The brothers stayed around for a while. All three of them were happy to drop that conversation. They just hung about, talking of nothing much and enjoying each other’s company.
Eventually, Billy stood and picked up his bag,. “Come on, Bobby. On your feet, it’s time we were going. We’ve got to go, Jon. Mum doesn’t know where we are, though she can probably guess. Time we got home anyway. We don’t want to get grounded. We’ll see you tomorrow, okay?”
“Yeah, I guess.” Jon got to his feet. “You’d better go. Don’t get grounded. Great to see you guys, as always. So, I’ll see you tomorrow.”
Bobby got off the bed and stood in front of him. “I wish we didn’t have to leave. Can I have a hug?”
“I don’t know if we should do that, Bobby.”
“Oh, come on, Man. It’s just a hug. I’m not going to rape you – not yet anyway.”
“Not ever, my Friend. Come on then.”
They hugged, warmly but chastely. Then Billy stepped up for one as well. They said their goodbyes and left. Jon was going to go downstairs to see them off, but they insisted that he stay where he was. He was meant to be resting.
“Goodbye Jon. Take care. I love you.”
“Get out of here, Bobby. But, yeah, I love you too, both of you. Now go.”
He did go downstairs later. Sherry and Jacquie wanted him to come down and eat with them, if he could manage. He managed. He didn’t stay long, he was still tired, so he went back up and went to bed early.
Next morning, Jon rose, dressed, dug a small package out of his suitcase and went uptown to the jeweler’s shop. From there he went to the bank to draw out some cash. Everywhere he went people were stopping and greeting him and asking after his health; which was nice, but it slowed him down.
There was a lot more money than he had expected in his bank account. The ‘twins’’ grandfather had deposited a generous payment for the shark’s carcass. That was a surprise.
On his way back down the street, he called into the Supermarket to say hello and to tell them that he’d be back soon. Everyone there was delighted to see him, including the customers. It took some time, but finally David Craddock escorted him out of the door.
“Go home, Boy. It’s great to see you, but you need to rest and recover. Go home.”
In the afternoon, he went back to the jeweler’s shop, paid for the work that he’d had done and collected a small package. He walked around into Brigham Street and headed out to the edge of the town – a long walk.
Britannia Square lay basking in the sunshine but it was all quiet – nobody was there. They must have all been in school or at work.
At the end of Brigham Street, where the road crossed the bridge over the Williamson River, he turned back into Williamson Road and walked along there.
‘Williamson Road and River? I wonder who they were named for.’
He found and went into the wide, concrete driveway of no.86 Williamson Road – the Lyon’s family home. It was a big, single-storied and cream-painted, tile-roofed house. He walked up and the automatic door-bell rang as he approached it.
The door was opened by a young black-haired and blue-eyed boy, but it was not Bobby or Billy.
“Whoah. Who are you?”
“Whaddaya mean, who am I? I live here, who are you?”
“I’m Jon. I‘m sorry, you took me by surprise. I didn’t know that there was another brother. Are Bobby and Billy here?”
“No. Big brothers are not home yet. They’ll be a while, they’ve got music practice. Hey, I know who you are – you’re the shark-killer. The ‘Lord of the Seals’, they call you.”
“Who have you got there, Danny?” His mother came to the door behind him. “Oh. Hello Jon. The boys are not here.”
“No. Danny told me. I just wanted to give them something. Would you give these to Bobby and Billy please, Mrs. Lyons, and tell them that I said ‘thank you’.”
“Well, you’re here now. You might as well come in and wait for them. They’ll be about an hour.”
“No thank you, Mrs. Lyons. I’d better get back home. You can give them to the boys, please. I’ll see them another time. Thank you, Ma’am.”
“But – you – well, okay. Please yourself then. Goodbye Jon.”
Mrs. Lyons closed the door and leant back against it. ‘Ma’am? When did I join the older generation?’
She looked at the small bag in her hands. ‘Gemtime Jewellers? Nothing comes cheap from there.’
The strange kid seemed nice enough, polite anyway, but what was he bringing her boys packages from Gemtime Jewellers for? To say thank you, she supposed. For picking him up on the beach and everything. But, what was in here? It wasn’t very big, whatever it was.
