Who Is Jake Hollingsworth?

This is a sort of homage to HDK's "Lady in Red" series. Here in the UK, we would call this sort of writing a "ripping yarn", an OTT style of escapism that I think first became popular in the Victorian era as Britain expanded its Empire around the globe and writers published tales of "derring-do" to somehow make the population feel like the heroes of the world (instead of the invading oppressors). In any case, it was all feats displaying acts of courageous heroism.

To try to ground the story in, at least, some sort of realism the characters have to be young, therefore not even a hint of sex.

-- 1 --

Being the new boy in school sucked!

For me, being at an "actual" school was like being marooned on Mars.

I was one of the lucky kids who'd been offered a place at a Premiership Soccer club's elite youth academy. I was one of 25 kids, aged 12 to 17 who had been scouted by one of the big London clubs and offered a place to live in the dormitory.

Two years ago, at the grand old age of thirteen, I had played a starring role in an under-15's London district schools soccer final. I was the youngest player on the pitch, and I suppose being so young meant that either I would be too nervous to perform or simply too young to be nervous. I'd played with my local district school's team for about a year and a half and felt like I belonged, so it never occurred to me that I wouldn't perform and I had a blast, bossing the game from the start.

A lot of professional clubs sent scouts to vet the young kids in that game and there was a bit of a bidding war to get me. In the end I was given a signing-on fee of £45,000 and paid £500 a week to train and fine-tune my soccer skills every weekday morning and then attend private tutoring in the academy's classroom in the afternoon. It was lights out by 9:30 every night unless we were playing a mid-week game, and Saturday mornings would see us play other professional academy teams in a regional league. It was a wonderful, if surreal life, my pay had now reached £750 a week which means I was paid, in one week, what some people earn in a month, and all I had to do was live my dream.

Well, that was then, this is now.

I had been at the academy for 2 years and I'd forgotten how cruel regular school could be. It was a culture shock, that's for sure.

At the academy we were a team and taught to look out for each other, to rely on each other, to become family.

So, the actions I was witnessing had the effect of bringing me down to Earth with a bang and underlined that I absolutely hated regular school almost as much as I hated bullying ... and that's what got me in trouble on my first day at my new school. I was simply keeping myself to myself when I saw a young Asian kid being pushed to the ground by an older kid. The bully was backed up by two other boys who were laughing at their leader's antics.

Suddenly, a wailing banshee of a girl flew into the mix and stood between the small kid and the bullies. I didn't know her name but had seen her in class in the morning. She was only about 5'3" tall, weighed no more than 100 lbs but was totally fearless, yelling at the bullies to leave the kid alone.

I had to smile to myself, admiring her courage, but then the leader stepped towards her and said something back to her, not sure what, I was too far away to hear clearly, but as he delivered his message he continuously used two fingers to prod at her shoulder. He used enough force to sway her body sideways. I could see the girl's expression get darker as she got more and more irate at the bully, in fact, if this had been a cartoon, steam would have been pluming out of her ears to the sound effect of a steam engine whistle deafening all those around her. Instead, she leaned back to get momentum and then lurched forward with her right arm outstretched in an effort to slap the bully's face. Unfortunately, I could see what she was doing from my distance and the bully had no problem grabbing her arm as she swung it towards his face. He snorted out a quick laugh whilst holding the girl's arm up above her head. Unable to land the slap she started trying to wriggle free. Then, the bully changed my day. He slapped her face with his free hand, I had seen enough, I wasn't going to let some asshole hit a girl, even if it was "just" a small slap that I'm sure he felt was symbolic of his power rather than designed to hurt.

I could see that the bully was full of himself as he smirked a wise-assed remark that sent the girl into a new, more urgent, scramble to get free. Without her knowing, one of the bullies got down on all fours behind her. The main bully smiled, let go of her arm and gave her a forceful push to her sternum, she tried to step back to re-balance only to be tripped by the boy on all fours. She landed heavily banging her head on the grass.

I got close enough to be noticed and one of the lead bully's followers stepped in my way to tell me that I was intruding on a private affair. I stopped as he placed a hand on my chest. I just glared at the boy in front of me and then looked down at his hand on my chest, then back at his face. He looked a little disconcerted until his leader's words supported his actions.

