CHARLIE MITCHELL
The Nipper
The heartbreaking true story of a little boy and his
violent childhood in working-class Dundee
In loving memory of Shane, the nicest and funniest person I have ever had the pleasure to meet. I’ll see you again one day. Your big cuz, Milky Mitchell
Contents
Chapter One - First Day, No Way
Chapter Two - A Fairy Tale of Dundee
Chapter Four - The Woman in the Bath
Chapter Five - The Monday Book
Chapter Six - The Three Amigos
Chapter Seven - The Laughter that Hurts
Chapter Eight - Twenty Pound Note
Chapter Nine - A Boy’s Best Friend
Chapter Eleven - Inside an Igloo with a Drunk Bear
Chapter Twelve - The Swag Factory
Chapter Thirteen - The Best Blanket in Dundee
Chapter Fifteen - Bonnie and Me under the Stars
Chapter Sixteen - Home Sweet Home
Chapter Seventeen - Big Geoff and Wee Geoff
Chapter Eighteen - The Boy, the Dog and the Four Foot Woman
Chapter Nineteen - Scared to Laugh
Chapter Twenty-One - Four Minutes Past Four
Chapter Twenty-Two - The Rogues
Chapter Twenty-Three - The Puppies
Chapter Twenty-Four - Red Light on the Stereo
Chapter Twenty-Five - Off the Leash
Chapter Twenty-Six - Heartache Following Me
Chapter Twenty-Seven - A Voice in the Wilderness, a Face in the Crowd
I am an optimist and believe that everyone deserves a second chance in life. But I also believe that some people, such as my father, are evil to the point of insanity and beyond help. I am sure when you read what happened to me as a child you will understand what I mean.
For years I have tried to work out the reason for his behaviour towards me and have never come up with an answer. I’ve put it down to a chemical imbalance in his brain. Like being born without that cut-off switch that tells you right from wrong. These kinds of people know what they are doing is wrong but don’t care. And they use alcohol or drugs as an excuse to hide the fact that they actually enjoy it.
If you drink or take drugs, you do turn into a different person. But it’s not an excuse. You make your own life choices. And if you turn into a monster when you fill your body with these things, then it’s your responsibility to stop taking them. Life is really hard sometimes and every choice you make determines your future, and everyone is capable of making the wrong choices at some point in their life. The main thing is that you learn from your mistakes. Because one day your freedom may be taken away, or even worse, your life.
This book will show you the devastating effects child torture can have on a kid. It will make you sad and make you laugh and sometimes will make you dislike me. I’m in no way proud of any of the stories in this book, and I just hope that people can understand why I was like the way I was. My main aim is to show young people who are thinking of choosing the life I did what the consequences are. And to show people that no matter how close you are to death and giving up, there is always a chance that you can turn your life around.
In life, every decision you make has an outcome, some good and some bad, and there are always two roads you can take. I always chose the wrong road, as my anger or need for attention would make the choice easy. But over the years I have realised that I was using my childhood as an excuse for everything I did. A large part was my father’s fault, but a lot of it was down to the roads I chose.
Drugs