Dumped! Read online

  DUMPED!

  Helen Chapman

  SERIES CONSULTANT: LORRAINE PETERSON

  NASEN House, 4/5 Amber Business Village, Amber Close, Amington, Tamworth, Staffordshire B77 4RP

  Rising Stars UK Ltd.

  22 Grafton Street, London W1S 4EX

  www.risingstars-uk.com

  Text © Rising Stars UK Ltd.

  The right of Helen Chapman to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted by her in accordance with the Copyright, Design and Patents Act 1998.

  Published 2009

  Cover design: Burville-Riley Partnership

  Illustrator: Dave Neale for Advocate Art

  Text design and typesetting: Andy Wilson for Green Desert Ltd.

  Publisher: Gill Budgell

  Editor: Catherine Gilhooly

  Series consultant: Lorraine Petersen

  All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise without the prior permission of Rising Stars UK Ltd.

  British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data.

  A CIP record for this book is available from the British Library

  ISBN 978-1-84680-498-4

  Printed by Craft Print International Limited, Singapore

  CONTENTS

  Characters

  Scene 1: DUMPED!

  Scene 2: TRICKED!

  Scene 3: MUGGED!

  Scene 4: SORTED!

  In the chatroom …

  CHARACTERS

  Kevin

  Kevin is the eldest of three brothers. He can be a bit selfish.

  Will

  Will is the middle brother. He often gangs up with Kevin against their youngest brother Max.

  Max

  Max is the youngest brother and the peace maker.

  Becca

  Becca is a cousin of the boys. She is like Kevin and Will, but she doesn’t see this in herself.

  Lily

  Lily is Becca’s younger sister. She is practical and sensible.

  Narrator

  The narrator tells the story.

  Scene 1

  DUMPED!

  Narrator Kevin, Will and Max are not happy. They’ve been kicked out of their home and are off to stay with their granny.

  Will It’s all Dad’s fault.

  Kevin Yeah. Just because he can’t pay the rent doesn’t mean we should suffer.

  Will He could have got a second job.

  Kevin Or worked nights.

  Max You guys could get weekend jobs.

  Will Good one, Max. And what about my football matches?

  Kevin As if my basketball team could win without me.

  Will It’s okay for Dad. He gets to move in with his mate Terry.

  Kevin Yeah, why can’t we do that?

  Max Because you hate Terry.

  Kevin So? He doesn’t know that.

  Max You called him dog-breath to his face.

  Narrator He did too. But in fairness to Kevin, Terry isn’t big on using a toothbrush!

  Kevin Will is right.

  Will Am I? What about?

  Kevin About moving in with a mate. We’re not allowed to.

  Max Terry lives close to Dad’s work. Dad will save loads of money by not having to catch the train every day.

  Will Nah, he just doesn’t want to live with Granny.

  Narrator Across town, sisters Lily and Becca come out of the train station. They’re having much the same chat as the boys.

  Lily I can’t believe we’ve been kicked out of home.

  Becca It’s all Mum’s fault. She’s so selfish.

  Lily I know! She gets to go on a business trip overseas and we get to suffer.

  Becca Having to stay with Granny for a whole month!

  Lily At least Mum didn’t make us go and stay with those awful cousins of ours.

  Narrator Both girls shudder.

  Becca Urghh! Don’t even joke about it! I bet they’re still not house-trained.

  Narrator As the girls walk to Granny’s house, a bus pulls up. Some boys charge out and push past them.

  Becca Hey! Watch it!

  Lily Who let you apes loose?

  Becca Yeah, does the zoo know you’ve escaped?

  Narrator The boys turn around to face the girls. Then the cousins all recognise each other.

  Will Don’t start! We are not having a good day.

  Max I am. Hi Lily. Hi Becca. You don’t live around here, do you?

  Lily Not likely.

  Becca We’re going to Granny’s place.

  Max Cool! Just like Red Riding Hood.

  Kevin So are we.

  Max What? Like Red Riding Hood?

  Kevin No. Going to Granny’s.

  Lily How come? You won’t get any money – it’s not Christmas!

  Will and Kevin (together)

  We’ve been dumped!

  Becca What do you mean?

  Max We’ve got to live with Granny until Dad finds us somewhere cheap to live.

  Becca What? You mean you’re staying with Granny?

  Lily But you can’t!

  Max Watch us!

  Will Anyway, what’s it got to do with you?

  Lily A lot. We’re staying there too.

  Kevin You can’t be. She must have confused you with us.

  Becca That’s so wrong in so many ways.

  Lily Mum told Granny weeks ago that we were staying.

  Narrator She did too!

  Max Well, Dad told Granny weeks ago that we were staying.

  Narrator He did too!

  Becca I bet she forgot about you. It’s easy to do.

  Narrator Who are they again?

