Kaimoana Tales, Riley 9

(That line in the distance is the Peninsular. South Bay is on this side, the town on the other.)

At first he thought that there was no-one at home again, but there was. The de Groots’ small house was all in darkness, but there were some chinks of light showing and the chimney was smoking, so they had the fire going.

There was no door at the front of the house, so he had to go around to the back. It was really dark back there with the lush gardens all around and the dark, steep hill rearing up behind.

He stopped by the door and wondered whether this was a good idea, maybe he should come back tomorrow? But the outside light came on, the door opened and Mrs. de Groot looked out.

“Oh,” she smiled. “It’s you, Riley. Have you come to see Peter? Come on in.”

She was obviously getting ready to go to bed. Her hair was tied-up and she had a dressing-gown on.

“Hello Mrs. de Groot. I’m sorry, I didn’t realise that it was getting so late. I don’t want to disturb you; I’ll come back tomorrow.”

“Don’t be silly, Riley It is not that late and you’re not disturbing us. It’s lovely to see you. Come in.”

“Well, okay, thanks. I’ll just stay a few minutes.”

“You stay as long as you like. Peter is in bed, but he is not sleeping, just reading his book.”

She stepped out of the way and Riley could see Peter grinning at him from his cot-bed at the far side of the room.

“Riley! Hey,” he beamed a welcoming smile.

“Hey, Peter.” Riley stepped into the warm, cosy and cluttered room. “How’s it going?”

“I’m good. Really good. Come and sit here with me.”

As he walked in, from the side of his eye, he noticed Mrs. de Groot putting a small baseball bat into its keeping place by the door. He thought, ‘Whoah! I wouldn’t want to mess with this old lady!’

“That was very good timing, the kettle is just boiling.” She went to get the kettle from its rack above the open-fire. “I will make us a drink. Would you like a hot chocolate, Riley?”

“Yes, thanks. That’d be great.”

He stepped over and sat on the end of Peter’s bed. He took a minute to look around the room. It was a big room for a little old house. It ran all the way from the back-wall to the front one and was probably half the floor area of the entire house. It was warm. A big driftwood fire blazed in the open fireplace and the floor was covered in rugs and scraps of carpet.

Heavy green velvet curtains covered the windows and there was hardly a bare space anywhere in the room. There were hundreds of books and old magazines everywhere, hundreds of ornaments, miniature paintings and scenic posters on the walls.

The kitchen area, a wooden sink-bench, cupboards, shelves, racks, a wood-burning stove as well as an incongruously new electric range, stood by the back-wall. There were only 2 chairs at the wooden kitchen table.

Peter’s bed, surrounded by book shelves and a writing desk, was against the front-wall.

It was all very old looking, cluttered but clean, warm, cosy and inviting. It was a nice room.

“So, Peter, do you, umm, always sleep in the living-room?”

“I do. I always have, ever since I graduated from the cradle. There is only one bedroom, so Mother and Father have that and I sleep here.”

“And you don’t mind that?”

“I don’t mind, I like it. We could put a curtain up, but it’s better like this. It’s nice to lie in bed and watch the fire when I’m going to sleep.”

This boy fascinated Riley. He had nothing and he was perfectly happy with that. One thing he did have though, his mother obviously loved him very much. That had to be worth a lot.

“You’re not still doing schoolwork at this hour of the day, are you?”

“No, Riley. This is not schoolwork, it’s just a novel. Mrs. Braidwood lets me have as many books as I want, from the town library. It’s funny, she says that I’m her best customer, but she never charges me for anything, which is good.”

“Yeah, that’s good,” Riley nodded.

Mrs. de Groot said, “Mrs. Braidwood is a good lady and she knows a good boy when she sees one. Librarians like to see people reading.”

“I guess they do. It keeps them in a job.”

Peter said, “Oh, she doesn’t get paid at the library, it’s just voluntary. She does it for love.”

“Yeah?” Riley mused. “There are some good people around. It seems to me that you’re surrounded by love, Peter.”

“As he should be. As he should be.” Mrs. de Groot came over and handed them mugs of steaming hot-chocolate drinks. “Peter is a very good boy and everybody who knows him, loves him.”

“Mother, don’t!” Peter blushed as only a fair-skinned blond can.

“Don’t yourself, Peter. That is true.” She went back for a plate of baking for them.

“So,” Riley took a piece of cake. He was famished, he just remembered that he’d had no dinner. “I came around to see you, but you weren’t home. Where did you get to?”

“We took a picnic-tea and ate on the beach, by the highway near South Bay. Father was passing through, driving a truck for his work, he didn’t have much time so we met him and shared a meal out there. It was nice to see him even if it was just for a few minutes.”

“Yeah, that’d be good. But how did he let you know that he was coming? You don’t have a phone.”