She opened the bag and peeked inside. Ring boxes! Two plush-covered ring boxes. He wasn’t giving them rings, was he? That didn’t seem right.
She sat at the kitchen table looking at the bag, and then she took the boxes out and opened them both. She was the mother. She had the right, didn’t she?
The boxes and their contents were identical, but they weren’t rings. Each box contained a small, plain pendant on a gold chain. Jewellery? For boys? They were small black balls, about the size of a large marble. Each was in an ornate gold clasp and hanging on a chain. They were identical – absolutely the same.
When she held them up to the light, she could see that they were glossy and pearl-like. They gleamed with all the colours of the rainbow chasing across their black surfaces. They were beautiful things, but what were they? Pearls? You get black pearls, don’t you? Rarely, but it happens.
These were expensive gifts whatever they were. Bill would know; her husband knew these things. She put the boxes back in the bag and put them away out of sight. After the boys came home, she waited until their father was there and then brought the boxes out and gave them to them.
“That Jon was here before, when you were still at music. He left these and said to tell you thanks.”
“Cool. Presents!” Billy grabbed his and opened it. “What’s this? A necklace?”
“There was no need for him to do that.” Bobby took his and opened it. “Oh, wow! It’s beautiful.”
“I’m not wearing a friggin’ necklace,” Billy said. “But, you’re right. It is beautiful.”
“What have you got there, Boys? Let me have a look.” Their father held out his hands and took the pendants in their boxes.
“Bloody hell!” he exclaimed. “These are black pearls! A matched pair of black pearls. Jon left these for Billy and Bobby?”
“He did,” said Mrs. Lyons. “He said to give them to them and to say thank you from him. I thought that they might be pearls, but they’re black. Are they real? They must have been expensive if they’re real.”
“Expensive? A pair of black pearls? Have you ever heard of the ‘pearl of great price’? Yes, they are expensive, bloody expensive if they’re real. Where did he get them from?”
“They came in a ‘Gemtime Jewellers’ bag. He must have bought them there. Do Howards sell black pearls?”
“Boys,” said Dr. Lyons, “I don’t know if we can let you accept these. I’ll just give John Howard a ring and see what he says.” He handed the boxes back and went into his office.
“I don’t care if this was expensive or not,” said Bobby, looking at his pearl. “This was a gift from our friend. He wants to give them to us and I want to accept it.”
“Hell yeah,” Billy agreed. “The dearer the better. A ‘pearl of great price’? Totally cool.”
Doctor Lyons came back and stood watching his sons inspecting their gifts.
“Well, Bill?” Mrs. Lyons asked. “What did he say? Are they real?”
“They’re real,” he said. “John said that the kid brought them in this morning and asked him to put them on chains. He offered to buy them from him, but Jon said no, that they were gifts for his friends. Boys, Mr. Howard said to say ‘congratulations’ and, if you ever want to sell them he’ll be more than happy to take them off your hands.”
“Cool,” said Billy. “How much will he give for them?”
“They’re not for sale, Billy,” said Bobby. “Not now, not ever. You don’t sell gifts.”
“But how much is he offering, Bill?”
“Well, whatever John Howard’s offering, you can guarantee that they’re worth more. But he said $5,000.”
“Five thousand dollars! For a pair of black pearls? Wow! They are valuable,” said Mrs. Lyons.
“No, dear,” Bill smiled. “$5,000 each or $12,000 for the pair of them.”
“Twelve THOUSAND dollars!” exclaimed Mrs. Lyons. “Fucking hell! Sorry, but that’s an awful lot of money. Where did a Supermarket stock-boy get his hands on pearls worth $12,000?”
“$12,000 or more, probably a lot more. John said that the boy told him that he got them from oysters – wild, deep-sea oysters. He said that he used to have a bag-full of pearls. That’s what he’s been living on. But these two were the last ones left and the only black ones that he’s seen. 12, 15, 20,000, who knows? I’m sorry, Boys, but you can not accept these. You’ll have to give them back.”
“No way!” said Billy. “Nobody made him. If Jon wants to give these to us, then we want to accept them.”
