrs. Anderson prepare the funeral. It felt the right thing to do and just couldn’t stand by and watch her sink into deeper debt trying to lay her daughter to rest. Then a few hours ago I got a call from the hospital saying my Dad couldn’t stick to the rehab and ended up in intensive care with alcohol poisoning. Doctors believe he may not pull through this time. My life is a mess. Maybe, I should join Amethyst and end it all as well.

Tristan: Daniel, no. Do not even think about it. Normally, it is extremely hard to get angry with you, yet I will not allow you to throw your life away. As you said, Amethyst was wonderful, but now she is dead; a hole has been punched in the world. If you did the same, you would not re-fill that hole, but you would punch another one beside it. Amethyst is dead, so it I up to you, to live for her.

Daniel: You always know the right things to say. I love you, and I’d be nothing without you.

(Scene wanders to Ralph and Amethyst’s Mum. Amethyst’s mum is crying.)

Ralph: Ssssshhhhh. There, there.

Mum: (Crying) Ralph, I thought I had made things right. I miss my Felicity so much.

Ralph: I feel awful. She said she would tell you about the bullying, but I knew I should have done something about it earlier.

Mum: It isn’t your fault. She may have killed herself, but her bullies might as well have tied the noose.

(Flex enters.)

Flex: Mrs. Anderson.

Mum: Flex Ravens, you ought to get down on your knees and beg for forgiveness. Your betrayal hurt her as much as they did.

Flex: Honestly, I would beg at your feet, if it could make you feel the slightest bit better, though I know it will not heal the ache in your heart. My Mother is dead, so I understand your pain. About what I did, I am sorry to the very ends of the Universe, and you cannot imagine how much I hate myself right now. Amethyst was a special girl.

Mum: She was your sister as well.

(Stunned silence)

Flex: What?!

Mum: Violet Ravens, your mother, was the kindest, most generous woman I ever met. Fifteen years ago, I cleaned for her and her husband. Then that devil you call your father seduced me. I was young, naïve and unable to resist his charisma. But the moment I told him I was pregnant with Felicity; he threw me into the dust and accused me of being a whore and a home-wrecker. You were three at the time. Your mother got a divorce when she discovered the affair. Then, last year, when I heard her brain tumour was terminal, I rushed straight to her side, and promised that, no matter what, I would care for you as my own. You were Feli-Amethyst’s half-brother…Flex, please don’t give me silence, and say something.

Flex: Those murderers are going to pay. Mrs. Anderson, thank you for everything you’ve done. Don’t try to stop me, just know that whatever happens to me, I was happy to have known the truth.

(Sound of footsteps running and door slamming. Brief music.)


Scene 18- The Streets

(Sound of people partying)

Tyler: Hey Roxy, pass me another beer.

Roxy: Honey, you’ve had too many already. Remember we are under eighteen; we could be arrested for just carrying this stuff in a public place, especially since we have already been caught twice. Remember what happened with my brother Andrew, he got caught handling alcohol a third time, and now he sits in a cell all day.

Tyler: Since when did my wild girlfriend obey the rules? We are Kings; we make the rules!

(Sound of footsteps. Flex enters with a kitchen knife.)

Tyler: Flex, come join us. Hey, that’s a nice shotgun.

Flex: Amethyst is dead…

Tyler: Yeah, we heard.

Flex: …And you shall pay!!

(Flex shoots Tyler. Gunshot. Roxy screams and cradles Tyler.)

Tyler: (Weakly) Roxy….

(Tyler dies)

Roxy: (To Flex) You killed him! Murderer!

Flex: His actions ended my sister’s life, so he suffered the consequences…

(Brief music.)


Scene 19- Final Scene

Daniel: Five long years have passed since then. To this day, I still ponder over whether Tyler’s murder was justified or not. The crown court played its part, and Flex was sentenced to a life imprisonment of thirty years. Also, due to Flex’s brief involvement with them, the entire gang, including Roxy, were given three year sentences. I believe they call it Joint Enterprise. Upon her release, Roxy supposedly had a change of heart, got herself straightened out and recently set up her own support group, where she now helps youngsters who are bullied or bullies who need rehabilitating. Sadly, as I read of her amazing achievement in the newspapers, I find it extremely hard to forgive her, and even today, if I pass her in the street, I am unable to meet her eyes. Yet, I know she truly loved Tyler, therefore I can imagine how much she grieved him, so though I cannot bear to be near her, I wish her no evil. Three years after losing her daughter, Mrs. Anderson married Ralph, who had been her support and comfort, and they are expecting a baby in a few months, who they will eternally love and cherish, though I know no one can ever replace Amethyst. Mrs. Anderson continues to visit Flex in prison every month.

As for me, well, despite the sorrow we all endured, I passed my A Levels and went to University, where I achieved in graduating with an English degree. I now work as a journalist, travelling the length of Britain searching for the hot gossip. After luckily surviving his alcohol poisoning, my Dad returned to rehab and later fell in love with his widowed neighbour. I hope someday he will become fully clean of booze and we can piece together our father-and-son relationship. Last year, I entered a civil partnership with my beloved Tristan, who still acts as my guide and advisor. ‘The Reality of Homophobia and Other Bullying’ was published- dedicated to Amethyst- and I occasionally receive letters from grateful individuals and families suffering homophobic abuse or other types of bullying who feel my book has shown them someone is listening to their cries for help. Every 29th April, on Amethyst’s birthday, whilst the spring flowers bloom in the fields and the baby lams take their first footsteps, Mrs. Anderson,