Gravity Don't Mean Too Much to Me

Bandit shamefully looked down at her feet.

She was sat in the waiting room of the hospital, in the children's section judging by the birds and butterflies painted all over the walls. Frank had waited impatiently for the ambulance to arrive at the park, sitting next to Vicky the whole time. He had tried his best to comfort her, but of course, it had been a little hard because of their last encounter.

Vicky had allowed Frank to help to sit up, but that had been all. He had tried to comfort her but she had screamed and told him to get away from her. Frank looked livid, but he just calmy tried to reassure her that everything was okay. Of course, Vicky's screaming had attracted the attention of passers by, and Vicky had tried to gain their sympathy.

Bandit shook her head as she remembered what Vicky had done. It had been a low thing for her to do, and as soon as she had heard the word's come from the girl's mouth, she had lost all sympathy for her.

Vicky's peircing screams echoed across the park as Frank hung up the phone. He had been explaining the situation to his wife. He shot a look of disappointment towards Bandit, which made her feel as small as an ant. Her stomach sank as she saw her Uncle take Vicky's hand and help pull her gently up.

"Get..off of..me!" She screamed, shoving Frank away with her good hand. She clutched her other hand and began rocking back and forth, tears streaming down her cheeks.

"Please, let me help." He said soothingly, reaching for Vicky's arm,

Vicky howled and moved away. "No! Get away from me!"

Frank shook his head and stood up, walking up to a Bandit. His face was red with anger. "Get the girls and bring them other here."

Bandit flinched at the tone of his voice and ran over to Lily and Cherry. She took their hands and led them to wher Frank was now whispering urgently to Vicky. Bandit felt the tears coming to her eyes as she watched her Uncle. How could he be taking her side? She had been the one trying to hurt Bandit. She had been the one bullying her, physically and mentally for the last few months.

"What's happening?" Cried Cherry, running from Bandit's grasp.

"Cher-" Bandit's voice broke as she watched Cherry run to her father's side. Tears were now blurring her vision, so she quickly sniffed, trying to blink away the tears.

Lily let go of her hand too, joining Cherry. Bandit tried to keep herself together as she watched Frank pleading with Vicky. Wait. Bandit grew suddenly alert as she noticed the strained look on her Uncle's face. He looked like he was begging her for something.

She moved closer, listening in on what Vicky was saying.

"You- you did this to m-me!" She howled, shoving Frank away again.

"No, you must be mistaken. Look, I think you've hit you're head-"

"I haven't h-hit my head!" Cried Vicky, stomping her feet against the floor.

"The ambulance are coming any minuet now-"

"-and then I can tell them to get you away from me!" She screamed.

Bandit felt her stomach fall. No. There was no way she was going to let Vicky blame Frank for this. Bandit felt suddenly protective as she stalked over to face Vicky. After all the times she had let Vicky hurt her, she finally felt like she could stand up to her. After all the names, the shoving, the slapping, she could finally stand up to her bully.

Frank looked up at her with a look of urgency. Bandit expected him to stop her, but he just pulled Cherry and Lily away and watched carefully.

"My Uncle didn't do anything to you." Bandit said through gritted teeth.

To her surprise, and utter despair, Vicky smirked through her tears. "He pushed me from the swing!"

Bandit alarmingly looked around to see a group of adults looking accusingly at her Uncle. "You little-"

"-he hurt me! That big man pushed me over!" Vicky began to howl and rock even faster.

"Stop it! You pushed me over. You tried to trip me up and then-"

Vicky screamed even louder. Bandit saw one man from the surrounding group make his way other to her Uncle. His eyes widened and he sent Cherry and Lily to stand next to Bandit. She hugged them and held their hands, still glaring at Vicky all the while.

"Why are you doing this?" Cried Bandit. She could see Frank arguing with the man that now towered over him. Bandit was worried that the man was going to hurt her Uncle, and she wished the ambulance would show up soon.

Vicky screamed once more.

"What's happening here?"

Bandit jumped out of her skin. She turned around only to find herself face to face with a woman in her thirties. She wore glasses and her brunette hair was just touching her shoulders. She had a look of concern on her face as she looked at Vicky's tangled wrist, but when she looked at Bandit she had a look of accusation.

"Well, I was on the swing with her-"

"-and then that man came over and started yelling at me to get off-"

"-that's not what happened-"

"-he said that his daughter wanted a go-"

"-she didn't, what happened was-"

"-then he pushed me from the swing-"

"-please, it's not true-"

"-and my wrist..twisted-"

"-Vicky!'

Vicky let out another yelp. Bandit shuddered, and the woman knelt down next to her. She began to soothingly rub Vicky's back, meanwhile sending vicious looks towards Frank.

Bandit felt her blood begin to boil. How could someone be so..evil? How could she accuse Frank of such things? Her Uncle was such a nice, caring man, and Bandit couldn't see how anyone could want to hurt him like this. If people believed Vicky's story, Frank would be in a lot of trouble. Not that they would believe it.

Bandit froze. Frank had yelled at Vicky before. He had yelled at her when he was sticking up for Bandit all those months ago. He had been protecting her though, people couldn't punish him for that, could they? But what if they did? Now that Frank had supposedly yelled at Vicky twice, he could have easily have pushed her.