“He emails me at the library. I’ve got a free account on the computer there.”

“You have? Cool. What’s your addy”

“My addy?”

“Yeah, your email address. I could send you messages too.”

“That’d be good. I’m at peterdeg@gmail.com. What is your address?”

“I’ll send you a note, and then you’ll know. But it must’ve been cold, picnicking on the beach in the evening? It’s not quite Summer yet.”

“It’s almost Summer. We had warm clothes and we lit a fire on the beach. It was great! We took the hand-cart out there too, so we brought a load of driftwood home for the fire.”

“You bring your firewood home from the beach?”

“Yeah! It’s free and it’s good exercise too.”

“I suppose that it is. I wouldn’t want to do it though. Pushing a cart of beachwood through the streets would be embarrassing.”

“We do what we have to, Riley. You get used to it.”

“I don’t think I ever would.”

“A dollar saved is a dollar earned, Riley,” Mrs. de Groot interrupted. “Have you seen the price of firewood? I will leave you in peace, Boys. I’m taking my supper to bed. Don’t talk all night and, Peter, lock the door when Riley leaves.”

“I will. Goodnight, Mother.”

“Goodnight, Mrs. de Groot. Thanks for the supper.”

“You’re very welcome. It is always nice to see you. Goodnight, Boys.” She went into her room and closed the door.

Riley grinned at Peter. “Want to fool around?”

“You know that I don’t, Riley.”

“I do. Dammit. I do like your mother. She’s different but she’s nice.”

“She is. I love my parents, they are very good people. What have you been up to? Haven’t you made any friends yet?”

“Yes, I’ve made some friends, I think, but the best one is you. I really want to be your friend, Peter.”

“Thanks. I want to be yours too.’

“Then you will be!”

“Good. Have you met Ashton yet?”

“Yes, I’ve met Ashton Woods. He’s a really cool kid. He surprised me actually. He’s got everything, including good looks, but he’s a nice guy. He should be up himself, but he’s not.”

“Ashton is nice. There’s more to him than people think. He’s not very happy on the inside.”

“He’s not? How do you know that?”

“I just know. I look and I see. Ashton has a hurt, deep inside him.”

“You think? I don’t see that. Hell, if I was Ashton Woods, I’d be very happy. He’s even got a bloody Beamer!”

“Yes. His parents bought the BMW for his birthday. They like to show how rich they are.”

“They must do. But, how do you know about it? You don’t go anywhere or talk to anyone.”

“I watch, from the outside. People have been talking about it on Facebook.”

“You read kids’ Facebook pages?”

“I do. Facebook and Bebo. It’s the only sort of social life that I get. I don’t talk though, I just read.”

“Ah, Peter! We’ve really got to do something about your life.”

“My life is okay. It is what it is, and it’s better than it was – at least I’ve got one friend now.”

“You have. You’ve got a friend who likes you very, very, much.”

“So have you, Riley. Very much. What else have you been doing?”

“Not a lot. Oh, I met a caveman today.”

“You did not!”

“Oh, but I did! I met a real live caveman, or a caveboy, I think.”

“But how could you? There are no cavemen, are there?”

“There’s at least one. I put him in the hospital.”

“You what? Riley, tell me what happened!”

Peter sat wide-eyed, and listened while Riley told him about his encounter with the strange boy. He had no more idea about who he’d be than Riley did.

“You’ll have to come and meet him. He’s got incredible eyes, I’ve never seen anything like them.”

“It sounds like he made quite an impression on you.”

“He did, and he scared the life out of me. I’ve gotta find out more about him, and I will.”

“I’m sure that you will. It’s not everyday that you meet a wild-boy.”

“It’s not! Everyone’s interesting, but some are even more so.”

“Like Ashton.”

“Well, yeah, like Ashton. You really like him, don’t you?”

“I love him.”

(‘Damm! You poor kid.’)

Riley didn’t stay much longer. They cleaned-up the plate of supper, Riley ate most of it – he was hungry, Peter wasn’t, and then he said that he’d better be getting home.

“It is a schoolnight, and if I don’t show up soon, Mum’ll be sending out search parties.”

Peter got out of bed, looking oh-so-gorgeous in his skimpy shortie-pyjamas, and stepped across to see him out of the door. He didn’t have a boner – Riley checked.

“Goodnight, Riley. Thank you for coming to see me.”

“It’s always a pleasure to see you. Can I have a hug?”

“A hug? Sure, why not?”

They stood in the open doorway and hugged comfortably. Riley whispered into his ear. “I love you, Peter.”

“Thanks. I love you too, as a friend.”

(‘Dammit!’)

They said goodnight and Riley went home to eat and go to bed. He did like this town – so many interesting and gorgeous boys! Was he ever going to get one of his own?