Kaimoana Tales, Riley 16

Riley sat there, trying not to cry. He nodded. “Welcome, Colin. Glad I found you. You’ve had a hard life.”

“They have.” Mrs. S. stood up and she hugged one boy, and then the other. “You boys have had some rough breaks. I’ll do everything in my power to see that it gets better from now on.”

She returned to her chair and the laptop. “Colin, Jacob, thank you for sharing your story and thanks for coming to us. You did the right thing. I wonder if we should arrange counseling for you both?”

“Not necessary,” Jacob grinned. “Thanks, but we don’t need it. We’ve got each other and now we’ve got you and Riley too. We don’t need any more than that.”

“You don’t,” Riley agreed with a grin.

“Okay,” Mrs. S. said. “I’ve just got a couple of questions, and then we’ll leave it for tonight. First, you’re both very matter of fact about Jacob’s being gay. Did your father know that you were?”

“Yes, he did,” Jacob replied. “It didn’t bother him. We told him when we were 13, he said that he already knew and he’d always known.”

“Of course he did,” Mrs. S. said. (Riley was thinking, ‘WHAT??”) “It never ceases to amaze me how quickly people’s lives can come unraveled. I’m surprised that your father didn’t make plans to make sure that you’d be taken care of, seeing that there was no other family to fall back on. This step-mother of yours, what was her name again?”

“Janice,” said Colin. “Janice Lawrence. Lovely lady.”

“She sounds it. Does she still live in Ashburton?”

“As far as we know, yes. She might’ve moved on by now.”

“Maybe. How long did she live with your father before he died?”

“About a year, I think.”

“A year, and they were not married?”

“No, they weren’t interested.”

“Hmm. What’s the address of your father’s house? I could find it, but it’d be quicker if you just tell me.”

“It’s at 32A Shiel Street.”

She noted that into her computer. “Thanks, Colin I’ll look into it, but I’ll be very surprised if the house doesn’t belong to you boys. Tomorrow, we’ll find out. Now, that’s enough. What are the sleeping arrangements here?”

“I’ve moved into the back-room. Colin and Jacob are having my old room, there’s more space in there for them and they’re welcome to it, and the bloody drapes too.”

“The dreaded drapes. It’s time that we did something about them.”

“Gee, thanks Mum. You’ll fix them now that they’re no longer my problem?”

“Yes,” she smiled. “Life’s tough, isn’t it? I’m going to bed, you can do what you like, but don’t stay up all night. Tomorrow’s going to be a busy day.”

The boys didn’t stay up much longer. Riley wasn’t very tired, but he could see that the twins were, so he suggested that they called it a day and they readily agreed. Nobody showered, they just went to bed.

Riley woke next morning with a big grin on his face. Life had never been so good. He’d always wished that he had a brother and now he did – he had 2 of them! Choice.

They were nice kids too, he really liked both of them, especially Jacob, he was something else. Colin and Jacob, Coll and Jake, they were both nice to look at, which didn’t hurt, but it was more than that. He’d still like them if they were ugly, but they weren’t, they were gorgeous!

Even better, Jacob was gay and his mother had no problems with that. (‘Wow!’) That looked good for Riley when they had that talk. That had better happen soon. He didn’t think that Jake would ever be interested in him like that. He knew when he was out-classed and Jake was way too good for him, but they could be friends and that was great. Really great.

And, it was about time he was getting out of bed. Good that it was a holiday weekend, they’d have the whole day together. He kicked the covers off and crawled out of bed.

It was a shame that Peter was away for the long weekend. Where did they go to anyway? He couldn’t wait for Peter to meet his new brothers. He’d soon forget about Ashton once he laid eyes on Jacob! Oh yeah. Peter might even have a chance there, he was gorgeous enough, they’d make a beautiful couple.

He had a quick shower, and then came out to find the boys. There was no sign of them around; they surely weren’t still sleeping? They couldn’t be that tired, could they?

He put the coffee pot on and got 3 mugs out, then he thought, ‘Oh. Do they even drink coffee?’ He didn’t know. They wouldn’t have had coffee living out there in the cave, but would they now? There was still a lot that he didn’t know about these kids.

