Mel and Boyo

This is a short story about two mischievous boys.

Chapter 1

Bird Bush

 

      Mel was a ten-year-old boy, and Boyo was eleven years old. They were schoolmates who attended a primary school in the country. Boyo used to wear a straw hat with wide brim when he was not in school. They were mischievous boys, and they were rude to adults and children. Moreover, they often played tricks on each other, and they did the same to other people.

      Both boys enjoyed catching birds, and they made traps called callaban from narrow sticks and strong vines. In the mornings, they would go to bird bush and set the traps, and in the evenings, they would go back to see if they catch any birds. Sometimes they played truant so that they could go to bird bush.

      The sun was shining brightly when Mel and Boyo set out for bird bush on Saturday morning. When the boys reached the bush, they chose twelve locations, and they set one callaban in each location. “All the callabans are ready, we’ll catch twelve birds today,” Mel said confidently. “We’ll meet back here at around four o’clock to get the birds,” Boyo said. Mel had no idea what Boyo intended to do, and neither did he expect any problems to arise. Both boys went back home, and they waited as planned.

      Boyo was a greedy boy, so he decided to cheat Mel out of his share of birds. He went back to the bird bush two hours before the time that they had planned to go. What did he do next? He took all the birds from the callabans and killed them and put them in a bag. He hid the bag in a tree, and then he reset the traps.

      Suddenly, he came up with an idea to perform a prank on Mel. He defecated on the ground and stuck bird feathers in the faeces, and then he put a callaban over it. Unfortunately, something happened that he did not expect. He saw Mel coming through the bush just as he was ready to leave, and he did not know what to do. He quickly removed the callaban and covered the faeces with his broad straw hat.

      Mel came up to him and asked, “Why did you come here so soon?” Boyo replied, “I came early because I didn’t want anybody to steal the birds.” Boyo was a bit nervous, but he did not show it. “I checked the callabans and all of them are empty,” Mel said. “I saw a lot of bird feathers scattered on the ground, I wonder what happened,” he added. “I don’t know, perhaps wild cats killed them,” Boyo replied. “I caught a bird, and it’s under my hat,” he said. “We can’t let the only bird that we caught escape,” he added.

      “I don’t hear any sound coming from under the hat, why is the bird not flapping its wings?” Mel said. “The bird is scared, so it’s not making any noise,” Boyo replied. He persuaded Mel to help him get the bird from under the hat. “Bend down, and when I lift up the hat, you grab the bird,” Boyo said. “Okay,” Mel said. “Are you ready?” Boyo asked. “Yes,” Mel replied. Boyo lifted up the hat, and Mel quickly grabbed what he thought was a bird. His palms were full of excrement. Boyo giggled and skipped about, and then he ran off into the bush.

 

Chapter 2

The Policeman

 

      A constable in the community used to harass Mel and Boyo. Every time he meets the boys, he would push them around. One morning Mel and Boyo were walking on the road with slingshots in their hands. They stopped at an open land to shoot birds. A few minutes later, they saw the policeman coming in his car. Boyo immediately hid his slingshot. He told Mel to do the same, but Mel did not follow his advice. The policeman drove up to them and stopped, and he came out of the car. “What are you boys doing here?” he asked. “We’re going home,” Mel replied. “Why aren’t you in school?” the policeman asked. “Our parents didn’t have any money to give us for bus fare and lunch,” Boyo replied.

      The policeman saw the slingshot in Mel’s hand and said, “Give me all the catapults and go straight home.” He took away Mel’s slingshot, and he asked Boyo for his slingshot. “I don’t have any, Sir,” Boyo said. Mel did not want to be the only one to lose a slingshot. “He’s lying! He has one too,” he shouted. The policeman said, “Give me the catapult!” Boyo reluctantly gave him the slingshot. When the policeman left, Boyo quarrelled with Mel. “You’re an informer,” he said. “I told you to hide your slingshot, but you didn’t do it, and you told the policeman that I had one because he took away yours,” he added. “We’ll find a way to get even with him,” Mel said.

      Later that day Mel and Boyo went on the road again. They saw a mango tree laden with ripe mangoes in a yard, so they climbed over the wall and went in the yard to pick mangoes. When they were eating the mangoes, Boyo wanted to do bowel movement, so he went and defecated beside the wall. Unfortunately, the policeman was coming their way. Mel saw him and said, “Boyo, the policeman is coming!” Boyo quickly threw grass on the load of excrement, and he covered it with his broad straw hat. “Let’s hide,” he said.

      It was too late; they could not hide because the policeman called out to them. “What are you boys doing in front of this yard?” he asked. “We’re just picking mangoes, Sir” Mel replied. “By the way, what is that hat doing on the ground?” he asked. “We caught a pretty bird under it, Sir,” Boyo responded. Mel knew exactly what Boyo was planning to do, but he went with it. “Will you help me to hold the bird, Sir?” he asked. “The bird is not moving under the hat,” the policeman said curiously. “The bird is silent because it’s afraid of us,” Boyo replied.

      The stupid constable believed what Boyo said and he agreed to help him take the bird from under the hat. “Are you ready, Sir?” Boyo asked. “Yes,” the policeman replied. “When I lift up the hat, you grab the bird,” Boyo said. He lifted up the hat, and the policeman grabbed the load of excrement. He was furious when he realised his hands were covered in human faeces. Mel and Boyo laughed at him, and they ran down the road. “Stop in the name of the law!” the policeman shouted, but they ran faster. “I’ll get you boys!” the policeman said. He did not go after them because he was busy wiping the faeces off his palms, so Mel and Boyo escaped from the filthy hands of the law.

 

The End

Author's Note

Here is another fiction.