Peter & Ashton, 1

(Haven't a clue where this is going - but it's going.)

“Peter, my friend, I’ve made a decision. You’re not going to like this, but I don’t think I can see you again.”

“Not see you? You’re right I don’t like it! Ashton, why? What’ve I done?”

“Nothing! Really, it’s not you. It’s just not going to work with you and I and it’s best if I stay away. I don’t belong in your world.”

“Fucking Bullshit!”

“What? You know, that’s the first time I’ve heard you swear like that.”

“Well I’m swearing now and it won’t be the last time. How can you say that you don’t belong in my world? That is bullshit, that’s the only word for it.”

“It’s not at all, it’s a fact. Keep your voice down, Peter. Mrs. Braidwood’s looking at us.”

“I don’t care. Let her look.”

“If she throws us out of here, I’ll be banned for life. Mrs. Braidwood is your friend, not mine. She’d forgive you anything, but not me. She only puts up with me in her library because I’m here to see you.”

“Forget about the library, that’s not important. All that matters is you and me, nothing else. How can you say you don’t belong in my world? You are my world.”

“No, Peter, I’m not. Look, can we get out of here? We’ll go somewhere and talk.”

Peter looked around the one-room library, it was a busy day, there were at least 6 people there. Mrs. Braidwood, at the desk, and a couple of other ladies were looking at them.

“All right then, we will. We’ll talk and we’ll keep on talking until we sort this out. I love you, Ashton Woods, I’ve wanted you forever and now I’ve got you, I’m not letting you go, so you can get that idea right out of your head.”

“I think we have to let go, but, okay, let’s go and talk it out.”

Peter picked up his books, returned the reference books to the shelves, and said goodbye and thank you to Mrs. Braidwood. He went over to the white-haired and balding man sitting at the computer.

“Father, I have to go with Ashton. I don’t know how long we’ll be, so I’ll see you at home, okay?”

Mr. de Groot looked up and frowned at Ashton. “Why do you have to go with Ashton, Son?”

“There’s something we have to sort out, something really important, so I’ll see you at home later.”

“Very well, you go if you have to. Take care and don’t do anything silly.”

“I won’t, and Ashton won’t either, I’ll make sure of that. How is your problem going here?”

“Good, I think. I’m just waiting for a reply. Once this is settled, it will be all plain sailing.”

“You said that yesterday, Father, and the day before.”

“I did, didn’t I? It will work out, Peter. It’s nothing that you have to worry about and it’s not your problem.”

“I’ve got a problem of my own and I’m going to fix it now.”

He frowned at Ashton, smiled at Peter and replied, “Good luck then. Let me know if there’s anything I can do.”

“I will. Thank you Father. Good luck to you and I’ll see you at home.”

“The best of luck to you, My Son. Goodbye then.”

Peter turned back to Ashton, nodded at the door, and they left.

Walking out to the car, Ashton said, “You’ve got such a good relationship with your father, and with your mother too, the best I’ve ever seen. Don’t ever lose it.”

“I don’t intend to, Ashton, and I am not losing my relationship with you, that’s the most important one of all.”

“I wish I agreed, but I don’t think I do.”

“You will, My Love. You will.”

They got into the car and buckled up.

“Any suggestions where we should go?”

“I have. Take us up to the cemetery.”

“The cemetery?”

“Yes. It’s quiet there and it’s a good place to think about life.”

“Okay, the cemetery it is then.”

Ashton drove up to the hilltop cemetery, but when he pulled in there, they saw his mother sitting by Damian’s grave. He circled around and drove out again.

“We can’t talk while she’s there. We’ll go down the road a bit.”

He went back to the main road, down the south side of the hill and drove a few kilometers along the coastal highway. He intended stopping at Geese Bay, but there were a couple of cars there and people fishing on the rocks, so he carried on, through the road tunnel and along. He pulled into, and stopped in, the first quiet pull-off they came to, between the road and the rocky beach below. He turned the car off and turned to look at Peter.

“Okay?”

“Not quite.”

“Oh?”

“It’s a quiet place, but we can’t cuddle here. Come over to the back seat.”

“That’s not why we’re here, Peter.”

“That’s what you think! Okay, Ashton, you tell me why we’re here.”

“To talk about us.”

“Damm right, about us. We are a couple, Ashton, a pair. When I gave myself to you, I gave my life. Doesn’t that mean anything to you?”

“Oh, Peter! Of course it does, it means a lot, but I think you made a mistake. I’m not the one for you.”

“You’re talking rubbish! Of course you’re the one for me. You’re the only one I’ve ever wanted. Ever!”

“No, you’re wrong. You can do much better than me.”

“Have you gone mad? There is no-one better than you – not in this town, not in this world! You’re the best there is and I love you, now and always.”

“Oh, Peter. I wish that was true, but it’s not. Look, I had a serious talk with my father this morning.”

“Your father? Is that where this came from? You should know better. Your father is a bitter twisted man and he can’t stand you being happy.”

“Yeah, that’s true but . . .”

“But nothing! That’s all this about. There’s nothing he’d like better than to break us up. I know that and you know it too.”

Peter, don’t. Look, just listen to me, would you? Let me say what I have to and then you’ll know.”

“I know that I love you. Do you love me, Ashton?”

“Totally! Now, be quiet please.”

“All right then, say it, but whatever it is, it doesn’t matter.”

“But it does. Right, first of all, you’ve got a bright and great future ahead of you. Your parents both love you completely and whatever they do, they do it for you.

You’re a bright, well-educated and well-grounded boy. You’re also hard-working, stubborn, patient and determined. You don’t take no for an answer. Whatever you do in life, you’ll do well, I have no doubt about that at all.

You’re also quiet, considerate and a damm nice person. Whether that’s got anything to do with your upbringing, I don’t know – it’s just who you are. You’re also gorgeous, which always makes it easier to get people to like you.”

“That works better for you than for me, obviously.”

“Shush, Peter. We’re not talking about me, we’re talking about you. We’ll get onto me in a minute.”

“Sounds good to me!” Peter grinned.

“Don’t, please, I’m being serious.”

“Okay, keep talking, I’m listening.”

“Thank you. Anyway, as soon as you’re old enough, the plan is for you to go to university.”

“To do Commerce, yes. I’m going to be an accountant.”

“You are, and you’ll be a good one. Accountants are never without work and they’re well-paid wherever they go. But even that’s not the top of their plans for you.”

“I know the plans, I’ve heard them for years and they’re all part of the Plan. I am to get qualified, take a job somewhere, for the experience, and then start taking on accounts for small businesses.

Once I’ve built up enough work, I’ll go into business for myself, preferably around here. I’ll do the accounts for Father’s business, which hopefully will be up and running by then, and then I will become manager for it and maybe, one day, even own a majority shareholding. That’s the plan anyway.”

“I know it is, your father told me. I’m sure it will all happen for you. You’ll do it and you’ll do it well. That’s your future all planned out.

On the other hand, there’s me. I haven’t got a future.”

“What do you mean? You’ve got a future.”

“Not like yours though. I’ll be lucky to get a labouring job somewhere. I’ll probably finish-up living in a caravan or something.”

“You will not! If I have my way, you’ll be living with me, wherever that is.”

“I can’t do that, Peter. You are headed for the top and I’d only bring you down. I’m not making a career out of living off you, it wouldn’t be right. I can’t and I won’t do it.”

“In that case, my parents will have to find another accountant because it won’t be me. I’m not doing it without you, Ashton. I can’t and I won’t either. If you live in a caravan, I’ll be there with you.”

“You bloody will not! You’re not giving up your future for me.”

“I already have. You are my future, Ashton. What good is money if I’m not happy? I’ll only be happy if I’m with you. I love you, just you and only you, always.”

“Damm, Peter! You’re way too good for me. But, yeah, I love you too.”

He kissed him.

“Okay,” Peter grinned. “Thank you, My Love. Now tell me why you think one-half of this couple has no future, and I’ll tell you that you are wrong.”

“I’m not wrong. Don’t let this get around, but my parents are even worse-off than we thought. They’ve got nothing and there’ll be nothing there for me. They’ve got some huge debts with taxes and overdue business loans, word is starting to get around and they’re under pressure. Or, he is. I don’t think my mother’s even on the same planet since she’s got all religious.”

“Someone said that prayer is the last resort of a scoundrel.”

“Someone wise. Certainly true in her case. Anyway, he’s quietly selling-up all the businesses and stuff and he plans on going back to Oz as soon as he’s got things sorted. He might finish-up back with his mother in the trailer-park. He doesn’t know if my mother will go with him. She’d probably rather be a nun or something.”

“Is it really that bad? I thought that they were rich.”

“They’re not and it is that bad. He said that Suzanne can go with him, if she wants to, but I can’t, I’m not wanted. I’ll be out on my ear with no home, no money and no income. There’ll be no university for me. My education is over and I’ll have to get a job and stand on my own ‘queer feet’.”

“Whoah! Okay, that doesn’t sound good, but it’s not all bad you know.”

“It looks all bad to me.”

“But it’s not! You’ve got ways around it. Maybe they won’t support you, but you’ve got assets – use them.”

“What assets? I don’t see anything.”

“Only because you’re not looking. For a start, you can sell your car. It’s all yours and it’s worth thousands.”

“I was planning on that. I don’t need it, but I have to make sure that they can’t get their hands on the money. I’m still a minor.”

“I doubt if they could. Dianne will know, we’ll ask her. Anyway, you could sell it to me for a dollar. I’ll sell it for what it’s worth and keep the money for you.”

“You would do that? That would work, but that’s all I’ve got.”

“No, it’s not! You’re also good-looking, intelligent, bright and charming. You have charisma. They’re all assets and you can use them. They’ll get you a job anywhere.”

“A basic job, as a shop-worker or something.”

“So? Start at the bottom and work your way up. You won’t get a free ride, but you’re young and fit and you can do it. Of course you can. You can always go back to study later, there’s student loans and things to help people get started. When you’ve got a good qualification, you can pay it back easy.”

“Oh,Peter! You’re great, thanks. My greatest asset is you and you’re right, I can do it.”

“You can, but that’s not all. There’s more yet.”

“More? Like what?”

“Like, say we got out of the car and went for a walk in the valley up in the hills over there, and say I fell over and broke my ankle or something. How would I get back to the car?”

“Well, that’s obvious. I’d help you of course. I’d carry you back if I had to.”

“So you wouldn’t walk away and leave me there?”

“I would not! I couldn’t do that.”

“Then why do you think I’d walk away and leave you?”

“It’s not the same thing.”

“It’s exactly the same thing. If I need help, you’d help me and if you need it, then I’d help you. That’s what being a couple is about. If we are together, then everything we have is ours together.”

“Well, but . . .”

“But nothing! Are we together, Ashton? You said that we will be always.”

Tears ran down Ashton’s face as he sat and looked at him. “I’m not alone,” he whispered.

Peter kissed the tears. “You’ll never be alone. I love you.”

“Peter de Groot, you are absolutely perfect! I love you very much.”

They kissed tenderly.

