(Could be called 'Robin's End' - last one for now).
They all soon settled into a new and comfortable routine. Robin and Darren were constantly together at home, both day and night. At first, they stuck with their own separate lives when at school and around town. Robin was much more into team sports than Darren was and he wasn't at all interested in his more geeky pursuits – Drama Society, Chess Club, etc.
However, as time went on and they helped and trained with each other, they both began to take more of an interest in the other's world, and they were together even more.
When the time came and Debbie had to stop working at the Pre-school, she was at home all day and everyday. Robin's domestic dreams came true then – the house was always warm when they arrived home and usually full of delicious smell's from Deb's baking and cooking. He liked having an at-home mother. They both did.
A few too few months after the wedding, their baby sister was born and the very proud big brothers were delighted. It was love at first sight, and they both doted on her. The baby was named 'Eloise', after the old song, but she was soon dubbed, 'Else' and was never called anything else.
A couple of years went by. The adults didn't change much, but the kids did – a lot. They all grew and the boys developed into strong, happy and healthy teenagers. They were ever more comfortable with each other, both in bed and out of it. (They had a LOT of practice).
They were both doing better in school than they ever had before.
The boys were delighted, once again, when the parents told them that another baby was on the way.
Robin and Darren talked it over, and then they told their parents that they thought that they should invest in an old caravan. Parked-up close to the back-door and plugged in to the house power supply, it would make a good new bedroom for them.
Else could move into their old room and the new baby could take her place in the parents' bedroom. Deb said that that was a great idea and very unselfish of them too. (It wasn't really. They'd have more privacy in a caravan and they could still share the same bed – they'd thought of that).
Bryan said, “Well, it's not a bad idea really. There's not much point in adding more rooms to this old place. That would cost a fortune and you two won't be here for that many more years.
A caravan sounds good. We'll think about it.”
“Think hard, Dad,” Robin replied.
“Yeah, Dad. Think real hard,” Darren agreed.
However, the caravan never happened. Bryan arrived home one day and announced that there'd been a change of plans. He was going to sell the Ranch and they were moving. Once again, he was going to ruin Robin's comfortable life. Darren's too. They were horrified, but they had no say and no choice – they were only 14, almost 15, years old. Dammit.
“Where are we moving to?”
“To Brownsville. I've been offered a job in the mine there and I'm taking it.”
“What's wrong with the job you've got now? You like working for Rick, don't you?”
“I do, but the job is not going to be there for much longer. Rick is retiring and shutting the mine down. It's all-but worked out anyway.”
“So your job won't be there any more. But why Brownsville? It's a horrible place, a crap town. If we've got to move, there must be somewhere better than Brownsville. Anywhere would be better than there.”
“I've got to work, Rob. We need the income to live and coalmining is what I know. I'm good at it and it pays well too. There aren't many underground mines still operating and Brownsville has one of the few. So that's where we are going.”
Darren had to object as well, this affected him too. “Dad, we can't live in Brownsville, it's an awful place. In the winter, it's even colder there than it is here – and that's saying a lot! Everytime we go there and get out of the car, that wind cuts through you like a knife.”
“Can't argue with that. But the wind is only around the business area near the river. When you get back away from there, it's a different climate altogether. It's quite mild really, they don't have frosts because they're near the sea.”
“If you say so. Still a horrible town though.”
Debbie said, “It's nice to see that the old West Coast parochialism is alive and well in the younger generation. Any place is what you make it, Boys. Once you make some new friends there, you'll like it too. Wait and see.”
“I'd rather not. I like the friends we've got now,” Robin grumbled. “Anyhow, how are you ever going to sell this place? We like it because it's the Ranch and it's our home, but it's rubbishy land really and a little old house. Who'd want it?”
“The Morris Mining Company want it. They've made several offers before, but I've always turned them down They guarantee that they'll buy it anytime we want to sell, and now we do. They want to put a gold-dredging operation through here. It's one of the few bits of land that has never been properly worked over before.”
“If there's gold out there, Dad, couldn't you do it yourself? They'll only be wanting to mine it to make a profit from it.”
“Of course they do. Fair enough too. Rob, I can't do it. It's not my sort of mining and we don't have the equipment or the money to buy it.”
“Oh. So we have to move to Brownsville?”
“Yes.”
Darren said, “If they just want to dig up the land, could we take the house with us?”
“This old place?” Bryan smiled. “It'd fall to bits before we got there. Don't worry. With the money we get from selling the Ranch, we'll buy a house in Brownsville – somewhere a lot bigger and better than what we've got now.”
“It might be bigger but it won't be better. This is our home!”
“Was our home. People move all the time, Rob. You'll get over it.”
“Doubt it. Anyway, I don't care how big the house you get is, Darren and I are still going to share a room. You're NOT taking that away from us.”
“Let's wait and see what house we get,” Debbie said. “Don't you boys think you're getting a bit big to be sleeping together?”
“No, Mum, we do not!” Darren stressed. “We're sharing a room or we're not coming – it's that simple.”
Bryan said, “And how would you do that? You're not adults yet and you're not in a position to support yourselves.”
“Oh, we've got a plan.”
“Now come on!” Debbie objected. “You're all starting to get a bit silly and it's time it stopped. No-one wants to see our family broken-up. Boys, we are all moving to Brownsville. Bryan, they will be sharing a room, like they've always done. As long as they're happy doing that, they can keep on doing it. No more arguments! Let's talk about something else.”
Robin said, “I just want to say one more thing.”
Bryan said, “Your mother said no more arguments.”
“I'm not arguing. I want to say – when Dad told me that he was getting married and I was getting a new mother and brother, I was not impressed and I didn't want him to do it. Now, I'm glad he didn't listen to me. Debbie, you're a brilliant mother!”
“Oh, Sweetheart! Thank you. You're not so bad yourself you know.”
“Yeah, well. Well, maybe this shifting won't be so bad – maybe. We'll see.”
“We will,” said Bryan. “Now what's for dinner?”
The move happened quickly. Robin and Darren suspected that it was like that so they have no time to object. The agreement to purchase was signed by Jack Morris of Morris Mining, the day after Bryan had dropped the news on them.
That night, they all sat around the computer and checked-out houses for sale, in and around Brownsville. With the money from the Ranch, they could afford to buy the best of them, but what they really wanted was a house that suited everybody – and definitely not by the river in the middle of the town!
They tagged several of the ones they liked the look of and, on Saturday, they went down to Brownsville to have a proper look at them. The first one they went to was the last one.
Perched up on a hilltop, at the south end of the town, well away from the cold winds by the river, It didn't look very promising at first. The long and narrow, steep, rough and gravelled, wound up through dense native bush above Weimar Road. It was like being out in the country, far away from any towns.
When they came to the top, there was a rough, overgrown, paddock on one side of the road – 2 hectares according to the website. They drove down the concrete driveway on the right, to park next to and below the house.
The house was up two short flights of wooden stairs and there were garages and other spaces on the ground floor which was, basically, built of concrete blocks, badly in need of cleaning and painting. One of the garage doors was crumpled and hanging off the rollers. It would obviously never close again.
The house up top was clad with rough-stained timber walls with a lot of big windows and it was surrounded on 2 sides by a wide wooden deck. It was not an old house, it was a reasonably modern style, but it was all a bit rough. It hadn't been well looked-after and there was a lot of rubbish lying around. It didn't look at all promising, until they went up the stairs and on to the deck at the front.
“Wow! What a view – it's glorious!”
They all stood looking down. Even Else, who was sitting on Robin's shoulders, was entranced. There wasn't much of the town visible, apart from the main road south, most of it was hidden behind the treetops which framed the view. There was the sea, the rivermouth and port and the bush-clad coastline all the way up to the headland in the distance, all shining in the sunshine.
“All right,” said Bryan. “So far, so good. Now let's see what else there is.” He knocked on the ranch-slider, glass door and the little old lady in there came out to show them around.
They all went inside, into the huge open-plan kitchen/dining/living-room area, which took up half of the entire floor area of the house. The laundry – washing machine and dryer – was incorporated into the kitchen and 4 bedrooms all opened off the hallway on the right.
The Master bedroom was at the front, with its own en-suite bathroom and a ranch slider out to the front deck. The two bedrooms behind that shared another en-suite and the 4th one, at the back, had none, (but it had a nice view).
All of the carpet would need replacing, it was old, stained, faded and worn. The ceilings were low, the windows were big and there was plenty of them. It was all a bit old and rough, but it was a well-designed house and full of sunshine.
“Not too bad,” was Bryan's verdict. “It needs work, but it could be a really nice home.”
“It IS a nice home,” said Debbie. “I like it.”
“I like it too,” said the old lady. “We lived here for years. It was a good place to raise our family, but they've all grown and moved away now. Since my husband died it has all got a bit too much for me.”
“I don't know,” said Darren. “Which bedroom would we have?”
The old lady smiled. “Go down the stairs in the hallway and you'll find another bedroom down there. I think you might like that one. My boys did.”
“Let's check it out, Bro.” Robin went down the stairs and Darren followed.
They were back, all excited, in a couple of minutes.
“Dad, Mum, This is the house! This is where we want to live. Nowhere else.”
“You've got to buy it, Dad. Please!”
“You have to, Dad. You have to buy this one.”
“What on earth did you two find down there? A diamond mine?” Debbie smiled at their excitement.
“Even better!”
“Come and see.”
They ran back down and the parents followed them At the bottom of the stairs, there was another short hallway which led to an outside door. To the left, doors opened into the garages at the end by the drive. To the right, there were several storage rooms, the back of which must've been dug into the hillside.
Around and behind the stairs, there was another door and there was a huge room through there. More than just a room, it was a whole self-contained apartment with its own kitchen, bathroom and shower as well as the huge bed/living room area along the front wall.
A breakfast bar divided off the kitchen area and another bar/counter along the back wall had a big entertainment area behind it – two big television screens, an old and large stereo set-up and shelves full of CD's, DVD's, books and room for anything else they wanted.
“Wow!” said Debbie. “This is great. What a gorgeous room.”
“It is,” Bryan said. “A very nice room. I think we should have it ourselves, Deb.”
“Dad, no!”
“You can't, Dad. You can have the master bedroom up top, that's near the babies'. This is perfect for us.”
“For you? Nah, it's be wasted on you.”
“No it wouldn't! It's what we need, exactly what we need. Dad, Pleeeease!” Robin, with a big cheesy grin, knelt and lifted his hands like he was praying.
Debbie said, “Bryan, you can't take this away from them. This'd be the ideal place for growing boys. They'd still be living with us, but they'd have their own space too, so we're not all falling over each other.”
“You might be right,” Bryan replied. He grinned at the boys and said, “Just kidding, Boys. This will be your room.”
He turned to the old lady and said, “Mrs. Minehan, we'll take it. You've just sold your house and we've got a new home for our family.”
“What a relief!” she smiled. “That's wonderful. But, don't you want to dicker? The Real-Estate Agent said that people would try to get a lower price because there is a lot of work to be done.”
“We don't want a lower price, Mrs. Minehan. We want this house, just as it is, and we want it now. We'll go down to the Estate Agent's office and we'll buy your house – now. Today.”
“Thank you, Mr. Hedges. Thank you very much! I hope you will be as happy here as we were with our family.”
Bryan looked at the smiling faces surrounding him, grinned himself and said, “I think we will be. In fact, I'm sure we will.”
They smiled all the way home and, as soon as they arrived, the boys started packing.
It didn't happen overnight, there was a lot to be done and it took 2 weeks. But, by then the school holidays had started, which was very handy. The truck arrived and was loaded.
They left, with just a brief, wistful, look back, and they moved to Brownsville, to their new home on the hill.
Bryan had a couple of weeks before he started his new job and the boys had no school to go to, but they weren't exactly on holiday. He had them busy, all day every day. They didn't even get a chance to look around the town, except when passing through on trips to the rubbish dump or to get supplies.
They cleared up all the rubbish lying around, both inside and out, and took load after load of it away. The next priority was to rebuild the fence around the outside of the decks and to put a gate at the top of the stairs, so that Else could go outside to play there.
Using long-handled rollers, they painted all of the ceilings throughout the house and stripped off the wallpaper ready for repapering. Carpet-Layers arrived to replace the carpets, and they had to help them too.
Their physical fitness program was on hold, but they figured they didn't need it anyway, they were working hard. They didn't even get a break when Bryan went off to work. He left them lists of things to be done, mostly painting preparation, which was a bugger of a job.
It was all work and no play, but there were some compensations. They were working together, they were getting paid for it and it was going to be a grouse house by the time they were finished.
On the Friday before school started, there was a registration day at the Highschool, and their mum took them down there to sign up.
The office lady signed them up and gave them books of instructions and maps of the school etc. She told them to report to Room 4, for Geography on the first period on Monday, and gave them an introductory note for the teacher.
They then went downtown and purchased books, stationary and uniforms. Darren had grown a lot in the last two years, but he was still smaller than Robin and probably always would be.
Monday morning, they were dropped off at school and they joined the mob waiting outside Room 4. Well, stood near them and endured their suspicious stares really. No-one spoke to them – snobby lot!
The teacher arrived, long after every other class had gone in. Everyone rushed inside after him and Robin and Darren followed them all.
They decided not to bother the teacher, it was already late, he didn't look happy, and they didn't want to get yelled at on the first day. So, they sat together in seats in the back row.
Mr. Erickson stood up, the kids settled down and shut up and their new life in their new school began.
Wednesday, May 30, 2012
Monday, May 28, 2012
Brownsville Tales - Robin, 4
(Really must put some pretty pics in here!)
Darren hauled his pants up and they went back, off the concrete foundations and on to the leaf-covered hillside under the densely-packed trees.
The ground in there was wet, small patches still had white frost on them and there were icicles around where water was trickling down the hill.
“Maybe this wasn't such a good idea,” Robin looked around. “I'm not sitting my bare bum down on any of that!”
“You don't have to sit down.” Darren dropped his pants again, displaying his now fully-erect dick. “We're just checking-out the equipment here and we can stand up to do that. Come on then, are you going to show me or are you going to get all shy?”
“I'm not shy.” Robin unzipped his jean and pushed them down to his knees, exposing his own throbbing erection.
“Oh, wow. Now that's nice,” Darren grinned. “That's very nice. Big too. I knew you would be.”
“Yeah, well. I don't think it's bigger than yours though. Maybe a bit longer?”
“You think so? Let's measure them.” Darren shuffled forward and pressed his dick against Robin's.
Darren shuffled forward and pushed his dick up against Robin's. Robin was taller, but by spreading his legs well apart, they stood at the same level and both could feel the pulsing in the warm flesh pressed against them
“Oh, yeah!” Darren looked down. “They're just about the same, I think.”
“Looks like it, yes.” Robin pulled back, looked into Darren's eyes, and then he reached out and wrapped his fingers around his dick. “You're big and you've got a great dick.”
He ran his hand up and down, softly and gently, grinning at the quivering. “Do you wank yet?”
“Doesn't everyone? I don't do it all of the time.”
“No? When do you then?”
“Only on days ending with a 'y',” Darren grinned.
“Yeah? Me too!” Robin grinned back. “So, are you up for doing it together?”
Darren ran his fingertips from under Robin's balls, up to the top of the shaft, then down again, wrapping his hand around him and pumping a couple of times. “I think we're both very up for it. Don't you?”
“Sure looks like it!”
They stood facing each other, each with one hand roaming around the other's body and pumping on his shaft until they both came together, squirting semen on each other's bellies.
“Hot damm! That was so good. I think maybe I can live out here after all.”
“You do? That's good, I guess.”
“I guess so too. You said that we might be sharing a room. I think I'd like that if we can do more of this.”
“More wanking? I'd like to do much more of that!”
“Yeah, and much more than that too.”
“More?” Robin frowned. “Oh. You mean all the way sex?”
“Yep. All the way, fucking and everything. If I've got to live all of the way out here, I want something good to make up for it.”
