Shadows Dancing in the Sun - 7. Shad Chapter 7

“Uncle I want all this to end, either get your shit together or I am out of here for good,” I said to uncle Mitch before slamming the door behind me, and after grabbing a jacket, my wallet and my mobile, I headed to the garage and soon I was riding away from the house, not sure where to go at this time of the night.

Ten minutes later I found myself sitting under the picnic gazebo, just across the drive from the main entrance to the senior boarding house, which faces the Swan River flats, that occasionally get flooded when there has been an above average amount of rain in the river.

I looked at my watch and it was just after 9.30 pm, so I hoped that someone was still up, as I knocked on the main door which was locked, and it wasn’t long before the house prefect – Damien Young appeared. “Garrison, what the hell are you doing here this late at night?’ he asked me when he opened the door.

“I need a place to stay tonight, can you get the senior house master for me please,” I replied, “Sure but come inside it is too cold out here, bring your bike and we will store it away for you,” Young said to me. “Thanks mate, I appreciate this, things are not going great at my new home.

I’ve gone from a really bad situation at my childhood home, to a just as bad situation at my new home,” I explained, and Young nodded his head and lead me inside, where he placed the bike in a secure area, before taking me upstairs, where he retrieved a fresh set of linen and led me to a vacant cubicle.

“Make your bed and get settled and I will be back in a few minutes,” Young said to me, and he headed back downstairs, and since it was the first time, I had been inside the seniors boarding house, I just did as ask and waited. It only took five minutes before Young and the Senior House Master arrived.

“Sir, I know this is very unusual, but I need a place to stay tonight, as I do not feel safe at home,” I explained, “That is fine, I see that Young has got you settled in, we will have a chat about this in the morning before breakfast, so have a good night’s sleep and…” the senior Master was interrupted by my phone ringing, and he indicated to me to hand it over.

“Your guardian is your Uncle?” the senior master asked me, and I nodded my head yes, before he answered the call, and had to immediately pull the phone away from his ear. “Tobias, where the hell are you? Please come home, I am really worried,” I heard my uncle say.

“This is Mr Hutchins, the Senior Boarding house Master, your nephew came here because he felt unsafe staying at your home…” we heard him say as he began to leave the area and we couldn’t hear the rest of the conversation. Mr Hutchins returned a few minutes later, and he handed me my phone, which had been turned off.

“Your uncle said he is really sorry for what he has put your through, and that the arguing was because he was putting you first ahead of his marriage, which he informed me is now over. Your uncle will bring your school backpack and school uniform to you at 7 am tomorrow morning, and since you have your bike with you, he said he will see you when you get home after school tomorrow,” the house master informed me before saying goodnight and leaving.

Damien Young helped me to get settled, and informed me of the routine at the boarding house, with wakeup at 6.45 am for seniors, morning shower and get dressed into school uniform, then off to the dining hall for breakfast at 7.30, before returning to the boarding house to get our gear for school.

I struggled to get to sleep, especially in a new and unfamiliar environment, so when Young woke me up a little after 7am, I jumped out of bed then looked round me in confusion. “Here is a fresh towel, I will show you where the senior boys showers are, which is separate from the middle school boys showers, and when you are done, I will have your gear in your cubicle ready for you,” Young said to me, and I nodded my head in understanding, as I stripped down to nothing and wrapped the towel around my waist, and followed Young to where the showers are.

After a Luke warm shower, I returned to my cubicle, where I found my school uniform and my school backpack, with a letter sitting on top of it. I quickly dressed, before sitting down on the bed and opened the letter. “My dear nephew, I am terribly sorry that you have had to go through a bad time again.

My soon to be ex-husband, doesn’t understand that you are now my biggest priority, especially after what you have gone through with your step father, and that is what all the arguing has been about. I am glad that you found a safe place to stay last night at one of the boarding houses at school, and I look forward to see you home again after school today.

Xavier is being discharged from hospital today, and he will be moving out today, staying in one of his nearby investment properties, until the divorce is settled. Once again, I am sorry for what you have had to go through at your childhood home, and now at our new home, and from now on you are my one and only priority. Love Uncle Mitchell”.