“Okay,” Peter beamed. “We’re two halves of the one whole. Don’t ever forget that.”

“I won’t forget. Thank you, Peter.”

“Thank you too. Can we go back to town now? I’m hungry, but don’t tell Mother I said that.”

“I wouldn’t do that to you. Okay, let’s go home.”

Linc

(Just a short story - written as another experiment - no dialogue!

"Steatopygous" means having protuding buttocks. It's the coolest word & i've been wanting to use it forever. Now we have.

cheers)

Linc was new in town, and he was not happy about it. He told everyone who would listen that he wasn’t, but he had no choice. You don’t when you’re a kid, bloody whanau think they own you.

He wasn’t a kid anyway, and he wished that they’d stop treating him like one. He was 16 years old already! And he was a father. He was not a child.

The baby was nearly 2 years old. He’d been whangaied and was being raised by his grandparents. Linc never had a lot to do with him, but he was his father; it said so on the birth certificate.

They were only 13 years old when his dumb girlfriend got knocked up. He thought the stupid cow was on the pill, she told him she was, but she wasn’t. Obviously. She thought that she was too young to get pregnant. How dumb is that?

Anyway, they got in SO much trouble! Well, she did. Linc, not so much, as long as he stayed away from her family. His father put on a stern face, but really, he didn’t care. Privately, he was quite proud of his son the stud.

That was a first. Usually, he didn’t give a shit about him. They got on okay, as long as Linc stayed out of his face and didn’t get in the way of his hard-drinking life. Suited Linc, he never had a lot of time for his drunken father anyway.

They lived in a gang house and there was usually someone around to feed him. Kids are survivors, they learn how to cope in any environment.

His mother didn’t think so. She came up north for his kuia’s tangi, (grandmother’s funeral), and she was horrified to see how he was living, so she took her first-born home to live with her. He had no choice.

Really though, he wouldn’t admit it, but he was pleased to get out of there. Now that Kuia was dead, he had no safe refuge to turn to when he needed it.

Who knew when he’d see the kid, or its mother, again? It was no great loss. They were never in love or anything, she was just a chick to screw. He’d had several others since her, he didn’t love them either.

He’d never loved anyone, except maybe his Uncle Ricki, and that had turned out all wrong. The bastard had raped him when he was 11.

Linc’s father, and the bros, beat the snot out of Ricki when they found out. They put him the hospital and promised him more when he came out, but they never did. As soon as he could, Ricki ran away from the hospital, and he’d never been heard of since. Who knew where he was?

Pity they never dobbed him in to the cops. At least they would’ve locked him up and everyone knew what happen to Kiddie-fuckers inside.

So, he recovered from the rape, kind of. The worst thing about it was the betrayal. His kind and cuddly uncle had turned into a monster. And it fucking hurt! It felt like he was being ripped in half.

Weird though, until Ricki actually shoved that thing up him, he was enjoying it. It was kind of exciting and naughty. He never told anyone that; he tried not to think about it.

After the rape, his father’s woman of the month felt sorry for him and she took him to bed and fucked him so that he knew he was still a man. That was a bit of all right.

She’d never done it again, but he soon found others who would. He hadn’t been keeping score, but there’d been quite a few. Sometimes the woman was so out of it she didn’t know, or care, who it was fucking her.

He was growing up, taking what he needed, hiding in the shadows when he had to, putting on a staunch face, pretending he was a man, and hiding the frightened little boy inside.

Then, his mother came and took him away. It was a relief really, but he couldn’t tell anyone that.

His mother had grown up in the same culture. She was only 15 when she had him and he was about 4 or 5 when she ran away to escape from it. Kuia had refused to let her take him then, and she’d gone without him.

She’d had several other men since then and she had 2 other boys, his little brothers with a different father. She had no partner now and didn’t want one. Over the last couple of years, she’d cleaned her act up and was now totally drug and alcohol free, except for cigarettes. But, as everyone knows an alcoholic is only one drink away from being a drunk.

So far, she was doing okay. She had a good support system around her and she worked at it. Her life was on-track and she wanted to do the same for him so that he didn’t go down the same path that his parents, and generations before them, had.

He was far from stupid, and he knew that he should be grateful, but it’ not easy for a city boy to be transplanted into a small town. Whatever.

His little brothers were not going to be a problem, he made sure of that. They were only half his age, 6 and 8 years old, and he let them know who was boss. Oddly enough, they took it really well, they liked having a big brother. He’d never been hero-worshipped before. Quite nice really, but he wasn’t telling anyone that either.

Being boys, they were very physical, and they wanted to wrestle, play-fight and cuddle all the time. He had to put a stop to that and keep them at a distance. They were beautiful boys, but they were his brothers and far too young to do what his dick was thinking. He was NOT going there, so he cuffed them and kept them away.

He’d been there for a couple of weeks, settling down and starting to enjoy the peace and quiet when, to his horror, his mother’s sponsor decided that he needed to be in school and not spending his life moping around at home. Interfering old bag!

He fought it, of course. He hadn’t been to school regularly for a couple of years and thought that he was finished with all of that. But, he lost. He had to go to school.

They enrolled him and bought him books, pens, a calculator, a bag and a smart new uniform. He told no-one, but he thought he looked good in the uniform. He liked the long dark-grey trousers that seniors wore.

So, nervous and excited, he went to school and got the shock of his life – he liked it there. It was a small school in a small town, he was the new boy, exotic and exciting, and everyone there was friendly and welcoming – even the teachers! It took less than an hour before he decided that he liked it. He could stare-down any of the boys he’d seen and the girls were lining up to ogle him. Some of them were hot too!

One of the boys was bothering him, a bit. Lance Wilson was a year younger than him, he was in year 11. He was quite a nice-looking kid, but there was something soft and girly about him. He giggled like a girl. He was always smiling and always looking at him. Every time he turned around, he was there, grinning, and with that same hungry look he saw in some of the girls. This Lance kid was weird.

Apart from the weird boy, Linc liked the kids there, especially the girls, they were like fruit ripe for the plucking. He could do all right there. It was an effort not to smile too much. He had a bad-boy image to maintain and a scowl made people back-off and not get too close.

In the afternoon, when school was over, he walked home with a group of kids. Things were looking up, he’d never been popular before, but he could get used to it.

It’s surprisingly easy to get yourself a reputation when you’re new in a small town. Okay, maybe he did over-play it, a bit, but it was what they wanted to believe and it was mostly true. He did grow up in a gang culture and survived it. They didn’t need to know how relieved he was to be away from it all.

Within a couple of days, everyone knew that he was a bad-boy, a big-city hard man washed-up in their quiet town. Quite exciting and fascinating to think how dangerous he could be.

Yeah, that was over the top, it was all a load of rubbish. He was a big softie really, but he wasn’t telling them that. He didn’t mind the image they had of him, he could hide inside it like a snail inside its shell.

The other advantage of the image was the ladies. The girls were falling over themselves in their rush to get at him. This handsome boy, with a hint of danger, was a wild beast that had to be tamed.

He was a handsome boy, despite the scowls. He had a great smile and when he smiled it was like the sun breaking through on a cloudy day. So he scowled at, and frightened off the boys, but he smiled at the girls and melted their hearts.

In the days that followed he dated one girl after another and was never without a companion. Oddly though, he didn’t have sex with them. Well, not many. He knew that he could, he just didn’t want to.

There’s no challenge in chasing star-struck girls who are throwing themselves at you. There was only one girl who he really wanted – the one, of course, that he couldn’t have.

Lyndal Wilson was easily the best-looking girl in the school. Tall, willowy and blonde, she was hot! But, there was a problem, Lyndal was a virgin, no doubt about that. The guys called the Ice Queen and no-one even tried to get in her pants, they knew it was hopeless.

Really though, the Ice queen name didn’t fit her. She was a warm and friendly girl, she just didn’t put out at all. She didn’t come across like she was frigid or anything, she just wasn’t interested.

That was a pity because Linc was interested. Very, very interested. Maybe it was because of the challenge, but she interested him far more than any of the others.

Not only was Lyndal all wholesome and virginal and everything, she lived on a farm, away out of town. One of her parents, usually the mother, drove her to and from school each day. She was rarely seen around town, when she was, there was always a parent with her and her father was a scary man, big, dark and gruff. Linc was rarely intimidated, he’d known plenty of hard men, but this guy was something else, and he guarded his daughter like she as a precious jewel. (Which she was!)

The parents were not around during school hours, but there was a problem there too – her brother always was. Lyndal had a twin brother and they stuck together like they were glued or something. The twin, of course, was the soft and giggly Lance Wilson who was always grinning at him.

It didn’t take long to figure out that he could use that. Lance was not someone he’d normally want to be mates with, but if he was, he’d be able to get closer to the sister, and then who knew what could happen?

That seemed like a plan, so, for the first time ever, he decided to court a boy’s friendship. That shouldn’t be hard to do. Turned out to be even easier than he thought it would.

Waiting to go into class one day, one of the few classes that he didn’t have with his sister, Lance was being hassled by a bunch of bullies. Two of them, working together, knocked him down. One shoved him backwards and the other’s foot flashed out, tripped him and sent the boy, and his arm-load of books, sprawling on the ground. Everyone broke into mocking laughter which was cut off suddenly when Linc stepped in.

He stood between the crying boy and his tormentors and glowered at them. Like every bully everywhere, when faced with a threat, they backed-off in a hurry. Linc helped the kid to his feet, they picked up his scattered books, they went to class together and they were friends from then on. It was that simple.

His plan was working fine. Lance was grateful and Lyndal was too. She liked her brother and anyone who was good to him was okay by her. Their close twosome was now a threesome and they were getting on great.

His only problem now was how to ditch the brother? Maybe if he found him another friend to hang with? Trouble was, Lance only wanted to be with him.

Lance was way too soft and girly, he needed to harden up. Seemed like it was his sister protecting him from the world, not the other way around. Linc told the pair of them that he was going to toughen Lance up. Lyndal thought it was a good idea, Lance giggled and wished him luck.

They went to the movies one night, the 3 of them together. It was a cheap date, he met them there and they all bought their own tickets. He sat between the twins and they had a great time – just good clean fun, nothing romantic happened with the stern parents sitting behind them. Still, he had a good night.

The parents were suspicious of him for a start, but they soon warmed when he was introduced as Lance’s best friend. So that was good.

Lance was telling everyone that Linc was his best friend, which he didn’t mind, but it wasn’t the point of the exercise, was it? Still, whatever got him in with the sister had to be good.

He found that he was liking Lance more and more, he was a nice kid and innocent with it. That was a breath of fresh air in Linc’s dark world. He liked him and was glad to have him for a friend, even without the sister.

Lance was still giggly, smiley and girly, but it didn’t bother him anymore. There was more to him than that. He was warm, caring and attentive and he had a wicked wit. Linc had never laughed so much. He was also very, very bright, but quiet and modest with it. He’d never had a friend like Lance. He wouldn’t last 5 minutes in the world Linc came from, but he liked him.

They came to town one Saturday morning when their mother came in to do her weekly shopping. When they went home, Linc went with them. They spent the day showing around the farm where they’d grown up. It was a whole new world to him, he’d never set foot on a farm before. It was a good day.