“No, Billy,” said Bobby. “Mum’s right, it’s too much. We have to give them back”
“But I want it. These things could help put us through university. Why can’t we take them?”
“Because it’s too much. They are really great, but they’re too valuable. I’d be happy with the chain, or the box, but we can’t accept the pearls. Jon’s not a millionaire, he’s just a stock-boy, a basic-wage worker.”
“Yeah. I suppose you’re right. But, damm! What a gift!”
“Come on then,’ said their father. “Everybody in the car and we’ll go and give them back now. You have to tell him, “Thanks but no thanks.””
Around at the Beachhouse, they were starting up the stairs when they met Sherry on her way down.
“Hello Doctor, Claire. The whole family’s here I see. If you’re looking for Jon, he’s not up there. He’s over at the wharf, down by the river.”
“What is he doing at the river? I told him that he is not to swim – not until he’s got all those dressings off him.”
“If you told him that he’s not to go swimming, I’m pretty sure that he won’t be. I think he’s just sitting on the wharf, or rather, he was hanging off the ladder when I last saw him.”
“We’ll go over to the wharf then,” said Bobby.
“Yeah,” Billy agreed. “Come on Dad, Mum. We know where he’ll be – he showed us the ladder.”
They walked over to the wharf and looked down at the river. Jon was down there, at the bottom of the ladder, and something – several somethings – dived into the river as soon as they appeared. There were ripples on the surface.
Mrs. Lyons shook her head. The kid was weird! Her dad wouldn’t be happy if he was encouraging seals to come up the river now.
“Jon, hey!” Billy called down to him. He looked up and beamed his killer smile when he saw them.
“Hey Guys.” Jon climbed up the ladder, slower than he usually did. When he reached the top, he greeted the other members of the Lyons family.
“Hey Doctor Lyons, Mrs. Lyons. What are you doing here?”
Mrs. Lyons frowned at this weird kid. “The question is, what are you doing here? What were you doing down there? Were you talking with the seals?”
“Talking to the seals?” He grinned and then got serious. “No, Ma’am, I don’t talk to seals. They’re just animals, not people.”
“What were you doing then?”
“I was . . umm . .I was just showing them that I’m still alive. It’s . . ah, well, it’s complicated.”
All four Lyons stood looking at this strange kid. Complicated was a good word for him. Bobby broke the spell by bursting out.
“Jon, we have to thank you for the pearls.”
“No you don’t, Bobby. It’s just me saying thank you to you two. Thank you for helping me and thank you for being my friends.”
“No. you don’t understand. Thank you, but you have to take them back. We can’t accept them.”
“Take them back?” Jon looked down at the boxes in Bobby and Billy’s outstretched hands. His smile switched off and tears welled up in his eyes.
“I don’t want them back. If you don’t want them, well throw them in the river or something. Please yourself, I don’t care.”
He turned and walked away from them. Billy ran after him and caught his arm.
“Jon. Wait up. Where are you going?”
“Get your hands off me!’ he looked down at the hand on his arm and pulled away from him. “Don’t touch me. Nobody ever touches me.”
Billy let him go and looked up at where he was looking up at the sky. One solitary black-backed seagull was silently circling around above them.
Bobby approached them. Jon had a strange look in his eyes, like a wild animal. They’d never seen him like this.
“Don’t touch me,” he warned. “If you don’t want to be my friends, well fine. It was never going to work anyway.” He started to walk away again, but Bobby stopped him, pleading.
“Jon, please. Please don’t go. Please Jon, we do want to be your friends. We very much want to. We love you, Jon. Please don’t walk away.”
He stopped and looked back at them. He was crying now. “I gave you the pearls. I gave you the best that I had. If they’re not good enough for you, then I’m not good enough either. I AM not good enough. You’re nice kids, I’m just strange. You don’t need me in your lives. Go back to your other friends, Boys, forget about me.”
“Dammit, Jon! Shut up!” Billy yelled. “Shut up and listen for a minute. We don’t have any other friends. Nobody likes us. We are the weird ones and if we can’t have you then we’ll have nobody – again.”
Jon stood still, looking at Billy. “Is that true?” He whispered. “You must have other friends. You must have lots of friends.”
