Simba - 10. Simba Ch 10

“Hey, sorry, I should have left a note to say where I am going, my name is Jacob Blackwood by the way,” I said to him softly, and his eyes softened a little and there was a slight of a small smile, “Aaron Tomlinson,” he replied, as his eyes were now fixed on what I was carrying.

“This is for you, I have already eaten, it is chicken soup, steak and chips and salad,” I replied, as I placed them on the table, before retrieving some cutlery for him and he began to drink the soup and eat chips between mouthfuls, and leaving him to eat, I checked on the washing.

I pulled out his clothes, as I expected, a lot of it fell apart, while his sneakers were now clean, there was a few holes in them, so I made a decision to go and do some shopping with Aaron in the morning. In the mean time, I went through my luggage, and found a second pair of jeans, two other t-shirts and I placed them on his bed.

“In the morning, when we have had breakfast, we are going to go and do some shopping for some more clothes and shoes for you, and there is to be no arguments, this is my gift to you, ok,” I said to Aaron, and I saw tears fall down his cheeks.

“No one has been kind to me in a long time… thank you,” I said softly, “Not a problem mate, and when you are ready, we can talk about your situation and try and work out a way to resolve it in a good way,” I responded. I saw him nod his head, as he finished his soup and chips and began on the steak.

When I saw that Aaron was getting sleepy, I led him to his bedroom, he went straight to sleep, soon after getting into bed, and quietly I headed back to the lounge area, where the clock said it was 7.30 pm. I read a novel for s short while before I retired for the night too.

The next morning, I was making some toast, and sipping on some tea, when Aaron appeared, “Good morning fellow crewman, would you like some breakfast?” I asked happily. “Yes please, Tea and toast will be fine thankyou,” he replied.

“I took the liberty of washing all of your clothes and sneakers last night, and they are not in very good condition after the wash, so after breakfast we will head into town to do some shopping,” I said to Aaron, just to remind him of what I planned to do.

“Apart from your clothes and sneakers, do you have anything else in your bag?” I asked, “Yes, only a photo of my late father, who died when I was twelve, when Mum and I went to Australia to attend his funeral,” Aaron replied, “Wait, you said Australia? So you are half Australian?” I asked sounding surprised, “Yes, but our family moved to the UK when I was little, and when my parents divorced, I stayed with Mum in the UK, while Dad returned to South Australia,” Aaron replied.

“Wow, that is amazing, I too am from South Australia, but I live with my Uncle Nathaniel, as my parents work overseas in Canada. Dad is an Engineer, and Mum is a Medical Specialist, and although I was born in Adelaide, I spent my first five years in Tanzania, Africa,” I replied.

“Wow, that must have been amazing to live in a place like that,” Aaron stated, “Yes, it was awesome, and I have been back a few times since then, as our family still owns a property there,” I replied. “Nathaniel is my middle name. Have you seen lions and giraffes and elephants?” Aaron asked, and I chuckled at this.

“Yes mate, many times, they are amazing animals to watch in the wild, I had an encounter with a baby elephant and her mother a few years ago, which was fairly awesome,’ I replied, “Were you frightened?” Aaron asked, “No, I just stayed still and let them come to me, and it was a very special moment that I will never forget,” I replied.

After breakfast we locked up the canal boat and caught a cab to the nearest shopping centre, and entering a men’s store, I had Aaron fitted out with jeans, shirts, underwear, belts and socks plus a few jumpers. With two bags of clothes, each we next entered the shoe store, where we bought some sneakers, hiking boots, and flip-flops as they call thongs in the UK.

Next door to this store was a luggage store, and there we bought a new backpack and medium size soft suitcase, to store all of the new clothes in. From there we headed to a café for an early lunch, and while there, we loaded everything into the suitcase and backpack.

After doing some food shopping, we headed back on the canal boat, and we set off and it was not long before we arrived at a lock, and I did not need to show Aaron what to do, he just jumped off the boat, and got to work on the lock, which made it much faster for me to get through.

Once he was back on the boat, I asked him to take over the controls, while I went indoors for a short while.

I headed to his room and retrieving all of his new clothes, I put them in the washing machine to be washed, and places his shoes in the cupboard. “I’ve just put your new gear in the wash, and they will be dry and ready to wear before we make our overnight stop,” I informed Aaron when I had returned.