Their bedroom door was half-open, so he stuck his head in there to see if they were awake yet. They weren’t there. The bed was all messed-up and there was no-one in it. Where were they? Down in the café for breakfast?

He hurried down there. His mum and Betty were in there working, it was a busy day, but there was no sign of the boys. They hadn’t seen them.

“Oh, damm. Where would they be?”

“”I’m sure I don’t know. They haven’t been in here. Maybe they’re still sleeping?”

“No, they’re not. I looked in and there’s no-one there. Oh, damm!”

He ran back up to the house to check again, but they were still not there.

“Damm, damm and double damm! Where are you?”

He ran around the house, checking in every room, but there was no sign of them. They wouldn’t have run away again, would they? He couldn’t think of any reason that they’d want to. He sure hoped that they hadn’t. He went out the front of the house to check out there. The front-door blew shut and locked behind him.

“Bugger!”

He had no key, of course, so he’d have to go all the way around the block and back in through the café. He went out into the street and looked up and down the highway. Still no sign of them anywhere.

Getting panicky now, he ran down the highway down the hill and around to the main street at the bottom. Around the corner, and there they were! They were sitting at a table out in front of the Craypot. He was so relieved to see them. He ran along to them and flopped, gasping for breath, in a seat at their table.

Colin greeted him with a smile. “Morning, Riley. Just out for a run, are you?”

“No. I . .” he gasped. “I was looking for you guys. I thought you’d run away again. I went out the front door and it blew shut and locked behind me.”

“Yeah,” Colin said. “The same thing happened to us. We walked down here to get back in through the café. Jake’s just having a rest before we go up to the house.”

“That’s good. That’s real good. I thought I’d lost you.”

Jacob reached out and took hold of his hand. “Riley, we’re not going anywhere. This is where we want to be and this is where we’re staying. Until you kick us out anyway.”

“That is not going to happen. That is not ever going to happen. If Mum ever throws you out, well, I’m coming with you.”

“We’ll hold you to that. I don’t want to lose you, Riley.”

“Cool. I don’t want to lose you either.”

“Not happening!”

They sat there, looking into each other’s eyes. Colin took hold of their wrists and pulled their hands apart.

“I hate to break up this romance, but can we take it up to the house? I’m dying for a coffee here.”

“Yeah.” Riley snapped out of the trance he was drifting into. “Let’s go up to the house. I put some coffee on, it’ll be ready by now.”

They went into the café. Betty was behind the counter and she looked puzzled. “Where did you lot come from? I didn’t see you come through here.”

“We didn’t.” Riley lifted the counter-flap to go through to the back. “We got shut out the front of the house, so we had to come down around the road. Betty, this is Colin and that’s Jacob, on the crutches. They’re going to be living here now.”

“Of course they are. Hello Colin and Jacob, nice to meet you at last.”

“Hey, Betty,” Jacob said. “Umm. At last?”

“Yes, at last. You’re famous, don’t you know? The whole town’s talking about you.”

“The whole town can mind their own bloody business,” Riley said. “Come on, Guys, through here.”

“Mind their own business? Not likely!” Betty laughed. “See you, Boys.”

Back in the kitchen, Dianne looked around. “There you are, Boys. Don’t go running away. Dr. Stevens wants to see Jacob about the new leg, at 10 o’clock. I’ll be up, about 5 to, to take you up to the hospital.”

“Thanks, Mum,” Riley said. “But you don’t have to. It’s not far, we could walk up there. Better yet, if you give us the car keys, I’ll drive us up.”

“In your dreams! I’ll be up to get you. Actually, Colin, Jacob, do either of you drive yet?”

“Not yet, Dianne,” Jacob grinned. “But if you give us those keys, I’ll have a go.”

“You will not! Once you’ve go a new leg, we’ll see about driving lessons for you both. It shouldn’t take you long to catch up to Riley, he’s hopeless.”

“Thanks, Mum. Build my confidence up, why don’cha?”