“We don’t. We’ve got a few acquaintances, like Dee, but we don’t have any friends. You get a name in a town like this and you’re stuck with it. Bobby and I are just the geeks – we’re the dweebs that everyone picks on and makes fun of. We don’t have any friends, we never have had any, except for you.”
“He’s right you know,” said Bobby. “Socially, we’re the bottom of the heap. Whenever they picking people for sports teams or whatever, we’re always the last two idiots standing there while they argue over who has to take us.”
“Right,” Billy agreed. “Our usual position in any game is Left, Right, Out. People are even barking at us at school now.”
“Barking?” queried their mother. She’d always known that her boys weren’t exactly popular. They never had any visitors at home, but she didn’t realise that it was that bad.
“Why would they bark at you?”
“Because they reckon that if Jon talks to us then we must be seals, or dogs.”
“Yesterday,” said Bobby, “when we came to your room that was the first time that we’ve ever been to anyone’s home and known that we’d be welcome there.”
“Yeah,” said Billy. “The first time since we ran away home from Chrissie Carver’s birthday party with ice-cream in our hair and no pants on. We were 7 and 8 years old.”
“I’m keeping the pearl. You can’t have it back. I’m keeping it and I always will, forever.” Bobby took his pendant out of the box and hung it around his neck. “Thank you, Jon. I’ll treasure it always.”
“Bobby, you’re not keeping it,” said his mother. “You have to give it back. You can’t accept it, it’s too valuable.”
“No Mum. I have to keep it. I don’t care how much money it is, or isn’t, worth. I’m never going to sell it anyway. It’s mine and it’s valuable because my friend gave it to me. Thanks Friend.”
Jon’s smile came back. “Thank you, Bobby. Thank you my friend.”
“Well! If that’s all it takes to make you happy.” Billy hung his own pendant around his neck. “I’m keeping mine too. Thanks Jon.”
He was rewarded with a big sunny smile. “Thanks Billy. I need all the friends I can get, and you two are the best I’ve ever known. Thanks Guys.”
“Now wait a minute here,’ said Mrs. Lyons. “We talked about this and we agreed. These pearls are worth thousands of dollars. You can not take them. You have to give them back, it’s too much.”
“No, Mum,” said Bobby, the stubborn one. “We’re keeping them. If we give them back, we lose our friend and I’m not going to do that.”
“I don’t like this, Jon. Those pearls, together, are worth at least $12,000.”
“I know that, Mrs. Lyons. That’s what Mr. Howard offered to buy them for.”
“Why don’t you sell them then? You could buy something else for the boys – a computer game or music vouchers or something.”
“I want them to have the best I’ve got. Only the best for my best friends. They saved my life, if they hadn’t then the pearls would have meant nothing to me anyway.”
“I think I’m starting to see the point,” said Dr. Lyons. “The boys did save your life, probably. But these are extremely generous gifts, Son. You’re not rich you know.’
“But I am rich, Dr. Lyons. I have an income which is more than enough for my needs. I have my health – well, sort-of, I’ll get better. I have somewhere to live. I have my freedom. But best of all I have friends, lots of friends and especially I have my best friends who love me and I love them. There is nothing else that I need or want. I am very rich.”
“Okay, Son. You are rich. Anyone who is happy with what he has is rich.”
Dr. Lyons reached out to touch him on the shoulder, but Jon pulled away, saying. “Don’t touch me.”
They all looked up at where he was looking again. The seagull was still circling above them.
“I don’t mean to be offensive, but please don’t touch me. You wouldn’t if I had a guard-dog next to me.”
They all looked back up at the seagull. Mrs. Lyons shuddered. A guard-bird? This kid was weird.
When the boys went home, they took their pearls with them. Life was good.
Eventually, Billy stood and picked up his bag,. “Come on, Bobby. On your feet, it’s time we were going. We’ve got to go, Jon. Mum doesn’t know where we are, though she can probably guess. Time we got home anyway. We don’t want to get grounded. We’ll see you tomorrow, okay?”
“Yeah, I guess.” Jon got to his feet. “You’d better go. Don’t get grounded. Great to see you guys, as always. So, I’ll see you tomorrow.”
