Shadows Dancing in the Sun - 3. Shad Chapter 3

“Yes Ma’am, thank you, and I am terribly sorry about before,” I replied, before leaving and returning to the spot where I had left Kyle and my lunch.

When I saw the lunch box open, I was a little surprised, as I looked inside to see it empty, Kyle burped and rubbed his stomach, “That was a delicious lunch thank you,” he said to me. “Hey what about me, I need to eat too!” I responded, “Oh yeah, I saved the round of vegemite sandwiches for you,” Kyle replied with a serious look on his face, and I was about to complain, when I saw a hint of a smile, then he burst out laughing.

After a little while, he calmed down enough to retrieve my lunch, which was a plastic container with two rounds of sandwiches, and a paper bag, that contained banana and an apple, plus 2 pieces of cake wrapped in clingwrap, which surprised me that there was so much.

I handed the cake to Kyle saying he can have one piece, and I began eating my meat and salad sandwiches, which were delicious, “Have you called your mum yet?” I asked between mouthfuls, “Oh, no I haven’t, but first did you get your new phone?” Kyle replied, and I nodded my head as I kept eating, and handed over my phone, watching as Kyle entered his mobile number, and another number, which looked like a landline.

Kyle then began sending a text message, and only after he sent it, did he return the phone back to me, and I checked to see what the message said, but he had already deleted it. “When my phone rang, I jumped in fright as I was not expecting a call, and looking at the caller ID, it said Mrs Kyle, which made me smile.

“Hello Ma’am, this is Tobias speaking,” I said as I answered the call. “Hello dear, its good to see that you finally have your own mobile, did your stepfather finally give in?” Kyles mother said to me, “No ma’am, I was kicked out of home yesterday, I am living with my Uncle Mitchell now, he and his partner live not far from school, so I can walk or ride to school now,” I replied.

“I am sorry to hear that you were kicked out, but after what Kyle has told me of your constant conflict with your stepfather, I think that it is a good idea that you are with your uncle. Now Kyle just sent me a text saying this is your number and that you wanted to speak to me about something,” Kyle’s mum said to me.

I gave a short laugh, as I stared at Kyle. “Actually, it was supposed to be your son who spoke to you, the little devil, but since I am speaking to you now, I guess I better do it. Now that I am living with my uncle, in a huge house in Guildford, he has offered for Kyle to stay over this weekend or any time that is suited to you,” I said to Kyle’s mum.

“I see no problem with that at all, give me your address and I will drop him off tomorrow afternoon, after the hockey match,” she said to me, “Oh crumbs, I nearly forgot all about that, not a good idea for the lead goalie to be MIA. The address is 19 Market Street, Guildford, which is on the Southside of the railway line, coming off the western end of Helena Street.

The second exit off the roundabout is Market street, and we are the third house on the left, you can’t miss it, as it is a huge single level house with a very formal garden out the front,” I said giving the directions. “Very well, if you can get to the hockey match, I will deliver you both back to your new home straight after,” Mrs Appleton said to me.

“Yes ma’am, actually I just remembered something, Uncle Mitch has a part-time housekeeper, who cooks a Saturday lunch for us and she and her husband will be joining us, I am sure that you would be most welcome to join us also, that’s if you like genuine Italian food,” I said.

“Yes, I would like that very much for the invitation,” Mrs Appleton said, and after she spoke to Kyle for a few minutes they ended the call, and Kyle pocketed my phone, giving me an innocent but cheeky grin, which made me laugh, as I held my hand out for him to return the phone.

When he did I sent a quick message to Uncle Mitch, “Kyle and I have a hockey match tomorrow morning, starting at 9 am, Mrs Appleton, Kyle’s mum is happy to deliver us back afterwards, as she has said yes to Kyle staying over, and I have invited her to join us for lunch,” and I pressed the send button for my first-ever text message.

“Sound good, I will let Maria know, what time does the hockey match end and where is it?” the reply message said, and I sent a quick reply, “Lunch almost over, I will tell you later this afternoon, bye,” I replied, just as the first bell sounded for the end of lunch period.

“Did you say 19 Market street, near the corner of Helena, on the Southside of the rail line?” Kyle asked me, “That’s right, but I don’t want anyone else to know, ok?” I replied, “Got it, now we better get a move on or we will end up with after school detention,” Kyle said and we picked up our speed to get to the lockers.

I had two sessions of music, so I knew that it would not matter if I am a little bit late, as the music teacher is a little relaxed on that matter, and I always enjoyed this subject, as I was very good at playing the piano, oboe and trumpet, and with me being the best trumpet player, it was usually me that is asked to play on Anzac Day and Remembrance Day each year, but my favourite tune is on oboe, playing Gabriel’s Song from the movie - The Mission, which is a very haunting tune.