He spent the night there, sleeping in the guest room, alone unfortunately, but it was a step forward in his plan.

The following Saturday, Lance came in to spend the day, and the night, with him. Another step forward. One day, with luck, Lyndal might stay as well.

There was a slight problem and Linc almost cancelled, but he decided not to. The thing was, his little brothers usually spent the weekend at their father’s place, sleeping there on Saturday nights. Linc had planned for Lance to have his room and he’d sleep in the brothers’ one. They didn’t have a spare room, he could put up with their smelly room for one night.

But the useless, lazy lump of a father cancelled at the last minute. He’d had a hard week and he was too tired to have them for the weekend. Their mother didn’t mind, she was never happy about them going anyway.

Linc did mind, they were stuffing up his plans, but nobody cared about him. There was no spare bed, Lance would have to come another time.

Then he decided, no, dammit, they weren’t stuffing up his weekend. Lance could come anyway. He’d have to sleep in Linc’s bed and Linc would sleep on the floor. His mother had an old sleeping-bag that he could use.

He was real glad he didn’t cancel. When he arrived with his father, Lance was all excited, like a little kid. He’d never, ever, spent the night away from home on his own before. Linc thought it was cool that he could make the kid so happy.

Mr. Wilson came in to meet Linc’s mother. He was obviously checking them out, but he must’ve been happy because he went off and left his boy there. He’d be back for him, late on Sunday.

They spent the day doing not a lot. The weather had crapped-out and it was cold and wet out there. It stayed that way all day. They just hung around inside. Lance baked a batch of cookies. That was fun – fun eating them.

Linc’s little brothers were being a pain. They hung around like blowflies and wouldn’t leave them alone. So he commandeered the PS3 and took it, and Lance, to his room and locked the door.

They spent the rest of the day, sitting on the floor together, talking and battling on the Playstation. Lance was good at it too, they were evenly matched.

He surprised him in other ways too. He told him things that he didn’t know. Lyndal was not a virgin at all. Lance was but she wasn’t, she’d done it years ago. She had a serious boyfriend and they intended getting married as soon as she turned 16.

Her parents, and his, all knew about it and approved. He was the son of the guy who used to pastor their church. They’d moved away but he was in daily contact with Lyndal on line. Lance liked the boyfriend, Lyndal loved him, so that was cool.

It was not cool at all! That stuffed that plan up then. He was so pissed, he, briefly, thought of telling Lance to go home. He decided against that. He did like the kid even if his sister was not available. They could still be mates.

Lance had a shower before they went to bed, so Linc did too. He didn’t usually. He couldn’t see the point of cleaning-up when he was only going to bed, but, for once, he did. They got some supper, took it to his room, ate it in there, and then got ready for bed.

Lance surprised him again. He’d expected that the kid would sleep in modest pj’s, but he didn’t. He stood, shucked all of his clothes off and slid into bed naked. Apparently he always did. Linc shrugged a whatever, unrolled the sleeping-bag, stripped to his boxers, turned off the light and got into the bag.

What was that line about the best-laid plans of mice and men? It was not going to be a good night. Sleeping on the floor was a dumb idea and he was never going to get comfortable. Who knew that a carpeted floor could be so hard? Also, the sleeping-bag was a cheap and nasty summer-weight one. He was cold!

He tried to be staunch, but it was not going to work. He got out and felt around for his clothes in the dark. At least they’d keep him a bit warmer. Lance sat up and asked him what he was doing? When told that he was bloody freezing, Lance said he could share the bed if he wanted to.

Did he want to? Hell, yes. So he climbed in with him. Lance moved across and left a delicious warm spot for him to lie in. That was much better. Their bodies touched. He was cold and Lance was so warm, he snuggled up against his back and draped an arm across to steal some of his body heat.

He was not into sex with a guy, and never had been, but, apparently, his dick had ideas of its own. It sprung to attention, nestled between the cheeks of Lance’s steatopyogous bum. It felt good in there, all warm and soft yet firm. Weird. It felt like his dick had come home.

Lance pushed back against him and wriggled, which snapped him out of the trance he was drifting into. What was he doing? No way in hell was he interested in sex with a boy! He pulled away but Lance moved back against him and put a hand on his back to pull him into him.

He wriggled again and Linc, with a mouthful of angry abuse and his choicest swearing, let him know that he was NOT interested. He climbed out of the bed and got back into the bag on the floor.

He lay there, fuming, cold and uncomfortable. He knew that he’d hurt his friend, but he didn’t care. The kid was a bloody queer! Then, as he calmed down, he heard Lance crying quietly and he felt bad.

He did care for him, just not like that. That was wrong. But, it felt good. Why was it wrong? It just was, that’s all. He didn’t want to hurt the kid, but he didn’t want to do that. Did he?

Old memories, long forgotten and suppressed memories, came flooding back. Memories of how it was with Ricki before he’d hurt him. They were good times. He used to like the cuddles and the closeness. Was that what Lance wanted with him?

The boy’s crying was cutting him up. He was about to get up and apologise to him when he heard him getting out of bed and searching around for his clothes. When asked what he was doing, Lance told him that he was sorry and that he was going home. He’d walk there.

Now he was really, really sorry for hurting him like he had and he didn’t want him to leave like this. He stood up and stopped him by grabbing and holding him. Lance was sobbing in his arms, so he did something he’d never done before. He kissed him.

Whoah! What was he doing? It wasn’t that bad actually, so he kissed him again.

Damm! He liked this. It didn’t feel wrong at all now; it felt good. He stood quietly trying to sort his swirling emotions.

Lance kissed him and he was surprised – surprised by the joy he felt inside. This was not wrong. His heart knew that this was very, very right.

He wanted this boy, he wanted all of him. He wanted to love and be loved by him. He lowered him back down to the bed and lay down with him.

He kissed him.


The end.

Wills & Dills in Westpoint, 11

Going over the bridge, William said, “Dills, those two back there, do you think they’re another couple?”

“Looks like it. There’s a lot around.”

“There is. I suppose they all stick together. Almost everyone around here seems to accept gayboys.”

“And why not? That Superboy guy is gay and everybody likes him. I guess if he’s accepted, that makes it easier for everyone else.”

“Yeah, probably. Watch you don’t lose sight of Speed Racer up there.”

“I’m watching him.”

“Anyway, if we do lose him, we’ve just got to watch for the red letterbox-drum, on the left, 25k’s from here. I like this town, Dills.”

“Yeah, it’s pretty cool. It’s the people who make-up a town. Our one is cool too.’

“Yeah, Kaimoana’s all right. It’d be better if we could get rid of those Griffins.”

“It would. I guess every town’s got its share of jerks as well.”

“Love you, Dills.”

“I love you too, Gorgeous Boy.”

Roman behaved himself and they got back to the house with no trouble. The dog was delighted to see them. Christian fed him before doing anything else. The kitchen fire was all-but out, Roman got it going again.

It was cold in the big room, there were no fires going in there and it was too late to bother lighting one. They sat around the kitchen fire, had a drink and talked until they all agreed that it was late enough, and they went to bed. (Not necessarily to sleep!)

It did rain again during the night, quite heavily, but the next day dawned fine and clear. They had toast and micro-waved porridge for breakfast and, after feeding the livestock, drove into town in both cars.

Dylan filled his car in preparation for the trip home, and then followed Roman across town to the racecourse stable where they locked it up and left it. They all got into Roman’s car and he drove north, out of town.

Over the bridge, they went past the cemetery, (“Dead center of Westpoint!”), through Fairfield and out to Waimarie where they turned off and went up, up and up, the long and winding road up the hill to Dennistown.

There was no town up there. There used to be a coal-mining town but it had gone. All that was left was a few relics of the glory days, some sheds and bits and pieces of defunct mining equipment.

However, there was a fantastic view back down the hill to Westpoint, shining in the sunshine beside the wide river. It was almost like looking down from a plane, they were high enough.

Christian said, “It snows up here.”

“It does?”

“It does. That’s why there’s no trees, we’re above the tree-line. On cloudy days, you can’t see your hand in front of your face up here.”

“Nasty.”

“Yeah, it is. That’s why the town died. When transport got better they all moved down to live in town where it’s easier and the miners commuted up here to work.”

William grinned at Dylan. “Cars are good.”

“Definitely! Great view on a day like this though.”

“Yeah, when it’s good, it’s good. We’ll go up to Seddon now.”

They went back down to the main road and carried on, north, through the small mining towns along the narrow strip between the sea and the steep hills.

Seddon was a small town, really small. It was a couple of k’s back up a wide river valley. There was a pub, a church, some widely-scattered houses, and not much else.

Roman said, “This was another mining town. It was quite big once, but now it’s just a shadow of what it was. A lot of it was flattened by the Murchison Earthquake, in 1929. That was the death-knell for the place really.”

William, sitting quietly out of the window, said, “It was named after King Dick, but I don’t think he ever visited it.”

“King Dick?”

“Yeah, Richard John Seddon. Born in England, he was Member of Parliament for the West Coast. He was the longest-serving Prime Minister and the last Premier of New Zealand. His party started Old Age Pensions, which was the beginning of the Welfare State.

He’s the one who first started calling New Zealand, ‘God’s Own Country’, it was his motto.

There’s a statue of him in Wellington, in front of the Parliament Buildings.”

“Oh yeah, a big statue up on a pedestal, with his hand up in the air.”

“That’s the one. I think he’s pointing west. Superboy’s statue, in the Square, does the same thing.”

“He is too! I never thought of that. Superboy’s pointing west in Westpoint.”

“It’s ironic, King Dick was at an Imperial Conference, in Sydney in 1906. Before he got on the boat to come back, he sent a telegram saying that he was returning to God’s Own Country. He took sick and died on the way home, so he did, in a way.”

“Damm, William. You’re bloody amazing! How do you know all this stuff?”

He blushed. “I just know. I read a lot and Dad’s a teacher, he tells me things.”

“He’s done a good job. Do you go to school, Dylan?”

“Yeah, of course I do. Year 12.”

“I don’t know why you bother. You could just stay home and listen to William.”

“I would, if I could.”

“Dills?”

“Wills?”

“Kiss me.”

“Anytime.”

He did.

“All right,” Roman turned the car around. “Back to town. Christian, call Ross and Robert and see if they’re ready to come home yet.”

They went back to Westpoint and had lunch at Billy’s Burgers, because they had to really. The burgers were good, but they were no different to what they’d get anywhere else. It was always good kai – Simply the Best.

Ross and Robert were both ready for home. It would pay to be there when the mother returned. So, Roman drove down to Coach Street, on the way to the North Tiphead, stopped outside Mary Lamb’s small cottage, and tooted.

A dishevelled Robert came out, pulling his clothes together and with his sneakers in one hand.

“Sleep well, Romeo?” Roman grinned.

“Shut up, Dallas.” Robert got in the back seat with Dylan and William. “Home Jeeves, and don’t spare the horses.”

“Yes, Milord.” They went back to the stables.

