Kaimoana Tales, Gary

(I know! Be patient).

Mid-afternoon, the Tranz Coastal passenger train arrived and stopped at the sea-side station in Kaimoana. That was nothing unusual, it happened every day. Some people got on and some got off. That happened every day too.

What was unusual was that one of the alighting passengers was a teenage boy, a stranger in the town, and he had no luggage, nothing at all, not even anything in his hands. He got off the train on impulse, he hadn’t intended to – just looked up, saw the sign and decided to get off.

He walked off the station platform and slowly strolled away, into the town. He walked up Station road, at the back of the beach, under the railway viaduct and around, back down and under it again and into the main street of the town.

He strolled along the short length of the business area, partway along the esplanade, and then turned and went back to a café in the main street.

In there, he selected a sausage roll and a couple of sandwiches, then took them to the counter and asked for an expresso coffee, no milk, no sugar. The lady raised her eyebrows and pursed her lips, but she said nothing, just served his coffee and rang up the sale. He paid with plastic.

The tables outside were full, so he sat at a booth inside and quietly ate the food and drank the drink. There were advertising brochures on the wall-rack by the table. He took a couple out and inspected them, and then returned them to the rack.

School had finished for the day, obviously. Small groups of uniformed teenagers were walking past outside. Two boys came into the café and went through to the back. He glanced at them as they passed. One of them smiled at him. He nodded and looked away. They were just kids, about his age – 16 years.

Finished eating, he downed the coffee and took the tray back to the counter.

“Thanks, Love.” The lady was preparing more drinks. “Just drop it there and I’ll get it.”

“Thank you,” he said. “Where do I find the Blue Pacific Hotel?”

“Turn right, outside, go up the street and a couple of blocks along the Esplanade. It’s back up the side street, third block down, I think. You can’t miss it, it’s painted blue.”

“’Kay, thanks.”

He went outside, followed directions and easily found the hotel. It was a long, sprawling building. Only the older, central part of it was two-storied. It was painted in several shades of blue and was set back, at the foot of the hill, one block back from the Esplanade. The front windows looked down the street to the blue Pacific Ocean, behind him.

He went in to check into a single room. The guy in there looked at him suspiciously, probably because he was a kid, on his own and with no luggage. But they did have a room.

He checked-in, for a week, with a fully-serviced single room with breakfast and dinner provided. The guy asked for payment in advance. He didn’t turn a hair at the asking price, just paid with plastic.

He signed the register, using his real name. all the other details he gave were made-up. Who was going to check? He did give his real age though, who was going to believe he was 18, he barely looked 16.

He took the key and went up to have a look at his room. He hadn’t asked for a room with a view, but he got one anyway – upstairs, at the front of the building and looking down the street to the sea. He’d asked, and paid for, a single room, but apparently he’d been upgraded because this was a queen-sized bed. That was okay. He wasn’t planning on sleeping with anyone, but the extra room meant that he could stretch-out. Choice.

The TV had multiple channels – the 4 free-to-air plus Maori TV and a selection of Sky channels. He was getting a bit old for the Cartoon Network, but there were still some shows he enjoyed. There’d be no need to buy a book then.

There was still some shopping to be done, so he locked-up the room and went back to the main street to find a clothes store. He needed new clothes for the week and a decent padded jacket would be good. The nights were getting a bit chilly.

This time, he was not going to be fobbed-off with kid’s clothes. He might be small, but he was not a kid and he knew what he wanted. He wanted plain, ordinary clothes that would not stand-out in a crowd.

Back in the street, there were still a few kids around, but none in school clothes now. The unwritten law must apply here as well – uniforms were to be discarded as soon as possible after school was over for the day.

He was pleased that those days were behind him now. One day, he might go back and finish school, or he might go to university. Maybe. He didn’t have to work if he didn’t want to. Money was never going to be a problem, thanks to Ron, he had more than he knew what to do with.

Poor old Ron. He won the lottery and lost the lottery of life. He died of cancer before he got to enjoy it. Actually, he didn’t really die from cancer, he never waited around for that to happen. When he found out that he had it and that it was too late to do anything about it, he tidied-up his affairs, sold his house, paid for his funeral, transferred everything to Gary, and then he hung himself.

The note that he left said that he knew that it was the coward’s way out, but he couldn’t face the long months of pain and suffering ahead of him when he was going to die anyway.