Bobby got off the bed and stood in front of him. “I wish we didn’t have to leave. Can I have a hug?”
“I don’t know if we should do that, Bobby.”
“Oh, come on, Man. It’s just a hug. I’m not going to rape you – not yet anyway.”
“Not ever, my Friend. Come on then.”
They hugged, warmly but chastely. Then Billy stepped up for one as well. They said their goodbyes and left. Jon was going to go downstairs to see them off, but they insisted that he stay where he was. He was meant to be resting.
“Goodbye Jon. Take care. I love you.”
“Get out of here, Bobby. But, yeah, I love you too, both of you. Now go.”
He did go downstairs later. Sherry and Jacquie wanted him to come down and eat with them, if he could manage. He managed. He didn’t stay long, he was still tired, so he went back up and went to bed early.
Next morning, Jon rose, dressed, dug a small package out of his suitcase and went uptown to the jeweler’s shop. From there he went to the bank to draw out some cash. Everywhere he went people were stopping and greeting him and asking after his health; which was nice, but it slowed him down.
There was a lot more money than he had expected in his bank account. The ‘twins’’ grandfather had deposited a generous payment for the shark’s carcass. That was a surprise.
On his way back down the street, he called into the Supermarket to say hello and to tell them that he’d be back soon. Everyone there was delighted to see him, including the customers. It took some time, but finally David Craddock escorted him out of the door.
“Go home, Boy. It’s great to see you, but you need to rest and recover. Go home.”
In the afternoon, he went back to the jeweler’s shop, paid for the work that he’d had done and collected a small package. He walked around into Brigham Street and headed out to the edge of the town – a long walk.
Britannia Square lay basking in the sunshine but it was all quiet – nobody was there. They must have all been in school or at work.
At the end of Brigham Street, where the road crossed the bridge over the Williamson River, he turned back into Williamson Road and walked along there.
‘Williamson Road and River? I wonder who they were named for.’
He found and went into the wide, concrete driveway of no.86 Williamson Road – the Lyon’s family home. It was a big, single-storied and cream-painted, tile-roofed house. He walked up and the automatic door-bell rang as he approached it.
The door was opened by a young black-haired and blue-eyed boy, but it was not Bobby or Billy.
“Whoah. Who are you?”
“Whaddaya mean, who am I? I live here, who are you?”
“I’m Jon. I‘m sorry, you took me by surprise. I didn’t know that there was another brother. Are Bobby and Billy here?”
“No. Big brothers are not home yet. They’ll be a while, they’ve got music practice. Hey, I know who you are – you’re the shark-killer. The ‘Lord of the Seals’, they call you.”
“Who have you got there, Danny?” His mother came to the door behind him. “Oh. Hello Jon. The boys are not here.”
“No. Danny told me. I just wanted to give them something. Would you give these to Bobby and Billy please, Mrs. Lyons, and tell them that I said ‘thank you’.”
“Well, you’re here now. You might as well come in and wait for them. They’ll be about an hour.”
“No thank you, Mrs. Lyons. I’d better get back home. You can give them to the boys, please. I’ll see them another time. Thank you, Ma’am.”
“But – you – well, okay. Please yourself then. Goodbye Jon.”
Mrs. Lyons closed the door and leant back against it. ‘Ma’am? When did I join the older generation?’
She looked at the small bag in her hands. ‘Gemtime Jewellers? Nothing comes cheap from there.’
The strange kid seemed nice enough, polite anyway, but what was he bringing her boys packages from Gemtime Jewellers for? To say thank you, she supposed. For picking him up on the beach and everything. But, what was in here? It wasn’t very big, whatever it was.
She opened the bag and peeked inside. Ring boxes! Two plush-covered ring boxes. He wasn’t giving them rings, was he? That didn’t seem right.
She sat at the kitchen table looking at the bag, and then she took the boxes out and opened them both. She was the mother. She had the right, didn’t she?
The boxes and their contents were identical, but they weren’t rings. Each box contained a small, plain pendant on a gold chain. Jewellery? For boys? They were small black balls, about the size of a large marble. Each was in an ornate gold clasp and hanging on a chain. They were identical – absolutely the same.
