Page 13 - Julie Thorley Nine Lives book

Antisocial Behaviour
at me with a hairy, tattooed arm and yelled, ‘Get out of the road, you silly old bat.’
I stood my ground and shouted, ‘That’s my point. This isn’t the road. You’ll have to back up.’
Well, it all got a bit heated then. He got out of his cab and strode up to me, but I’d got my dander up and wasn’t having any of it. He started hollering and waving his arms around and making such a racket that the few people who’d stopped to see what all the fuss was about started to take a real interest.
A little crowd gathered behind me and one or two people started to come to my defence. Somebody called out: ‘Leave her alone, you bully. Can’t you see she’s a bit mental?’ Can’t say I liked that, but I was glad of the support even so.
And then, out of nowhere, a group of teenagers appeared. I suspect they were just hoping for a bit of mischief, but one of them joined in: ‘Oi, mate. You might shift her, but you won’t shift us lot!’ and to my surprise they all plonked themselves down behind me.
Then the chanting started: ‘Back up! Back up!’ It was all rather exciting and I was quite enjoying myself – until the constable arrived. He wasn’t a proper one, just one of those we used to call a Special – a PS something, is it? – but he radioed for help and before I knew what had happened I was sitting in the police station trying to explain myself.
They must have called our Carol, because suddenly there she was, rolling her eyes at me. She wasn’t best pleased. She said, ‘Really, Mum. Couldn’t you have just let it go?’
I said to her, that’s what the policeman had said when he brought me in. He’d fetched me some tea – it was in a mug,
but it was very nice even so – and explained that I couldn’t go around taking the law into my own hands and that what I’d done constituted antisocial behaviour because I assaulted the driver and caused an obstruction on the public highway. I ask you!
I said I wasn’t as antisocial as that driver. But he said the driver was delivering and had no choice but to come through the shopping centre and that I was ‘impeding an honest working
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