He was lucky that he was dead. Gary would bloody kill him if he wasn’t! He missed Ron. It was, kind of, nice to be wealthy, but he’d rather have his old mate.

There were only a couple of clothes shops to choose from, so that wasn’t hard. He went into the first one he came to. He wasn’t fussy, clothes were just clothes, but it still took a while. It was almost 5 o’clock by the time he’d finished.

He went back to the hotel and watched TV while he was waiting for dinner.

After eating, alone in the dining room, he went for a walk down to the beach. From the look of all the seaweed, shells and bits and pieces washed-up on the high-water line, it was true what the books said, sea-life was prolific around here.

He thought he saw a seal out in the bay, but wasn’t sure. Tomorrow he’d go and check-out the seal colony around on the headland. Seals were cool.

He watched TV until far too late. The porn channel was conspicuous by its absence. He stripped naked, showered and got into bed, naked as usual, alone as was usual now. He was never going to get used to that.

When he opened the drapes in the morning, it was wet and windy and probably cold out there. The seals would have to wait a day. He put some fresh new clothes on and went down for breakfast in the dining-room.

The cooked breakfast was great, but it was far more than he was used to eating in the mornings. He doubted if he’d want any lunch.

Afterwards, he went back to his room to watch TV. There was nothing else to do on a wet day. If it got too boring, he’d brave the rain and go out and buy a lap-top and some games. Maybe.

There was a break in the weather. The sky hadn’t cleared, but at least it’d stopped raining, so he decided to go and have a look around the town while he could. He didn’t get far though, he’d just reached the beach when it started raining again, heavily.

He ran back to the hotel. At least the wind was behind him, but he was cold and wet to the skin by the time he got there. That was not his brightest idea.

He went back up to his room and the door was wide-open. What was that about? He was sure that he’d locked it when he left a few minutes ago. He closed the door, quietly, peeled off his wet clothes and went into the bath-room for a nice hot shower – his second one for the day, but it’d help to warm him up.

He didn’t see the little round lady in there until it was too late. Well, she was down on her hands and knees and backing out the door. He tripped over her and fell face-forward along her back. She collapsed with the sudden impact, and lay spread-eagled on the tiled floor of the bathroom with a naked teenager on her back.

“Ohmigod, ohmigod, ohmigod!” he scrambled frantically back off her and sat trying to cover himself with his wet t-shirt, which seemed inadequate for the job.

“Sorry! Are you all right? I didn’t see you there.” He was so embarrassed!

She sat up, pulled her ear-phones out and looked at hm. “My fault, Lovey. I didn’t see you coming. I’m all right, are you all right?”

“I’m fine. It was a soft landing. Oh, damm! I shouldn’t have said that.”

“Why not? It’s true. I’m just pleased that you’re okay, it was my fault as much as yours. I haven’t got eyes in my backside.”

They sat on the floor, looking at each other. His face was burning hot, deepest red and getting redder. A big smile spread across her round face.

“I must say, it’s been a long time since I’ve had naked boys throwing themselves at me! You’re a very good-looking one too.”

“I, umm, I didn’t mean to. It was an accident.”

“Of course it was. A bit of a thrill for an old lady though.”

“You, ah, you’re not that old.”

“Oh, aren’t you lovely! Still too old for you, Lovey. Worse luck!”

“What?”

She sat grinning at him. Her bosom started heaving and she burst out laughing. He was mortified, but it was, kind of, funny now. He had to laugh back. They fed off each other and both laughed until they cried.

“Oh dear, oh dear, oh dear.” She got up on her knees, pulled a towel down from the rack and wiped her eyes with it. She handed it to him.

“Here, Lovey, this will cover you better than that wet rag will.”

“Thanks.” He took the towel and spread it over his nether regions. “But it’s not a rag. This is my brand-new shirt, I’ve only worn it for an hour.”

“It must’ve shrunk in the rain then.”

“Would it really? Damm.”

“No, not really. Rain doesn’t shrink anything. If it did, I’d be standing out there now.”

She stood up and offered him a hand. He got to his feet without taking it. The t-shirt dropped on to the floor. Both of his hands were busy, wrapping the towel around his waist and tucking it in to secure it.