When she held them up to the light, she could see that they were glossy and pearl-like. They gleamed with all the colours of the rainbow chasing across their black surfaces. They were beautiful things, but what were they? Pearls? You get black pearls, don’t you? Rarely, but it happens.
These were expensive gifts whatever they were. Bill would know; her husband knew these things. She put the boxes back in the bag and put them away out of sight. After the boys came home, she waited until their father was there and then brought the boxes out and gave them to them.
“That Jon was here before, when you were still at music. He left these and said to tell you thanks.”
“Cool. Presents!” Billy grabbed his and opened it. “What’s this? A necklace?”
“There was no need for him to do that.” Bobby took his and opened it. “Oh, wow! It’s beautiful.”
“I’m not wearing a friggin’ necklace,” Billy said. “But, you’re right. It is beautiful.”
“What have you got there, Boys? Let me have a look.” Their father held out his hands and took the pendants in their boxes.
“Bloody hell!” he exclaimed. “These are black pearls! A matched pair of black pearls. Jon left these for Billy and Bobby?”
“He did,” said Mrs. Lyons. “He said to give them to them and to say thank you from him. I thought that they might be pearls, but they’re black. Are they real? They must have been expensive if they’re real.”
“Expensive? A pair of black pearls? Have you ever heard of the ‘pearl of great price’? Yes, they are expensive, bloody expensive if they’re real. Where did he get them from?”
“They came in a ‘Gemtime Jewellers’ bag. He must have bought them there. Do Howards sell black pearls?”
“Boys,” said Dr. Lyons, “I don’t know if we can let you accept these. I’ll just give John Howard a ring and see what he says.” He handed the boxes back and went into his office.
“I don’t care if this was expensive or not,” said Bobby, looking at his pearl. “This was a gift from our friend. He wants to give them to us and I want to accept it.”
“Hell yeah,” Billy agreed. “The dearer the better. A ‘pearl of great price’? Totally cool.”
Doctor Lyons came back and stood watching his sons inspecting their gifts.
“Well, Bill?” Mrs. Lyons asked. “What did he say? Are they real?”
“They’re real,” he said. “John said that the kid brought them in this morning and asked him to put them on chains. He offered to buy them from him, but Jon said no, that they were gifts for his friends. Boys, Mr. Howard said to say ‘congratulations’ and, if you ever want to sell them he’ll be more than happy to take them off your hands.”
“Cool,” said Billy. “How much will he give for them?”
“They’re not for sale, Billy,” said Bobby. “Not now, not ever. You don’t sell gifts.”
“But how much is he offering, Bill?”
“Well, whatever John Howard’s offering, you can guarantee that they’re worth more. But he said $5,000.”
“Five thousand dollars! For a pair of black pearls? Wow! They are valuable,” said Mrs. Lyons.
“No, dear,” Bill smiled. “$5,000 each or $12,000 for the pair of them.”
“Twelve THOUSAND dollars!” exclaimed Mrs. Lyons. “Fucking hell! Sorry, but that’s an awful lot of money. Where did a Supermarket stock-boy get his hands on pearls worth $12,000?”
“$12,000 or more, probably a lot more. John said that the boy told him that he got them from oysters – wild, deep-sea oysters. He said that he used to have a bag-full of pearls. That’s what he’s been living on. But these two were the last ones left and the only black ones that he’s seen. 12, 15, 20,000, who knows? I’m sorry, Boys, but you can not accept these. You’ll have to give them back.”
“No way!” said Billy. “Nobody made him. If Jon wants to give these to us, then we want to accept them.”
“No, Billy,” said Bobby. “Mum’s right, it’s too much. We have to give them back”
“But I want it. These things could help put us through university. Why can’t we take them?”
“Because it’s too much. They are really great, but they’re too valuable. I’d be happy with the chain, or the box, but we can’t accept the pearls. Jon’s not a millionaire, he’s just a stock-boy, a basic-wage worker.”
“Yeah. I suppose you’re right. But, damm! What a gift!”
“Come on then,’ said their father. “Everybody in the car and we’ll go and give them back now. You have to tell him, “Thanks but no thanks.””