Roman said, “One of these days, Robert Mathieson, you’re going to get in SO much trouble.”

Christian agreed. “He is, but it’ll probably be one of these nights.”

“You can both shut the fuck up and mind your own. I’ll go home with these two and you can go and get Ross.”

“Okay. At Trina’s, is he?”

“Where else?”

Dylan said, “Do you want me to follow you to get Ross?”

“No, you just hit the road. We’ll catch you before you get there.”

“’Kay, see you there.”

William got in the back-seat and Robert rode up front with Dylan.

“Car’s going okay, is it?”

“Yeah, it is. Better than ever. Thanks for getting your uncles to fix it.”

“No problems, it’s what they do. It took my sister to tell the Dorks how to fix it though. Classic! They’ll never live that down. So, how was your night?”

“It was good. We didn’t do anything, just got the car, went back out and had an early night.”

“Yeah? I had an early night too.”

“I’ll bet you did!”

“Shut up and drive.”

Roman caught up before they were halfway back. He overtook them and was back at home long before they got there. He grinned when they walked into the kitchen.

“Hello, Ladies. Stop for a picnic did you?”

“Blow it out your arse, Dallas,” Robert growled. “It wasn’t a race. One of these days, you’re going to wrap yourself around a tree. Just see that you haven’t got my brother with you when you do.”

“Oooo! Love you too, Grumpy. Didn’t you get a lot of sleep?”

Christian said, “Cool it, Guys. Don’t fight. Who’s up for a swim?”

“Great.”

“Good idea.” Ross and Roman agreed.

Robert did too, “Yeah, okay. It might help keep me awake.”

William asked, “Where do you swim around here?”

Ross replied, “The river is just down the back there. We’ve got our own private swimming hole. It’s choice. There’s a log to dive off and there’s a great rope-swing up in a tree.”

“Sounds like fun, but we didn’t bring any swimming trunks, did we Dills?”

“No. I didn’t think we’d need them.”

Robert said, “Who needs swimming trunks? It’s a private place and there’s just us. We always swim in the nuddie.”

Dylan said, “You all swim in the nude?”

He looked at William “I think we’ll give it a miss.”

“Aww. Come on, Dills. It’ll be fun.’

“No, Wills. You’re not.’

Christian, ever the peacemaker, grinned. “Have to do what you’re told, do you William?”

“I don’t HAVE to, but it pays. Dills worries about me.”

“Dylan loves you.”

“Yeah!” William beamed. “He does, and that’s good. We’re not swimming.”

Roman said, “Come and have a look anyway, so you know what you’re missing. It is a very cool place.”

Everybody, including the dog, went down the tree-lined track to the river. It was a rough track, a car wouldn’t get down there; not even Dylan’s one. However, it wasn’t long and they were soon out in the sunshine on the river-bank.

The swimming-hole was in an old loop where the river had cut in to the steep bank. It was now all-but cut-off from the main flow by a low bank of round stones. A small trickle of water ran down into it and another drained the far end.

“Very nice,” Dylan looked around. “What’s the fishing like?”

Roman said, “It’s a good trout river. Great spot for fly-fishing actually. They say that the whitebait used to come up this far, in the early days, but they don’t now. We get eels in the pool too, it’s best after dark for them.”

“Yeah,” Ross said. “Tip a bottle of blood in the water and they’re everywhere. The buggers are like sharks. We spear them.”

“Do you eat them?”

“Sometimes, but they’re hard to skin. Usually we just kill them.”

“That’s a waste. You can slice them into segments and fry them.”

“Yeah, whatever. Still too much work.”

Completely unabashed, Ross and Robert, Christian and Roman stripped their clothes off and plunged into the clear water. They splashed and played and fought and wrestled in the pool while Dylan and William sat and watched.

William watched them, Dylan was more interested in the river.

“Dills, why can’t we have a swim? That looks like fun.”

“It might be too much fun. We’re not, Wills. We still don’t know these guys that well and I wouldn’t feel safe if you were in there naked.”

“You’re trying to wrap me up in cotton-wool?”

“I would if I could. You’re more than beautiful, William Scott, you’re perfect – a work of art, you’re way too attractive and you have to keep yourself safe.”

“You love me, don’t you, Dills?”

“You know I do.”

“Yeah, I do. I love you too.”

He kissed him.

“Okay, if we’re not swimming, let’s go back to the house and get the fire going.”

“Good idea.” Dylan stood and brushed the sand off his jeans. “We’ll get the room warm. They’re going to be freezing when they get out of there.”

“Yeah,” William stood up. “Their boy-bits will be all shriveled up.”

“Never you mind about other people’s boy-bits. C’mon Wills.”

They went back to the house and lit the kitchen fire. They didn’t know where to find the wood, or the axe, so they used dead and dry fern fronds from the Pungas around the yard outside.

Neither of them had matches or a lighter, of course, so William turned on an element on the electric range and lit a taper of newspaper on that, to kindle the fire. Dylan filled the bucket from the coal-heap out the back.

“Gas heaters are easier and cleaner than fires.”

“They are, but a fire’s nicer to watch. That probably goes back to caveman days.”

“Cavemen didn’t have a lot of gas heaters.”

“Shut up, Wills.”

They sat together, watching the fire. A dark-haired woman, in a smart business suit, walked in the back-door, dropped her bag on the floor and looked at them. “And who would you two be?”

They got to their feet. “I’m Dylan and this is William. We put our car off the road and Robert and the others have been helping us.”

“And so they should. Where are the boys?”

“They’re all swimming in the river. Do you want us to go and get them? And, you must be Mrs. M?”

“Yes, I must be. Don’t worry about them, they can find their own way home. It’s a bit early for swimming, they’re going to be bloody freezing!”

“That’s what we thought, so we came back to get the fire going.”

“That’s good. Is there any coffee in the pot?”

“No, we haven’t been using it.”

“Shame. I’m dying for a coffee. Those bloody little planes have got nothing on them. Put the pot on for me, would you? I’ll go and get changed into something comfortable.

Relax, Boys. No problems. You just surprised me, that’s all.”

She left her laptop on the table, picked up her bag and went to her room.

Dylan filled the coffee pot. “I guess we should be hitting the road soon.”

“Yeah, soon. If we leave it too long we’ll be travelling after dark again and that gets boring.”

Ross and Robert came in and hovered over the fire. “Brr, cold! I see Mum’s home.”

“Yes, we just met her. Where are the other two?”

“They’re busy. They’ll be back when they’re ready. Have we got coffee?”

“It’s coming, I’ve just put the pot on.”

“We should keep you on, you’d make a good wife.”

“Cheeky Bugger!”

“I’m not the bugger, I thought that was you.”

Robert growled, “Knock it off, Ross! We came back because the other two were getting lovey-dovey. Don’t start anything here. Hey, Mum. What did you buy us?”

“The same as usual – absolutely nothing. How are you, Boys? I hope you’ve been behaving?”

“Well I have,” Ross grinned. He got such a dirty look from his brother, he caved immediately. “Yeah, everyone’s behaving.”

Their mother looked at their faces. “I don’t think I want to know. How’s Trina?”

“She’s good. How’s the business?”

“Busier than ever. Who wants coffee?”

They all had drinks and sat around talking. Christian and Roman returned and got their own drinks. Mrs. M opened the laptop to check her emails. She sat quietly reading. After a couple of minutes, she looked up.

“Dylan? You’re from Kaimoana?”

“Yeah, we live in Kaimoana.”

“That’s what I thought. It’s a small world.’

“A small world?”

“Yes. I’m coming over there next week to see some people. Do you know the de Groot brothers?”

“I know Peter de Groot, kind of, but he hasn’t got any brothers. Oh, it must be his cousins, I think their name is de Groot, they’re new in town.”

“Abel and Jan de Groot, master bakers.”

Dylan turned to William, “There’s 3 cousins, right?”

“That’s right, but they wouldn’t be bakers, they’re just kids. I think Peter’s father is a cook or something. Maybe it’s him and the cousins’ father.”

“Could be, I guess.”

Mrs. M said, “Oh well, we’ll find out soon enough. How many have we got for dinner here?”

“Not us,” William replied. “It’s time we were going if we’re going to get home before dark.”

“You’d better go soon then. I could get you something quick and easy. There should be pizzas in the freezer, if the Gannets haven’t cleaned us out.”

“No, really. Thanks, but don’t worry. We’re going home.” Dylan stood up. “Right now, Wills. Let’s go.”

“We’re going to have to talk about who’s boss in this relationship, Dylan James,” William got up.

“Relationship?” said Mrs. M

“That’s right. More bloody gayboys,” Robert said.

“Robert! You know very well that there is nothing wrong with that! What is natural for you may not be for others.”

“Yeah, okay. Sorry Mum, I didn’t mean anything.”

“You’d better not!”

“Mrs. M,” Roman grinned. “Sometimes it’s very obvious whose daughter you are.”

“And don’t you forget it, Roman. Okay, Boys, if you’re going, go. It’s lovely to meet you and anytime you want to come back, you’ll be welcome here.”

“Thanks, Mrs. M. We just might do that sometime. Thanks everyone, you’ve made our visit a good one.”

“Yeah,” said William. “We owe you. Come to Kaimoana.”

“Oh, we will,” the others replied.

They exchanged addresses and numbers and the boys followed them outside to say goodbye.

“Wow!” William exclaimed. “Your mum’s got a new BMW!”

“Yeah, well,” Robert said. “It’s her work-car. Mum says that with all the time she spends on the road, she needs a decent and comfortable car.”

“Fair enough too! Okay, Guys, thanks again and goodbye.”

Roman said, “Wait a minute. Wait a minute. You don’t get out that easy.”

“Oh?” Dylan quizzed. “What do you mean?”

“We haven’t had our hugs yet.”

“Hugs?”

“Yes, hugs. Don’t you guys hug your friends? ‘Round here, everyone does it.”

“Well, yeah, I guess we can do that.”

They did.

They got into the car and left with toots and waves. The dumb dog chased them all the way out to the highway.

“Okay, My Wills. Eastward Ho.”

“Yeah, Eastward Ho. It doesn’t work the same, Dills. No-one said, “Go east young man.”

“It’s not the same. Thanks, Wills. It’s been a good weekend.”

“Yeah, it has, thank you. We’ve got some new mates and they’re good guys.”

“They are. We’re coming back here, and soon.”

“Okay, soon. Dills, as long as we’re together, I don’t care where we go or what we do. If we’re together it’s good.”

“It’s very good!”

“Yeah. Stop grinning at me and watch the road. There could be cows out there.”

“I’m watching. I’m watching!”

The sun at their backs, they went home.

Wills & Dills in Westpoint, 10

They went back to the car, walking around the corner where the art-deco clocktower building was. As they were passing the Westminster Chimes rang out, striking the hour; William looked at his watch.

Roman said, “Take no notice of it, William. It’s wrong as often as not.

Christian agreed, “It is, it’s about time someone did something about it.”

“Yeah, one day.”

Back in the car, they went straight ahead, across the main street to the parallel street behind it, between the backs of the shops and the quiet railway yard.