“We took it in turns to attend to the locks, and by the end of the day, Aaron was looking happy and relaxed, which I was pleased to see. While Aaron was having a shower before dinner, I retrieved my laptop and powered it up, before beginning to send an email to Uncle Nat.

“Hey Uncle, I am writing this to you instead of a phone call, as I have a situation, that I would like you to help me with, and it is a bit difficult to talk to you with the huge time difference. I have stumbled across a young man, who is homeless, and for now, he is staying with me on the canal boat, as it has two bedrooms.

His name is Aaron Tomlinson, and his late father was Australian and passed away when he was 12 years old. Although born in South Australia, he has lived most of his life in England, with his parents divorcing when he was young, and his father returned to Australia, while he remained with his mother in the UK.

That is all I know about him, apart from that he did come to Australia with his Mum when he was 12 to attend his father’s funeral, so I am wondering if it is possible to help him in any way, as it sounds like his mother does not want him around, and he has no where to go. Look forward from hearing from you regarding this, Love your nephew, Jacob.”

Once Aaron had showered, I took a quick shower, and after dressing, I came out to the lounge area where Aaron was waiting, “Your mobile was ringing while you were in the shower, but I didn’t answer it,” Aaron informed me, and I looked at my phone which I had left near the television and saw a missed call from Uncle Nat.

“Lets head to the pub for a meal, and I will send a text as we go,” I said happily, as we locked up and headed to the pub, for my second dinner since leaving on my canal holiday.

“Hey Uncle, sorry I was in the shower when you called, I can’t talk on the phone, but we can text, Jacob,” I typed and pressed send. “Hey nephew, is Aaron’s middle name Nathaniel?” I received from Uncle Nat soon after, and I glanced over at Aaron for a moment before sending a reply, “Yes it is, why do you ask?” I text back, “Ask him if his father is Jonathon Tomlinson, from Poondindie?” Uncle Nat text to me, and now I was wondering, what the heck was going on.

“Err; my Uncle Nat wants to know if your Dad’s name is Jonathon Tomlinson from Poondindie?” I asked Aaron. “Yes, how did he know that?’ Aaron asked me. “Hang on a sec,” I replied, as I dialled uncle Nat’s mobile number and put it on loudspeaker.

“Good evening nephew,” we heard him say, “Hi Uncle, Aaron can hear this conversation,” I replied, “Good, because I have some interesting news for your both. The reason I asked about Aaron’s middle name and his father’s name and location is because I know him. Jonathon is or was my second cousin, so that make Aaron your third cousin,” Uncle Nat replied.

I suddenly realised that Aaron was crying, and I moved over to beside him and gave him a hug, and eventually he calmed down. “Are you ok Aaron?” Uncle Nat asked, “yes thankyou, err; Uncle Nathaniel,” Aaron replied and I smiled broadly.

“I heard about your father’s passing, but unfortunately Jacob and I were away in the Northern Territory at the time, as we often went on hiking and climbing trips on the holidays,” Uncle Nat said, and remembering that trip, I nodded my head to say that was true.

“I had lost contact with your family after you all moved to the UK, I had no idea that your father had returned to Australia, and if I had I would have visited him,” Uncle Nat added. “How did you know that he was from Poondindie?” Aaron asked, having trouble pronouncing the name.

“Well, Tomlinson was my mother’s maiden name, and I knew that the family owned a large amount of farming land in that area, I am not exactly sure what happened to it since your father’s passing, my guess is that your mother arranged it all,” Uncle Nat said.

“Can you please check to see what has happened to it please Uncle Nat, if they were divorced, surely the property should have gone to Aaron here,” I asked, “Yes, I will look into it. “Now young Aaron, since you are family, would you like to come back to Australia with your cousin?” Uncle Nat asked.

“Yes please Uncle Nat, I have nothing here, so I might as well come back, where I know where I have caring family,” Aaron replied, “Very good, leave it with me and I will make the arrangements, now Jacob are you still going on that Coach tour?” Uncle Nat replied, “I was going to ask you if I can cancel that and maybe do something else, so I can get to know my cousin some more,” I replied.