“Just telling it like it is. By the way, Colin and Jacob both need new clothes. Harvey’s is open today, so, after lunch you can go and get new wardrobes for you both.”

“Thanks. We do need clothes, but we’ve got no money to pay for them.”

“Don’t worry about the money. The Welfare don’t know it yet, but they’ll be paying. I’ll cover it in the meantime. Get whatever you need, about 3 or 4 of everything, I think.”

“Very cool. Thanks, Dianne,” Jacob beamed. “I think you’re going to be the best mother we’ve ever had.”

“I hope so. It sounds like you haven’t had much luck so far.”

“I think our luck has changed for the better.”

“Yeah? I think ours has too. Oh, shit! Here’s that bloody reporter girl coming. Get up to the house, Boys, and stay there until I come to get you.”

They went out the back and Jacob started, slowly, up the steep stairs. Colin stood close behind him, helping him up each step, as he’d done the previous day. Riley hovered around, worrying.

“Is there anything that I can do?”

Jacob stopped and shook his head. “No, Rye, there’s not. Thanks, but go away. You could go up and get those coffees. I’ll be ready for one by the time I get up there. Wait until I get my new leg and I’ll race you up the stairs.”

“Okay then. I’ll go and get the drinks. Be careful!”

Riley ran up to the top and looked back. The twins were still standing where he’d left them and gazing up at him. Were they looking at his legs or something? He gave an embarrassed little grin, waved, and went inside to get the drinks.

It was such a bugger that Jake had lost his leg, well, half of his leg. Some kids get such a bum deal in life. It made him feel guilty about how cruisy his own life had been. Just the luck of the draw, but he really had to tell his mum more often about what a great mother she was. She was the best mum that any kid could have.

As for his father – meh! He was okay, he guessed. He could’ve been worse. He just had his own life and they didn’t connect much, they never had.

Still, even with his disability, (and what a horrible word that was!), Jake was a really cool kid. He so liked him. He was all-but perfect really. Shame that he’d never be interested in him like that because Riley surely would be interested in him. Ah, well. Such is life.

At least they were going to be brothers, which was good. One day, Jacob would get a boyfriend. Whoever he was and no matter what he was like, Riley was going to hate him. Lucky Jerk!

He put the coffee percolator, the mugs and all the fixings on a tray and took them out to the table on the deck out the back. They’d sit in the sunshine there and have their drinks. The twins could sort it out for themselves how they liked them.

Jacob and Colin were just coming up on to the deck when Riley went out there. He put the tray on the table and pulled a chair out for Jacob. He sank onto it with a sigh and rewarded him with a smile.

“Thanks, Rye.”

They sat and talked until Dianne came up to take Jacob to the hospital. There was no need for the other two to go with them, but they went anyway. They were all greeted there, like they were celebrities or something. Everyone wanted to know how the twins were doing. They were doing fine.

Dr. Stevens took Jacob in to the surgery and checked him out. He said that the new prosthetic wouldn’t take long. It was just a matter of returning the old one and swapping it for a new.

After that, she drove them all down to the café for an early lunch. “In the kitchen, not the café, it’s busy in there.”

Holiday weekends were no holiday around there. Riley, Coll and Jake were starving! They’d had no breakfast, which the mother growled about.

When they finished, they all thanked Dianne for the great lunch. Colin commented that their lives had never been so good.

Jacob grumbled, “They would’ve got better a lot sooner if you weren’t so bloody timid, Coll.”

“Hey! What d’you want? I’ve said I was sorry, a hundred times. I was scared, okay?”

“Leave off, Jake,” Riley leapt to his defence. “We are who we are and nobody can help that.”

“They could try!”

“Shut it, Jake,” Colin said. “If you’re so not timid, why don’t you tell him?”

“Tell me what,” Riley asked.

“Never mind,” Jacob blushed. “It’s not the right time, that’s all.”

“If you don’t tell him soon, I will.”

“You will not. Let it go, Coll.”

Riley was puzzled by this exchange, but he kept quiet. After all, he had things he’d like to say too, and couldn’t.