"You should walk away, turn around right now. What's going on between me and the chink doesn't concern you. So walk, or you won't be able to walk anywhere for a long time to come!" He yelled

I tried to look confused but then, as I started to speak, I acted like I had "got it!"

"Why wouldn't I be able to walk? ... Oh wait, I get it, I get it now! I'm supposed to be worried by a dickhead who beats on smaller kids and girls. Yeah, yeah, very scary, asshole!"

With that, he turned away from the girl and stepped towards me.

"New boy, you got a death wish or something? Well, you came to the right place. Hold him down boys ..."

I looked around and deliberately grinned at the assailants. I also noticed that the girl had rushed to the young boy's side. The two lackeys sneered, maliciously back at me, and as lackey number two began to close in on the new prey. Lackey one, the one that had his hand on my chest to stop me approaching just stood looking over his shoulder at his friends, waiting, I presumed, for his friend to join him before attacking me. I held out my hand to indicate lackey number two should stop.

"I should tell you that you will get hurt if you decide to go ahead with this assault. I've been taking martial arts training since ... well, I can't remember a time when I wasn't in training".

The lead bully threw his head up and laughed.

"Hah, what movie did you get that line from? He's pissing his pants, boys, get him ..."

Bully's lackey, number one, turned to face me and leant back a little to gain momentum before lunging forward to push me back. Big mistake. His fingers were splayed out in a push motion and I simply grabbed his thumb with my left hand, placed my first finger on the back of the thumb's first joint and used my thumb to bend it backwards. He cried out in pain as he dropped to his knees. Bully lackey number two saw what was happening and rushed to help. He was not a skilled fighter and simply came straight at me, never varying his pace or direction. It was all too easy to land a sharp kick on his shin whilst still holding onto lackey number one's thumb. Here's a note; kicking a shin is exceedingly painful and not as risky as trying to kick an opponent in the balls, so my well-timed sharp kick had lackey number two drop to the ground holding his shin and crying in pain. Lackey number one and two were both temporarily subdued. I turned my attention to the bully, "now, you wanna talk or go away?" I said as calmly as I could manage "I'd prefer peace, but I'll have no problem if you want to continue things. Just know that I might have to make things more permanent for your friends as I really don't want them getting stupid again!"

"You bastard!" Spat the bully. "You won't get away with this. You'll get yours!" His threatening stance was just that. Like all bullies he wouldn't attack one on one, he would wait until he felt the odds were stacked very heavily in his favour.

"Ok, I understand, you'll have to try" I smiled "but from now on leave the kid and the girl alone. If I hear of them getting any problems from you or anyone else, I'll come for you and I will fight next time. Today I just defended myself, next time you'll be the one finding it difficult to walk away, understood?"

The bully nodded to show me he had understood. I pushed the boy, whose thumb I still held, away from me and he fell back onto his bottom and immediately hugged his thumb and hand in the protective embrace of his opposite armpit.

"OK then. Better help your friends get cleaned up before class".

I turned to the boy and girl, dismissing the bullies while still keeping a watchful eye out for them.

"Sorry about the violence, but if anyone gives you any trouble just let me know, OK?" The girl nodded silently, and the young boy grinned like a Chesire Cat. I turned and walked away, cursing myself for getting involved. It was the right thing to do but 'way to make an impression on my first day!'

I tried to keep myself to myself for the rest of the day, but I couldn't help noticing that conversation got quieter around me and I was gaining a lot of strange looks. News travels fast, I guess.

By the end of the day, I was very keen to get out of school without further incident. I had an idea that the lead bully would gather his mates and try to outnumber me if he caught me. One thing martial arts teaches you is to avoid conflict whenever possible, so as soon as the end-of-school bell rang, I took off as quickly as I could. I laughed at myself. I knew I was only delaying the inevitable "rematch" encounter with the bullies, but I'd had enough excitement and attention for one day.