No. Bandit would not let Vicky do that to him. She knew the truth.

Bandit felt her heart pounding as she glared at Vicky. Her vision blurred red and she felt herself stepping forwards. Her fists clenched, her teeth bared, and she felt herself do something she had never believed she would be capable of.

Bandit continued to stare at her shoes in shame. It had been so out of character of her, but she had been angry. She knew that Vicky had been in the wrong, but now Bandit couldn't help but feel incredibly guilty.

She had never been a violent girl, in fact she had always been the complete opposite. That's why she had let Vicky walk over her for the last few months, that 's why she hadn't told anyone. That's why she had suffered with the slaps, the shoving, the name calling and everything else Vicky had done to her.

She flinched as a boy next to her coughed. She had been waiting an hour now for Frank to be let out, and Bandit wondered how Vicky was doing. A Nurse had told her that the Police would need to have a word with her about what happened, and Bandit had burst into tears.

Her parents hadn't yet been contacted, and she wondered how their appointment had gone. Bandit had thought that she might see her parents in the hospital, but of course they would have left by then.

Bandit tried to keep her mind from reliving the moment, but in the end she gave in, remembering exactly what she had done to Vicky. Tears came to her eyes as she recalled the moment, how could she have been so mean?

Bandit lunged.

She felt her fingers scrap against Vicky's skin, she heard the yelling behind her from the adults, she heard Vicky's cries for help, she felt the woman she had been talking to before trying to pry her off. She held on, digging into Vicky's skin, drawing blood.

She felt Frank's grip, heard him yelling into her ears to stop, but she couldn't. Everything was red, everything was in slow motion, everything was surreal. Bandit screamed as Frank managed to pull her off of Vicky, so Bandit kicked at the girl, managing to hit her injured hand.

Vicky's scream had been unbearable.

Frank had thrown Bandit over his shoulder and had taken her to the slide. He had put her down, and she had screamed. His face was full of wonder, horror, anger, and confusion as he tried to pin her down. Cherry and Lily had followed, trying to talk to Bandit to calm her down.

It had worked to an extent, and Bandit had stopped screaming by the time the ambulance had arrived.

Paramedics had gone to Vicky first of course, strapping her onto a bed and wheeling her onto the van. They had asked all the adults questions, including Frank, who had had to admit to Bandit's behaviour.

A paramedic had then spotted that Frank had had a nasty bruise on his cheek, and Bandit had gasped. In all her anger she hadn't noticed that her Uncle was hurt. He had then explained to the paramedic of how one of the adults had hit him because of the accusations made by Vicky, and then they had asked Bandit if she had any injuries.

Bandit looked at her scrapped hands. She had blood under her fingernails from Vicky, and every time she looked at her hands she felt sick. She didn't know what had come over her, but when she had seen Frank in trouble, she'd gotten so angry.

Bandit wondered what her Mom and Dad would think. Would they believe the lies Vicky was telling? Would they punish Bandit for what she had done? After all, she had only made Vicky's lies look true. Bandit knew that her Dad would be the most disappointed, and every time Bandit imagined his reaction she felt sick.

Just then a Nurse, the same Nurse from earlier, stepped out from one on the rooms. Everyone turned to see which Nurse it was, as there had been patients waiting for hours to be seen. They all looked down or continued with their conversations as they saw her make her way towards Bandit.

She sat down next to Bandit and smiled. "Bandit, you're Uncle is going to be out in a minuet."

"Why is it taking so long? I thought you said he only had minor injuries?" Bandit asked.

The Nurse smiled sympathetically. "Yes, he only had a black eye. He's just answering a few questions, and he was making sure your friend was okay."

Bandit looked at the Nurse in confusion. Then she realised that she was talking about Vicky. "Oh, she isn't really my friend." She paused. "But, is she okay?"

"She's broken her wrist, and she has some nasty scratches all over her face."

Bandit cringed. She thought about when she had kicked Vicky's wrist after it had already been hurt. Had she been the reason that it had been broken? "Are- are you sure her wrist is broken? Is she hurt in any other way?"

At that moment Bandit spotted Frank through the crack of the door the Nurse had just come from. He looked upset, and it hurt Bandit to see him that way. The Nurse followed her gaze. "What happened at the park, sweetie?" Bandit grimaced. "Come on, you can tell me."

"I-"

Frank was now standing up and looking through the crack in the door. Bandit tried to ignore the fact that he was staring at her.

"I was on the swing, and Vicky was telling me to.." Bandit paused. Should she tell the Nurse that Vicky had been bullying her? But if she told, wouldn't things get worse? "She told me to swing faster. So I did and then next thing I knew, she had out her foot out in front of me and we both fell."

"I see. Where was your Uncle whilst this was happening?'

"He was looking after his daughters. Cherry and Lily." Bandit realised she had no idea where they were. "Where are they?"

"Your Aunt came by to take them home. I'll be contacting your parents and they'll come in with you to answer some questions. Once you've finished, you'll be free to go home."