“Cement silos up there,” Roman nodded. “Obviously.”

“Yes, obviously,” Dylan replied. “What’s that big old building?”

Christian replied, “Impressive, isn’t it? Interesting anyway. That’s the old railway workshops. They shut down years ago and cost the town about 60 jobs, but they did bugger-all anyway. My father did his painting apprenticeship there, and learned to drink.

There’s just a couple of small businesses work out of there now, Billy's Burgers have got some of it, but the rest is empty.”

“It is,” Roman said. “They call it progress. That’s the old Railways’ Goods Sheds over there, they’re mostly empty too. The Railway Preservation Society are trying to get a museum going in there, they’re a bit late.

Railway station up ahead, and that’s all-but empty too. It’s all a bit sad really, this must’ve been a busy area once.”

Christian said, “Watch it, Roman. There’s the Dragon Lady backing out of the Adelphi. Bump into her and we’re in trouble!”

“We won’t do that then!” He swerved to avoid the car coming out into the street.

“The Dragon Lady?” William asked.

“Yeah, Mrs. Reynolds, Superboy’s grandmother. She really shouldn’t be driving, she’s as blind as a bat.”

“They should take her licence off her.”

“Maybe, but who’s game to do that? Everyone just gives her a wide berth, it’s easier.

The back street ended and they went around to and along the Esplanade to the bridge.

“What’s that big patch of jungle there?”

“That’s the Domain. It’s meant to be a park, but it’s just native bush with a few paths cut through it. The whole area was like that before they cleared it for the town. There’s a cool swimming-hole in the river behind it.”

“Yeah, it’s cool,” Christian said. “At least you can swim there. Swimming on the beaches is mostly just fighting against the waves.”

“Don’t fight ‘em,” Dylan grinned. “Ride them.”

William said, “Dills surfs. He’s going to teach me.”

“You’re going to teach the teacher?”

“Yeah, I am.”

“Good luck with that.”

Over the bridge, they went straight ahead, towards Carvers’ Beach. They passed a little old truck, heading into town with a huge load of straw. Roman tooted the horn and the two in the front smiled and waved. “Hi, Jinks!”

They got a casual wave and no smile in return.

“Jinks?” said William after they’d passed.

“Yeah,” Christian answered. “My boss, Mr. Jenkins. I’ll be shifting that straw next week. It’s for the stables.”

“Is he a good boss? He doesn’t look very happy.”

Roman said, “Jinks is okay. He’s a decent sort of guy, but you’re right, he’s not very happy. His live-in boyfriend walked out on him, years ago, and he’s never got over it, I think he never will. He just lives for his horses now.”

“Damm! The poor guy. Dills, don’t you ever walk out on me.”

“Why would I want to do that? I’m going nowhere, unless you come with me.”

“See that you don’t! I love you, Dills.”

“I love you too, even more.”

“Do not!”

“Do so.”

“Shut up, Dills. Shut up and kiss me.”

He did.

“Oi!” Roman objected. “Behave yourselves in the backseat. We’re giving you a fantastic guided tour here and you’re not paying attention.”

“We are, mostly,” William grinned. “What was that old bridge back there?”

“That was Marvin’s Creek and the old railway bridge. There used to be a railway line from town out to the Cape. They got the stone for the tipheads from the quarries out there.’

“Railways again?” Dylan said. “Are you a fan of railways, Roman?”

“I guess I am. My granddad was once stationmaster for Westpoint, back in the days when they had stationmasters.”

“The good old days?”

“Something like that.”

William said, “One day, today will be our good old days.”

“Very deep, William.”

“I’m not shallow!”

“You’re not, Wills. Kiss me.”

He did.

Christian sighed, “Much more of this and we’ll have our own adult movie in the backseat.”

“You will not!”

“Yeah, shut up, Christian.”

“Sheesh! It’s not me who’s misbehaving.

This is Carvers’ Beach. Go around the back way, Roman, past the Domain.”

They drove slowly through the new, and growing, suburb of Carvers’ Beach. A kids’ rugby game was happening in the Domain, with a crowd of parents and supporters, barracking for and abusing them.

“Rugby!” William snorted. “Stupid game. They should call it ‘Thugby’.”

“Someone’s not a fan,” Roman grinned.

“He’s not,” Dylan agreed. “Wills plays soccer.”

William said, “I do. That’s proper football. Why is this area called Carvers’ Beach, do Ma’s family own it?”

“They used to,” Roman replied. “The Carvers had a farm out here. It fell down because they didn’t look after it. Here’s the cement works coming.”

He drove slowly past the sprawling cement works complex. It was big, dirty and dusty looking. “How do they make cement, William?”

“It’s basically limestone with a bit of coke and gypsum. They crush it and roast it in the coal-fired ovens. All the ingredients are local, except the gypsum, that’s imported from Australia.”

“Thank you, Mr. Wiki.”

“Shut up, Christian.”

The car stopped in the park near the Tavern at the Cape. They all got out and looked down the rugged cliffs to the beach far below them.

William said, “Cape Foulwind was named by Captain Cook. He sailed past on a rough day.”

“He got that right,” Roman nodded.

“He did. They never landed, just sailed past. He called it a ‘land uplifted high’. He thought he saw farms here, with big grassy fields. He got that wrong –it was just the flat Pakihi swamps. Where to now?”

“We go up the track here, through the paddocks, around to the Cape. It’s a bit of a walk, but it’s worth it.”

They walked around the track, passing the small monument commemorating Abel Tasman’s first sighting of New Zealand on the way.

Roman said, “It was a bit presumptuous of the Europeans really.”

“What was?”

“Coming here and claiming that they’d discovered it when there had already been people living here for hundreds of years. It would be the same thing if you guys went home and claimed to have discovered Westpoint.”

“Well we did, in a way. We discovered it for ourselves.”

“Yeah, we did,” Dylan agreed. “And we had native guides too. Thanks for showing us around, guys.”

“No probs. We’ll send you the bill next week.”

“Yeah, do that. Just address it to ‘crime’.”

“To crime?”

“Crime never pays, don’t you know?”

“Ooh, he’s quick!”

“Not just a pretty face, My Wills.”

“Shut it, Dills.”

They stopped in the viewing area, looking down at the seals on the rocks below them. The visitors were not impressed.

“There’s a much bigger colony in Kaimoana, you can drive right up to them and walk in amongst the seals when the tide’s out.”

“Wouldn’t want to get too close those mothers anyway. They’re wild animals and they’ve got big teeth.”

“They have, but they’re okay if you don’t upset them. The main thing is not to get between them and the sea, that really upsets them. What else have you got?”

“We’ll go down to the Bay.”

They went down the short track to the big car-park on the beach. This time they were impressed, especially Dylan.

“Wow! Look at the surf – very cool. This is a great area. We’re camping here next time we come and I’m bringing my board.”

“That’s cool!” William exclaimed. “Look, Dills, penguins!”

“Yeah, Little Blues, waddling up the beach,” Christian said. “They nest up in the grass. You can look but don’t touch. They’re vicious little sods and they can give you a good bite.”

They strolled along the beach for a bit. “That’s the Bayhouse, over there, art gallery and restaurant. Daniel and Tony own it – Superboy’s brothers. They’re in Whozzat too.”

“Is that the Tony with the garage in the main street?”

“That’s the one. He’s a busy boy.”

“He must be. How many brothers has Superboy got anyway?”

“I dunno, heaps. He collects them.”

“Or they adopt him. Ross did years ago, when he was just a kid.”

“Yeah, he did, but Jonathan’s his only real brother by blood. He’s his other half. Time we were getting back into town. We’ll go and see how the car’s going.”

“If it’s going.”

They went back to the car and returned to Westpoint by the other route, through the wind-swept farmland to the Coast Road, and back through the Crossroads, by-passing Carver’s Beach.

They cruised around the back-streets and made their way back to the Carvers’. The party was over, Ma was back inside, but there was still a lot of people around. “There always is.”

Dylan’s car was not there, they’d towed it away.

Christian grinned, “They’ve probably sold it!”

“They wouldn’t, would they?” Dylan worried.

“No, not really. Once they might have, but not now. They’re all reformed, kind of.”

“Yeah,” Roman said. “Kind of. Come and see Ma, she’ll feed us.”

“I was hoping that someone would.”

“Shut up, Wills.”

Ma greeted them, asked how their day was, and told them to help themselves to the food. There was plenty left over, there always was. Meat and fish were in the oven, plates, salads and drinks on the bench.

There was no room on the table. Ma had the Westpoint News, the evening paper, spread out on it, so they went through to the other room and sat on the floor to eat there. There were kids all over the place, but no sign of Jeremy.

William smiled at the young girl who was staring at him.

“Hi. Has Jeremy gone home?”

“No,” she blushed. “Jeremy’s sleeping at his Uncle Jonathan’s tonight. It’s their turn.”

“Their turn?”

Roman said, “They’re moving him around the family. He slept here the other night. A little bit of Jeremy goes a long way.”

“Really? I thought he was a great wee boy.”

“He is, I guess. He just never stops! We’ve got him next week. He is NOT sleeping in our room.”

“The kid’s got a big family.”

“That he has. A great family too.”

The little girl caught William’s eye. “Have you got a girlfriend?”

“No,” he replied. “I’ve got a boyfriend.”

“Bugger!” She got up and left the room.

Dylan chortled at the look on William’s face.

“Don’t, Dills.”

Stretch came into the room. “There you are, Boys. Your car’s outside, we fixed it.”

“You did?” Dylan jumped to his feet. “That’s great! Thanks, umm, Stretch. How much do we owe you?”

“Owe? You owe us nothing. Put your money away, Boy.”

“But you guys spent all that time on it, and you had to get a new part. We have to pay you something.”

“No, you don’t. It’s a gift. Don’t insult us by offering money”

“I don’t want to insult you, but it cost you.”

“It didn’t. Laurie had the distributor anyway. Look, Boy, Ma said fix it, so we did. Just say thank you and pass it on when someone else needs a hand, that’s the way it works.”

“Well, I, ah . . . I do thank you. We really appreciate it and we will pass it on, when we can. Thanks.”

“No problems, you’re welcome, Kid.”

Stretch went to the front of the house, Dylan and the others took their empty plates back to the kitchen. Ma looked around.

“Finished already? Lots more there if you want it.”

“No, thanks Mrs. Carver, that was plenty. Thanks for getting the guys to fix the car.”

“Not a problem. Time they did something useful. Throw your plates and stuff in the fire and get yourselves a drink. There’s no coke left, but there’s plenty of OJ, there always is.”

William and Christian took the paper plates and plastic cutlery back and put them in the open fire in the living room, while Dylan and Roman poured OJ into paper cups.

William looked down at the fire. “Everyone has big fires going around here.”

Christian said, “Yeah. Well, it’s a mining town. Coal’s dirt cheap around here, and the wood is free, the beaches are covered in it.”

“That’s one advantage of living around here. I guess water’s cheap too?”

“Water? The only problem with water is getting rid of the damm stuff. Okay, they’re burnt. Come and get a drink.”

