Big Mary

Morag McDowell Smith

Big Mary was in the same class as me, but she was unlike other primary six kids. She was taller than everyone else, had size seven gym shoes and wore crimpolene skirt and top suits bought at great expense from the Littlewoods Ladies catalogue with three dimensional patterns on them that made her look like she was dressed in Anaglypta wallpaper. She had big panda shadows under her eyes and a pale pudgy face, so you knew what she was going to look like when she was forty. She was always surrounded by a group of friends who weren't really friends who tagged along and pretended to enjoy their selves while she terrorised everyone in the playground.

I was small for my age, in the top group in class and, worst of all, I wore specs, pink plastic NHS ones, so it was only a matter of time before Mary got around to me, after the new girl who'd wet herself in class and Andy McGurk who smelled bad and had holes in his jumpers. She came up to me in the playground one afternoon and said, 'Hey Morag, wait a wee minute ah jist want tae try somethin'' and she slapped my face, not hard enough to hurt but everybody was looking. Then she slapped me again and again a bit harder each time, while I stood there, whispering, 'Stop it, Mary, stop it' and her not taking a bit of notice, just grinning and looking around at her gang who nodded encouragement until after about twenty slaps, a teacher came out and she walked away with her gang trailing behind her.

I walked home, my face stinging, my head bursting with the effort of not crying. My Mum looked at me, 'Whit happened tae you?'

I told her. She was all for going up to the school and complaining to the teacher but when my Dad came in and she told him the story he said,

'Naw, yer no goin' up tae the school. She'll fight her own battles, won't ye hen?' I started to howl, 'But Daddy, she's twice as big as me!'

This wasn't a complete exaggeration. The top of my eye level was just below Mary's sweaty armpits.

My Dad smiled, 'So? Whit does she do when somebody fights back?' 'Nobody ever does, she's too big and she's got her gang' 'You just hit her back darlin', as hard as you can.'

'But Daddy...'

'Nae buts!'

I snivelled my way through dinner and didn't eat dessert, even though it was tinned peaches with evaporated milk.

The next morning at school, I waited till the bell rang then ran into the line so there was no time for Mary to corner me, but at three o'clock, she was in the playground, waiting. She was smiling, pleased with herself, making sure everyone in the playground was looking first before she opened her mouth to say 'Wait a wee minute Morag.'

I was shaking as she walked up to me, hearing my dad's words in my head, hit her as hard as you can, hit her as hard as you can - I'd never hit anyone in my life before. I knew I'd only have one chance. She was so much taller than me that I had to jump to reach. My fist got her right on the nose and by the time my feet touched the ground again she was holding her hands up covering her face. I stood for a minute, my heart hammering away inside my chest and my face pulsing with heat, my fists still balled up just in case, but then she took her hands away and there was blood pouring form her nostrils and dripping onto her hands. I felt sick. There was a collective gasp of excitement from the crowd that had gathered around us. Mary started to cry. One of her gang gave me a filthy look, put her arms around Mary's shoulders and pulled her protectively away. Another picked up her schoolbag and carried it for her. I just stood there for a minute while half the school looked at me like I'd just grown an extra head. Then one of the girls from my class came up to me and smiled, 'Ye okay Morag?' I nodded and behind her somebody cheered, though not too loud in case Mary's gang heard. She grinned at me, 'That wis magic. Walk ye hame?' 'Aye okay...' I was bursting to tell my Dad what I'd done but when I told him he just nodded and said, 'Aye good, jist don't make a habit of it,' then returned to falling asleep in front of Z-Cars.

It was a bit of an anti-climax, till the next day at school, when Mary's Mum came up and I was summoned to the headmaster's office. He gave us both his Stare of Death then he asked me what happened. I garbled, 'Big Mary kept slapping me and I told my Dad and he said tae hit her back, so that's what ah did.' He looked down at me then up at Big Mary and nodded in my direction, 'Get back to your class.' Everybody was expecting me to come back in holding my hands and whimpering with pain from the belt, but I strolled in and calmly took my seat. Big Mary came in stony-faced a few minutes later and sat down without a word. The class erupted in giggles and whispers until the teacher told us to get on with our work. For at least two days I was a playground legend and Mary found other people to slap.