. ..and he had rushed at them, scattering them as some strieked and some laughed illustrates

Read the passage below and answer questions 21 to 25

When he was little, he would ask his mother. sometimes as he lay in the cold little room and looked up at her as she sat beside the bed stroking his hair why two boys from his class had thrown stones at a dog; or why on another occasion a gang of them had broken into an empty house, smashing the thick door which had curved mouldings on the front which had been turned by carpenters years before; or why he had ended up in a fight which had begun when a little girl had shouted names at him which made no sense about his house and his mother and others had joined in and he had rushed at them, scattering them as some shricked and some laughed and he flaied about with his hard little fists and tears in his eyes. His mother would smile, say ‘shhh’ and he would drift to sleep with the heart shape of her face imprinted on his mind.