  Kevin Look. How are we going to sort this?

  Will It’s easy. The girls all share Granny’s room.

  Kevin So you and I get a room each. Works for me.

  Max And what about me?

  Kevin Ask someone who cares.

  Lily Well, that’s it then, is it? You’ve sorted it all.

  Will Works for me.

  Narrator Becca grabs her sister’s arm and whispers.

  Becca Walk with me. Quickly.

  Lily Why?

  Becca Because if we get there first … then we’ll get our pick of the rooms.

  Lily Oh right. Cool.

  Narrator But the boys aren’t as dumb as the girls think. Well, at least one of them isn’t.

  Max Why are Lily and Becca running off?

  Will Girl stuff.

  Max What?

  Kevin You know. Girls. Bathrooms. They always go in pairs.

  Max You don’t think they might be trying to get to Granny’s first?

  Will For what?

  Max The best bedroom.

  Kevin They wouldn’t dare. Anyway, I’m Granny’s favourite.

  Narrator Even Kevin isn’t sure that’s true!

  Max How are we going to make this work?

  Will It’s easy. Like I said, the girls can share with Granny.

  Kevin So you and I get a room each. Works for me.

  Will And me.

  Max What about me? You always forget about me.

  Kevin So? You’re easy to forget.

  Will I know. We can put you in the shed.

  Kevin You mean the one Granny always keeps locked?

  Will Yeah, it’d be perfect for Max.

  Max I’m out of here. You coming?

  Kevin Why waste the effort? I’m the oldest. The best room is mine.

  Narrator Will gives him an icy smile.

  Will You mean ours don’t you?

  Kevin Yeah, yeah. Just kidding.

  Scene 2

  TRICKED!

  Narrator Max races into Granny’s
house. He trips over a black glove with a long cuff.

  Max What’s Granny doing with this? It looks like something a knight might wear.

  Kevin Don’t mind me.

  Will Or me.

  Narrator Kevin and Will push past Max and look for the girls.

  Lily Granny’s bed is so comfy, isn’t it Becca?

  Becca Yep. Soooo big and soooo comfy.

  Narrator Will and Kevin rush into Granny’s room.

  Will You’re dreaming if you think you’re keeping this room.

  Kevin Yeah, if it’s the best room it’s mine …

  Will Ours.

  Kevin So get out!

  Narrator The girls leave but talk loudly so the boys can hear every word.

  Becca Losers! They think that’s the best room.

  Lily Maybe they like wallpaper with flowers on.

  Becca I’d just die if my friends saw me in it.

  Lily Quick. We’ll take the back bedroom. It’s wicked!

  Becca Yeah and it’s away from Granny’s room, so we can be noisy.

  Narrator The boys are confused. More than usual!

  Max That back room sounds better than this one.

  Kevin I’m not backing down. They’ll think I’m a loser.

  Will We’ll all be losers if we take this room. Can it have any more flowers?

  Max It looks nice …

  Narrator Kevin and Will turn to look at Max.

  Max … you know … if you’re a granny.

  Will I’ll never live it down if I bring mates back.

  Kevin You’re right. We’ll all be laughed out of school. Lily, Becca, get back here.

  Lily What’s up?

  Kevin We don’t want this room anymore because … um … er …

  Will Because … um … er …

  Lily Okay. Okay. We give in. But this is the last time we move. Got it?

  Kevin Yeah, yeah. We get it.

  Narrator The boys check out the back room. They get a nasty shock. Two beds are pressed against each wall, with a fold-out bed squeezed in the middle.

  Kevin You’ve got to be kidding!

  Max I’m not sleeping on that thing.

  Will Nah, it’s good. If I roll out of bed I’ll land on something soft.

  Max Well, it’s not going to be me!

  Kevin We were conned big time. We’ll have to pretend we like our room or we’ll look stupid.

  Narrator The girls squeeze into the room.

  Becca Like your room, boys?

  Kevin Yeah. It’s like being at a sports camp.

  Will Bare floorboards are cool. We can bounce balls off them.

  Max And there’s nothing to knock over and get broken.

  Kevin We’re going to unpack and get ready for school tomorrow.

  Lily Do you have to change schools now that you’ve moved away?

  Will Nah, Dad sorted it.

  Becca And it’s not like you’re here forever, is it?

  Narrator The boys shrug.

  Kevin Hope not. School’s so far away, it’s not funny.

  Max But when we get back here it’ll be good.

  Kevin We’ll chill out and Granny will do granny stuff, like making us snacks.

  Becca Yeah, it’s not as if she has her own life.

  Narrator The next day after school, the girls are amazed to see the boys sitting at the kitchen table doing homework.

  Lily Why’s it so quiet?

  Max Granny says no music.

  Becca I don’t blame her. We heard you singing in the shower.