After breakfast, I retrieved my school backpack, pleased to see a packed lunch had been included, and I headed to my locker, to work out what I need for my first two classes of the morning. “There you are, I tried calling you last night, but your phone was switched off,” Kyle said as he approached.

“Yeah, sorry about that, I’ve had a few dramas at home, and I ended up staying overnight at the Seniors Boarding house. Uncle Mitch and Xavier are separating, because they are constantly arguing, and Uncle Mitch is putting me before his marriage, which I feel bad about,” I replied softly, so no one else could listen in to the conversation.

“Shame, he appears to be a nice bloke,” Kyle responded, before we gathered our books and headed in different directions to our first class of the day.

When I arrived home shortly after 4 pm, I found Uncle Mitch and Xavier sitting at the dining table, deep in discussion, with a set of plans laid out in front of them. “Hey, I am glad you are home, we have some news for you,” Uncle Mitch said to me as I entered, and looking at each of them I eventually sat down next to uncle Mitch and looked at the plans.

“What is this?” I asked after a brief scan of the plans, which looked like two octagonal buildings, with each building consisting of four smaller octagonal buildings that are linked together with a central courtyard in the centre. The second building is diagonally opposite, with a similar spacing between the buildings.

“It is a project that I designed about two years ago, for I though was for the University of WA, but it turns out it was for Xavier’s Development company. It is now completed and ready for use, and will be our new home, as this place is way too big for just the two of us,” Uncle Mitch said to me.

“So back to catching public transport to school each day then?” I asked, “I am afraid so, just 6 kilometres by bus to the city, then a train to East Guildford, but our new home will also have a swimming pool, a gymnasium and plenty of outdoor space,” Uncle Mitchell informed me.

“As part of our separation agreement, your uncle gets ownership of the project property on the corner of Stirling Highway, and Fairway, Crawley, which he designed, and a second project property on the corner of Clark and Fairway, Crawley plus proceeds of the sale of this property,” Xavier explained.

“We will be living in the two-level penthouse on the 4^th and roof floors of the second building, plus we will have exclusive use of the whole 4^th floor on building two.

We will also have shared use of all residential recreation spaces, including the swimming pool and the shaded outdoor area on the roof level, and the fitness gym on the ground floor,” Uncle Mitch explained to me, as he showed me the locations on the plans. “What about all of this residential space, who is that for?” I asked.

“They are one-bedroom suites, to be leased out, and I think I will give the university – UWA, first option of use of those suites. The business suites on the 3^rd floor, will be leased out to any businesses that want office space with a great view of Kings Park, and some views of the Swan River.

I was thinking of making the lecture rooms on the ground floor of building two available for your school to use, if they would like to use it, while I will make all of building one available for the UWA to use, if they too want to use the space,” Uncle Mitch announced.

“When can we go and check out this new complex?” I asked, “Well I have officially handed over ownership to your uncle and here are all the master keys and security access key cards to all areas, so your Uncle can take you whenever he feels like it,” Xavier said.

“I asked Maria not to cook any dinner for us tonight, as you and I will have dinner at a restaurant, after we have checked out our new home,” Uncle Mitchell announced.

“Good, just give me a few minutes to get changed out of my uniform, and I will be ready,” I said, as I headed for my bedroom, where a pile of fresh laundry was neatly stacked on my bed. After changing my clothes and putting all of my clothes away that had been washed, I re-entered the dining area, and only found Uncle Mitch waiting for me.

“Hey has gone to his new place, are you ready to go?” Uncle Mitch said to me, and I nodded my head yes, and we headed for his car, and forty minutes later, after tackling peak hour traffic, we finally arrived as we turned off the highway, onto Fairway. “Is that it on the right/” I asked as I looked at the new buildings that stood on the corner, surrounded by a thick limestone wall that stands two metres high along the boundary.

“Yes this is it, and the UWA were fairly peeved off when a private development company, namely XP Developments managed to buy the last four properties on this street block, which were three old apartment buildings and an old house, with the rest belonging to the UWA,” Uncle Mitchell said to me, as we turned off the street, and stopped as we waited for the automatic gate to slowly open. “Why the very tall stone walls around the boundary?” I asked.