-- 2 --

The next day was a sports day for my class. Soccer practice. I was now conflicted. If it hadn't been for yesterday, I would have looked forward to it, but now I just wanted to be anonymous for a while. Let things settle down. However, as I arrived on the sports field, I recognised the three bullies from the day before, and they were lining up for the school team. It turns out that the head bully was the school's soccer captain and the coach's idea of practice was for the school team to play the kids who didn't want to play and allow the team to play the ball around at will, throw their weight around and act like assholes for the entire afternoon. I was on the bench for the "losers" team. Being the new boy, and an unknown quantity, I thought I'd be given a shot to see if I was any good at soccer, but that's not how it went. The whole session was set up to encourage bullying behaviour whilst never actually learning anything or honing any skills. It was like a kickabout in the park with mates taking on a bunch of younger, much younger, kids. I quickly decided I didn't want to play. It was the first time in my life that I hadn't wanted to kick a ball around, but this was simply a mindless waste of time. I had no idea a coach could care so little.

Regardless of my wishes, I was sent onto the pitch about halfway through the second half. No one on my team wanted to be there, so I fit in very well. Soon there was a loose ball and I was closest. I dragged the ball away from a lunging tackle and jumped over the trailing leg then saw one of the bullies from the day before come charging at me. I drew my right foot back and drove the ball into his mid-rift. He slumped to the floor holding his very sensitive nether region in agony as he rolled around in a foetal position. The ball had bounced away for a throw-in to my team. The team captain, who was also yesterday's head bully, yelled for a foul and the coach gave it to him. I held my tongue. What was the point? After that, the game went on as before. Whenever I got the ball, I managed to make a pass to a teammate who promptly lost it. There was just one more incident with the bullies as one of them tried to body-check me. Martial arts training shows you how to use your opponent's weight against them. I simply adjusted my weight, braced myself and let the bully run into me. He bounced off me and must have travelled five feet in the air before he landed heavily on his back. No one tried anything else against me after that. I don't know what the final score was, I hadn't been keeping track before I went on, but we conceded at least five goals when I was on the pitch.

Again, I left school as quickly and anonymously as I could.

Life went on. I wanted my old life back. I wanted my future. I wrote a letter to the manager of my old soccer team and asked an agent to get it delivered for me. Yup, I asked an agent to get the letter delivered, but not a sports agent, the agent I asked was affiliated with the police. Why? Well, that's the story.

I had recently discovered that my Dad had been the accountant (read: money man) for East London's Simbozi crime family. Dad had been caught and had turned 'King's Evidence'. That meant that he'd gone into hiding in a sort of witness protection programme with my Mother and younger sister. I didn't know where they'd gone but I was told it was abroad. I refused to go with them. I had a life, an aspiration, a career. The police/agency handling my Dad's case spoke to my club and I was given a year's sabbatical to hide away after which I'd be given a trial period to get my place back. Life was so unfair.

The letter was to underline that I was given no choice in the matter; I had to leave for my safety as well as all my teammates' safety, and I hoped I could return soon.

I wanted to continue playing soccer, at my age I felt it was vital to continue learning. Talent is God-given, but skill is drilled into you and those teenage years are a vital time in that skill-building process. I couldn't miss out on that. I had to threaten to run away in order to continue playing. So, their solution was to give me a new name and move me across the country to a school where I wouldn't be recognised, telling me I could train with the school team and maybe a local amateur team, too. I was supposed to lie low because if the "family" found me they could use me as leverage to convince my Dad to suddenly develop amnesia about the dealings of the Simbozis. The agency tasked with hiding us looked at the soccer team's record at the school, saw they had a long winning streak and signed me up ... well not 'me', but Jake Hollingsworth, and no, I didn't get a vote in choosing that name, it was a cover name they had and decided I would fit the profile.

The UKPPS, UK Protected Persons Service, agents were supposed to hide me and provide me with access to, at least, basic soccer training. Then, if I couldn't get my old life back, somehow sign Jake, the new me, up with either a European soccer team or a small English team that would allow me to continue playing and develop a career. Suddenly, Spanish lessons became important.

For security's sake, I didn't even know where my family was or what name they were using. I was told it wasn't Hollingsworth because if I was found they didn't want any easy connections.