Around at the Beachhouse, they were starting up the stairs when they met Sherry on her way down.
“Hello Doctor, Claire. The whole family’s here I see. If you’re looking for Jon, he’s not up there. He’s over at the wharf, down by the river.”
“What is he doing at the river? I told him that he is not to swim – not until he’s got all those dressings off him.”
“If you told him that he’s not to go swimming, I’m pretty sure that he won’t be. I think he’s just sitting on the wharf, or rather, he was hanging off the ladder when I last saw him.”
“We’ll go over to the wharf then,” said Bobby.
“Yeah,” Billy agreed. “Come on Dad, Mum. We know where he’ll be – he showed us the ladder.”
They walked over to the wharf and looked down at the river. Jon was down there, at the bottom of the ladder, and something – several somethings – dived into the river as soon as they appeared. There were ripples on the surface.
Mrs. Lyons shook her head. The kid was weird! Her dad wouldn’t be happy if he was encouraging seals to come up the river now.
“Jon, hey!” Billy called down to him. He looked up and beamed his killer smile when he saw them.
“Hey Guys.” Jon climbed up the ladder, slower than he usually did. When he reached the top, he greeted the other members of the Lyons family.
“Hey Doctor Lyons, Mrs. Lyons. What are you doing here?”
Mrs. Lyons frowned at this weird kid. “The question is, what are you doing here? What were you doing down there? Were you talking with the seals?”
“Talking to the seals?” He grinned and then got serious. “No, Ma’am, I don’t talk to seals. They’re just animals, not people.”
“What were you doing then?”
“I was . . umm . .I was just showing them that I’m still alive. It’s . . ah, well, it’s complicated.”
All four Lyons stood looking at this strange kid. Complicated was a good word for him. Bobby broke the spell by bursting out.
“Jon, we have to thank you for the pearls.”
“No you don’t, Bobby. It’s just me saying thank you to you two. Thank you for helping me and thank you for being my friends.”
“No. you don’t understand. Thank you, but you have to take them back. We can’t accept them.”
“Take them back?” Jon looked down at the boxes in Bobby and Billy’s outstretched hands. His smile switched off and tears welled up in his eyes.
“I don’t want them back. If you don’t want them, well throw them in the river or something. Please yourself, I don’t care.”
He turned and walked away from them. Billy ran after him and caught his arm.
“Jon. Wait up. Where are you going?”
“Get your hands off me!’ he looked down at the hand on his arm and pulled away from him. “Don’t touch me. Nobody ever touches me.”
Billy let him go and looked up at where he was looking up at the sky. One solitary black-backed seagull was silently circling around above them.
Bobby approached them. Jon had a strange look in his eyes, like a wild animal. They’d never seen him like this.
“Don’t touch me,” he warned. “If you don’t want to be my friends, well fine. It was never going to work anyway.” He started to walk away again, but Bobby stopped him, pleading.
“Jon, please. Please don’t go. Please Jon, we do want to be your friends. We very much want to. We love you, Jon. Please don’t walk away.”
He stopped and looked back at them. He was crying now. “I gave you the pearls. I gave you the best that I had. If they’re not good enough for you, then I’m not good enough either. I AM not good enough. You’re nice kids, I’m just strange. You don’t need me in your lives. Go back to your other friends, Boys, forget about me.”
“Dammit, Jon! Shut up!” Billy yelled. “Shut up and listen for a minute. We don’t have any other friends. Nobody likes us. We are the weird ones and if we can’t have you then we’ll have nobody – again.”
Jon stood still, looking at Billy. “Is that true?” He whispered. “You must have other friends. You must have lots of friends.”
“We don’t. We’ve got a few acquaintances, like Dee, but we don’t have any friends. You get a name in a town like this and you’re stuck with it. Bobby and I are just the geeks – we’re the dweebs that everyone picks on and makes fun of. We don’t have any friends, we never have had any, except for you.”
“He’s right you know,” said Bobby. “Socially, we’re the bottom of the heap. Whenever they picking people for sports teams or whatever, we’re always the last two idiots standing there while they argue over who has to take us.”