Their drinks were waiting for them. Dylan and Roman were outside talking to Butch, so they went out there with them.

“Righto,” Roman said. “Time we were getting home. Bruno must think his throat’s cut by now.”

“Bruno?”

“Mrs. M’s dog. He’s home alone with no-one to feed him.”

“We’d best get going then.”

“My car’s out in the street, back-out there and you can follow me home.”

“Slowly!” Christian demanded

“Well, sort-of slowly.”

“You take it easy, Roman. Their car is not as powerful as ours, you lose them and they’re stuck.”

“No probs. You go with Dylan and William can ride with me.”

“No thanks,” said William. “I’m staying with Dills. I only feel safe with him.”

“Do you think I’m going to ravish you, or something?”

“No, I don’t, but we’ve heard about your driving. I’m staying with Dills.”

“I’m a good driver!” Roman protested.

“You’re a bloody wicked driver,” Christian replied. “Okay, you’re not bad, but you’re too fast. Take it easy, Roman.”

“Yes, Mum,” he sighed.

They said goodbye and thanks again. Ma told Dylan and William to come back anytime. They followed Roman out of town. He went straight along Derby Street, passed the school, passed the hospital, crossed Brigham Street, the main road north out of town, and turned right into Richards Street.

Five blocks down there took them to the main street. The St. John’s Theater was on their left on the corner. There were lights and scaffolding along the big side wall, with two guys up there, painting a mural on the theater.

“Bloody Vandals!” Christian yelled from the car.

The guy on the bottom level looked around and grinned. “Get away back out to the bush, you young hooligans!”

“Hooligans?” Roman stood at his side of the car. “We’re not the ones putting graffiti all over the St. John’s.”

“Graffitti? I’ll have you know, Mr. Dallas, this is going to be a work of art to dazzle the people of Westpoint for generations to come! Well, it will be if Jordie stops dropping bloody paint on me.”

The other guy looked down from his level and grinned. “Suck it up, Jase! Move faster and I’ll miss you. How’s it going, Roman? Mrs. M looking after you?”

“Always, Jordan. Jason looking after you?”

“No, I have to look after him.”

“Nice work if you can get it.”

“Oh, he . . . no! We’re not going there. Get away home.”

“We’re doing that. See you Jason and Jordan.”

“Bye, Roman. Be good to your boy.”

“Always!” He got back in the car, around the corner and headed out of town.

Wills & Dills in Westpoint, 9

Three of them went into the shop, the others sat at two of the tables.

“Brothers eh?” William grinned at Christian.

“Yeah, shocking isn’t it? You haven’t got any brothers?”

“No. Dills has got one, but I haven’t. Have you got any?”

“I did have, 2 brothers and 2 sisters. They’re all just little and they still live with THEM.”

“Tough.”

“Yeah, tough on the kids.”

“You wouldn’t go back then?”

“Not without Roman.”

The others came back with the drinks and they sat at the two tables, watching the world go by. An older woman, pushing a little girl in a pushchair, came along, stopped and looked at them. It was probably not her kid, she was a bit old. It more likely belonged to the younger, very pregnant, woman with her.

“Hello Boys. Behaving yourselves, are you?”

Roman answered, “Always are, Mrs. Lewis, in public anyway.”

“We won’t ask about the rest then. Since when do you boys mix with movie stars?”

“Movie stars?” Robert said. “Do you mean with Whozzat? We’ve always known them, everyone does.”

“Around here they do, yes. But I wasn’t talking about Whozzat. You are William Scott, aren’t you?”

William blushed and said, “Damm!”

“Busted!” Dylan laughed.

Robert said, “His name’s William, but he’s not a movie star, he’s just a kid.”

“Thank you, Robert. I show the movie, ‘Rocks on the Roof’, to my year 9 classes every year, as a film study. Now we know how much attention Robert paid to it.”

The Westpoint kids all stared at William.

“Well, bugger me!” Christian grinned. “That was you, wasn’t it? That little blond guy in Rocks on the Roof. Why didn’t you tell us?”

“It was just one little film and it was years ago,” William blushed. “It’s not a big deal.”

“That’s my Wills!” Dylan beamed proudly.

Mrs. Lewis said, “I’m pleased to see that it never went to your head, William, and it was a big deal. It’s an excellent little film, one of the best to come out of New Zealand in years.

I’m Emily Lewis, I teach music and drama at Westpoint High. Your drama teacher, Geraldine Crase, is an old friend of mine and she told me all about it.”

“Mrs. Crase told everybody, but I didn’t know she told the whole country!”

“Maybe not the whole country, just those she knows, and why not? She was very proud of you, William. I still tell people about Whozzat’s Movie, and that was years ago.”

“So was mine.”

“Not as many as Whozzat’s though.”

“Were you involved in Whozzat’s Movie, Mrs. Lewis?”

“Not really, but our boys, Peter and Jay, are in Whozzat. Crispian filmed and produced it. He used me for a sounding-board, because he had no-one else, but that was all.”

“I had no say at all in my movie. I just did what I was told.”

“Of course you did and you did it well. It’s something to be proud of, William. You haven’t done any acting since?”

“None at all. But we’re going to be in the Operatic Society’s show this year – just as chorus members.”

“That’s important too. I hope you enjoy it.”

“Mum,” the younger woman said, “We’ve got to keep moving. Justine’s getting bored again. If she dirties herself, she’ll stink the car out.”

“We don’t want that! We’d better go. It’s lovely to meet you, William. That will be something to tell my year 9’s. Enjoy Westpoint and don’t let these young hooligans corrupt you. Goodbye, Boys.”

“Bye, Mrs. Lewis.”

“Bye, Claire.”

“Bye Hooligans!”

They walked away. William said, “The little girl is another ‘Justine’. Is she named after Superboy?”

“She is!” said Christian. “Claire is Justin’s best friend, after Billy of course.”

“It’s a small town.”

“It’s a great town.”

Robert said, “Her next baby’s going to be named after Billy.”

“They must be good friends.”

“Simply the best.”

“It’s a shame that we won’t meet Superboy.”

“Yeah, shame. You’re meeting his town anyway.”

Dylan said, “It’s not really his town, is it?”

“Might as well be.”

William finished his drink and put the cup down. “So, Villains, going to corrupt us, are you?”

“No!” Dylan stressed. “They are not.”

“Spoilsport.”

“Behave yourself, Wills, or we’re going straight home.”

“How are you going to do that? The car’s broke and it’s a long walk.”

“We’d get there. I could ring your dad and he’ll come and get us.”

“Okay, I’ll behave. I love you, Dills.”

“I love you too – very much!”

“Oh, aren’t they sweet,” Roman grinned.

“Sickly sweet,” Robert replied. “Maybe we could corrupt you, I have got these.” He pulled some DVD’s out of his pocket.

“What’ve you got there?” Dylan asked suspiciously

“Grown-up movies – adult stuff.”

“Pornos?”

“No, not porn. These are real films, but they’re R18’s, so hopefully they’ve got a story as well as the good stuff.”

“You’ve got R18 movies?” said Ross. “Where did you get them?”

“From the Music Center of course.”

“The Music Center? I didn’t see you at the counter with them and I was there the whole time we were in there.”

“Counter? What counter? I just used the old five-finger discount.”

“You stole them?” William was horrified.

Ross exploded. “Fuck it, Robert! You can’t do that. They belong to Superboy’s other brothers and you’re taking food out of their mouths.”

“Settle down, Brother. Peter and Jay have got lotsa money anyway. No big deal.”

“It is a big deal, and it’s not right! You take them back right now – or else!”

“Or else what?”

“Or else I’ll tell Ma.”

“Fuck! Don’t do that. She’d kill me.”

“Take them back then.”

“I will. I will. I’ll take them back on Monday, I was going to anyway.”

“Why did you nick them?”

“I didn’t nick them, I just borrowed them. They’re all rentals anyway. Mum’s away, Sandie’s away, we’ve got to do something with the weekend. George and Crispian are a couple of old fuddy-duddies, they’d never let us have R18 stuff, so what they don’t know won’t hurt them.”

“Well . . . all right then. But you bloody take them back and pay the rental fee. I won’t be watching them anyway, I’ve got better things to do.”

“I’ll pay for them – later. You can stick with the Cartoon Network if you want to.”

“Cartoon Network!” Ross huffed. “I’m not coming home, we’re going to a party tonight.”

“A party? Where?”

“At Sammy Swan’s place, just me and Trina and you’re not invited.”

I wouldn’t go anyway. Swan’s a jerk and their parties are boring. You’re welcome to it.”

“Thank you very much.”

“Welcome!”

The twins sealed a truce with grins.

Dylan said, “I don’t think we’ll be watching them either.”

“Don’t be a prude, Dylan. They’re just films. I’ll bet there’s nothing in them that you two haven’t already done.”

“Are they gay films?” William was interested.

“One of them is, they others aren’t. Never know, you might learn something.”

“Doubt it!”

“Yeah, so do I,” Dylan grinned.

“Well then,” Robert shrugged.

“No, we’re not watching.”

“Aww! Dills.”

“No, Wills, we’re not. We could stay in town anyway, there’s a place down by the beach there. The sun’s out, so we could put the tent up.”

“I wouldn’t bet on it,” Christian looked at the sky. “Those clouds are coming over, you’d get wet again. No, come back with us. Robert can watch his filthy movies on his own.”

“I will then,” Robert shrugged. “It might be educational, and, for gayboys, you’re all a pack of old ladies.”

“Shut it, Mathieson,” Roman grinned. “We’ll watch something else and you can take your DVD’s, and your tissues, to your room.”

“Tissues?” said William. “Oh. Those tissues.”

“Shut up, Ladies!”

“What are you lot fighting about now?” Another woman, with a little boy in a stroller, came come along the sidewalk.

They all looked up and Robert beamed, “Mary! Where’ve you been?”

“Never you mind,” she smiled. “I was busy. I had an appointment with Roman’s father actually.”

She grinned and winked at Roman. “How are you, Big Boy?”

“I’m good, Mary. Never been better.”

“That’s good. Still gay?”

“Definitely!”

“Dammit. And who have we got here? A couple of fine-looking boys, especially you, Sweetie, you’re gorgeous!”

Robert said, “They’re William and Dylan and they’re gay too.”

“Oh, what a waste! Robert, Sweetie, we’re going home now. Want to come and mow my lawns for me?”

“Yeah, sure. I can do that.” He jumped to his feet. “See you later, Guys. I may not be home tonight.”

He started walking with her, but stopped and came back. He picked up the DVD’s with a sheepish grin and slid them into his pocket. “Nearly forgot! Be good, Ladies.” He hurried after the honeypot.

“Bloody Idiot!” Ross stood up. “Okay, Guys, I’m gone too. Have a good day.”

Christian said, “Back to just us then. What’re we going to do now?”

“We’ll go out to the Bay,” Roman stood up.

Wills & Dills in Westpoint, 8

(There ya go - probably full of typos!)

“Oh, oh. Sit up straight, there’s a cop coming.”