Before all this happened, I had never known why my sister and I had been sent to mixed martial arts classes since we were babies, but now it seemed obvious; it was for our own protection, in case it ever became necessary if Dad's work went wrong. We both learnt Taekwondo style kicks, Muay Thai elbow strikes and Brazilian Jiu-jitsu grappling techniques, however, the underlying message was to use whatever was necessary to win. I enjoyed the lessons, but my sister not so much.

Outside of school, I was given a small flat and three sets of agents rotating to look after me. There was always someone on guard, I was never on my own, and yet I had never felt so lonely.

Two weeks into my new life the young boy and girl that had been bullied found my hidey-hole. I'd taken to spending my break time at the far side of the playground where there were three trees and a groundsman's hut. I was sitting against one of the trees listening to my Michel Thomas download explain that there are thousands of words in English and Spanish that are the same, just pronounced differently, when I saw them coming. I always tried to be aware of who or what was around me. So it didn't take long to realise that the bullied boy and girl were headed my way. I had promised to be their protector and so if they were finding me to tell me they were having problems again I shouldn't make it hard for them to talk to me. When they got close, I could see they were apprehensive, but smiling. I smiled back, stopped the streaming audio and took out my earbuds.

"You're a hard guy to find!" Said the girl.

"I'm sorry, are you being harassed again?" I asked.

"No, not at all" she smiled "in fact, for the first time in, I don't know how long, neither of us are being pushed around. Thanks to you!"

"Well, that's good," I said, not really knowing what else to say.

There was a slightly awkward silence and I realised the girl was studying me. I took the opportunity to study her too and I liked what I saw. She was about 5' 3", slim with small breasts, but given her age that might be temporary. Her hair had an auburn tint to it when the sunlight caught it, and fell in waves to just below her shoulders. Her brown eyes were slightly almond-shaped and her nose was probably a bit too broad to be called 'cute'. She had a slight over-bite and a shallow cleft in her chin. Her face was slightly puffy-looking, giving her oval-shaped face a faintly chubby appearance, but it would probably slim down in a few years to emphasise high cheekbones and a smile that reached her eyes and lit up her face. She wasn't a classic beauty, but she was beautiful, or at least I thought so. I felt very attracted to her and didn't know how to respond to that realisation, given that my being here was temporary and hopefully not going to be long.

I realised we had been staring at each other for a while and it was her brother, the young boy whose bullying had started all of this, who rescued us from the silence.

"We told our Mum and Dad about you and they want to invite you to dinner tomorrow. Can you come?"

"That's not necessary," I replied. I normally wasn't shy but having realised my attraction for the girl I felt myself beginning to blush. Besides, my personal situation dictated that I should be cautious about making friends. My handlers, the UKPPS agents, had told me to be wary of everyone. It's not that I felt mistrust for the brother and sister, but I was also told that I might put any friends in danger, should I get discovered by the Simbozis.

"Please," said the girl "we want to thank you and our Mum really wants to thank you. Both Jon and I had gone home with bruises before and when Dad complained to the school, the headmaster had said all the right things, but we just got bullied more for telling tales".

"So, you're Jon, are you?" I asked, looking at the young boy. The girl's face dropped.

"Oh no! I can't believe we didn't tell you our names" said the girl "or ask you yours!"

I smiled at her. "I'm H -- er, Jake". Phew, that was close. I'd almost used my real name; Harry Morton. I hoped I'd covered it quickly enough that it went unnoticed. I pointed at the young boy and continued "And I know you're Jon" I tilted my head at the girl "... and you?"

"My brother is called Ji-Hoon, but we all call him Jon, I'm Mae-Ling, Mae" She said.

"Well, Mae-Ling, Mae, I'm pleased to meet you". I rose from my spot on the ground and held out my hand. Mae took it gently and held it as she spoke.

"Thank you for helping us. Please come for dinner tomorrow, our parents really want to meet you. I think they worry that you might get into trouble."

"I'm not in any trouble and even if I was, I can handle it" I smiled "so, don't worry about it. You don't have to thank me or try to look out for me".