Gimme Shelter, 4

Saturday morning, at breakfast, the boys' grandmother told them both that it was about time they got outside in the sunshine. “We've had so many cloudy days lately ands it's glorious out there today. Go out and make the most of it. You need sunshine sometimes.”

“No probs, Gran,” Reggie replied. “I'm going body-boarding. Russ and Terry are coming and we're going out to the South Beach.”

“Fine, Reggie. Are you going with them, Ronnie?”

“With that lot? I don't think so! No, I'll just go fishing over at the wharf.”

“Okay. Don't fall in and if you catch any you're cooking them.”

“I'll try not to then.”

Ronnie went fishing in his usual way. Fishing to him meant sitting on the wharf, dropping a line in the water and holding it with his legs while he read a book. He would've been just as happy without the line, but it was an excuse for sitting there. Gran thought that he was doing something when all he'd really done was to relocate his book, so that was good.

He sat and enjoyed the sun, the warmth and the fresh air and his story. A few people wandered past. Sunshine always brings them out, especially after long wet spells. A group of kids came along, 4 boys and 2 girls, all maori.

Ronnie stopped reading and studied them in case Boy was with them. He wasn't, these were younger kids, about 10 or 11 years old. He looked back at his book.

“Cut it out, Tommo. You have to let us come with you, you know you do!” a girl yelled at one of the boys.

“I don't hafta do nothing!” he replied. “Go home, Liz.”

“I'm not going home. We're coming with you.”

“You're not.”

“We are!”

“Shove off, Liz.”

Tommo pushed her, she staggered back, bumped into the other girl who reeled, tripped on the beam along the edge, and fell off the wharf and into the river. Her scream cut when she disappeared underwater.

Shocked, Ronnie rose to his feet, looking at the kids. They weren't doing anything, just standing there like statues.

“Ohmigod! Do something, Wankers!” Liz screamed.

They still weren't moving. Someone had to do something, so Ronnie did – he dived off the wharf.

The dirty green water closed over him and it got darker as he kept going down. It was really hard to see anything and he was about to give up and go back for a breath when he saw her. He nearly missed her. Her dark hair and skin didn't stand out at all in the gloom below the wharf, but her clothes did. She was wearing pale-blue shorts and a pink, yellow and white t-shirt that stood out like a neon light. She wasn't moving. Surely not dead?

He swam over for a closer look. She was caught in some driftwood rubbish lodged against a wharf-pile. He pulled frantically at the sticks. Some came free, and then he was able to push her leg down and free her. He grabbed her by the waist and kicked for the surface.

His head broke into the air and he gasped for breatrh. At last! It must've been even worse for her. The girl was still – unconscious? That wasn't good.

There was a rough wooden platform suspended on the wharf plies, just above the water-line, and a second one under the surface. Thank goodness for the whitebaiters! He crawled up out of the water, dragging the limp girl with him.

He rolled her on to her side and opened her mouth, and then on to her back. Holding her nose closed, he breathed hard into her mouth, inflating her lungs. They'd been taught mouth-to-mouth resusitation at school. He'd never expected to have to use it but he was glad that he'd been paying attention that day. (He didn't always!)

Seconds seemed like hours, but he kept at it, forcing her to breath, blowing into her mouth and doing it for her. He'd almost decided that it was hopeless and he was about to give up when, like an engine firing, she suddenly coughed into life.

Talk about relief. He'd never been so pleased in his life!

“Carrie! Carrie!” The sounds of the world came back, the other girl was screaming up on the wharf.

“It's all right,” he gasped. “She's okay, I've got her.”

“Carrie!”

A boy dived off the wharf, burst back to the surface and crawled up to join them on the platform. The other kids all came chattering down a ladder at the back.

The girl, Carrie, grabbed the first boy to arrive and sobbed over his shoulder. He glared at Ronnie like he'd done something wrong.

“She's okay, I think. We have to get her up top and warm her up or something. I'll go and get a blanket.” Ronnie started up the ladder.

“Think you're a big hero, don'tcha?” a boy sneered. “You can fuck off. We don't need you, we look after our own.”