“Glad we didn’t knock that bucket over or we would’ve been swimming. So, Handsome Naked Boy, you must be the guest, Stafford, G. I’m your friendly cleaner, Patsy Tanner.”

“I see. You’re the cleaner. That’s why you’re in here.”

“Course it is. I’m being paid to clean and you’re the one who’s paying. It’s a fully-serviced room.”

“So that’s what fully-serviced means. You don’t have to clean up after me, Ms. Tanner. I’m here for a week, I can take care of it myself.”

“Don’t be silly, it’s my job and you’ve already paid for it. And, it’s Mrs.”

“Pardon?”

“It’s Mrs. Tanner, Not Ms. I’m a Mrs., and I’m proud of it. On second thoughts, I think you’d better call me Patsy. It’s a bit late to be formal when we’ve been rolling around on the floor together.”

“I guess. Hey, Patsy. Nice to meet you. I’m Gary – Gary Stafford.”

“Nice to see you, Gary,” she smiled. “Very nice. Where are you from?”

“Oh, up North,” he replied.

“A man of mystery, eh? Don’t worry about me, I’m far too nosy. My kids tell me that all the time.”

Gary stood smiling easily. He liked this lady. She was comfortable and easy to be around.

“Now you’d better get into the shower, alone this time. Throw whatever clothes you want washed into the basket there and I’ll take care of them.”

“You’d do that?”

“Of course. All part of the service, M’Lord.”

“Thanks.”

“No problems, Lovey. Are you getting in the shower now?”

“No, ah, I’ll just wait until you’ve done.”

“Okay. I’ll be out here in a minute. Sit yourself down over there and try to look decent. You don’t make much mess, do you?”

“I haven’t been here for a whole day yet, give me time,” Gary grinned.

“You wouldn’t believe how much mess some people can make in a day. Proper pigs some of them are. You’re not like that. I should take you home and you could show my boys how it’s done. They’re shockers.”

“Really?”

“No, not really. They’re not that bad, I just like complaining. Where’s your mum?”

“I haven’t got one.”

“You haven’t? That’s sad, every boy needs a mum.”

“I get by.”

“You shouldn’t have to. Where’s your dad then?”

“I haven’t got one of those either.”

“No parents at all? Who looks after you?”

“Nobody. I look after myself.”

“Oh, Sweetheart. That’s just not right. A young boy like you should be with his family, you only get to be a kid once.”

“I hope you’re right. The sooner I’m finished being a kid, the better.”

“What happened with your parents, Lovey?”

“Nothing happened. They just decided that they don’t want to be my parents any more and they threw me out.”

“They what? That’s awful. How could any parents do that?”

“Mine could. They didn’t like me.”

That’s not natural. Parents should love their kids no matter what.”

“Maybe they should, but they don’t always, especially when the kids are gay.”

“Oh, you’re gay? That’s not something I’ve ever had to face with my kids. They’ve got their problems, but that’s not one of them. Your parents are bastards, Gary Stafford. If a boy’s gay then he needs support not rejection. It’s not like anyone would chose to be gay.”

“Thanks, Patsy. You’re all right. Pity my parents weren’t more like you.”

“Oh yes! Those brats of mine don’t know how lucky they are. But, how do you get on for money? You’re not on the game, are you? Not that it’s any of my business, but that’s a dangerous world.”

“No, I’ve never had to sell my body. I wouldn’t do that. I had an old friend, Ron. He took me in and looked after me.”

“Good for him. Where is he now?”

“He died. He had cancer.”

“Shit! Sorry, but that’s awful. So now you’re on your own again?”

“Yes, I am, but I’m okay. Ron’s still looking after me. He left me all the money he had, and he had a lot.”

“A lot of money?”

“Yes. More than enough for me.”

“It must be a lot if you’re staying hotels and buying new clothes. Tell me to mind my own business now.”

“No, I wouldn’t do that. You’re not just being nosy and it’s good to talk to someone.”

“Sure it is. It’s not right for a young boy to be all alone, no matter how much money he’s got. Your family were a dead loss. You’ll just have to get yourself another one. I’d better move on, Lovey. I’m not getting paid to talk to you. Maybe I’ll see you tomorrow.”

“Yeah, that’d be good. Thanks, Patsy.”

“Bye, Gary. Stay out of trouble.”

“I will. ‘Bye.”