  Will She took the radio. She said we’d get it back when we’ve done our homework.

  Narrator The girls grab a snack and go into the living room. Then they go back to the boys.

  Becca Have you seen anything missing?

  Max Like what?

  Lily Get in here and look around.

  Narrator The boys shuffle into the living room.

  Becca The TV’s gone.

  Will It’s in Granny’s room.

  Kevin Granny came home and found us watching it.

  Will Before she found us listening to the radio!

  Max From now on there’s no TV on a school night.

  Will And we can’t even watch TV over dinner.

  Kevin She’s making us sit at the table.

  Lily And do what?

  Max Talk about how our day was.

  Becca How long does it take to say ‘boring’?

  Narrator Later that night the house is quiet and the cousins are asleep. At least that’s what Granny thinks.

  Kevin It’s half past nine! And I’m in bed! With the light out!

  Max We’re all in bed.

  Kevin But I’m the oldest. I never go to bed before eleven.

  Will You do now. Granny’s house. Granny’s rules.

  Kevin Not for much longer.

  Max Why, what are you planning?

  Kevin From now on, it’s going to be my house, my rules.

  Scene 3

  MUGGED!

  Narrator By next Thursday afternoon, it’s clear that Granny hasn’t heard about Kevin being in charge.

  Lily Kevin! What are you doing here? You said you’d be at basketball practice.

  Kevin I couldn’t go. There was no way to get home.

  Will Same for me and football.

  Max And for me and Scouts.

  Lily Ever heard of a bus?

  Becca Or train?

  Will Granny won’t let us.

  Lily You’re joking, right?

  Max No. She’s worried about us getting mugged.

  Becca Couldn’t you get a lift?

  Will No one from school lives around here.

  Kevin Anyway. Back to me. What am I going to do about training?

  Will Just go. We’ll take turns to cover for each other.

  Lily That won’t work. Granny’s home when we are.

  Kevin She really spoils our fun, doesn’t she?

  Lily A bit, but I like her being here when I get home.

  Will I don’t. I like being home alone. You get away with stuff.

  Max Dad never got back before meal time. I never used to start my homework until eight.

  Will And Dad never told me to get my muddy boots off the bed.

  Narrator I bet he did.

  Kevin And he let me chill out and do nothing.

  Narrator I bet he didn’t.

  Max Granny doesn’t believe in chilling out.

  Kevin Tell me about it. She always finds something for us to do.

  Will Like putting out the rubbish.

  Lily You three are unreal. Stop and think about Granny.

  Becca She had this place to herself. Now she has five kids to look after.

  Will We look after ourselves at home.

  Becca No you don’t. Your dad juggles work with looking after you.

  Max How do you know?

  Lily I’ve heard my mum and your dad talking.

  Will So go on then, what does he say?

  Lily That you three are selfish, lazy and messy.

  Kevin What? No way!

  Lily Kevin, who always picked you up from basketball?

  Kevin Dad.

  Becca Will, who picked you up from football?

  Will Dad.

  Lily Max, who picked you up from Scouts?

  Max Dad.

  Kevin I see where you’re going with this.

  Narrator Kevin’s quick off the mark, isn’t he?

  Kevin You think Granny should drive us.

  Lily No! I’m saying that you should look after yourself more.

  Will We’re okay with meeting up and coming home together.

  Max It’s Granny who’s scared for us.

  Kevin Will you help us?

  Becca To do what?

  Kevin Get Granny to pick me up from basketball.

  Will And me from football.

  Max And me from Scouts.

  Becca What’s in it for us?

  Kevin You get rid of us every T
hursday afternoon.

  Becca Anything that keeps you out of the house sounds good.

  Lily We’ll tell Granny you miss your dad and you’d like her to watch you train.

  Narrator The plan works! The next Thursday afternoon the girls turn their music up loud and dance around the house.

  Becca Quick! Before Granny gets back, let’s spread our homework out on the table.

  Lily Hey! Whose black leather goggles are these?

  Becca No idea. I’ll turn off the music.

  Narrator They needn’t have bothered. Granny storms down the side path and into the shed.

  Lily What’s up with her?

  Max Granny was mugged!

  Lily and Becca (together)

  Mugged?!

  Kevin Her bag was snatched, but she wasn’t hurt.

  Becca What happened?

  Max Granny picked me and Will up. Then we went to get Kevin.

  Will But he was still training, so we watched and …

  Kevin I was awesome if you’re wondering.

  Lily and Becca (together)

  We’re not!

  Will These kids ran into us …

  Max … and grabbed Granny’s purse.

  Will Granny pulled out a spanner …

  Lily What spanner?

  Will The one in her bag.

  Becca Granny carries a spanner in her bag?

  Narrator Mine carries a bus pass!

  Will Granny chased them and they dropped her purse.