“Yeah, fuck off, Big Man,” a second one agreed. “We don't need you.”

“Aunty's coming. She's got her car,” trhe other girl cried.

“Well, umm, I'll get that blanket.” Ronnie started up the ladder.

“Fuck off with your blanket. We don't want it. Mind your own.”

Ronnie rushed to the top and over the road to his house, his head spinning. He didn't know what he'd expected, but not this. He wasn't looking for a medal, he just wanted to do the right thing, to do what was right, but not to get abused for it. Screw them anyway!

He ran into home, downstairs and pulled an old blanket out from the linen cupboard. He bundled it up and started back to the wharf. The other kids were emerging from the trap-door. He shook the blanket out and put it around the crying girl.

One of the boys pushed him away. “Fuck off. Leave her alone!”

“I'm just trying to help.”

“Okay, you did. Now go away or I'll do ya”

“Bring her over to our place. The fire's going there.”

“Go sit on it then. We don't need you. Aunty's here.”

A car pulled up, the kids all piled in and it roared away leaving Ronnie standing alone and feeling a bit dazed.

“That's gratitude? Some bastard could've at least said thanks. Bloody Maoris! Screw them anyway.”

He found his book and went home. In the down-stairs bathroom, he stripped his wet clothes off, leaving them carefully on the floor, dried himself and went to his room for dry clothes. He felt cold all over! He wrapped-up in the duvet off his bed and went up to sit by the fire.

His gran looked up when he sat down by her. “What's going on? Did you fall in the river?”

“Not exactly. I didn't fall, I jumped off the wharf.”

“Yeah? Why would you do that? That's dangerous.”

“A girl fell in. There was a bunch of kids on the wharf, they were fooling around and she fell off. She didn't come up and nobody was doing anything so I jumped in and pulled her out. I had to give her mouth-to-mouth.”

“You did? Well done! I'm proud of you, Ronnie. Is she all right now?”

“Yeah, I think so. She's walking and everything. A car came and got them and they've gone home.”

“Well that's good. You are a life-saver! I hope they said thank you.”

“They didn't. I wasn't looking for thanks, just as well too because I didn't get any. They all yelled at me like it was all my fault or something.”

“Was it your fault that she fell?”

“No! I was just sitting there, reading. A kid shoved her and she fell in. It was nothing to do with me. I just saved her and got abused for it.”

“They probably didn't know what they were doing, they'd all be in shock. You did the right thing, Ronnie, and good for you. I'm very proud of you.”

“I had to do something.”

“You did well. Stay there and I'll get you a hot drink. Where's your book?”

“I've got it, it's in my room.”

“Good. It'd be no great loss if you lost it, I guess. You've got hundreds of them.”

“I have, but that's the one I'm reading. I haven't finished it yet.”

“That's all good then. Wait there, My Hero.”

Gran made him feel a bit better. She was all right, his gran. Those kids were just jerks. Next time someone fell in, they could get themselves out. He had a drink, and then went back down to his room. He'd had enough of the great outdoors for one day.

However, he did have to go out again later, briefly. Gran was doing pasta for dinner and needed milk, for the sauce. There was no-one else around, Reggie still wasn't back, so he had to go out to get it.

It wasn't far, the supermarket was just around the corner and a couple of blocks up the street. It still took far too long though, the place was packed. When he, finally, came back outside he had to walk past a group of teens who were standing there, hanging-out, looking tough.

Two of them were a couple of the maori boys who were on the wharf earlier on. He kept his mouth shut and looked the other way.

“Think you're so bloody cool, don't you?” One of them sneered.

“Whatever,” he shrugged.

“Fuck off, back to your rat-holes, Big Man.”

“Look,” Ronnie stopped. He'd had about enough of this. “What exactly is your problem? I did nothing to you.”

“Yeah, you did. You made us look bad.”

“I did not! You were doing that yourselves.”

“It was none of your bloody business! No-one asked you to stick your nose in. Next time you can just fuck off and mind your own.”

“Don't worry, I will.” He started walking again.

“See you do, Big Man. No-one needs you.”

“Ain't that the truth,” he sighed. “No-one needs me.” He went home.