“A cop?” Robert looked around. “Oh. It’s only Lucas. Don’t he look nice in his smart new uniform? Hey, Lucas. How’s it going?”

“I’m going okay,” the tall young policeman stood looking up at them. “What are you villains up to? You’d better not break our Grandstand!”

“Who, us? We’re all angels, don’t you know?” Ross grinned.

“Angels? That’s not what your mum says. Who’s this you’ve got here?”

“These are William and Dylan, they’re from Kaimoana.”

“Oh, of course, the stranded travellers. How’s the car going, Boys? Have they fixed it yet?”

“Umm, not yet,” Dylan replied. “But they will. They’re waiting to get a part off some guy who’s out at sea.”

“That’ll be Laurie. He should be back around dinnertime. Okay, I’d better keep moving. See you around, Guys. Be good.”

“We’ll be careful anyway,” Robert grinned.

“Villains!” He walked away.

“It really is a small town,” William said. “How did he know about our car?”

“It’s smaller than you think,” Robert replied. “That’s Lucas, he’s married to our sister, Margaret. She’s the one who told the uncles that your distributor’s missing.”

“He’s a good guy, Lucas,” Ross said. “He’s probably the first cop ever to marry a Carver.”

“They were married before he was a cop.”

“Shut up, Robert. You know what I mean. Here comes Super-breeder.”

“Super-breeder?” William looked at the guy coming around the track with a cloud of kids. He had a baby on his back, two toddlers in a double pushchair and four little kids dancing around him.

“He has been busy. Is he a Carver too?”

“Not quite, but the kids are Jeremy’s other cousins. That’s Jonathan, Superboy’s brother.”

“Is everyone related in this town?”

“Not quite, but we’re working on it. Hey, Jonathan. How are ya?”

“I’m good, Boys. How are you?”

“Oh, we’re fine. How many kids have you got? It looks like you’re going for a record.”

“I hope not! These are not all mine. That one belongs to Dee, hence the curls. I’m just taking the kids for a walk while their mothers are at preggy classes.”

“Preggy classes? I think they already know how to do that.”

“So do I! I told them that, they said rude things to me. Claude and Lana are not pregnant, I think. They’re just there to support Dee.

Justine! Marty! You wait for us!

See you later, Guys. We’ve gotta go.”

Jonathan walked on, William watched him go. “So 6 of those kids are his? He really has been busy.”

“Yeah, he has,” Ross nodded. “But he has got 2 wives.”

“He has? He needs 2, I guess. How many kids has Superboy got?”

“Just the one. They’ve only got Jeremy, but they say that’s enough.”

“A handful, is he?”

“He can be. Bright kids often are.”

Christian said, “I’ll bet William was a handful too, he’s bright.”

“Yeah?” Robert said. “Got any brothers?”

“Nope. But I have got a sister, she’s 15.”

“You’ve got a 15 year old sister? Does she look like you?”

“She doesn’t,” Dylan answered. “Emmy is different to Wills, but she’s a real looker. She’s gorgeous.”

“She is? Ross, I think I know were we’re going for our next holiday!”

“Sounds good,” Ross grinned. “Trina and Sandie will like that, as long as you don’t bring Mary too.”

“Not bloody likely! I’m not sick of living just yet.”

“You want to be careful then, Brother.”

“Yeah, yeah.”

William said, “You seriously should come to Kaimoana sometime, all of you should. Then we could pay you back by showing you around our town. Well, Dills could, he knows it better than I do.”

Dylan agreed. “Yeah, you should do that. We haven’t got a huge house, like you guys have, but we’d fit you in somehow.”

“That’s a plan.” Roman stood up. “But we’re not finished showing you around here yet. Let’s go up the main street.”

Ross and Robert came with them, and they out of the Square, through the arches of the Memorial Gates to the street. There were short blocks in the town. There was a house on the corner, a lawyer’s office, the I Site, tourist information office, and then the Music Center on the corner of the main street.

So, of course, they went in to check-out the music shop.

“This is one of the oldest businesses in the town,” Roman said. “James Hargreaves Williamson started it. My family owned it once, they sold it a few years ago. It’s been here for about a hundred years.”

“A hundred years? Wow. They must have some old music,” William said.

“Maybe there is, out the back somewhere, but the shop’s as up to date as anywhere.”

“It’s hard for small-town businesses to compete with the chain stores.”

“Not around here, it’s not. There are no chain stores in Westpoint.”

“None? We got a few in Kaimoana.”

“Lucky you.”

“Or, not.”

The store sold mostly CD’s and DVD’s, with a range of players and instruments and also computers and accessories. The music was well laid-out by category, but Dylan couldn’t find any he liked.

“That should tell you something, Dills.”

“It does, it tells me that Westpoint people have got poor taste in music.”

“Or, maybe they’ve got good taste.”

“Shut up, Wills.”

“We could ask at the counter. They might have some of your stuff hidden away out of sight somewhere.”

“No, better not. There’s nothing I’m particularly looking for and we don’t know how much the car’s going to cost. We’d better not spend too much.”

“No worries, Dills. I’ll just dip into the savings.”

“You bloody will not! That’s for your education.”

Christian was talking to 2 guys behind the counter. One was an older guy and the other was a kid with long, limp, blond hair. William and Dylan wandered over there.

“Find anything you like?” Christian greeted them.

“No, nothing decent,” Dylan replied.

“From what I hear, that won’t worry William at all. William and Dylan, these are George and Crispian, our best friends.”

“Your best friends? I thought that’d be Ross, Robert and Mrs. M?”

“Well, yeah, but that’s different. We wouldn’t be living out there if it wasn’t for these guys. I don’t know where we’d be.”

“Rescue you, did they?”

“Exactly. The parents found out that I was gay and with Roman, and they kicked me out. More because it was Roman than anything else.”

“They don’t like him?”

“They don’t. Mostly because he’s a Dallas. My father and his hate each other with a passion. Anyway, they showed me the door; I had nothing and didn’t know what I was going to do or where I could go. I had a relative who was thrown out, years ago, because he was gay too. He’s buried in the cemetery, so I went out there to talk to him.

I was sitting, crying, on Jeremy’s grave.”

“Jeremy?”

“Jeremy Carver – the first one. He was a distant cousin, I never knew him but I knew his story. So, I was sitting there bawling, and George and Crispian turned up. They both knew Jeremy and they came to visit his grave.

They found me there, I told them what was wrong and that I was a Carver, so they took me to Ma. She decided that I could go and live with Mrs. M. She’s Ma’s daughter, and her house was getting empty.

Roman got thrown out too. He came and found me and Mrs. M said he could stay as well. So, everything’s sweet now and it’s thanks to these two.”

“More heroes!” said Dylan. “Robert said that everyone’s a hero in Superboy’s town.”

“I don’t know about heroes,” the boy, Crispian, said. “We do what we can. Superboy would do the same.”

“Superboy’s a friend of yours too?”

“Certainly is! I first met him, out there in the cemetery, when we were burying Jeremy. I’ve met some great people in the cemetery.”

He exchanged a smile with George, who said, “I know that I have!”

Dylan looked at them, puzzled. Surely not. These two would be an unlikely combination. He looked at William, who caught his eye and shrugged.

‘It takes all sorts.’

William said, “Did Superboy name young Jeremy after your one?”

Crispian said, “No. There was another Jeremy in between. He was Billy’s cousin and his best friend. He died young – way too young.”

“Yeah, people do,” William said glumly.

Dylan hugged his shoulders. “Don’t go there, Wills.”

Now all the others were looking puzzled. Dylan said, “Wills lost a friend, just a couple of weeks ago. He was 14.”

“Oh, I am sorry,” Crispian said. “That’s hard. Young Jeremy was 14 too. It takes time, but it does get better.”

Ross had joined them; he decided it was time to change the subject. “Crispian, I think that lady over there is looking for help.”

“Oh, okay. Thanks, Ross. See you, Guys.” He went to the other side of the shop.

Ross turned to George. “What are you two doing here, anyway? You’re meant to be retired. Didn’t Crispian sell the shop to Peter and Jay?”

“Yes, he did,” George replied. “But you know Crispian. He can never decide if he wants to be retired or not. Peter and Jay are away tramping, up the Gorge somewhere.”

“Tramping?” Robert walked up. “Stuff that for a joke. Come on, Guys. We’ll go and get a coffee.”

“Good idea,” Dylan agreed. “Bye, George. Nice to meet.”

“Bye, Boys. Behave yourselves.”

“Like you do?” Ross grinned.

“Out!” George grinned and pointed at the door.

They waved to Crispian, went outside and looked up and down the street.

Robert said, “Cool. They’ve got the tables out at the Doo Duck Inn. We’ll go there.”

“Yes, Boss.”

“Shut up, Roman.”

Walking down the sidewalk, Dylan said, “Christian, those two back there, George and Crispian, they’re not a couple are they?”

“Yes, they are. They’ve been living together for years.”

“As a couple? Eww!”

Ross and Robert both stopped and looked back. Ross said, “Don’t judge by appearances, My Friend.”

“Yeah,” said Robert. “why ‘eww’?”

“Well, he’s years older than him, isn’t he?”

“So? You’re older than William.”

“Only by 2, nearly 3, years.”

“There’s about the same between them too. Crispian’s the oldest.”

“He is? Damm. I thought he was a kid.”

“Well he’s not. You can never be sure how old someone is these days, especially around here.”

“Found the Fountain of Youth, have they?”

“No, but we’ve got the next best thing. You’ve heard of J &J’s R &R stuff, they make it here. There’s a factory, in the old school building, just around the corner there.”

William said, “Who are the J and J, anyway?”

“Justin and Jonathan.”

“Superboy and his brother own that stuff? Damm! They must be rich. No wonder he can afford all those kids.”

“It probably helps,” Ross agreed. “He never seems to spend money on anything else, just his kids.”

Robert said, “Jonathan’s a good guy. He has to be or his brother will be on his case. Here’s the Doo Duck. Ross, William and Christian, grab those tables. The rest of us will get the drinks.”

“Who said you can give the orders? I’m the oldest you know.”

“By 10 minutes you are. Big deal. Do you want to get the drinks in, Ross?”

“No, I’ll let you do that.”

“Sit down and shut up then.”

Wills & Dills in Westpoint, 7

“That’s the school over there.” Christian said. “Want to have a look around?”

William said, “At your school? No thanks.”

Dylan agreed. “We see more than enough of our own one. What else have you got?”

Roman said, “Jump in the car and we’ll go down to the tiphead.”

They got in, William and Dylan in the back and Christian in the front next to Roman. He drove west, along Derby Street. There were houses on the left, for a while. The school was on the right, followed by the racecourse. The Gypsy Fair had arrived in there and they were setting up.

Next, they passed the stables, where Christian worked, and a small sportsfield, (Kilairney Park). They turned left into Coach Street at the end and went past a line of beachside cottages. Most of them were small and old but there were bigger and newer ones amongst them, it was a growing area.

Then, there was a sportsfield set-up for horses, some paddocks with horses in them and the big and smelly fish-processing plant, which Roman’s family owned.

“Really?’

“Yes, really.”