My last class for the day is Advanced Mathematics, the hardest subject of all to most students in my year, but until now, I was only able to get an above-average grade, because of my home situation, but after the great sleep I had last night, I was wide awake and alert, and I absorbed everything the teacher said with interest.

At the end of the day, Kyle gave me a peck on the cheek and said he would see me in the morning, before one of my classmates called out, “Get a room you two,” which had both of us laughing and blushing in embarrassment, as we went on to the lower level carpark.

“Did you have a good day?” Uncle Mitch asked me as I climbed into his vehicle, “Yes, the best day ever, now I don’t have to worry about a particular person,” I replied, “About that, I had a phone call from him today, he said he is expecting you to be over there tomorrow morning first thing, to do your usual Saturday chores.

I reminded him that you no longer live there, so you don’t have any commitments to do any chores any longer, plus I informed him that you have a school sports match on tomorrow morning, that you cannot miss,” Uncle Mitch announced to me.

“Grr, that man gets… oh man has he the nerve to even try and get me back, I guess he realises now how much they depended on me with house chores and minding my younger siblings, while they go out goodness knows where for hours or sometimes overnight, he can just get stuffed,” I said in response to this news, and Uncle Mitch just chuckled.

“Right we are off to Midland Gate to do some major shopping. I have informed the school of your change of address and that I am now your legal guardian, but I didn’t give them your mobile number, in case he tries to get it off them and start harassing you, I also have ordered some additional new school uniforms, for Summer and Winter, that should keep you going, and hopefully you won’t grow out of them before you finish school next year.

By the end of this afternoon, we will probably have two trollies full up,” Uncle Mitch announced, and the look of shock on my face made him chuckle. “I am making up for what you didn’t get for the past six years. Firstly, we went to get you some neat casual plus some formal wear, some more footwear, and maybe an Akubra hat, to finish off the look,” Uncle Mitch announced.

Just as the shops were beginning to close at 6 pm, I was exhausted from all the shopping. When I went to the hairdresser’s for a trim, Uncle Mitch had gone to a computer store, and bought a top of the range laptop computer, with a portable scanner & printer, and also a Go-Pro camera.

We had also gone to a bike store and bought a good quality mountain bike, with helmet, that the go pro can attach to, plus riding gloves, a repair kit, bike pump and a sturdy chain and lock, and finally we bought enough clothes and shoes to last me for many years, and I was not sure if I would even wear any of them at all.

“Did you remember to call Maria?” I asked as the vehicle rolled down the main driveway, stopping under the carport, “Yes, nephew I did it right away, and she is looking forward to cooking for a large group of people, instead of just four of us,” Uncle Mitch replied.

After placing the boxed-up bike and the accessories in the garage, I helped with carting all of my new gear into the house, and Xavier wolf-whistled when he saw me.

“Someone is looking very smart this afternoon,” he commented, which made me blush, and Uncle Mitch just laughed, “Leave him alone, he is too young for you,” Uncle Mitch responded, which made him laugh some more, and I rushed to my room to hide, and also to change out of my school uniform.

“I have started washing some of your new stuff, in case you want to wear it tomorrow for lunch since we will be having guests,” Uncle Mitch said and I said ok, when I entered the dining room, where Xavier was busy in the kitchen, and Uncle Mitch was reading a magazine. I place my school backpack on a chair and sat on the next chair, before pulling out my books and beginning to do my homework, which I had done just a little bit during the morning break.

Once I had finished my homework, I put my school books away before changing into some boardshorts, and I headed to the pool for my first swim in it. When I had done 16 laps, I stopped as I felt that I had done enough, and a towel appeared above me, so I looked up to see Xavier smiling, as I shook the water out of my ears.

“How long is the pool Uncle X? I asked, “Twelve and a half metres, how many laps did you do?” he replied, “Ok, so that was 200 metres exactly, about right for an average workout,” I said, as I climbed out of the pool and received the towel from Xavier. “That is only average? What distance do you usually do at school?” Xavier asked me, “I usually do 400 metres at least, but with all the drama happening this past week, I have lost a bit of muscle from not doing enough exercise,” I replied.

Once inside, Xavier went over to his husband, “Did you know that your nephew averages 400 metres of swimming at school, although he has just done half of that today in our pool?” Xavier announced, which caught Uncle Mitch’s attention, “No, I had no idea, you are one very talented young man. Earlier you said that you do music at school, what instrument do you play?” Uncle Mitch replied, “A few actually, the Piano, the Oboe and the Trumpet. I am the main guy when it comes to memorial services for Anzac Day and Remembrance Day,” I replied.

“Well, it looks like we will have to add a piano to our house in the near future,” Xavier announced. “You don’t need to do that, I can practice enough when I am at school, as I have a double period of Music each week,” I replied.