“We can find lots of good stuff to do!”
“Great. We will then, and it'll be better in a bed. We should be getting back to the house now.”
“Yeah, suppose so. We don't want them coming out and finding us here like this.”
“We surely don't! Let's get moving then.”
They cleaned-up, as best as they could, put their clothes back together and started walking back to the house, both walking along quietly and thinking their own thoughts.
Darren said, “Have you done it before? Sex, I mean.”
“I've felt-up a couple of people – one girl, one boy. That's all. How much have you done?”
“Less than you. I've never even seen anyone naked before, not really. I've read a lot, on the internet, but I've never done anything. Now I want to try it out.”
“And you want to try it with me. I thought you didn't like me?”
“I thought I didn't, but I didn't know you. Now, maybe I could learn to like you.”
“Yeah? Maybe I could learn to too.”
“Okay. If it doesn't work out, I'm still going to see if my grandparents will let me live with them.”
“Where do they live?”
“At Paraparaumu – north of Wellington.”
“No way!”
“Yes, they do.”
“But my grandparents live there too!”
“No!”
“Yes. They're by the beach, where do yours live?”
“Not by the beach, they're not that rich. They live further back, near the railway station. It's a big town.”
“It's a small country! But, yeah, it is a big town.”
“It is. Bigger than ours anyway. Tell you what, if you do decide to run away, let me know and I'll come with you. Shooting through to the grandparents' was my plan too.”
“It was?” Darren grinned. “Okay. If we run away from each other, we'll run away together.”
“That's a plan,” Robin laughed. “I think we're a lot more alike than we thought we were.”
“Yeah, we are. Plus – I like your dick.”
“I like yours too, a lot. We can be friends and help each other.”
“Possibly. As long as we get each other off, I'll be happy.”
“Me too! Actually, you're a lot smarter than me. I'm thinking, maybe you can help me out with schoolwork and stuff.”
“Could do. Maybe you can help me too. You're bigger, fitter and stronger than I am. I'd like to bulk-up a bit so the friggin' bullies will stop picking on me.”
“I stopped them, the other day, and you told me off for it.”
“That's different. I want to get so that I can look after myself. Are you going to help me?”
“I am. We'll help each other, that'll be a fair trade-off.”
“Cool. And, what happens in the bedroom, stays in the bedroom.”
“Of course it does. It'll be good exercise too.”
Robin felt that he should be showing the Kid that he wasn't totally ignorant. He was supposed to be showing him around the Ranch. “That creek across the valley there, coming down from the hills, that's Lanky's Creek.”
“Yea,” Darren nodded. “Lanky's Creek, named after a tall, skinny, gold-fossicker. I've been up there, searching for fossils.”
“So have I! There's heaps of them up there – Devonian Era, limestone fossils.”
“That's them. They prove that this whole area was under the sea once.”
“Really? The sea is bloody miles away! A couple of hours, almost.”
“It is now, but it wasn't away back then. New Zealand is the youngest country in the world and it's still rising up out of the sea. The Southern Alps are growing at about 10 millimeters a year – that's why we have earthquakes.”
“Bloody earthquakes! But, if it's growing, we might be bigger than Aussie one day.”
“Maybe. It'd take one hell of a long time though; you and I won't be around to see it.”
“Probably not. You hungry?”
“Do fish crap in the water? Of course I'm hungry, it's been a couple of hours!”
“Yeah. Let's go eat.”
There was no-one there when they got back to the house, so they micro-waved a couple of frozen pies and made a sandwich each while they were waiting. They were sitting by the fire, eating, when the parents came back in.
Debbie said, Well! Don't you two look cosy, sitting there?”
“Yeah, it's all good, Mum,” Darren replied. “Where've you been?”
“Just walking around. Bryan was showing me the sheds and garages. I'll need somewhere to keep my car out of the weather. How do you think you'll like living out here, Son?”
“Oh,” Darren glanced at Robin and they exchanged a smile. “I think I'll like it fine.”
Bryan said, “That's good. You think you'll be able to get along with this big lug here, do you?”
They smiled again and Darren said, “I do. I think I'll be able to knock him into shape.”
“Hey!” Robin protested. “I'll knock you into shape.”
“That's the plan, innit?”
“Well, I'm really pleased,” Debbie said. “It's good that you're getting along. You're going to be step-brothers.”
“We're going to be brothers,” Robin nodded.
“And you're happy to share a room?”
“We are,” Darren replied.
Robin said, “Yeah, Dad. We can do it. The only other choice is for me to share with you and Darren with Debbie, and we're not doing that.”
“We are not!” Bryan and Debbie agreed.
The parents were married a couple of weeks later, on a Thursday afternoon, in a small and intimate ceremony in the Anglican church. Robin, looking very cute in a suit, was his father's Best Man and Darren 'gave his mother away'.
The boys were too young to sign the marriage register, so adult friends had to do that for them. The whole party ate at the town's flashest restaurant, in the Hotel Riverston, and then the bride and groom went away for a long-weekend honeymoon in Hanmer.
On the way out, they dropped Robin and Darren off at the Ranch. They really should not have been left alone with no adult supervision, but – whatever. They promised not to burn the house down, and they didn't.
No-one said anything, but they all knew that nobody would be going to school on Friday.
The parents went off and left them, and the boys stayed home and had a honeymoon of their own. It was grouse! Also, choice, Also, very busy. They were both sore and exhausted by Sunday.
Mr. and Mrs. Hedges returned on Sunday evening and they all went off to school and work next morning. Debbie took Darren in her car and Robin went on the bus, as usual. She offered to take him in to town as well, but Robin said no, he'd go on the bus. He liked the bus and wanted to keep riding it.
Darren would have to travel with him soon, when Debbie's pregnancy got so far advanced that she had to stop work for a year or two. (“'Stop work' Oh, yes? Stopping work to carry bricks, I think.”)
Bryan was already at home when they all returned after school. “Robin, what is Debbie's bed doing in your room?”
“We moved it in there. That's okay, isn't it? It was only sitting out in the barn where the rats will eat into it. It's safer in the house.”
“I suppose it will be,” Debbie shuddered. “We're not using it, but it's a Queen-size bed. Are you sure that there's enough space for it in your room?”
“There's plenty of room now,” Darren said. “We threw the other beds out and they're in the barn.”
“So you're both going to sleep in the same bed. How's that going to work?”
“It'll work fine, Dad. We like it like that. One bed means more free floor space and we can keep each other warm. You won't let me have a heater and it's friggin' freezing in there sometimes.”
“Well . . okay then. We'll see how it goes. You can always swap around again if it doesn't work. Boys, next time, ask before you help yourselves. Okay?”
“Yeah, okay, Dad.”
“Okay, Bryan,” Darren said. “Can I call you 'Dad' too?”
“Yes, of course you can, Son.”
“Thanks. I've never had a dad before. And Robin can call mum, 'Mum'.”
“Only if he wants to,” Debbie smiled.
“Oh yes, I want to. Thanks, Debbie – I mean, thanks, Mum.”
“Welcome, Son.”
Darren hauled his pants up and they went back, off the concrete foundations and on to the leaf-covered hillside under the densely-packed trees.
The ground in there was wet, small patches still had white frost on them and there were icicles around where water was trickling down the hill.
“Maybe this wasn't such a good idea,” Robin looked around. “I'm not sitting my bare bum down on any of that!”
“You don't have to sit down.” Darren dropped his pants again, displaying his now fully-erect dick. “We're just checking-out the equipment here and we can stand up to do that. Come on then, are you going to show me or are you going to get all shy?”
“I'm not shy.” Robin unzipped his jean and pushed them down to his knees, exposing his own throbbing erection.
“Oh, wow. Now that's nice,” Darren grinned. “That's very nice. Big too. I knew you would be.”
“Yeah, well. I don't think it's bigger than yours though. Maybe a bit longer?”
“You think so? Let's measure them.” Darren shuffled forward and pressed his dick against Robin's.
Darren shuffled forward and pushed his dick up against Robin's. Robin was taller, but by spreading his legs well apart, they stood at the same level and both could feel the pulsing in the warm flesh pressed against them
“Oh, yeah!” Darren looked down. “They're just about the same, I think.”
“Looks like it, yes.” Robin pulled back, looked into Darren's eyes, and then he reached out and wrapped his fingers around his dick. “You're big and you've got a great dick.”
He ran his hand up and down, softly and gently, grinning at the quivering. “Do you wank yet?”
“Doesn't everyone? I don't do it all of the time.”
“No? When do you then?”
“Only on days ending with a 'y',” Darren grinned.
“Yeah? Me too!” Robin grinned back. “So, are you up for doing it together?”
Darren ran his fingertips from under Robin's balls, up to the top of the shaft, then down again, wrapping his hand around him and pumping a couple of times. “I think we're both very up for it. Don't you?”
“Sure looks like it!”
They stood facing each other, each with one hand roaming around the other's body and pumping on his shaft until they both came together, squirting semen on each other's bellies.
“Hot damm! That was so good. I think maybe I can live out here after all.”
“You do? That's good, I guess.”
“I guess so too. You said that we might be sharing a room. I think I'd like that if we can do more of this.”
“More wanking? I'd like to do much more of that!”
“Yeah, and much more than that too.”
“More?” Robin frowned. “Oh. You mean all the way sex?”
“Yep. All the way, fucking and everything. If I've got to live all of the way out here, I want something good to make up for it.”
“We can find lots of good stuff to do!”
“Great. We will then, and it'll be better in a bed. We should be getting back to the house now.”
“Yeah, suppose so. We don't want them coming out and finding us here like this.”
“We surely don't! Let's get moving then.”
They cleaned-up, as best as they could, put their clothes back together and started walking back to the house, both walking along quietly and thinking their own thoughts.
Darren said, “Have you done it before? Sex, I mean.”
“I've felt-up a couple of people – one girl, one boy. That's all. How much have you done?”
“Less than you. I've never even seen anyone naked before, not really. I've read a lot, on the internet, but I've never done anything. Now I want to try it out.”
“And you want to try it with me. I thought you didn't like me?”
“I thought I didn't, but I didn't know you. Now, maybe I could learn to like you.”
“Yeah? Maybe I could learn to too.”
“Okay. If it doesn't work out, I'm still going to see if my grandparents will let me live with them.”
“Where do they live?”
“At Paraparaumu – north of Wellington.”
“No way!”
“Yes, they do.”
“But my grandparents live there too!”
“No!”
“Yes. They're by the beach, where do yours live?”
“Not by the beach, they're not that rich. They live further back, near the railway station. It's a big town.”
“It's a small country! But, yeah, it is a big town.”
“It is. Bigger than ours anyway. Tell you what, if you do decide to run away, let me know and I'll come with you. Shooting through to the grandparents' was my plan too.”
“It was?” Darren grinned. “Okay. If we run away from each other, we'll run away together.”
“That's a plan,” Robin laughed. “I think we're a lot more alike than we thought we were.”
“Yeah, we are. Plus – I like your dick.”
“I like yours too, a lot. We can be friends and help each other.”
“Possibly. As long as we get each other off, I'll be happy.”
“Me too! Actually, you're a lot smarter than me. I'm thinking, maybe you can help me out with schoolwork and stuff.”
“Could do. Maybe you can help me too. You're bigger, fitter and stronger than I am. I'd like to bulk-up a bit so the friggin' bullies will stop picking on me.”
“I stopped them, the other day, and you told me off for it.”
“That's different. I want to get so that I can look after myself. Are you going to help me?”
“I am. We'll help each other, that'll be a fair trade-off.”
“Cool. And, what happens in the bedroom, stays in the bedroom.”
“Of course it does. It'll be good exercise too.”
Robin felt that he should be showing the Kid that he wasn't totally ignorant. He was supposed to be showing him around the Ranch. “That creek across the valley there, coming down from the hills, that's Lanky's Creek.”
“Yea,” Darren nodded. “Lanky's Creek, named after a tall, skinny, gold-fossicker. I've been up there, searching for fossils.”
“So have I! There's heaps of them up there – Devonian Era, limestone fossils.”
“That's them. They prove that this whole area was under the sea once.”
“Really? The sea is bloody miles away! A couple of hours, almost.”
“It is now, but it wasn't away back then. New Zealand is the youngest country in the world and it's still rising up out of the sea. The Southern Alps are growing at about 10 millimeters a year – that's why we have earthquakes.”
“Bloody earthquakes! But, if it's growing, we might be bigger than Aussie one day.”
“Maybe. It'd take one hell of a long time though; you and I won't be around to see it.”
“Probably not. You hungry?”
“Do fish crap in the water? Of course I'm hungry, it's been a couple of hours!”
“Yeah. Let's go eat.”
There was no-one there when they got back to the house, so they micro-waved a couple of frozen pies and made a sandwich each while they were waiting. They were sitting by the fire, eating, when the parents came back in.
Debbie said, Well! Don't you two look cosy, sitting there?”
“Yeah, it's all good, Mum,” Darren replied. “Where've you been?”
“Just walking around. Bryan was showing me the sheds and garages. I'll need somewhere to keep my car out of the weather. How do you think you'll like living out here, Son?”
“Oh,” Darren glanced at Robin and they exchanged a smile. “I think I'll like it fine.”
Bryan said, “That's good. You think you'll be able to get along with this big lug here, do you?”
They smiled again and Darren said, “I do. I think I'll be able to knock him into shape.”
“Hey!” Robin protested. “I'll knock you into shape.”
“That's the plan, innit?”
“Well, I'm really pleased,” Debbie said. “It's good that you're getting along. You're going to be step-brothers.”
“We're going to be brothers,” Robin nodded.
“And you're happy to share a room?”
“We are,” Darren replied.
Robin said, “Yeah, Dad. We can do it. The only other choice is for me to share with you and Darren with Debbie, and we're not doing that.”
“We are not!” Bryan and Debbie agreed.
The parents were married a couple of weeks later, on a Thursday afternoon, in a small and intimate ceremony in the Anglican church. Robin, looking very cute in a suit, was his father's Best Man and Darren 'gave his mother away'.
The boys were too young to sign the marriage register, so adult friends had to do that for them. The whole party ate at the town's flashest restaurant, in the Hotel Riverston, and then the bride and groom went away for a long-weekend honeymoon in Hanmer.
On the way out, they dropped Robin and Darren off at the Ranch. They really should not have been left alone with no adult supervision, but – whatever. They promised not to burn the house down, and they didn't.
No-one said anything, but they all knew that nobody would be going to school on Friday.
The parents went off and left them, and the boys stayed home and had a honeymoon of their own. It was grouse! Also, choice, Also, very busy. They were both sore and exhausted by Sunday.
Mr. and Mrs. Hedges returned on Sunday evening and they all went off to school and work next morning. Debbie took Darren in her car and Robin went on the bus, as usual. She offered to take him in to town as well, but Robin said no, he'd go on the bus. He liked the bus and wanted to keep riding it.
Darren would have to travel with him soon, when Debbie's pregnancy got so far advanced that she had to stop work for a year or two. (“'Stop work' Oh, yes? Stopping work to carry bricks, I think.”)
Bryan was already at home when they all returned after school. “Robin, what is Debbie's bed doing in your room?”
“We moved it in there. That's okay, isn't it? It was only sitting out in the barn where the rats will eat into it. It's safer in the house.”
“I suppose it will be,” Debbie shuddered. “We're not using it, but it's a Queen-size bed. Are you sure that there's enough space for it in your room?”
“There's plenty of room now,” Darren said. “We threw the other beds out and they're in the barn.”
“So you're both going to sleep in the same bed. How's that going to work?”
“It'll work fine, Dad. We like it like that. One bed means more free floor space and we can keep each other warm. You won't let me have a heater and it's friggin' freezing in there sometimes.”
“Well . . okay then. We'll see how it goes. You can always swap around again if it doesn't work. Boys, next time, ask before you help yourselves. Okay?”
“Yeah, okay, Dad.”