“Right,” Billy agreed. “Our usual position in any game is Left, Right, Out. People are even barking at us at school now.”
“Barking?” queried their mother. She’d always known that her boys weren’t exactly popular. They never had any visitors at home, but she didn’t realise that it was that bad.
“Why would they bark at you?”
“Because they reckon that if Jon talks to us then we must be seals, or dogs.”
“Yesterday,” said Bobby, “when we came to your room that was the first time that we’ve ever been to anyone’s home and known that we’d be welcome there.”
“Yeah,” said Billy. “The first time since we ran away home from Chrissie Carver’s birthday party with ice-cream in our hair and no pants on. We were 7 and 8 years old.”
“I’m keeping the pearl. You can’t have it back. I’m keeping it and I always will, forever.” Bobby took his pendant out of the box and hung it around his neck. “Thank you, Jon. I’ll treasure it always.”
“Bobby, you’re not keeping it,” said his mother. “You have to give it back. You can’t accept it, it’s too valuable.”
“No Mum. I have to keep it. I don’t care how much money it is, or isn’t, worth. I’m never going to sell it anyway. It’s mine and it’s valuable because my friend gave it to me. Thanks Friend.”
Jon’s smile came back. “Thank you, Bobby. Thank you my friend.”
“Well! If that’s all it takes to make you happy.” Billy hung his own pendant around his neck. “I’m keeping mine too. Thanks Jon.”
He was rewarded with a big sunny smile. “Thanks Billy. I need all the friends I can get, and you two are the best I’ve ever known. Thanks Guys.”
“Now wait a minute here,’ said Mrs. Lyons. “We talked about this and we agreed. These pearls are worth thousands of dollars. You can not take them. You have to give them back, it’s too much.”
“No, Mum,” said Bobby, the stubborn one. “We’re keeping them. If we give them back, we lose our friend and I’m not going to do that.”
“I don’t like this, Jon. Those pearls, together, are worth at least $12,000.”
“I know that, Mrs. Lyons. That’s what Mr. Howard offered to buy them for.”
“Why don’t you sell them then? You could buy something else for the boys – a computer game or music vouchers or something.”
“I want them to have the best I’ve got. Only the best for my best friends. They saved my life, if they hadn’t then the pearls would have meant nothing to me anyway.”
“I think I’m starting to see the point,” said Dr. Lyons. “The boys did save your life, probably. But these are extremely generous gifts, Son. You’re not rich you know.’
“But I am rich, Dr. Lyons. I have an income which is more than enough for my needs. I have my health – well, sort-of, I’ll get better. I have somewhere to live. I have my freedom. But best of all I have friends, lots of friends and especially I have my best friends who love me and I love them. There is nothing else that I need or want. I am very rich.”
“Okay, Son. You are rich. Anyone who is happy with what he has is rich.”
Dr. Lyons reached out to touch him on the shoulder, but Jon pulled away, saying. “Don’t touch me.”
They all looked up at where he was looking again. The seagull was still circling above them.
“I don’t mean to be offensive, but please don’t touch me. You wouldn’t if I had a guard-dog next to me.”
They all looked back up at the seagull. Mrs. Lyons shuddered. A guard-bird? This kid was weird.
When the boys went home, they took their pearls with them. Life was good.
6 comments:
think this time we have a magical boy in town, what a life lesson he teaches the grown ups and hey it may be "just animals" but how does he communicate with the seals and the seagull? Guess we will learn about that in the next chapters...
Great one again,
Joah!!
Let's hope so, Joah.
I love the way David uses sunny as an adjective to describe smiles. Billy had one too.
Alastair
P.S. Joah, does all the blog stuff (the titles and captions, etc.) appear in Dutch for you?
Another great chapter, David. Good to see Jon up and about. Quite interesting about the seals and seagulls. Time will tell, I suppose...
Mark
Now there is a lesson on friendships! The 'pearl of great price'. Love it. Billy and Bobby are geeks? Please tells us how come, David. This gets more interesting as the story progresses. Thanks.
danny
Verrrry interesting, but sweet.
Jerry
Whoah! That was a big one.
Thanks Guys - you're great.
Moving on -
cheers
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