The Nurse turned away and walked back towards Frank, where Bandit could see them talking. Frank smiled and left the room, coming to sit next to Bandit. His eye was swollen with black and blue.

He looked at Bandit with a look of regret. His fists were clenched and his forehead wrinkled in stress. He seemed to be trying to find the right words to say. Bandit felt tears well up in her eyes again. She had let Frank down. She had always looked up to her Uncle, and she had never wanted to get him into trouble. She had been trying to protect him.

"Bandit." Frank sighed, rubbing his eyes. "Your parents are coming soon. I don't know how to even begin to tell them what happened today." He paused and looked directly into her eyes. "You understand that what you did today was wrong, don't you?"

Bandit nodded. She didn't trust her voice right now.

"You've made things.. You shouldn't have attacked that girl like that. I know what she was saying was upsetting you, and I know you were trying to help, but violence is never the answer." Bandit could have sworn she saw the corners of Frank's lips starting to curl. "Hey, it's not like she didn't deserve what she got, eh? You told me she had stopped hurting you."

Bandit sniffed. "I'm sorry!" She hugged her Uncle's arm.

He hugged her back, putting his arm around her shoulders. "Hey, hey, what's wrong?"

"I've ruined e-everything!" Tears began to stream down her face.

"No, no, that girl is the one that should be sorry. She's the one that tripped you, she's the one that's accusing me of hurting her, she-"

"You believe me?" Bandit was in shock. She hadn't expected anyone to believe her that Vicky had been the one to cause the accident.

Frank mirrored her shock. "Of course I believe you! Bandit, that girl told everyone that I broke her wrist. Do you really think I'd believe that you'd pushed her? Liars never prosper, remember that."

"I thought it was cheaters never prosper."

They both laughed. Bandit felt more at ease for the first time in hours, and Frank seemed to relax. That was, until her parents had shown up. They hadn't shown up alone either. They had also brought Ray and Ross.

Bandit blushed. She hadn't seen Ross for a while now, and the last time they had seen each other they had ended up hugging and Ross had even kissed her cheek. Bandit smiled as she relived the memory. Her Mom looked at her in confusion, and Bandit stopped smiling.

Ross walked to stand next to Bandit, and she smiled at him as he to her hand in his. Bandit hadn't been expecting that at all, but when she tried to pull her hand free he just sqeezed tighter. Bandit held back giggles. She had never met a boy like Ross before, in fact, she didn't really have any male friends. She had always considered Ross to be part of the family, so she had never really thought of him as a friend. But now that he was there to support her, she realised Ross was one of her best friends.

Ray embraced Frank in a hug, whilst Lyndsey and Gerard looked worriedly at Bandit. She thought she saw her Dad look at her hand in Ross's which made her blush even more.

"Are you okay?" Whisperd Ross, and Bandit nodded. She was more focused on her parents.

"Lyndsey, Gerard, I tried to call but the hospital wouldn't let me until the Police arrived-" Frank began, but Gerard cut him off.

"Police? Bandit, are you alright?" Her father rushed towards her in concern, hugging her and checking she hadn't been hurt. Ross let go of her hand as he saw Gerard approaching.

"She's fine, she's scrapped her hands a little bit, but other than that she's okay." Frank turned towards Lyndsey who gasped.

"Your eye! What happened?" Lyndsey inspected Frank's eye.

He smiled at how worried Lyndsey was, but then his face grew serious as he began to explain what had happened. He explained how Vicky had tripped Bandit, sending the both of them to the floor, how she had broken her wrist and he had tried to help, but Vicky had screamed and told the surrounding crowd that Frank had hurt her. "So, one of the men in the group punched me. You can't blame him, if I had thought a grown man had hurt a little girl, I would've done the same."

Bandit noticed that her mother had frozen. Her face had gone red. "That little bitch!"

Gerard got up from next to Bandit and stood next to Lyndsey's side, gripping her shoulders to calm her down. "We thought she'd left Bandit alone, Bandit why didn't you tell us?" Bandit didn't answer. "I'm going to make sure that little liar gets what she deserves. Is it serious, Frank?"

Everyone turned their attention on Frank, who looked reluctant to answer. He sighed. "The Police have told me that there are more witnesses taking Vicky's side then there are taking our side. It doesn't look great, their watching my every move and now they want to talk to Bandit." Frank gestured at two Police officers that were standing by the door of the waiting room.

Ray shook his head. "Nothing's going to happen to you Frank, I promise. We're all going to tell them the truth, even if we weren't there, we all know how the girl has been treating Bandit."

"There's no proof. She'll tell them about everything, Frank's outburst at Vicky before.." Lyndsey looked at Bandit and tried to smile. "I'm so sorry, honey. I should have known you weren't okay. I won't let her hurt you anymore."

Bandit couldn't hold it in anymore. She ran towards her Mom and hugged her, whilst tears poured from her eyes. Why hadn't she just told her parents in the first place? But she knew why she hadn't. The last time she had told them Vicky had only started hitting her harder, bullying her even more than before.

"Shh." Hushed Lyndsey, stroking her hair. "Everything's going to be okay now."

But Bandit wasn't sure it would be.