“Okay, Bryan,” Darren said. “Can I call you 'Dad' too?”
“Yes, of course you can, Son.”
“Thanks. I've never had a dad before. And Robin can call mum, 'Mum'.”
“Only if he wants to,” Debbie smiled.
“Oh yes, I want to. Thanks, Debbie – I mean, thanks, Mum.”
“Welcome, Son.”
Tuesday, May 22, 2012
Brownsville Tales - Robin, 3
He didn't go to school next day. He was going to, he was up and dressed and ready to go, and then – he didn't. Bryan got a phone-call at breakfast-time and he had to go to the mine early – something to do with Rick's truck not starting and the ventilation fans having to be started. Whatever it was, he was up and gone in a hurry.
“I might be late home tonight. I'll have to go to town and do some shopping after work. Get yourself a sandwich or something when you get home from school and I'll bring takeaways home for supper. Does a burger sound good to you?”
“Yeah, Dad. Two burgers would sound even better. They're not big y'know.”
“Two burgers? Okay, I suppose you're a growing boy and all that. You want fries with them?”
“Well, of course! Thanks.”
“You haven't got 'em yet. Thank me when you do. I've gotta go! Make sure you put the screen in front of the fire and close the doors when you leave. 'Bye Rob.”
“'Bye, Dad. See you tonight.”
Bryan left in a hurry. Robin watched the car go out of the drive, and then he had a brilliant idea. He put a couple of shovelfuls of coal on the fire, sat down and put his feet up. He wasn't going to school. Stuff that. He was staying here by the fire, where it was warm. Nice. This was the life.
He didn't often bunk school, hardly ever actually, but today he was. It was freezing out there again. There was even ice on the inside of the window in his room when he woke up. His dad didn't believe in heaters in the bedrooms. He claimed that they were not healthy and were a waste of money. No-one ever froze in their bed.
He imagined that Darren would be walking to school by now and he wondered if those goons were chucking ice at him again? He wouldn't be stopping them if he was there anyway. He got no thanks for helping him yesterday and he wasn't doing that again, but he still didn't like it.
No-one deserves that sort of treatment, not even Darren Hughes. But – none of his business. Hughes had made that perfectly clear.
Why didn't he like him? That'd really upset him for some strange reason.
He was NOT going to sit here worrying about that all day. It was great sitting by the fire on a frosty morning. He probably wouldn't get many chances to have a day off like this again. Would Deb and her sprog be moving in here, or would him and his dad move into town?
He didn't know, but he hoped they would stay out here. He didn't want to leave the Ranch, this was his home, the only home he'd ever known. Shame that things couldn't stay as they were, but that's life. Only dead things don't move.
Why didn't Darren Hughes like him and what could he do about it? Nothing! That's what.
He had another breakfast, like a hobbit – hobbits were known for second breakfasts. Actually, now that he was starting to get hair on his legs, there was some growing on the tops of his feet too. Maybe he was turning into a hobbit? Nah. He was already too tall for that, hobbits were only little people. Darren Hughes was little. Why didn't he like him?
He lazed around the house all day and did nothing much, except for keeping the fire going. The daytime TV was all a lot of rubbish – soppy soap operas, dumb-arse people screeching at talk-show hosts and infantile pre-school, children's programmes. He soon gave up on that and turned it off. He wasn't missing anything on TV when he was at school.
If he knew his dad, he was going to want a major clean-up around the house before his girlfriend arrived tomorrow. He did think about making a start on that now, but no. If he did too much, his dad would know that he didn't go to school. So, he did none.
Besides, it was his day off, wasn't it? There's an idea – he could watch Ferris Bueller's Day Off. They had it on DVD. But, no. He'd seen it a hundred times already and he couldn't be bothered.
He sat and watched the coal burning on the open fire and the day slipped passed all too quickly.
It was way after dark when his dad arrived home and Robin was hungry!
“Nice and warm in here,” Bryan smiled.
“Yep. I got it warm just for you.”
“Sure you did. Want to help me put these groceries away?”
“Later, Dad. I'm starving here. Let's eat before it gets cold.”
“Before what gets cold? Oh, right. I was going to get burgers, wasn't I? Well, I forgot.”
“Dad, you didn't!”
“I didn't – forget. They're in the bag there. Help yourself.”
They sat either side of the fire, devouring their luke-warm takeaways.
“How was school today?”
“It was fine. Is Debbie still coming out tomorrow?”
“She is. Should be here about lunchtime.”
“Right. Is she bringing that kid with her?”
“Darren? Yes, I suppose she will be.”
“Damm.”
“That'll do, Rob. I told you, this is happening whether you like it or not. You'll just have to learn to get along with the kid. Why don't you like him.”
“I, ah . . I dunno. Why doesn't he like me?”
“How do you know that?”
“That's what he told me. He said he don't like me at all and he's not going to live out here with us.”
“Is that so? I think you'll find that he's got no more say in the matter than you have, and that's not a lot.”
“Gee, thanks, Dad. So I'm going to have to live with someone who hates me?”
“Could be. Lots of people do.You'll work it out. He seems like a nice enough kid, and so are you – mostly.”
“Well, thanks. You don't think I'm a stuck-up, conceited pig then?
“I don't know. Are you?”
“No, I'm not! But he thinks so.”
“You'll just have to show him he's wrong then, won't you?
“So you don't think I am? I'm pleased someone likes me.”
“Of course I bloody like you. You're my boy, my first-born and you always will be.”
“Probably. Unless they invent time-travel.”
“Not likely. Now then, we're going to have to have a major clean-up here before Deb arrives. We don't want her thinking that we're a couple of slobs.”
“That sounds like work.”
“It does, but it's got to be done. But not now. I've already done a day's work, we'll start in the morning.”
“Great.”
It wasn't so great next morning when his dad came into his room, banging and crashing and waking him up. “Come on, Sleepyhead, out of bed! We've got work to do.”
“Oh no,” he groaned. “It's too early. It's not even daylight yet. Go away!” He rolled over and pulled the covers up over his head.
“Oh no you don't,” Bryan exclaimed. “It is morning. It's after 7 already and the sun will be up soon enough.”
“This son won't be.”
“Oh but he will.” Bryan whipped the covers right off him.
“Ow! Damm, Dad. It's cold.”
“Move your butt then.”
Robin was sleeping naked, as usual, and he had to roll on to his stomach to hide his morning boner. That meant his lily-white butt was exposed to the world, but that was better than the alternative.
“Come on, Boy,” Bryan grinned. “Get some clothes on and I'll see you in the kitchen” He left and took all the covers with him!
Robin could get up and dressed or he could lie there and freeze. He got up.
He came out to the kitchen and his dad was sitting by the fire, drinking coffee. “Here's my Laughing Boy,” he grinned. “Have a rude awakening, did you?”
“I did, and don't worry, you're going to pay for that.”
“You'll try. Get something to eat and we'll get started. I'll do my room and the lounge. You can do your room, and then get started in here. I'll help you when I've done my bit.”
“Oh great. This is the messiest room in the house, because we spend the most time in here.”
“I know. That's why we'll both be cleaning in here. We've only got until lunchtime, so there's no time to waste. Do the dishes and dry them and put them away for once. Get rid of all this junk. Burn whatever burns. Then throw the clothes into the laundry and wipe-down all the ledges and surfaces. I'll vacuum the floor, and then we're going to scrub it.”
“Oh joy. But why bother? Wouldn't it be more honest to let her see how we really live?”
“Not likely. She'd run a mile.”
“That'd be a bad thing?”
“Shut up, Rob.”
They worked all morning. It's amazing how much dust and dirt collects, especially up in the high places. That's the downside of having a big fire. They finished-up when they heard a car coming in from the highway. Robin put the cleaning gear into the laundry and went to the bathroom to freshen-up before their visitors came in.
They arrived and Robin fell in love – with her, not him. She came in carrying a couple of flat boxes and gave him a big warm smile.
“Hello, Robin. Nice to meet you at last. I've brought lunch, as promised. Where should I put these?”
“Umm, yeah. Hey, Debbie. Put them on the table, I guess.”
“No sooner said than done. You do like pizza, I hope?”
“Pizza? I love pizza! But where did you get them? There's no place in town does pizza, is there?”
“Not as far as I know. I made them myself. Darren cut-up some cartons to make boxes – he's a clever boy, my Dazza. You do know each other, don't you?”
“Well, kind-of. Hello, Darren. Nice to see you here.”
Darren just nodded and said, “Hey.” Everyone paused, like they were waiting for him to say more, but he didn't.
“Well,” Deb smiled again. “Not very talkative, my Boy. Let's eat, shall we,? Before it gets cold and yucky.”
They ate and it was great pizza. There were no fries though, there was no time to heat them.
“What did you think, Rob?” his dad asked.
“Of the pizza? That was Ace! Thanks, Deb. I've never had better.”
“Pleased you liked them. I will clean-up here. Why don't you boys go and get lost? Dazza wants to have a look around outside, don't you, Son? Will you be his guide, Robin? You must know the area really well.”
“Sure. I'll show him around, if he wants me too.”
“Thanks,” said Darren. He picked-up his big notebook and headed out of the door.
'I knew he was booky.' Robin followed him out. “What's the book for, Darren?”
“Just my notes. Mum's planning on living out here, so I'm finding out about the place.”
“Yeah? There's not much here now, but it was a huge town once.”
“Not really. There was a town, but there was never any more than about 300 people living here. A lot of the miners lived in town, or at the Point, and they walked out here every day.”
“How do you know all that?”
“I read. That will be where the Progress Mill was, down there at the corner of the river. Can we go down there?”
“Sure. Just watch your feet, there's a lot of holes and stuff. It was a huge operation. They had a 60 head quartz-crushing battery there.”
“65 head, actually. It was big, but it wasn't the biggest. The Wealth's battery was bigger. That's why the place was called Crushingtown.”
“I knew that. They say that when the batteries stopped on Sundays, it was so quiet the locals couldn't sleep. They would've been hella noisy and echoed off the hills too.”
“They would. How many bedrooms are there in your house?”
“Just two. That's why we might have to share a room.”
“Not happening. Two bedrooms? It's not the house where Jack Lovelock was born then. Their one's gone. It must've moved, been demolished or burnt down.”
“Yeah? Jack Lovelock? I know about him. New Zealand's greatest-ever runner and he cleaned-up at Hitler's Olympics in Berlin in 1936.”
“He did.”
“But, how do you know that ours was not his house? It's old enough to be the one.”
“Because you've only got the two bedrooms. Lovelock's father was the Superintendent of the battery here and bosses always had big houses so shareholders had somewhere to stay when they came visiting.
“Ah, right. You're pretty bright, Dazza. I've lived here all of my life and already you know more than me.”
“I'm not super-bright, I've just been reading. Don't call me 'Dazza'. That's Mum's stupid name for me.”
“Okay. What should I call you then?”
“'Sir' could work.”
“Not for me, it won't. I'll call you Darren.”
“Suit yourself. Can we go up these stairs in the foundations here?”
“Well, yeah. But why would you want to? There's nothing up there.”
“No, but it's high-up. There'll be a better view from up there.”
“Let's do that then.”
The stairs and the old concrete foundations climbed up the foot of the hill. The building that used to be there was obviously several stories high. Darren was puffing and out of breath when they reached the top. Robin wasn't and he felt quite smug about that. He was much fitter than the townie.
“Okay,” Daren said when he'd recovered. “This was the Progress Mill and they used to crush and process the ore here from the Globe and Progress mines. That would've come down the hill there, on an aerial cableway. The Wealth and the Dark were across the valley, by the main road down there.”
“The Wealth would be the Wealth of Nations mine,” Robin replied. “But what was the Dark?”
“Sheesh! You should know that. The Keep it Dark was one of the richest, longest lasting mines in the whole district. It wasn't huge, but it produced gold year after year.”
“Right. I did know that.”
“So,” Darren consulted his notebook. “The Wealth was the furtherest away, by the bend in the highway. The Dark was next to it, and then the Hercules. The Golden Ledge, Vulcan and Independent were along the same line and the Energetic was back up in the hills. Do you know where the Pandora was?”
“No. Where?”
“I'm asking you. I don't know.”
“Oh. Same. There was a lot of mines.”
“There was. Most of them weren't very big and they only lasted for a few years, but gold that came out of this area provided the money to get the whole country going. There were over 70 mines altogether.”
“Around here?”
“In the whole district.”
Robin stood looking out over his valley that he'd thought he knew so well. “I wonder if there's any gold still out there? That'd be cool.”
“Could be, but not very likely,” Darren replied. “Those old-time miners knew what they were doing. They wouldn't have missed much.”
“Deep down, there could be. Modern machinery can get to where they couldn't.”
“Maybe. Have you got a couple of million dollars worth of modern equipment?”
“I wish. Damm!” he looked around. “What're you doing?”
“Pissing,” Darren grinned. His track pants and boxers were down around his knees and he stood with his half-hard dick poking out and releasing a stream that soared down over the concrete cliff and splash-landed far below them.
“When you've gotta go, you've gotta go! Oh Man, that feels better. I was bustin'”
“You must've been! Wow.”
Robin stood staring with his mouth hanging open and his eyes bugging out. Darren finished peeing, but he was in no hurry to put his junk away. He put his hands behind his head and shook his dick dry by flicking his hips.
He was small and skinny, and that dick wouldn't have looked out of place on someone twice his size. It dwarfed his nuts which were almost hidden behind it. Uncut, his foreskin was almost peeled back and the tip of his purple knob was peeking out. His skin down there was milky-white, except for the darker-pink dick, and a small tuft of curly black hair topped his equipment.
Robin couldn't stop staring. He had, of course, had plenty of fleeting glimpses of other people's gear before. But, apart from his own, he'd never had a close-up look. Was it rising in a full-on hard-on? Yes, it was!
It had just occurred to him that the kid wasn't in any hurry to pull his pants up and put everything away, when he wiggled his hips again and said, “Like what you see?”
“Well – yeah!” Robin blushed, but he didn't stop looking. “You, umm, you're really well-built, down there. For a small kid, you're big!”
“I'm not THAT small.”
“Right. You're not.”
“Is mine bigger than yours?”
“I, umm, I'm not sure. Could be. Maybe.”
“Come on then,” Darren grinned. “Flop it out and we'll compare them. Or are you shy?”
“Not really,” Robin grinned back. “But . . not here. We can see across the whole valley. Anyone out there can see us – especially if they've got binoculars or a telescope. My dad's got a telescope.”
“Why would they?”
“You want to risk it?”
“Not really. Come back under the trees there, and then we will.”
“All right!”
“I might be late home tonight. I'll have to go to town and do some shopping after work. Get yourself a sandwich or something when you get home from school and I'll bring takeaways home for supper. Does a burger sound good to you?”
“Yeah, Dad. Two burgers would sound even better. They're not big y'know.”
“Two burgers? Okay, I suppose you're a growing boy and all that. You want fries with them?”
“Well, of course! Thanks.”
“You haven't got 'em yet. Thank me when you do. I've gotta go! Make sure you put the screen in front of the fire and close the doors when you leave. 'Bye Rob.”
“'Bye, Dad. See you tonight.”
Bryan left in a hurry. Robin watched the car go out of the drive, and then he had a brilliant idea. He put a couple of shovelfuls of coal on the fire, sat down and put his feet up. He wasn't going to school. Stuff that. He was staying here by the fire, where it was warm. Nice. This was the life.
He didn't often bunk school, hardly ever actually, but today he was. It was freezing out there again. There was even ice on the inside of the window in his room when he woke up. His dad didn't believe in heaters in the bedrooms. He claimed that they were not healthy and were a waste of money. No-one ever froze in their bed.
He imagined that Darren would be walking to school by now and he wondered if those goons were chucking ice at him again? He wouldn't be stopping them if he was there anyway. He got no thanks for helping him yesterday and he wasn't doing that again, but he still didn't like it.