“Your folks rich, Roman?”

“They like to think they are.”

The road went up on to and along the top of the rock-wall between the river, on their left, and the North Beach on their right. He didn’t slow down at all, just drove right up to the end of the road, jammed on the brakes and skidded to a stop.

“Damm, Roman!” Christian complained. “I wish you wouldn’t do that. One of these days the brakes will fail and we’ll sail out to sea.”

“No worries, My Boy,” Roman grinned. “I wouldn’t drown you.”

“You bloody better not!”

“So, Dylan and William, this is the North Tiphead. North Beach is out there, the South Tiphead over there across the river and Carver’s Beach beyond that. Australia is straight ahead of us, somewhere.”

“Very cool,” Dylan replied. “Is this a surfing beach?”

“Sometimes, yeah. It’s the nearest place to town where you can surf, but it’s no good when the river’s in flood. The surf gets full of driftwood and trees and stuff. The best surfing is out at the Bay, around the other side of the Cape to the south there. We’ll go and have a look out there later.”

William said, “What’s that big factory place down past Carvers Beach over there?”

Christian said, “That’s the cement works. It’s one of the town’s biggest employers. The coal barge is coming down the river.”

The big, black, box of a barge, looking ridiculously huge behind the small tugboat, passed alongside them, rocking as it left the rivermouth and went out to sea.

“Whoah, that’s a lot of coal,” Dylan commented.

“It is,” William agreed. “A couple more thousand tonnes on its way to Japan. They make all sorts of stuff out of it, steel, plastics, paint and explosives. It’s Westpoint’s biggest export by far. Of course, most of it is railed to Lyttleton to be shipped out of there.”

The two in the front swung around to look at him.

“Damm,” Roman said. “You really are a bright kid, aren’t you? How do you know all that?”

“I just . . . know stuff,” William blushed.

Dylan slid an arm around him and hugged him. “He’s a bright boy, My Wills. He’s gonna be a teacher.”

“He’s going to be a good one,” Christian smiled.

“Okay,” William shrugged. “Dills is going to be a musician, of sorts. What do you guys want to do with your lives?”

“Haven’t a bloody clue,” Roman replied. “We haven’t really thought about it.”

“It’s about time you did.”

“I guess. Something will turn up. I don’t care what I do. As long as I’m with Christian, I’ll be happy.”

“Yeah, me too,” Christian nodded. “We could just build a cabin out in the bush, live there together and be happy for the rest of our lives.”

“Wouldn’t work,” Dylan said. “We know of brothers who tried that, they lived in a cave. They got horribly sick and had to be rescued before they died.”

“Brothers?”

“Yeah, twin brothers, about Ross and Robert’s age.”

“Damm. Were they gay?”

“One is, the other is very not gay.”

“But they stuck together? That’s cool. Are they doing all right now?”

“Oh yes!” William grinned. “They’re doing very all right now. What are those people on the rocks doing with those big net things?”

Roman said, “You don’t know everything then. They’re whitebaiting, or trying to. There’s not many left these days, they’re almost fished-out.”

“Oh yeah, the Whitebait,” William said. “The juvenile form of the Common Galaxias, or Inanga. They lay their eggs in the tidal grasses, the larvae get swept out to sea and they live and grow out there for 6 months before returning to live in freshwater, breed and die. They are almost fished out but it’s more because their habitats are being destroyed by land development. They can sell for up to $200 a kilogram.”

Christian and Roman both said, “Damm!”

“That’s my Boy,” Dylan beamed proudly and hugged him again. “If you want to know anything, ask my Wills.”

“Shut up, Dills. I don’t know everything. I just read.”

“A lot, obviously,” Christian said. “There’s an old story here about a kid who used to swim up and down the river, chasing whitebait into people’s nets. But, that’s all it is, probably, just a story.”

“Yeah, probably,” Roman agreed. “They could do with him here today though.”

They got out of the car to stretch their legs and look around. It was a glorious sunny day and there was not a breath of wind. The landscape shone in the sunshine and everything looked fresh and clean, probably because it’d just had a good wash-down. There were clouds over the hills inland though, and a rainbow arced over the back of the town.

A small fishing boat was coming down the river, heading out to sea, and another one was coming back in. Two jet-skis played in the wake of the outgoing boat. They would not be popular with the whitebaiters.

There were several cars parked on the South Tiphead, looking across at them. Some little kids were paddling in the water on the small beach inside the river-mouth, under the watchful eyes of their parents, and there were more people on the long, gray, beach north of the river. Some of them were building a hut out of driftwood sticks.

The beach stretched away into the haze in the distance. A couple of dirt-bikes were racing along it. Several camper-vans were parked in the grassed area at the back of the beach and two people were fishing, with surf-casting rods, from the low rocks at the front of the tiphead.

It was a busy but laid-back scene – Saturday at the beach with the locals basking in the sunshine, while they had it.

“Very cool beach,” William summed it up.

“It is that,” Christian said. “Cold water though, and no-one’s surfing. There ‘s probably too much debris in the waves.”

“Yeah, most likely,” Roman said. “That’s the beach, one of them anyway. Now you’ve seen it. Let’s go uptown now.”

They got back into the car and retraced the route they’d come from. In Derby Street, they turned right at the second intersection, went along 3 blocks, turned right again and went up and over an embankment. They stopped in a gravelled parking area at the edge of a lagoon.

There were a couple of old sheds with a tangled heap of burnt and rusty roofing iron between them.

“That,” Roman pointed to the mess, “is the remains of the Westpoint Yachting Club’s shed. It burnt down a while ago; it’s about time someone cleaned it up.”

“It’s a sore point with Roman,” Christian said. “His old boat went up in the flames.”

“Yeah,” Roman sighed. “It was just an old dunger and not worth much, but it used to be mine. My Jackass father tried to have me blamed for the fire. We weren’t even in town at the time.”

Dylan said, “There really is not much love lost between you guys and your families, is there?”

“Definitely not! How are your family going to take you two being together?”

“We don’t know, but I hope it’s better than yours.”

“Couldn’t be much worse,” Christian said. “They’re all just jerks anyway. Our new family is much better.”

“You’ve landed on your feet there,” William said.

“We have,” Roman said. “They’re good people; most of the Carvers are. They’re not as rough as they look.

Anyway, to continue our tour – this is the lagoon. The fishermen’s wharves over there, obviously. You can get cheap fish here, under the table. It’s a good safe place for their boats, out of the river because that floods.”

“Biggest river in New Zealand when it’s in flood,” Christian nodded.

“Is it? How do you know that?”

“William told me.”

“Of course he did. You’ll make a good teacher, William. Come and teach in Westpoint, we could use you.

Okay, we’ll go up to the Square now.”

They went back over the embankment and straight ahead, up the street to where it ended at the town’s central park and sportsfield. He turned right, parked next to the kids’ playground and they all got out of the car.

“So, this is the Square,” Christian said as they walked across the playground to the edge of the sealed oval track around the sportsfield. “This is the heart of the town. Everything that happens, happens here.”

“The Gypsy Fair doesn’t,” William grinned.

“Well, if you’re going to be pedantic, almost everything happens here. That’s the skateboard ramps there. They’re not bad, but there’s a better one in Brownsville and Riverston, of all places, has got the best one in the country, so they say.”

“The best one is definitely not ours,” Dylan said. “There’s one on the waterfront in Kaimoana, but it’s crap really.”

“It’s not crap,” William objected. “But it is little; this one’s much bigger. What’s behind the hedge?”

“That’s the outdoor bowling club, green and clubhouse. After that is the pavilion for the Old Boys’ Rugby Football Club. Apparently, they used to have exclusive use of the whole of the Square, but there was some sort of rebellion and the people pulled the fences down and took the square back for everybody. Good job too, this is a great place.

After them is the miner’s memorial – a sunken garden with water features and stuff. There’s a statue of an old-time miner in there but some clowns kept breaking his head off, so now he’s got no head.

Over the far corner is the Westpoint Croquet Club’s greens, the Bandstand and the Grandstand, with the old swimming baths behind it. The next corner is the old War Memorial Gates, with some gardens and a couple of statues. Then, the new toilets, unisex and wheelchair accessible of course, and back to the Skateboard ramps. There used to be a shelter shed and an old jungle-gym there, but they bowled them to build the ramps.

So, that’s the Square, and it’s all one block away from the main street. They have street parties, games and all sorts of events here. It’s a cool place.”

“It is, very cool,” Dylan agreed. “We’ve got nothing like this at home. What’s the track around the football field for?”

“Running,” Roman said. “I think it was built for the Cycle Racing Club, but they’re defunct, so it’s just runners who use the track now. It’s a good place for training. People have been killed running in the streets. There’s talk about putting a rubber surface on it, which would be good. The tar-seal is hard on the feet.”

Christian said, “Ross and Robert are up in the grandstand, let’s go over there.”

The Grandstand was directly across from them but they walked to it by going around the track.

“Why are we going there the long way?” William asked. “We could just walk straight across the field.”

“I suppose you could,” Roman answered. “You just don’t. It’s normal to walk around the track.”

“It’s probably better for the grass or something,” Christian said. “See that statue there – the big white bust? That’s James Hargreaves Williamson, he was one of my grandfathers.”

“Was he? Why did he get a statue?”

“I’m not sure. He was one of the first mayors and he gave the Square to the town. Or, maybe it was because he started the Carvers, we’re all descended from him.”

“We?” said William. “Are you a Carver too, Christian?”

“Yeah, kind-of. My mother was a Carver.”

“Sounds like everybody’s mother was.”

“Well, almost. Roman’s wasn’t. Anyway, Mummy Dearest has nothing to do with them these days. She thinks she’s better than them – she’s not.”

“Definitely not,” Roman agreed.

Dylan said, “What’s the other statue? The small bronze one on the stone plinth?”

“Oh, that’s Superboy,” Christian said. “He hates it. They put it up after he died.”

“He died? I thought you said that he lives in that hotel with Robert’s brother?”

“Yeah, he does. He came back from the dead.”

“Rubbish! Nobody does that.”

“Justin did. Told you he was super.”

“He bloody must be!”

“He didn’t really die,” Roman sighed. “Everybody thought he did. He got swept away in a flood in the river when he was rescuing some kids. They had a funeral service for him and he turned up alive and well the same night.”

“And they put the statue up anyway?”

“Yeah. Well, why not? The money for it had been collected and he is Superboy.”

“Of course he is!” Christian said. He started up the steps into the grandstand where Ross and Robert were sitting at the front, behind the safety fence. “Hey, Robert. What are you doing here, run out of condoms?”

“Shut the fuck up, Squires. None of your business. What are you lot doing here?”

“We’re showing our tourists around the town.”

“Yeah? What do you think of it so far? And don’t say ‘rubbish’.

“It’s not rubbish,” said William “It’s a pretty cool town, for a small town.”

“It is a cool town, and it’s not that small. Kaimoana’s no bigger.”

“Wills used to be a Wellington boy,” Dylan said.

“Wellington? Yeah, well, the less said about that the better.”

“You can shut up too, Robert Mathieson!”