“Yes, I think that is a good idea, I will put some more funds into your account, and I will leave it up to you on what you want to do. How are you going with that report?’ Uncle Nat asked me, and I glanced over at Aaron, “Not done yet, but I will get right onto it after dinner,” I replied.

During dinner at the pub we discussed what we could do, once we have finished the can cruise, with us having eight more days before we fly back to Australia. “How long will it take us to fly to Australia?” Aaron asked me, “About a day and a half, we have a seven hour layover in Singapore, if we still stay on the dame flight,” I replied.

After some discussions, with a few suggestions from Aaron, we had decided to take the train north to Scotland, and we would have a look around Scotland, including hiring a car for four days to check out the Highlands, which I was told are quite a sight to see.

As we were walking back to the canal, my phone indicated a new text message, “Rearranged for flights home, with a bit of a stop over. Check your email when you get a chance, hope you enjoy it. Uncle Nat,” and I smiled on reading this.

“I have a feeling that Uncle Nat has completely changed our flight back home, I will check my email when I get back,” I said to Aaron. A few minutes later after boosting up my computer, I opened the email and smiled broadly, “Oh, you are going to love this cousin. You remember me telling you that our family owns a property in Tanzania, well it looks like that it where we are heading before going home,” I announced.

“Wow, so I will get to see wild animals out in the open?” Aaron asked excitedly, “Yes mate and a lot more, as the property is at the foot of Mount Kilimanjaro, the highest mountain in all of Africa,” I replied.

“Wow, that sounds awesome, I am so glad that you came and rescued me, I have no idea what would have happened if you hadn’t,” Aarons said to me. “You are most welcome, cousin,” I replied smiling, as I checked the itinerary more closely.

“It looks like we are spending a week at Tanzania, and Jabali will be collecting us from the Kilimanjaro Airport, which is the closest major international airport to my Tanzanian home just out of Mweki, which is used as a hostel for tourist that are preparing to climb to the top of Kilimanjaro.

Jabali is my friend and son of my Nanny Afya, who helped look after me when the family was living there, and they look after the place, so she will be fully aware of my pending arrival. Nanny Afya, Jabali and I often speak in Swahili, so just remind me, and I will translate for you,” I said to Aaron.

“Wow, you are full of surprises,” Aaron said to me, and I chuckled about this, “That is not half of it mate, you will be surprised to know that I have climbed many mountains around the world. As well as every tall mountain in Australia, and the last main hiking trip I took with a good friend of mine, I badly injured and eventually lost my foot, so I now have an artificial foot and pins in my leg too,” I replied.

Over the remaining days of our canal holiday, I learnt that his stepfather had kicked him out of the house, as soon as he had completed his level examinations. He left home with just one small suitcase as his only possessions, that he owned, but he was not able to get his passport or say goodbye to his younger half brothers, and that Aaron was two years older than I was.

After returning to the base of the Canal boat, we thanked the owners for a very enjoyable holiday, and we set off to Oxford for two days stay at the hostel, which I had booked a few days earlier, with a twin private room. We decided to just relax for the remainder of the afternoon on arrival in Oxford, and while Aaron did some reading, I worked on completing my report, and sending it to Uncle Nat.

“One more thing to tell you cousin, and that is that Uncle Nat and I are both in the Australian Army, although I am still technically on leave from my injuries, and I am only a part time Corporal, while Uncle Nat is a Colonel and Commanding Officer of an Army Barracks, in Adelaide,” I informed Aaron.

“Holy cow, that is something I didn’t think you would be interested in,” Aaron said surprised. “Yeah well it sort of forced onto me, as Uncle Nat and I were drawn into an incident, which I can’t go into details about as it is classified, but it isn’t a bad life.

I have not really been in the Army that long, and it was when I was doing basic training, that I reinjured my leg, which involved two operations and a lot of rehab. Since then I have been mainly doing desk work, and the reason I came to the UK is on Australian Army business with some holidays on the side,” I explained.

“The report, that I heard Uncle Nat ask you about? I noticed you look at me when he mentioned it,” Aaron said to me, “Yes, that is correct, but unfortunately that is also classified, so I can’t tell you any more about it sorry,” I replied, “That is ok, we all have secrets in a way, although you already know most of mine,” Aaron said.