No-one deserves that sort of treatment, not even Darren Hughes. But – none of his business. Hughes had made that perfectly clear.
Why didn't he like him? That'd really upset him for some strange reason.
He was NOT going to sit here worrying about that all day. It was great sitting by the fire on a frosty morning. He probably wouldn't get many chances to have a day off like this again. Would Deb and her sprog be moving in here, or would him and his dad move into town?
He didn't know, but he hoped they would stay out here. He didn't want to leave the Ranch, this was his home, the only home he'd ever known. Shame that things couldn't stay as they were, but that's life. Only dead things don't move.
Why didn't Darren Hughes like him and what could he do about it? Nothing! That's what.
He had another breakfast, like a hobbit – hobbits were known for second breakfasts. Actually, now that he was starting to get hair on his legs, there was some growing on the tops of his feet too. Maybe he was turning into a hobbit? Nah. He was already too tall for that, hobbits were only little people. Darren Hughes was little. Why didn't he like him?
He lazed around the house all day and did nothing much, except for keeping the fire going. The daytime TV was all a lot of rubbish – soppy soap operas, dumb-arse people screeching at talk-show hosts and infantile pre-school, children's programmes. He soon gave up on that and turned it off. He wasn't missing anything on TV when he was at school.
If he knew his dad, he was going to want a major clean-up around the house before his girlfriend arrived tomorrow. He did think about making a start on that now, but no. If he did too much, his dad would know that he didn't go to school. So, he did none.
Besides, it was his day off, wasn't it? There's an idea – he could watch Ferris Bueller's Day Off. They had it on DVD. But, no. He'd seen it a hundred times already and he couldn't be bothered.
He sat and watched the coal burning on the open fire and the day slipped passed all too quickly.
It was way after dark when his dad arrived home and Robin was hungry!
“Nice and warm in here,” Bryan smiled.
“Yep. I got it warm just for you.”
“Sure you did. Want to help me put these groceries away?”
“Later, Dad. I'm starving here. Let's eat before it gets cold.”
“Before what gets cold? Oh, right. I was going to get burgers, wasn't I? Well, I forgot.”
“Dad, you didn't!”
“I didn't – forget. They're in the bag there. Help yourself.”
They sat either side of the fire, devouring their luke-warm takeaways.
“How was school today?”
“It was fine. Is Debbie still coming out tomorrow?”
“She is. Should be here about lunchtime.”
“Right. Is she bringing that kid with her?”
“Darren? Yes, I suppose she will be.”
“Damm.”
“That'll do, Rob. I told you, this is happening whether you like it or not. You'll just have to learn to get along with the kid. Why don't you like him.”
“I, ah . . I dunno. Why doesn't he like me?”
“How do you know that?”
“That's what he told me. He said he don't like me at all and he's not going to live out here with us.”
“Is that so? I think you'll find that he's got no more say in the matter than you have, and that's not a lot.”
“Gee, thanks, Dad. So I'm going to have to live with someone who hates me?”
“Could be. Lots of people do.You'll work it out. He seems like a nice enough kid, and so are you – mostly.”
“Well, thanks. You don't think I'm a stuck-up, conceited pig then?
“I don't know. Are you?”
“No, I'm not! But he thinks so.”
“You'll just have to show him he's wrong then, won't you?
“So you don't think I am? I'm pleased someone likes me.”
“Of course I bloody like you. You're my boy, my first-born and you always will be.”
“Probably. Unless they invent time-travel.”
“Not likely. Now then, we're going to have to have a major clean-up here before Deb arrives. We don't want her thinking that we're a couple of slobs.”
“That sounds like work.”
“It does, but it's got to be done. But not now. I've already done a day's work, we'll start in the morning.”
“Great.”
It wasn't so great next morning when his dad came into his room, banging and crashing and waking him up. “Come on, Sleepyhead, out of bed! We've got work to do.”
“Oh no,” he groaned. “It's too early. It's not even daylight yet. Go away!” He rolled over and pulled the covers up over his head.
“Oh no you don't,” Bryan exclaimed. “It is morning. It's after 7 already and the sun will be up soon enough.”
“This son won't be.”
“Oh but he will.” Bryan whipped the covers right off him.
“Ow! Damm, Dad. It's cold.”
“Move your butt then.”
Robin was sleeping naked, as usual, and he had to roll on to his stomach to hide his morning boner. That meant his lily-white butt was exposed to the world, but that was better than the alternative.
“Come on, Boy,” Bryan grinned. “Get some clothes on and I'll see you in the kitchen” He left and took all the covers with him!
Robin could get up and dressed or he could lie there and freeze. He got up.
He came out to the kitchen and his dad was sitting by the fire, drinking coffee. “Here's my Laughing Boy,” he grinned. “Have a rude awakening, did you?”
“I did, and don't worry, you're going to pay for that.”
“You'll try. Get something to eat and we'll get started. I'll do my room and the lounge. You can do your room, and then get started in here. I'll help you when I've done my bit.”
“Oh great. This is the messiest room in the house, because we spend the most time in here.”
“I know. That's why we'll both be cleaning in here. We've only got until lunchtime, so there's no time to waste. Do the dishes and dry them and put them away for once. Get rid of all this junk. Burn whatever burns. Then throw the clothes into the laundry and wipe-down all the ledges and surfaces. I'll vacuum the floor, and then we're going to scrub it.”
“Oh joy. But why bother? Wouldn't it be more honest to let her see how we really live?”
“Not likely. She'd run a mile.”
“That'd be a bad thing?”
“Shut up, Rob.”
They worked all morning. It's amazing how much dust and dirt collects, especially up in the high places. That's the downside of having a big fire. They finished-up when they heard a car coming in from the highway. Robin put the cleaning gear into the laundry and went to the bathroom to freshen-up before their visitors came in.
They arrived and Robin fell in love – with her, not him. She came in carrying a couple of flat boxes and gave him a big warm smile.
“Hello, Robin. Nice to meet you at last. I've brought lunch, as promised. Where should I put these?”
“Umm, yeah. Hey, Debbie. Put them on the table, I guess.”
“No sooner said than done. You do like pizza, I hope?”
“Pizza? I love pizza! But where did you get them? There's no place in town does pizza, is there?”
“Not as far as I know. I made them myself. Darren cut-up some cartons to make boxes – he's a clever boy, my Dazza. You do know each other, don't you?”
“Well, kind-of. Hello, Darren. Nice to see you here.”
Darren just nodded and said, “Hey.” Everyone paused, like they were waiting for him to say more, but he didn't.
“Well,” Deb smiled again. “Not very talkative, my Boy. Let's eat, shall we,? Before it gets cold and yucky.”
They ate and it was great pizza. There were no fries though, there was no time to heat them.
“What did you think, Rob?” his dad asked.
“Of the pizza? That was Ace! Thanks, Deb. I've never had better.”
“Pleased you liked them. I will clean-up here. Why don't you boys go and get lost? Dazza wants to have a look around outside, don't you, Son? Will you be his guide, Robin? You must know the area really well.”
“Sure. I'll show him around, if he wants me too.”
“Thanks,” said Darren. He picked-up his big notebook and headed out of the door.
'I knew he was booky.' Robin followed him out. “What's the book for, Darren?”
“Just my notes. Mum's planning on living out here, so I'm finding out about the place.”
“Yeah? There's not much here now, but it was a huge town once.”
“Not really. There was a town, but there was never any more than about 300 people living here. A lot of the miners lived in town, or at the Point, and they walked out here every day.”
“How do you know all that?”
“I read. That will be where the Progress Mill was, down there at the corner of the river. Can we go down there?”
“Sure. Just watch your feet, there's a lot of holes and stuff. It was a huge operation. They had a 60 head quartz-crushing battery there.”
“65 head, actually. It was big, but it wasn't the biggest. The Wealth's battery was bigger. That's why the place was called Crushingtown.”
“I knew that. They say that when the batteries stopped on Sundays, it was so quiet the locals couldn't sleep. They would've been hella noisy and echoed off the hills too.”
“They would. How many bedrooms are there in your house?”
“Just two. That's why we might have to share a room.”
“Not happening. Two bedrooms? It's not the house where Jack Lovelock was born then. Their one's gone. It must've moved, been demolished or burnt down.”
“Yeah? Jack Lovelock? I know about him. New Zealand's greatest-ever runner and he cleaned-up at Hitler's Olympics in Berlin in 1936.”
“He did.”
“But, how do you know that ours was not his house? It's old enough to be the one.”
“Because you've only got the two bedrooms. Lovelock's father was the Superintendent of the battery here and bosses always had big houses so shareholders had somewhere to stay when they came visiting.
“Ah, right. You're pretty bright, Dazza. I've lived here all of my life and already you know more than me.”
“I'm not super-bright, I've just been reading. Don't call me 'Dazza'. That's Mum's stupid name for me.”
“Okay. What should I call you then?”
“'Sir' could work.”
“Not for me, it won't. I'll call you Darren.”
“Suit yourself. Can we go up these stairs in the foundations here?”
“Well, yeah. But why would you want to? There's nothing up there.”
“No, but it's high-up. There'll be a better view from up there.”
“Let's do that then.”
The stairs and the old concrete foundations climbed up the foot of the hill. The building that used to be there was obviously several stories high. Darren was puffing and out of breath when they reached the top. Robin wasn't and he felt quite smug about that. He was much fitter than the townie.
“Okay,” Daren said when he'd recovered. “This was the Progress Mill and they used to crush and process the ore here from the Globe and Progress mines. That would've come down the hill there, on an aerial cableway. The Wealth and the Dark were across the valley, by the main road down there.”
“The Wealth would be the Wealth of Nations mine,” Robin replied. “But what was the Dark?”
“Sheesh! You should know that. The Keep it Dark was one of the richest, longest lasting mines in the whole district. It wasn't huge, but it produced gold year after year.”
“Right. I did know that.”
“So,” Darren consulted his notebook. “The Wealth was the furtherest away, by the bend in the highway. The Dark was next to it, and then the Hercules. The Golden Ledge, Vulcan and Independent were along the same line and the Energetic was back up in the hills. Do you know where the Pandora was?”
“No. Where?”
“I'm asking you. I don't know.”
“Oh. Same. There was a lot of mines.”
“There was. Most of them weren't very big and they only lasted for a few years, but gold that came out of this area provided the money to get the whole country going. There were over 70 mines altogether.”
“Around here?”
“In the whole district.”
Robin stood looking out over his valley that he'd thought he knew so well. “I wonder if there's any gold still out there? That'd be cool.”
“Could be, but not very likely,” Darren replied. “Those old-time miners knew what they were doing. They wouldn't have missed much.”
“Deep down, there could be. Modern machinery can get to where they couldn't.”
“Maybe. Have you got a couple of million dollars worth of modern equipment?”
“I wish. Damm!” he looked around. “What're you doing?”
“Pissing,” Darren grinned. His track pants and boxers were down around his knees and he stood with his half-hard dick poking out and releasing a stream that soared down over the concrete cliff and splash-landed far below them.
“When you've gotta go, you've gotta go! Oh Man, that feels better. I was bustin'”
“You must've been! Wow.”
Robin stood staring with his mouth hanging open and his eyes bugging out. Darren finished peeing, but he was in no hurry to put his junk away. He put his hands behind his head and shook his dick dry by flicking his hips.
He was small and skinny, and that dick wouldn't have looked out of place on someone twice his size. It dwarfed his nuts which were almost hidden behind it. Uncut, his foreskin was almost peeled back and the tip of his purple knob was peeking out. His skin down there was milky-white, except for the darker-pink dick, and a small tuft of curly black hair topped his equipment.
Robin couldn't stop staring. He had, of course, had plenty of fleeting glimpses of other people's gear before. But, apart from his own, he'd never had a close-up look. Was it rising in a full-on hard-on? Yes, it was!
It had just occurred to him that the kid wasn't in any hurry to pull his pants up and put everything away, when he wiggled his hips again and said, “Like what you see?”
“Well – yeah!” Robin blushed, but he didn't stop looking. “You, umm, you're really well-built, down there. For a small kid, you're big!”
“I'm not THAT small.”
“Right. You're not.”
“Is mine bigger than yours?”
“I, umm, I'm not sure. Could be. Maybe.”
“Come on then,” Darren grinned. “Flop it out and we'll compare them. Or are you shy?”
“Not really,” Robin grinned back. “But . . not here. We can see across the whole valley. Anyone out there can see us – especially if they've got binoculars or a telescope. My dad's got a telescope.”
“Why would they?”
“You want to risk it?”
“Not really. Come back under the trees there, and then we will.”
“All right!”
Friday, May 18, 2012
Brownsville Tales, Robin 2
The bus-trip didn't take long. They only made one more stop, to pick-up a bunch of shivering kids at the Point, and then straight to school. Damm, they had a heavy frost in town. It seemed to get whiter as they went down the road and it was bad enough where he'd started from. He'd be glad to get inside where it was warm.
That was one good thing about living in a mining-town, coal was cheap and the fires were big. The boilers at the school were fired for free, sort-of. Their coal was donated by Alborn's mine, so, in a way, his dad was getting paid to keep him warm.
Good job too! It was freezing out there. He had to keep wiping the window to stop it misting up and he could see out and smile at the cold kids walking to school. Hah!
He lost the smile when he saw Darren Hughes trudging along in the frost and the fog. The kid was small and weedy and easily recognised by his mop of dark curly hair. He was walking along with his head hung down and ignoring the group of goons behind him. They were scooping up handfuls of frost from the fences and stuff and throwing ice-balls at his back.
Not nice. He'd like to see them try that on him – he'd rub their bloody noses in it!
All right. Hughes was not who he'd choose, ('Hah! Poetry!'), but he was who he was getting for a step-brother whether he liked it or not. Thinking about it, he realised that Hughes was always getting shoved around by someone or another. He was an easy target for bullies to pick on.
Well, dammit! That was going to have to stop and he was going to stop it. No-one was going to pick on his sort-of step-brother. Not any more, they weren't.
The bus pulled in to the loading bay behind the school and discharged its passengers. Instead of rushing inside with the others, Robin went back up the street to where Hughes and his tormentors were coming from.
They weren't far away, they were just coming around the corner by the old Presbyterian Manse and the ice was still flying.
“Cut that out!” He strode up to them and stood between Hughes and the others. “Leave the bloody kid alone. How'd you like it if I did that to you?”
“Fuck off, Hedges. What's it to you? He's no mate of yours.”
“And what's that got to do with it?”
“You want some of this, do you?” Bruce Kelcher brandished a handful of ice.
“Just try it, Kelcher,” Robin fumed. “Come on then – one shot, and then I'll shove your head in a puddle and bloody-well stand on it!”
“Ah, to hell with it.” Kelcher dropped the ice and walked away. “Come on, Guys. It's freezing out here.”
Robin and Hughes watched the bullies walk away. He turned to him. “Are you okay, Darren?”
“I'll survive,” he shrugged. “I usually do.”
“You get that treatment all the time, don't you? Well, no more. I'm putting a stop to it.”
“You're putting a stop to it? Fuck off, Hedges! I don't need you babysitting me.” He walked on, leaving a dumbfounded Robin standing there.
'That's gratitude? I stop them chucking ice at him and he tells me to fuck off?'
He snapped out of it and ran a few steps to catch up to Hughes before he disappeared into the school. “Listen, Darren. I'm serious about stopping the bullying. You know about my father and your mother?”
He stopped and looked him in the eye. “Yes, I know about them and I'm not very happy about it too. They're a pair of bloody idiots and if they think I'm moving in to live with you, they've got another think coming.”
“I don't think we've got any choice in it,” Robin replied. “I mean, what're you going to do? You can't stop them.”
“I am NOT living away out in the sticks with you! I'll run away before that happens.”
“Where are you going to go? You're only 12, like me.”
“Anywhere would be better than out there. I'll go and live with my grandparents, they'll have me.”
He walked away and disappeared into the milling mob outside the school.
Robin was gobsmacked. Planning on running away and living with his grandparents, was he? Where had he heard that before? Why wouldn't he want to live with him?
“Fuck you, Hughes,” he spoke to the school wall. “What's wrong with me?”
This was not lining up to be his best day ever. He went to school.
He spent most of the morning watching Darren Hughes. They were in the same class, of course. They were the 'big' kids, but it was only a small school. He'd never noticed him much before, they lived in different worlds.
Seemed like the Kid had his own circle of friends – the geeky ones. Why the hell didn't he want to know him? He was better than that lot anyday. Maybe Hughes wasn't such a wimp after all? He certainly had spirit. He had a mouth on him too. Why didn't he stand up to the bullies himself?
They all had lunch in the hall, as they usually did or cold or wet days. Robin walked in, looked around and went over to where Hughes was sitting.
“Hey, Darren. Mind if I sit here?”
“Sit where you like, but it'd be better if you went somewhere else. Why don't you sit with your friends?”
“I'm eating here with you.” He pulled out a chair and sat down. “We have to talk.”
“No, we don't. Fuck off.”
“I'm starting to think that you really don't like me.”
“I don't like you. I never have and I never will, so go away and leave me alone.”
“It's not that easy – not when our parents are planning on getting married. I just heard about that this morning. Why don't you like me?”
“Why should I?”
“I dunno. But it sounds like we're going to be living in the same house. We might even have to share a room.”
“Like fuck we will! I told you, Hedges, that's not going to happen, and I mean that.”
“You're running away,” Robin nodded. “That was my first plan too. Can't we even give it a try, making a blended family sort of thing?”
“Not interested. I'm not living with you. I don't like you.”
“Why not? I'm not that bad, am I?”
“Yeah you are. You're a stuck-up, conceited prick and just totally up yourself. You've spent the last 7 years totally ignoring me. Now you think you can step in and be the Big Man and chase all the bullies away and I'll be ever grateful and we'll be mates forever? Not! Go find someone who wants to know you – I don't.”
Whoah! Robin didn't know how to handle that. He backed off, walked away and went and stood, alone, under the wide verandah outside. He'd never struck hostility like that.
Sometimes, tempers flared and angry words, and fists, were thrown in schoolyard fights or on the rugby field when the ref wasn't looking, but they were usually over and done with in seconds. This was different and, somehow, much worse. It felt like Hughes hated him, really hated him. Why did he?
He wasn't that bad a person, was he? No. He was a fairly good guy really and he got on with most people most of the time. He liked people and they liked him too.
Oh, bugger! Maybe Hughes was right when he said that he was up himself. Well, was he? He didn't think that was right. But, he guessed that he did quite like himself really – why shouldn't he? He was an okay sort of person, quite nice to look at, (better than some!), and easy to get along with.
He'd want to be Robin Hedges' friend, if he was someone else. Trouble was, Darren Hughes did not. Why would he hate him? He'd never done anything to him, had he? No, he had not!
Fuck 'im anyway. He wasn't going to worry about it – nothing he could do about it. He'd tried to be nice and once was enough. He didn't need him anyway, he had friends. He went to find someone to talk to and forget about Darren Hughes.
Ever tried to not think about someone? It's not easy. The more you try, the more you think.
For the rest of the day, Robin thought about nothing and no-one else. Why would Darren Hughes hate him? He stayed away from him, as much as he could, but he couldn't help looking and watching him when he thought that no-one saw.
It wasn't mutual, as far as he could see. Darren wasn't looking at him at all, not even once. So he really didn't want to know him then. Who did he think he was anyway?
He was just a weedy little wimp, wasn't he? Yeah, he was – a wimp with a big mouth. But, he was not too bad looking really, if you looked close.
Under that huge mop of tangled curls, he had big brown eyes framed with dark and thick lashes – you'd almost think he was wearing make-up. His nose was small, snub and slightly upturned at the end and his smile, when he smiled, was wide and white – and very nice.
Robin felt jealous of the geeky kids that Darren smiled at. Seemed like he was never going to get one of those smiles himself.
Darren was small and puny, but he was definitely no girl, he was 100% boy and Robin felt an odd stirring in his groin when he looked at him. He wondered what he looked like naked? Probably very nice.
He might find out if they were living together. They'd most likely have to share a room if they all stayed in his dad's house. It only had two bedrooms. How did he feel about that? He had another good look across the room and decided, yes, he could live with that.
He didn't think Darren was going to like it though. Maybe he would run away and then they wouldn't have to live in the same house. He'd just have to wait and see, he guessed.
And, Damm! He had a boner, yet again! He hated when that happened to him in school. One of these days he was going to get busted. It happened all too often, anything could set him off. He didn't even know what had this time, but something did.
Did this ever happen to Hughes? He looked across the room. 'No, probably not. He probably thinks it's just for peeing out of.'
He sat and tried to will his boner to go away. Yeah, that doesn't work either.
When school was over for the day, Robin was standing out the back, waiting for the bus. Darren and a couple of girls walked passed and looked at him, so he flashed a smile to see what sort of reaction he'd get – nothing.
Darren just looked away and kept walking. Stuff 'im anyway. He was not used to this sort of treatment and didn't know how to deal with it.
The bus arrived, he got on with all of the others and went home.
That was one good thing about living in a mining-town, coal was cheap and the fires were big. The boilers at the school were fired for free, sort-of. Their coal was donated by Alborn's mine, so, in a way, his dad was getting paid to keep him warm.
Good job too! It was freezing out there. He had to keep wiping the window to stop it misting up and he could see out and smile at the cold kids walking to school. Hah!
He lost the smile when he saw Darren Hughes trudging along in the frost and the fog. The kid was small and weedy and easily recognised by his mop of dark curly hair. He was walking along with his head hung down and ignoring the group of goons behind him. They were scooping up handfuls of frost from the fences and stuff and throwing ice-balls at his back.
Not nice. He'd like to see them try that on him – he'd rub their bloody noses in it!
All right. Hughes was not who he'd choose, ('Hah! Poetry!'), but he was who he was getting for a step-brother whether he liked it or not. Thinking about it, he realised that Hughes was always getting shoved around by someone or another. He was an easy target for bullies to pick on.
Well, dammit! That was going to have to stop and he was going to stop it. No-one was going to pick on his sort-of step-brother. Not any more, they weren't.
The bus pulled in to the loading bay behind the school and discharged its passengers. Instead of rushing inside with the others, Robin went back up the street to where Hughes and his tormentors were coming from.
They weren't far away, they were just coming around the corner by the old Presbyterian Manse and the ice was still flying.
“Cut that out!” He strode up to them and stood between Hughes and the others. “Leave the bloody kid alone. How'd you like it if I did that to you?”
“Fuck off, Hedges. What's it to you? He's no mate of yours.”
“And what's that got to do with it?”
“You want some of this, do you?” Bruce Kelcher brandished a handful of ice.
“Just try it, Kelcher,” Robin fumed. “Come on then – one shot, and then I'll shove your head in a puddle and bloody-well stand on it!”
“Ah, to hell with it.” Kelcher dropped the ice and walked away. “Come on, Guys. It's freezing out here.”
Robin and Hughes watched the bullies walk away. He turned to him. “Are you okay, Darren?”
“I'll survive,” he shrugged. “I usually do.”
“You get that treatment all the time, don't you? Well, no more. I'm putting a stop to it.”
“You're putting a stop to it? Fuck off, Hedges! I don't need you babysitting me.” He walked on, leaving a dumbfounded Robin standing there.
'That's gratitude? I stop them chucking ice at him and he tells me to fuck off?'
He snapped out of it and ran a few steps to catch up to Hughes before he disappeared into the school. “Listen, Darren. I'm serious about stopping the bullying. You know about my father and your mother?”
He stopped and looked him in the eye. “Yes, I know about them and I'm not very happy about it too. They're a pair of bloody idiots and if they think I'm moving in to live with you, they've got another think coming.”
“I don't think we've got any choice in it,” Robin replied. “I mean, what're you going to do? You can't stop them.”
“I am NOT living away out in the sticks with you! I'll run away before that happens.”
“Where are you going to go? You're only 12, like me.”
“Anywhere would be better than out there. I'll go and live with my grandparents, they'll have me.”
He walked away and disappeared into the milling mob outside the school.
Robin was gobsmacked. Planning on running away and living with his grandparents, was he? Where had he heard that before? Why wouldn't he want to live with him?
“Fuck you, Hughes,” he spoke to the school wall. “What's wrong with me?”
This was not lining up to be his best day ever. He went to school.
He spent most of the morning watching Darren Hughes. They were in the same class, of course. They were the 'big' kids, but it was only a small school. He'd never noticed him much before, they lived in different worlds.
Seemed like the Kid had his own circle of friends – the geeky ones. Why the hell didn't he want to know him? He was better than that lot anyday. Maybe Hughes wasn't such a wimp after all? He certainly had spirit. He had a mouth on him too. Why didn't he stand up to the bullies himself?
They all had lunch in the hall, as they usually did or cold or wet days. Robin walked in, looked around and went over to where Hughes was sitting.
“Hey, Darren. Mind if I sit here?”
“Sit where you like, but it'd be better if you went somewhere else. Why don't you sit with your friends?”
“I'm eating here with you.” He pulled out a chair and sat down. “We have to talk.”
“No, we don't. Fuck off.”
“I'm starting to think that you really don't like me.”
“I don't like you. I never have and I never will, so go away and leave me alone.”
“It's not that easy – not when our parents are planning on getting married. I just heard about that this morning. Why don't you like me?”
“Why should I?”
“I dunno. But it sounds like we're going to be living in the same house. We might even have to share a room.”
“Like fuck we will! I told you, Hedges, that's not going to happen, and I mean that.”
“You're running away,” Robin nodded. “That was my first plan too. Can't we even give it a try, making a blended family sort of thing?”
“Not interested. I'm not living with you. I don't like you.”
“Why not? I'm not that bad, am I?”
“Yeah you are. You're a stuck-up, conceited prick and just totally up yourself. You've spent the last 7 years totally ignoring me. Now you think you can step in and be the Big Man and chase all the bullies away and I'll be ever grateful and we'll be mates forever? Not! Go find someone who wants to know you – I don't.”
Whoah! Robin didn't know how to handle that. He backed off, walked away and went and stood, alone, under the wide verandah outside. He'd never struck hostility like that.
Sometimes, tempers flared and angry words, and fists, were thrown in schoolyard fights or on the rugby field when the ref wasn't looking, but they were usually over and done with in seconds. This was different and, somehow, much worse. It felt like Hughes hated him, really hated him. Why did he?
He wasn't that bad a person, was he? No. He was a fairly good guy really and he got on with most people most of the time. He liked people and they liked him too.
Oh, bugger! Maybe Hughes was right when he said that he was up himself. Well, was he? He didn't think that was right. But, he guessed that he did quite like himself really – why shouldn't he? He was an okay sort of person, quite nice to look at, (better than some!), and easy to get along with.
He'd want to be Robin Hedges' friend, if he was someone else. Trouble was, Darren Hughes did not. Why would he hate him? He'd never done anything to him, had he? No, he had not!
Fuck 'im anyway. He wasn't going to worry about it – nothing he could do about it. He'd tried to be nice and once was enough. He didn't need him anyway, he had friends. He went to find someone to talk to and forget about Darren Hughes.
Ever tried to not think about someone? It's not easy. The more you try, the more you think.
For the rest of the day, Robin thought about nothing and no-one else. Why would Darren Hughes hate him? He stayed away from him, as much as he could, but he couldn't help looking and watching him when he thought that no-one saw.
It wasn't mutual, as far as he could see. Darren wasn't looking at him at all, not even once. So he really didn't want to know him then. Who did he think he was anyway?
He was just a weedy little wimp, wasn't he? Yeah, he was – a wimp with a big mouth. But, he was not too bad looking really, if you looked close.
Under that huge mop of tangled curls, he had big brown eyes framed with dark and thick lashes – you'd almost think he was wearing make-up. His nose was small, snub and slightly upturned at the end and his smile, when he smiled, was wide and white – and very nice.
Robin felt jealous of the geeky kids that Darren smiled at. Seemed like he was never going to get one of those smiles himself.
Darren was small and puny, but he was definitely no girl, he was 100% boy and Robin felt an odd stirring in his groin when he looked at him. He wondered what he looked like naked? Probably very nice.
He might find out if they were living together. They'd most likely have to share a room if they all stayed in his dad's house. It only had two bedrooms. How did he feel about that? He had another good look across the room and decided, yes, he could live with that.
He didn't think Darren was going to like it though. Maybe he would run away and then they wouldn't have to live in the same house. He'd just have to wait and see, he guessed.
And, Damm! He had a boner, yet again! He hated when that happened to him in school. One of these days he was going to get busted. It happened all too often, anything could set him off. He didn't even know what had this time, but something did.
Did this ever happen to Hughes? He looked across the room. 'No, probably not. He probably thinks it's just for peeing out of.'
He sat and tried to will his boner to go away. Yeah, that doesn't work either.
When school was over for the day, Robin was standing out the back, waiting for the bus. Darren and a couple of girls walked passed and looked at him, so he flashed a smile to see what sort of reaction he'd get – nothing.
Darren just looked away and kept walking. Stuff 'im anyway. He was not used to this sort of treatment and didn't know how to deal with it.
The bus arrived, he got on with all of the others and went home.
Wednesday, May 16, 2012
Brownsville Tales - Robin
Robin Hedges lived with his dad on what they liked to call 'the Ranch', a few kilometers east of Riverston, in the river valley, at the foot of the hills. They were up a gravelled side-road near Crushingtown.
Their postal address was simply, 'Crushingtown, via Riverston', but there was no mail delivery anyway. They had to collect their mail, such as it was, from the Post Office in town. The real town that is, in Riverston.
Crushingtown was no town. It used to be, it was fairly big once – way back when – but it wasn't now, it'd gone. The gold mines had closed, the quartz crushing batteries shut down and the town faded away. All that was left now was a few houses scattered along the highway, some scrubby farms and a lot of old rubbish lying around – mostly crumbling building foundations and old rusty iron.
Their farm was the scrubbiest of all. The stony paddocks grew more blackberry bushes than anything else. They had some sheep, but mostly dry-stock cattle bought cheap as new-born bobby calves and sold for meat when they were old enough.
What they had most of were sandflies – flying, biting insects. Vicious little sods they were, and there were millions of them there by the river in the long shadows cast by the hills around them.
Robin's dad, Bryan Hedges, made some money from his farm, but not much – not enough to live on. It was just a hobby farm really. He worked, 4 days a week, shovelling coal at Alborn's mine, just up the road a bit and on the other side of the valley.
Robin had no brothers or sisters, and he wished that he did. He had no mother either. He used to, of course, his dad didn't find him under a blackberry bush! But no longer, she got sick of the country life and buggered off with another guy, years ago.
She was married with more kids now and living in the city. Robin had nothing to do with her and didn't miss her at all. He never liked her anyway – old misery-guts she was. His dad was a decent guy and he didn't know why he'd ever hooked-up with her in the first place. Probably because they were young and stupid, but just as well for him that they did!
So, there was just Robin and his dad, living with a few animals, (and a lot of blasted sandflies!), and that was how he liked it. It was a good life, they had enough money and he, pretty much, did what he wanted to. He travelled to school and back on the bus each day and when he got home his time was his own until his dad came home on working days – at about 6pm.
Even when he wasn't working, Bryan usually left Robin to his own devices, except for when he needed an extra pair of hands, and fit young legs. Robin did all the running around when they were mustering the stock for shearing or slaughter and did all the fetching and carrying when the roof blew off the old barn – again. He had to help too whenever the bloody animals broke through the run-down fences and got out on to the highway. Embarrassing!
He did well in school and was naturally gifted but not very interested when it came to playing sports. He was popular and got on well with the teachers and most of the kids. He had friends, some closer than others, and he enjoyed his life at school. Life at home was different, but he liked that too.
Every year, in the summer, he went for a holiday with his grandparents. They lived in a very cool house at Paraparaumu Beach, north of Wellington, and they spoiled him rotten. They were retired and had lots of money and plenty of time to give their only grandson, but not a lot of energy really.
He always had a great time there, but was always happy to go home again. He suspected that Gran and Gramps were glad too – they'd be able to rest-up for the rest of the year.
All together, it was a pretty good life and he liked it. There was just one thing missing. He wasn't exactly lonely – they were only 7k's out of town and he could bike in there for company if he wanted it – but he wished that he had a brother, someone to share his world with.
But he didn't and it was too late now. Even if his dad did have another kid, it'd just be a baby and not much company for him, he was far too grown-up for baby stuff. So, he had a good life, but no brothers.
And then his dad wrecked it.
At breakfast on a Thursday, Bryan was sitting with a big cheesy grin on his face and Robin had to ask him why. “What's up, Dad. You're looking very pleased with yourself. Have we won the lottery or something?”
“We? Whadda ya mean we? No, we haven't won the lottery.”
“What then?”
“I'm getting married and I'm going to be a father.”
“You already are a father. You've got me, remember?”
“Sure I remember. How could I forget? But this is different, I'm going to be a father again. There's a baby on the way and we're getting married.”
“We? Whadda ya mean we? I'm not getting married to anybody, I'm a kid. Hey, hang on! You've got someone pregnant? Dad, how could you? Old People sex – eww!”
“Watch it, Boy. We're not that old. I'm just thirty-one.”
“You're thirty-one? I thought you were much older than that. I'm nearly 12, so you were 19 when I was born? You've got a long history of getting girls pregnant!”
“It's only happened twice!”
“How many times didn't you get caught?”
“None of your business. Anyway, Deb's not just a young girl, she's the same age as me, I think. Close to it anyhow.”
“This 'Deb' is the mother? Do I know her?”
“You should do. Debbie Hughes, she lives in town and teaches at the Pre-school.”
“What would I know about pre-school people? So she's a glorified baby-sitter then.”
“Hoo Boy! I wouldn't let Deb hear that if I was you. You'll know her soon, she's going to be your mother.”
“Is not! I don't need a mother.”
“Is too, and yes you do. It'll be good to have a woman around the place – might help to civilise you a bit.”
“I'm civilised enough.”
“Sure you are. At least you might stop walking around the house naked.”
“Damm. I'll have to, won't I?”
“You will and good job too. You'll meet Deb soon enough, they're coming out on Saturday.”
“THEY are coming out? Dad, please don't tell me that she's got a mob of snot-nosed kids.”
“No, she hasn't. Well, there is at her work I guess, but she's only got one boy of her own. Darren Hughes – you must know him. He's the same age as you are.”
“Darren Hughes. That weedy, booky, little wimp! Dad, he's a sissy-boy. I've often wished that I had a brother, but not him. Can't you do any better?”
“It's not the boy I'm marrying, it's the mother, but it's a package deal and he comes attached. You'll just have to get used to it.”
“I will not get used to it. Dammit-all, Dad! You're not a couple of dumb kids. Haven't you ever heard of condoms?”
“Didn't think we needed them. Deb is on the pill, but, apparently, if you miss taking it just one day it stuffs-up the contraception for the rest of the month. I don't mind. We would've married anyway, this just speeds things up a bit.”
“Just a bit! You should've waited until you got married. Isn't that what you're supposed to do?”
“Would you buy a pair of shoes without trying them on for size first?”
“For size? Eww, Dad, you're totally disgusting! I don't want to hear any more. Gross! I'm going to catch the bus.”
“I'll see you after school then. Have a good day, Son.”
“I might. Maybe I'll try a few on for size?”
“Get outta here!”
He did. He wrapped his sandwiches for lunch and stuffed them into his schoolbag and walked out to the highway to wait for the bus. A mother? No, he didn't need a mother – too late for that now, but a woman in the house? That'd be different. There'd have to be some big changes. But, it could work?
Could be quite good actually – like coming home to a nice warm house with cookies baking in the oven and all that sort of thing. As long as she wasn't too bossy – he wasn't having that she was not his mother and never would be. He didn't need no mothers.
Standing by the road, waiting for the bus and stamping his feet to stop his toes from freezing, he got to thinking. Darren Hughes, did he want him for a brother? No, he didn't. What did they think they were doing to him?
He decided that he'd see how it went. If he couldn't stand the changes in his comfortable life, well – he didn't have to put up with it. He'd run away. He could go and live with the grandparents, they'd have him. Wouldn't they? Yeah, sure they would. They loved him, of course they did. What was not to love?
The bus arrived, finally. He got in, and out of the cold, and went off for another rivetting day at school.
Their postal address was simply, 'Crushingtown, via Riverston', but there was no mail delivery anyway. They had to collect their mail, such as it was, from the Post Office in town. The real town that is, in Riverston.
Crushingtown was no town. It used to be, it was fairly big once – way back when – but it wasn't now, it'd gone. The gold mines had closed, the quartz crushing batteries shut down and the town faded away. All that was left now was a few houses scattered along the highway, some scrubby farms and a lot of old rubbish lying around – mostly crumbling building foundations and old rusty iron.
Their farm was the scrubbiest of all. The stony paddocks grew more blackberry bushes than anything else. They had some sheep, but mostly dry-stock cattle bought cheap as new-born bobby calves and sold for meat when they were old enough.
What they had most of were sandflies – flying, biting insects. Vicious little sods they were, and there were millions of them there by the river in the long shadows cast by the hills around them.
Robin's dad, Bryan Hedges, made some money from his farm, but not much – not enough to live on. It was just a hobby farm really. He worked, 4 days a week, shovelling coal at Alborn's mine, just up the road a bit and on the other side of the valley.
Robin had no brothers or sisters, and he wished that he did. He had no mother either. He used to, of course, his dad didn't find him under a blackberry bush! But no longer, she got sick of the country life and buggered off with another guy, years ago.
She was married with more kids now and living in the city. Robin had nothing to do with her and didn't miss her at all. He never liked her anyway – old misery-guts she was. His dad was a decent guy and he didn't know why he'd ever hooked-up with her in the first place. Probably because they were young and stupid, but just as well for him that they did!
So, there was just Robin and his dad, living with a few animals, (and a lot of blasted sandflies!), and that was how he liked it. It was a good life, they had enough money and he, pretty much, did what he wanted to. He travelled to school and back on the bus each day and when he got home his time was his own until his dad came home on working days – at about 6pm.
Even when he wasn't working, Bryan usually left Robin to his own devices, except for when he needed an extra pair of hands, and fit young legs. Robin did all the running around when they were mustering the stock for shearing or slaughter and did all the fetching and carrying when the roof blew off the old barn – again. He had to help too whenever the bloody animals broke through the run-down fences and got out on to the highway. Embarrassing!
He did well in school and was naturally gifted but not very interested when it came to playing sports. He was popular and got on well with the teachers and most of the kids. He had friends, some closer than others, and he enjoyed his life at school. Life at home was different, but he liked that too.
Every year, in the summer, he went for a holiday with his grandparents. They lived in a very cool house at Paraparaumu Beach, north of Wellington, and they spoiled him rotten. They were retired and had lots of money and plenty of time to give their only grandson, but not a lot of energy really.
He always had a great time there, but was always happy to go home again. He suspected that Gran and Gramps were glad too – they'd be able to rest-up for the rest of the year.
All together, it was a pretty good life and he liked it. There was just one thing missing. He wasn't exactly lonely – they were only 7k's out of town and he could bike in there for company if he wanted it – but he wished that he had a brother, someone to share his world with.
But he didn't and it was too late now. Even if his dad did have another kid, it'd just be a baby and not much company for him, he was far too grown-up for baby stuff. So, he had a good life, but no brothers.
And then his dad wrecked it.
At breakfast on a Thursday, Bryan was sitting with a big cheesy grin on his face and Robin had to ask him why. “What's up, Dad. You're looking very pleased with yourself. Have we won the lottery or something?”
“We? Whadda ya mean we? No, we haven't won the lottery.”
“What then?”
“I'm getting married and I'm going to be a father.”
“You already are a father. You've got me, remember?”
“Sure I remember. How could I forget? But this is different, I'm going to be a father again. There's a baby on the way and we're getting married.”
“We? Whadda ya mean we? I'm not getting married to anybody, I'm a kid. Hey, hang on! You've got someone pregnant? Dad, how could you? Old People sex – eww!”
“Watch it, Boy. We're not that old. I'm just thirty-one.”
“You're thirty-one? I thought you were much older than that. I'm nearly 12, so you were 19 when I was born? You've got a long history of getting girls pregnant!”
“It's only happened twice!”
“How many times didn't you get caught?”
“None of your business. Anyway, Deb's not just a young girl, she's the same age as me, I think. Close to it anyhow.”
“This 'Deb' is the mother? Do I know her?”
“You should do. Debbie Hughes, she lives in town and teaches at the Pre-school.”
“What would I know about pre-school people? So she's a glorified baby-sitter then.”
“Hoo Boy! I wouldn't let Deb hear that if I was you. You'll know her soon, she's going to be your mother.”
“Is not! I don't need a mother.”
“Is too, and yes you do. It'll be good to have a woman around the place – might help to civilise you a bit.”
“I'm civilised enough.”
“Sure you are. At least you might stop walking around the house naked.”
“Damm. I'll have to, won't I?”
“You will and good job too. You'll meet Deb soon enough, they're coming out on Saturday.”
“THEY are coming out? Dad, please don't tell me that she's got a mob of snot-nosed kids.”
“No, she hasn't. Well, there is at her work I guess, but she's only got one boy of her own. Darren Hughes – you must know him. He's the same age as you are.”
“Darren Hughes. That weedy, booky, little wimp! Dad, he's a sissy-boy. I've often wished that I had a brother, but not him. Can't you do any better?”
“It's not the boy I'm marrying, it's the mother, but it's a package deal and he comes attached. You'll just have to get used to it.”
“I will not get used to it. Dammit-all, Dad! You're not a couple of dumb kids. Haven't you ever heard of condoms?”
“Didn't think we needed them. Deb is on the pill, but, apparently, if you miss taking it just one day it stuffs-up the contraception for the rest of the month. I don't mind. We would've married anyway, this just speeds things up a bit.”
“Just a bit! You should've waited until you got married. Isn't that what you're supposed to do?”
“Would you buy a pair of shoes without trying them on for size first?”
“For size? Eww, Dad, you're totally disgusting! I don't want to hear any more. Gross! I'm going to catch the bus.”
“I'll see you after school then. Have a good day, Son.”
“I might. Maybe I'll try a few on for size?”
“Get outta here!”
He did. He wrapped his sandwiches for lunch and stuffed them into his schoolbag and walked out to the highway to wait for the bus. A mother? No, he didn't need a mother – too late for that now, but a woman in the house? That'd be different. There'd have to be some big changes. But, it could work?
Could be quite good actually – like coming home to a nice warm house with cookies baking in the oven and all that sort of thing. As long as she wasn't too bossy – he wasn't having that she was not his mother and never would be. He didn't need no mothers.
Standing by the road, waiting for the bus and stamping his feet to stop his toes from freezing, he got to thinking. Darren Hughes, did he want him for a brother? No, he didn't. What did they think they were doing to him?
He decided that he'd see how it went. If he couldn't stand the changes in his comfortable life, well – he didn't have to put up with it. He'd run away. He could go and live with the grandparents, they'd have him. Wouldn't they? Yeah, sure they would. They loved him, of course they did. What was not to love?
The bus arrived, finally. He got in, and out of the cold, and went off for another rivetting day at school.
Monday, May 14, 2012
A bit More of John Jacob Erickson
(Iomfats suggested this and i'm glad he did!)
John Jacob Erickson sat at his desk at the front of the room and surrepitiously slipped another couple of Panadol into his mouth. While the little monsters were busy reading quietly, he looked around the room, studying them.
This would be his second year teaching this lot. They'd arrived at the start of last year, all fresh-faced and innocent, excited and a bit anxious in their big new school. Brownsville High was a co-educational school, sort-of.
There were, roughly, equal numbers of boys and girls on the roll but the sexes were separated in the classrooms, boys in one lot and girls in the other. This was because of some social experiment that the Education Department was running, and they were the guinea pigs. He quite liked it actually. Boys functioned better in the classroom without girls to distract them. Now they only had each other to distract and to compete with. He liked boys, he always had – even when he was one of them.
Year 9 boys were just children really, in the beginning anyway, but most of them had changed a lot over the course of a year. They were growing rapidly and their bodies were changing, developing adult physiques and sprouting hair everywhere – on their faces and on their legs, arms and other unmentionable places. Many of them developed skin problems at some stage and their voices had changed, getting deeper and losing the childish squeaks.
He was quite certain that today's adolescents were reaching puberty younger than they used to. Practically every one of this lot had got there well before they were 14. Almost every one of them – his roving eye paused on a boy near the center of the room.
Jordan Houston. His dark hair had grown and curled, developing into a big, tangled mane, but otherwise he looked even smaller than he did at this time last year. That was probably because all of the others had grown and he hadn't. They called him 'Midget', which he hated and objected to, so they'd probably never stop until he grew some – if he ever did.
Moore and Storey were sitting very close together and Carver was stealing sly glances at them both. Some things hadn't changed since last year.
The Good Son, brother Peter, was sitting with Tommy Young who'd had a very messy and public bust-up with his best mate, Dave Fortune, who was now sitting all alone down at the back. That drama had happened during the Christmas Holidays, but he'd heard all about it.
Hey! Wait a minute. Who the hell were those two? Also in the back row, there were two boys, sitting close together and reading from the same book. Strangers – he'd never seen them before. Ever.
One thing that John prided himself on was that he knew all of the kids in his classes. He took an interest and he knew them all very well. He knew much more about them than they thought he did. Not so long ago, he was one of them – an oversexed and adventurous teenager exploring himself and the world about him.
But who were those two? They were total strangers, what were they doing in his class? He checked the attendance register in his laptop, but there were no strange names in there. Weren't they even registered?
'Oh. Time to stop thinking and start teaching.'
Some of them had finished reading and were sitting looking expectantly at him. He stood up to get everyone's attention.
“Okay, Boys. Stop where you are, please. Those that haven't finished can read it at home tonight. That'll be your homework. Yes. I know, I'm a monster. That's what they pay me for.
Now, we won't be following the textbook entirely. What I'm planning on doing is this . . .”
He sat in his seat and talked for the next few minutes, outlining his lesson plan and what he proposed covering this year. He didn't feel too bad now, as long as he didn't move.
Everyone's eyes were on him and they were paying attention. This lot had always been a good group – even his brother, Peter, though he'd never tell him that! And what the Hey were Moore and Storey doing? Rubbing their knees together? Those two had been fooling around for quite a few months now. He wondered how far they'd gone?
It was nice to see a Highschool romance last longer than the standard few days. Or, was it a romance, or just a couple of horny kids getting off together? Probably the latter.
He glanced at the clock – 10 minutes until the end of the period. That was near enough.
“Okay, People. It's the first class of the year, so I'm going to cut you some slack. You two there – yes, You. Stay where you are. Everyone else can leave now, quickly and quietly.”
They didn't need telling twice. They were out of there at twice the speed they'd come in. It was all a bit of a wasted period really. He'd make up for it next time.
In a very short time, the door slammed and they were left there sitting looking at each other – 2 boys at the back and him, at the teacher's desk, at the front.
“All right then. Who are you and what are you doing in my classroom?”
The boys looked at each other. The one with dark curly hair nodded and the blond spoke. “I'm Robin Hedges. This is my brother, Darren Hughes, and we're supposed to be here. The lady in the office said to go to room 4 for first period, Geography.”
“And, so you did. You're new here, I've never seen either of you before. Have you transferred from another school?”
“Right. We went to Riverston High, last year. We've just moved to Brownsville. Dad's got a job in the mines and we're starting here.”
“I see. Just one thing confuses me – you're brothers and you're both in the same class. Are you both the same age?”
“No, we're not,” said the curly-haired Darren. “We're both 14, but Robin's 3 months older than me.”
“I didn't think you were twins. You don't look at all alike, but 3 months difference? How can brothers be 3 months apart?”
“Step-brothers,” said the blond. “My dad married Darren's mum and now we are one family, so we're brothers.”
“That makes perfect sense. At last. Okay, Boys, when you go to your next class, tell the teacher who you are. Have you got a note from the office?”
“We have, but you were running late, everyone was sitting down and you looked like you didn't want to be bothered, so we didn't.”
“You got that right,” John smiled for the first time in his day. “You'd better be going. What is your next class?”
“General Science, in the laboratory with Ms. Stafford.”
“Not far to go then. The Laboratory is the next room along. It'd be Room 5 if there was any sense to the numbering around here. But there's not, so there's no Room 5 or 6 and the numbers start again at 7. Why, I don't know. It should be 8 because the library is inbetween as well, but it's Room 7. Okay?”
“I think so,” said Darren.
Robin said, The laboratory is next door, right?”
“That's right. Go away now. I'll see you next time.”
“Thanks, Mr. Erickson. I hope you're feeling better next time.”
“So do I, Boys. So do I”
They picked up their books and left quietly. John watched them go. 'Nice kids.'
Brothers? They seemed awfully close for Step-brothers. If they were walking any closer together, they'd be joined at the hips. The shorter one had a luscious arse on him – 'Very nice!'
'No!” He shook his head. He shouldn't be thinking things like that. He was the teacher now and those days were over.
If they came from different birth-parents, would it be incest? He wondered.
John Jacob Erickson sat at his desk at the front of the room and surrepitiously slipped another couple of Panadol into his mouth. While the little monsters were busy reading quietly, he looked around the room, studying them.
This would be his second year teaching this lot. They'd arrived at the start of last year, all fresh-faced and innocent, excited and a bit anxious in their big new school. Brownsville High was a co-educational school, sort-of.
There were, roughly, equal numbers of boys and girls on the roll but the sexes were separated in the classrooms, boys in one lot and girls in the other. This was because of some social experiment that the Education Department was running, and they were the guinea pigs. He quite liked it actually. Boys functioned better in the classroom without girls to distract them. Now they only had each other to distract and to compete with. He liked boys, he always had – even when he was one of them.
Year 9 boys were just children really, in the beginning anyway, but most of them had changed a lot over the course of a year. They were growing rapidly and their bodies were changing, developing adult physiques and sprouting hair everywhere – on their faces and on their legs, arms and other unmentionable places. Many of them developed skin problems at some stage and their voices had changed, getting deeper and losing the childish squeaks.
He was quite certain that today's adolescents were reaching puberty younger than they used to. Practically every one of this lot had got there well before they were 14. Almost every one of them – his roving eye paused on a boy near the center of the room.
Jordan Houston. His dark hair had grown and curled, developing into a big, tangled mane, but otherwise he looked even smaller than he did at this time last year. That was probably because all of the others had grown and he hadn't. They called him 'Midget', which he hated and objected to, so they'd probably never stop until he grew some – if he ever did.
Moore and Storey were sitting very close together and Carver was stealing sly glances at them both. Some things hadn't changed since last year.
The Good Son, brother Peter, was sitting with Tommy Young who'd had a very messy and public bust-up with his best mate, Dave Fortune, who was now sitting all alone down at the back. That drama had happened during the Christmas Holidays, but he'd heard all about it.
Hey! Wait a minute. Who the hell were those two? Also in the back row, there were two boys, sitting close together and reading from the same book. Strangers – he'd never seen them before. Ever.
One thing that John prided himself on was that he knew all of the kids in his classes. He took an interest and he knew them all very well. He knew much more about them than they thought he did. Not so long ago, he was one of them – an oversexed and adventurous teenager exploring himself and the world about him.
But who were those two? They were total strangers, what were they doing in his class? He checked the attendance register in his laptop, but there were no strange names in there. Weren't they even registered?
'Oh. Time to stop thinking and start teaching.'
Some of them had finished reading and were sitting looking expectantly at him. He stood up to get everyone's attention.
“Okay, Boys. Stop where you are, please. Those that haven't finished can read it at home tonight. That'll be your homework. Yes. I know, I'm a monster. That's what they pay me for.
Now, we won't be following the textbook entirely. What I'm planning on doing is this . . .”
He sat in his seat and talked for the next few minutes, outlining his lesson plan and what he proposed covering this year. He didn't feel too bad now, as long as he didn't move.
Everyone's eyes were on him and they were paying attention. This lot had always been a good group – even his brother, Peter, though he'd never tell him that! And what the Hey were Moore and Storey doing? Rubbing their knees together? Those two had been fooling around for quite a few months now. He wondered how far they'd gone?
It was nice to see a Highschool romance last longer than the standard few days. Or, was it a romance, or just a couple of horny kids getting off together? Probably the latter.
He glanced at the clock – 10 minutes until the end of the period. That was near enough.
“Okay, People. It's the first class of the year, so I'm going to cut you some slack. You two there – yes, You. Stay where you are. Everyone else can leave now, quickly and quietly.”
They didn't need telling twice. They were out of there at twice the speed they'd come in. It was all a bit of a wasted period really. He'd make up for it next time.
In a very short time, the door slammed and they were left there sitting looking at each other – 2 boys at the back and him, at the teacher's desk, at the front.
“All right then. Who are you and what are you doing in my classroom?”
The boys looked at each other. The one with dark curly hair nodded and the blond spoke. “I'm Robin Hedges. This is my brother, Darren Hughes, and we're supposed to be here. The lady in the office said to go to room 4 for first period, Geography.”
“And, so you did. You're new here, I've never seen either of you before. Have you transferred from another school?”
“Right. We went to Riverston High, last year. We've just moved to Brownsville. Dad's got a job in the mines and we're starting here.”
“I see. Just one thing confuses me – you're brothers and you're both in the same class. Are you both the same age?”
“No, we're not,” said the curly-haired Darren. “We're both 14, but Robin's 3 months older than me.”
“I didn't think you were twins. You don't look at all alike, but 3 months difference? How can brothers be 3 months apart?”
“Step-brothers,” said the blond. “My dad married Darren's mum and now we are one family, so we're brothers.”
“That makes perfect sense. At last. Okay, Boys, when you go to your next class, tell the teacher who you are. Have you got a note from the office?”
“We have, but you were running late, everyone was sitting down and you looked like you didn't want to be bothered, so we didn't.”
“You got that right,” John smiled for the first time in his day. “You'd better be going. What is your next class?”
“General Science, in the laboratory with Ms. Stafford.”
“Not far to go then. The Laboratory is the next room along. It'd be Room 5 if there was any sense to the numbering around here. But there's not, so there's no Room 5 or 6 and the numbers start again at 7. Why, I don't know. It should be 8 because the library is inbetween as well, but it's Room 7. Okay?”
“I think so,” said Darren.
Robin said, The laboratory is next door, right?”
“That's right. Go away now. I'll see you next time.”
“Thanks, Mr. Erickson. I hope you're feeling better next time.”
“So do I, Boys. So do I”
They picked up their books and left quietly. John watched them go. 'Nice kids.'
Brothers? They seemed awfully close for Step-brothers. If they were walking any closer together, they'd be joined at the hips. The shorter one had a luscious arse on him – 'Very nice!'
'No!” He shook his head. He shouldn't be thinking things like that. He was the teacher now and those days were over.
If they came from different birth-parents, would it be incest? He wondered.
Tuesday, May 8, 2012
Okarito, 14
They spent several hours poking around in the nooks and crannies along the lagoon. There was an infinite variety of watery landscapes and tangled rain-forest out there. The snow-capped Southern Alps, rearing up in the distance and gleaming in the sunshine, made a striking back-drop to the scenery.
Tyler took hundreds of photos, focussing on Bevan a lot, and then, when the clouds started gathering, shutting off the sunshine and covering the mountains, they figured it was time to go back.
They went down the lagoon, heading to Cassie and Bevan's home. The return journey was really easy because the tide was going out and the current was with them.
Back at the house, the kayaks and gear were left on the lawn, well above the water-line, and they went inside. Cassie took the camera and downloaded the pics onto the computer in the family-room while Bevan gave Tyler a quick tour around the house.
It was a nice, modern, house with big stone-slabbed decks along the back wall making an outdoor living area complete with chunky wooden furniture, a built-in barbeque and gas heaters. The decks looked down at the water and the open-plan living/kitchen area, the master bedroom and another bedroom all opened out on to it with wide, folding, glass doors.
The long and narrow house was built on several levels and at the top, with their own water-view balconies, were two more bedrooms sharing the en-suite between them.
“That,” said Bevan, “is Cassie's room and this in here is mine.”
“Oh?” Tyler followed him in. “I thought that that was your messy room downstairs next to your parents'. You haven't got two rooms, have you?”
“No,” Bevan laughed. “We've got two boys. That's my brother's room down there. This is my messy room.”
“It certainly is!” Tyler shook his head. “You're a slob, Bevan.”
“Hey! It's not that bad. I clean it up when it needs it – another week or so and I'll be doing it, when I run out of clean clothes. Again.”
“Definitely a slob.”
“It's okay. Some things are just not worth stressing about.”
“Obviously. I didn't know that you've got a brother?”
“Two brothers actually. Christian lives in Christchurch. He's an eternal student – got 2 degrees and now he's doing his Masters at 'varsity.”
“Masters in what?”
“Medieval Literature. Boring or what? But that's Christian.”
“And your other brother?”
“Bryce. He's 13 and still at school, obviously. He should be home by now. Goodness knows where he is. Strange child!”
“That's not nice. People probably say the same about you.”
“They probably do, but he really is strange.”
“What makes him so strange?”
“He's into girls – like really into girls.”
“That's fairly normal for a 13 year old.”
“Not the way he does it. He's screwing like you wouldn't believe. It's a wonder that he's not a father yet. He definitely will be before he's much older – if he doesn't wear it out first.”
“Oh? With birth-control these days, there's not much excuse for that.”
“Yeah, well. You know what kids are like – their brains and their dicks don't both work at the same time.”
“He must be a hero to other boys his age.”
“A hero? Nah. The boy's a slut! Come down to the kitchen and we'll get something to eat now. I'm starving.”
Cassie was already there, making sandwiches, when they walked in and she flashed a smile. “About time too. Been working up an appetite, have you?”
“Shut it, Cassie,” Bevan replied. “We have not and don't be filthy. I was showing Tyler around the house. He says that your room is even messier than mine.”
“It bloody is not!”
“Don't listen to him, Cassie. We didn't even go into your room.”
“Yeah, well we all know that Bevan's an artist.”
“An artist?”
“A bullshit artist. I'm getting us a snack – soup and toast and sandwiches. Get some soup from the microwave and go look at the computer. The pics are all down-loaded. Now we have to decide which ones to use. There's some good shots, but an awful lot of crap too. Honestly, Tyler, we're not selling Bevan you know.”
“I know that. I wouldn't want to anyway.”
“There's more pics with him in them than not.”
“Maybe I just think he's very nice to look at.”
“Get out of here!” Cassie shook her head. “Talk about love is blind!”
The boys took mugs of soup and dry, unbuttered (!) toast – Bevan was amazed. They sat in front of the wide-screen computer and sipped the soup while watching the slideshow of Tyler's pics rolling. There were actually two 27 inch screens – the biggest PC set-up that Tyler had ever seen. It was impressive.
“What a great computer!”
“It is. Dad needs it for his work. He does a lot of his design stuff on here and he can draw-up plans for a house in just a couple of hours.”
Casie came over and joined them with a big platter of small sandwiches which were eaten in no time flat.
“Thanks, Cassie,” Tyler said when the last sandwich had disappeared. “They were great.”
“Glad you liked,” she smiled. “I worked for a gourmet catering company when I was at 'varsity. The food is really nothing special, it's all in the presentation. If they look good, they taste good.”
“They did look good – really good.”
“Well, good! Aha. That'll be Dad ariving home. Come and meet him and we'll see what he's done.”
Out in the drive, at the east end of the house, Tyler was introduced to their father, his cousin, Ben. He was a nice guy and good-looking too, for an oldie. It was obvious where Cassie and Bevan got their looks from.
“Okay. You wanted sandwich boards. What do you think of these?”
He lifted two pairs of hinged boards out of the back of his van and stood them up on the ground. They were identical and both a vivid lime-green colour.
“I had some marine-ply left over from a job, so I used that. They'll take anything the weather can throw at them, except maybe the wind.”
“Wow! They're great. Thanks. But I didn't expect you to paint them. How did you get them dry so quickly?”
“I cheated. I've got a mate with a panel-beating and paint shop. His workshop's next to mine, so I took them in there, sprayed them, and we ran them through his dryers.”
“Well, they're just right. How much do I owe you?”
“Nothing. They're a gift.”
“But they cost you for the time and the materials.”
“They cost bugger-all. Tyler, you're family. Don't even think about offering me money – I'll be offended. Besides, if you can keep these two busy and out of my hair, it's well worth helping you out.”
“Well, thanks. I appreciate it, Ben, and I will find a way to pay you back.”
“You'll try. There's no need to anyway. Mum home yet, Cassie?”
“No, not yet.”
“Well, I'm not cooking. I need a shower. See you later, Kids. Oh – Tyler, if you want to take them to Bob's place, I'll run you out later.”
“Don't worry, Dad,” Cassie said. “They can stay here until we've done the sign-writing on them. Is there any dark-green paint in the garage?”
“Yeah, I think so. There's all sorts of bits and pieces in there. Have a look for yourself.”
The shelves at the end of the garge were full of paint tins in various sizes and colours – hundreds of them!
Tyler said, “Wow! That's a lot of paint.”
“There's a lot of tins,” said Bevan. “Some of them haven't got much left in them. They're left over from jobs. Dad's been building for a long time and he throws nothing away.”
“Waste not, want not, I guess.”
“No. Just waste not – Dad wouldn't know how to. Bless his little Scottish heart.”
“Were the Roddens Scottish? I didn't know that.”
“Don't know if they were or not, but Dad is. There's some green up here. We can stir black into it if you want it darker.”
“No. That looks good like it is. Maybe we should do some of the lettering in red to make them bright and eye-catching?”
“That wouldn't work. Red paint is useless outdoors. It fades and just looks sad. Orange would be better. We can try that.”
“We?”
“Yeah, we. I'm a pretty good artist you know.”
“You're a lady of many talents, Cassie.”
“You better believe it! But, we're not starting on them now. Come back to the 'puter, we'll sort out the pics and I'll have a go at draughting out an advertising brochure and see what you think.”
“Is there anything you can't do?”
“Not a lot. Come on.”
Cassie also chose a good general shot with the kayak in view to use for advertising in the local paper – it'd be costly, but 'a picture's worth a thousand words'.
From his vast experience, (studying other people's brochures the day before), Tyler had a couple of suggestions to improve the proposed brochure. They e-mailed that, and the request for Friday advertising, to the paper which also had a printing business on the side. Cassie asked how soon they could print it and what the cost of an initial run of 2,000 copies would be?
They had just started drawing-up a map, or – actually, superimposing suggested routes on a map of the lagoon, when the mother and the brother arrived home. She walked into the kitchen, dumped some over-loaded bags of groceries on to the table, looked at the three by the computer and came over, smiling.
“Hello. You must be Tyler. I'm Lorraine and I'm delighted to meet you at last.”
“Yeah, that's me.” He stood up. “Nice to meet you too, umm . . Mrs. Rodden.”
“Don't call me missus, call me Lorraine. I'm your aunty, or cousin, or whatever the hell it is.”
“Cousin by marriage, I think. Grandmother would know.”
“Kathleen would know. She keeps tabs on everyone. Good to see you all busy here. I hope you haven't been looking at rude pictures.”
Bevan said, “Not yet, Mum. We'll do that after you've gone to bed.”
“Oh you will, will you? Is Tyler staying the night?”
“He's moving in,” Bevan grinned. “He's going to live here now.”
“I am not!” Tyler protested. “I'm living in my tent, out at the grandparents' place.”
“In a tent?” Lorraine said. “Why aren't you in the house with Bob and Kathleen?”
“Because I like my tent and that's where I'm staying.”
“Okay, your choice. But you would be welcome to come and live here you know. We'd fit you in somehow.”
“Yeah,” said Bevan. “He could sleep with Cassie.”
“I don't think so!”
“Neither do I,” Cassie agreed.
“Oh well,” Bevan shrugged. “I guess it will have to be in with me then.”
“Bevan, I am not. I'm going home to my tent. Thanks anyway, Lorraine. I think it's time I was going now.”
“Oh no. Don't go yet. At least stay and have dinner with us.”
“Well, I . . no. It will be dark if I don't go soon. Bevan might be used to getting around out there in the dark, but I'm not. I'd get lost!”
Bevan said, “Stay here tonight then. You're only going home to sleep, and then you'll be back in the morning. I came and stayed with you the other night, so now you can return the favour.”
“The favour? Well, maybe. But where would I sleep?”
“With me of course!”
“Lorraine, is that all right with you?”
“Yes, sure it is. But ring your grandparents first and tell them where you are.”
“I'll do that now. I don't want them worrying about me.”
“Good,” said Cassie. “We'll eat, and then we can talk all night.”
“We bloody will not!” Bevan stressed. “You get your own boyfriend.”
“Boyfriend?” Ben walked into the room.
Tyler worried, but Bevan just grinned. “Yeah, boyfriend. Got a problem with that?”
“No. No problem,” Ben shrugged. “About time you had someone of your own.”
“You really don't have any problem?” Tyler said. “Thanks.”
Lorraine said, “Bevan needs someone to care for him and keep him under control. If that's you, then that's good.”
“It's very good,” Bevan agreed.
Tyler was amazed. This was like a different planet from where he used to live.
“And, I'm Bryce,” the other boy said. “Looks like no-one's going to introduce me, so that's who I am – Bryce – the brother - me. Hey, Tyler.”
“You're Bryce?” Tyler did a double-take. “Sorry, but I thought that you must be someone else.”
“No, I'm me. Was last time I looked anyway.”
“But you're not at all what I expected.”
“Why? Did you think I had two heads or something?”
“No. From the way Bevan talked I thought you'd be, well, older. You look like a little kid!”
“I'm not a kid!” Bryce puffed-up indignantly. “I'm 13. I'm a man – well, nearly. A teenager anyway, and that's not a kid.”
“Okay, sorry. But you look so young. And short. You look like you're about 10 – young and innocent.”
“Innocent? Bryce?” Bevan snorted. “You got that wrong!”
“I didn't say that he was. I said that he looks it.”
Cassie said, “He does look it. That's his secret weapon and he knows how to use it.”
Tyler stood and looked down at the boy in front of him. He was way shorter than he was. He had a mop of floppy blond hair – longer, but the same colour as his brother's. And he had big blue eyes, just like Bevan's. He had similar features too, fine and delicate-looking. A small, snub nose with a dusting of freckles.
Dressed in a short-sleeved gray shirt and short, tight, gray shorts, (probably his school uniform), and bare-footed, his skinny, hairless and golden, arms and legs were well-exposed. He had that same cheeky grin too. Bevan probably looked just like that when he was about 10 or so.
“Nice to meet you, Bryce. Sorry if I offended you.”
“I'm not offended,” he grinned. “I am stinky though. I'm going to have a shower, Mum. Catch you later.”
“You're showering now?” Lorraine protested. “Can't it wait until after dinner? We're going to eat soon.”
“I'll only be 5 minutes.”
“Okay then. What've you been doing to get dirty? You've only been at school.”
“Just stuff. Be back soon.”
He left the room and Ben shook his head. “I'm sure he showered this morning. That boy has more showers than all the rest of us put together. I thought that only happened after they discover girls.”
Bevan and Cassie grinned at each other and rolled their eyes. “Ah, bless!” said Cassie. “So innocent.”
Ben said, “Bryce is innocent?”
Bevan replied, “I don't think she was talking about him, Dad.”
Lorraine went back to the kitchen area and Tyler followed her. “Is there anything I can do to help?”
She smiled and said, “No. Thanks, Sweetie, but it's all under control. There's a casserole in the slow-cooker, it's been stewing away all day. I just have to heat some mixed veggies and nuke a bowl of rice and it'll be done. Have you rung your grandmother?”
“Oh. No, I haven't. I got side-tracked.”
“Well go and do it before she gets Search and Rescue out looking for you.”
“I'm doing it now.”
It was just 10 minutes later that they ate – all sitting around the glossy wooden table. Bevan sat next to Tyler and Bryce was opposite them, watching closely and smiling knowingly. He was definitely not as green as he looked.
Afterwards, the parents sat down to watch the evening news on TV, Bryce left in a hurry, (Going to a friend's!”), and Cassie, Bevan and Tyler sat out on the deck, with a laptop, and talked until Bevan stood and stretched.
“Enough of that. I'm bored now. You two can continue tomorrow, I'm going to school. C'mon, Tyler – bath and bed I think.”
“Bath?”
“Yeah. We'll have a bubble-bath together. That'll be fun.”
“Have fun,” said Cassie. “But if you two mess up the en-suite, I'll bang your heads together.”
“I'm planning on that too,” Bevan grinned. “Little heads.”
“Get out of here!” She laughed.
They went through the living-room, said goodnight to the parents and, no, they didn't want any supper. They went upstairs for a bath and bed together.
Next morning, early, Tyler tried to slide out of bed without waking Bevan. He wasn't sure if he suceeded or not – the Boy grumbled, growled, pulled the covers over his head and rolled away.
Tyler dressed quietly and went downstairs. There was no-one up at all, so he sat on the floor next to the glass doors and watched the day dawning.
Bryce appeared out on the deck, peering through the windows. Tyler opened a door and let him in.
“Shush!” he whispered. “Are Mum and Dad up yet?”
“No. There's no-one up yet – just me.”
“All good! You haven't seen me, okay?”
“Yeah, okay,” Tyler smiled.
Bryce slipped into his room and Tyler was left alone until Lorraine came out. She stood in the kitchen area, filled the electric kettle, turned it on, and then saw Tyler sitting on the floor.
“Oh. Hello. I didn't see you there. Is Bevan up?”
“No. Still in bed, I think. Good Morning.”
“Yeah. Come and have a coffee with me.”
Everyone got their own breakfast when they came out – toast, cereal, fruit juice and coffee. Bryce emerged with his hair still wet from the shower and dressed in his school uniform, as was Bevan when he came down. There was not a lot of talking, it seemed that they were not morning people there.
The others were soon gone, leaving Cassie and Tyler alone together. She finished loading the dishwasher and turned it on. “Okay, Cousin, Where do we begin?”
“With the signwriting on the boards?”
“Sounds good. We'll finish the map later and put an information blurb on the back. I'll take it downtown, photocopy a dozen copies and get them laminated.”
“Sounds good too. Have you got little paintbrushes?”
“Yep. I'll do the outline of the letters and you can come behind me in fill them in.”
They finished everything that they were going to do by lunchtime, so Tyler borrowed a piece of rope, tied one kayak behind the other and he paddled home. He said that he needed to get all of the kayaks and the gear out of Bob's shed. He'd check them over and wash the cobwebs and dust off them.
Also, he was running out of clean clothes and there were no handy fast-flowing and clean streams to wash them in. When his grandmother got home, he was going to ask if he could use her laundry. He knew very well that she wouldn't take any money for it, but he was going to offer anyway.
Cassie asked him how he washed himself when he was on the road?
“I've got a Solar Shower – a big, black polythene bag with a tap and shower-head on it. I fill it with water, leave it lying in the sun all day, and then hang it in a tree to shower in the evenings.”
“Clever. But how do you get on when it rains for days on end?”
“Sometimes I have a sponge-bath with water heated on the gas stove. Sometimes I stink.”
“Eww!”
For her part, Cassie said that she'd have lunch – and didn't he want any? (“No. Thanks.”) Later, she'd go back downtown, hurry-up the printing of the brochures, call in at the I-Site, tell the girls there what they were planning, and then get her dad started on making a couple of billboards with stands and supports. Then she was having the rest of the day off.
Once Jeffrey was out of bed, probably about 3pm, they might go out for a ride on his old bike.
“Hard work, but someone's got to keep him happy. 'Bye, Tyler. I'll talk to you tomorrow.”
“It's Friday tomorrow, isn't it?”
“Yeah, it is – all day.”
“I don't think there's anything else to be done. I'll just bring everything over, behind the boat, on Saturday morning, sit it on the beach at the top of the wharves, and see who comes. “Bye, Cassie. Have a good day.”
“I always do!”
When she rang him next morning, Cassie reported that the brochures were ready. She would pick them up and drop some off at the I-Site and other businesses around town. After that, she was going to borrow her mum's car and take brochures to hotels, motels, motor camps and tourist-related businesses in Fox, Franz, and Whataroa. Tyler was going to have to pay for the petrol, which would not be a problem. He didn't want to come with her, so what was he going to do all day?
“Oh, I don't know. Lie around being lazy and worrying, I guess.”
“There's nothing to worry about Tyler. Your business is going to be a winner!”
“I hope you're right.”
“I know I am.”
“I might go and explore for a while too. There's still a lot of the town and around that I haven't seen yet.”
“Okay. Stay safe and have a good day.”
“You too, and drive carefully.”
“I always do. It's the other loonies on the road who are the worry.”
“Other Loonies?”
“Goodbye, Tyler.”
It was raining when they woke up on Saturday morning – heavy, cold and persistent rain.
Tyler, clad in his best wet-weather gear, came down the lagoon, standing up in the small motor boat and towing a flotilla of kayaks behind him. He tied the boat between two of the old redundant wharf-piles, dragged the kayaks out of the water and up-ended them on the small, muddy, 'beach'. He then opened an umbrella and sat huddled under it, in the rain.
Cassie arrived, also wearing a rain-coat and carrying a big beach-umbrella. She sat down next to him. “Good morning, Cousin! Isn't it a lovely day?”
“It's a bloody awful day! Just horrible. I would've stayed in bed but we advertised the Grand Opening today, so I have to be here.”
“For a while anyway. But I doubt if we'll see any customers today.”
“Yeah. Who'd want to go out in that?”
“Not me for a start. You've got a motor-boat too. What's that for?”
“Mostly because we might need it to go and rescue people if they get stranded, but it's handy for moving stuff around too.”
“Good thinking, but you might want to get one with a roof.”
“That's what I was thinking. One day, maybe.”
“Dad might be able to fix-up a canopy of some sort, I'll ask him. Also, it'd be good to get one of those portable pergolas and a couple of chairs to sit on, out of the weather..”
“That would be good, but I don't want to keep on spending money until we get some customers.”
“Fair enough. Here's Bevan coming, looking like a nut-case. Again.”
“Where? Oh.”
Bevan walked towards them, wearing nothing but white Speedos and carrying a full, black-plastic, rubbish bag over his shoulder. His saturated hair hung dripping around his face, covering all his features except for the wide smile. “Good morning and good morning! Looks like we might have rain today.”
“You think?” Tyler grinned back. “Bevan, what are you doing? You must be freezing!”
“It is a bit fresh, yeah. I didn't want to get my clothes wet. They're in the bag, keeping dry.”
“But you're not!”
“Well, Cassie took the good coat. I'll soon get dry.”
He pulled a blue-plastic tarpaulin out of the bag and tied it in the scrub at the back of the beach, weighting the bottom edge down with rocks and making a wind-break and sheltering roof.
They all got under that and the other two sat and watched while Bevan dried himself and got dressed. Cassie turned her eyes away when he stepped out of the Speedos and stood totally naked. Tyler didn't. He enjoyed the view – very much.
“Right then.” Bevan spread his bag on the wet ground and sat on it. “It's all go here then?”
“Pretty much, yeah. It's a waste of time being here, but I felt that I had to. You two don't have to stay. Why don't you go home where it's warm?”
“And miss all of the excitement? No, I'm staying to keep you company.”
“So am I.” Cassie agreed.
“Thanks, Guys. But you don't have to.”
“We don't, but we want to.”
There were no prospective customers at all. They sat there all day, and nothing happened, not even when the weather cleared, a little, later in the day.
There was one minute's excitement, just after 12pm, when a car pulled in and stopped. But it was only Kathleen, carrying a picnic basket.
“Hello, Kids! Having a nice day?”
“No!”
“Not really. What are you doing out in the rain, Grandmother?”
“I had to come to town anyway, so I brought you some hot soup and sandwiches. There's coffee in the flask too.”
“Aunty, you're an angel!”
“I've never been called that before. An angel in disguise maybe.”
Bevan said, “Pretty good disguise! But thanks, Aunt Kathleen. This is great and real nice of you.”
“I thought it might help to take the chill off your bones. It can't be much fun sitting here in the rain. Now I'm getting out of it and going shopping. You make sure that you come in and have a hot shower when you come home, Tyler.”
“I'd like that. Thanks, Grandmother.”
Jeffrey arrived at about 3.30pm and Cassie gladly got into his car and went off to get warm and dry somewhere. “See you tomorrow, Cuz. Hopefully, it'll be a better day than this.”
“Hopefully. It couldn't be much worse.”
“Yes it could! Wait 'til the rainy season starts.
“The rainy season? This is not it? Thanks.”
“Yeah, 'bye,” she laughed and jumped into the car.
Bevan stayed with him until Tyler decided to pack it in. They put the kayaks back in the water and everything else into the boat.
“That's it,” said Tyler. “A totally wasted day. I really hope it's better tomorrow, or I might just give up. I must be mad trying something like this in the middle of a rain-forest.”
Bevan said, “You can't just give up. There'll be better days. It doesn't rain all of the time.”
“No, just most of it. What're you doing now, Bevan?”
“Coming with you.”
“With me?”
“Who else? I'm coming to spend the night with you, to keep you warm and stop you getting depressed.”
“Thanks. But you don't have to do that.”
“But I do have to do that.”
“Why do you?”
“Because you're not happy, and because I love you.”
“Bevan, you're brilliant!” Tyler beamed. “I love you too – very much.”
They went back in the boat and across the lagoon. Kathleen met them and insisted that they come inside and have a shower and a hot meal. She wasn't taking no for an answer.
After that, the Boys cleaned-up the kitchen and said thanks and goodnight.
Bob said, “Goodnight, Boys, and don't worry. The weather forecast is better for tomorrow. They might get it right for a change.”
“Bloody hope so! G'night.”
They went back to the tent where Bevan worked on cheering him up – and very successfully too! They went to sleep, cuddled-up together.
Bevan woke, alone, in the morning and crawled out of the tent. He stood up and smiled at Tyler who was down by the water, stretching and admiring the beautiful day that had dawned. “Now, this is more like it!” he said.
Tyler turned around and grinned. “Good morning, Gorgeous Boy. What a beautiful day it is!”
“Yeah. We've got another day in Paradise.”
“We have!”
They had breakfast – porridge and coffee, then got in the boat and went back to the town-side. There were people standing around by the beach, waiting for them.
A sunny day made a huge difference and they were busy all day. People just kept on coming – some locals, but mostly visitors and lots of family groups. Every time the kayaks returned from a trip, there were others waiting to take them out again. If they'd had them, they could've hired out twice as many kayaks as they had.
Bevan, Cassie, and especially Tyler, had a great day. They made a lot of money and the success of the business and his future in Okarito were assured.
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