Young and Hungry - For Life - 30. Great Expectations

When Candy went to Francesco’s van to give him fifty dollars, and explained she would give him something each week for spending money, he said “Oh thank you. I now have a wallet to keep my money in”

Candy thought this odd, but waited till Francesco produced the wallet. When he opened it to add the fifty dollars, she noticed he already had money.

“Where did you get that cash?”

“People gave it to me at the beach”

“Why would people at the beach give you money? Wait; did you have to do a certain act to be paid this money?”

“Yes”

“And did men give you money to perform this act?”

“Yes”

“Oh my god, Francesco, have you been selling your body”

“Well yes...my body and what I can do with it is all I have to sell”

“It can be dangerous”

“Oh no, I took all the usual precautions, that I’ve learned”

“That’s something, I suppose, but you know, it may be illegal to do that. I’m not sure of all the different state laws”

“I think that’s what the man said”

“What man?”

“The man that spoke to James and said we can’t do it again”

“So James was the one that told you to do this?”

“Yes, he said it was easy money”

“Mmm, this James is a bit of a worry. Does he do it also?”

“No, of course not, he just collects the money, but he didn’t take any commission this time. That was very nice of him. He said he’s my manager ”

“There’s another name for it. Pimp comes to mind”

“Oh I didn’t know that, I’ll tell James, he’s a pimp”

“Now this man who told you not to do it again, was he wearing a uniform?”

“Yes, how did you know?”

“He’s a cop. Did he arrest you?”

“Not this time, but I think he said he would if we did it again without a permit”

“You can get a permit for this?”

“I think that’s what James said, but he’s going to arrange it”

“No he’s not, you can’t do this again. You can’t sell your body to earn money”

“Is that why you don’t pay me wages?”

“That’s another matter we’ll talk about at another time”

“Good, James’ mum says you should pay me”

“I don’t want intimate details but can you tell me generally what you did to earn this money”

“Just some of my usual circus act, but not all of it”

“Oh that’s a relief; and did you do this in public with other people watching?”

“Yes, it was them that gave me the money. They put it in my cap. Look this one that James gave me”

“So what you were doing is called busking”

“Yes, that’s what James said”

“I’m not sure Jack will be happy with you giving free performances”

“But I earned $200 in one day. James said that’s good money for an hour’s work”

“So James arranged for you to do that?”

“Sort of, it started when he was away getting drinks and my hat was lying on the sand, people put money in it. But we earned a lot more when I was wearing James’ speedos. You want to see them?”

“No, I know what they are. Perhaps, my first assumption was not so far from the truth.”

“What does that mean/”

“It was not just your contortion act they were paying for”

“I think that’s what James said also”

“I’m still not sure you should be doing this”

“Oh I won’t; remember I told you, the man from the council said we couldn’t do it without a permit”

“A busking permit”

“I suppose so”

***

Two months after Andy and Dean had dinner with Alma and Brenda, a big hamper of wine and sweets, accompanied by a huge flower arrangement arrived at Andy and Dean’s home. It was not a birthday for either of them so Andy could not work out what it was for. The sealed card was addressed to both of them, so he waited till Dean came home before opening it.

<>

“Wow, what beautiful flowers” exclaimed Dean “What’s the occasion?”

“I don’t know. They came with this hamper. Looks like it’s full of all sorts of goodies”

“Who’s it from?”

“Don’t know, it’s addressed to us both so I waited for you to open the card”

“Ok, I love surprises, here goes...” said Dean as he slipped the card from the envelope, “It just says “To the BOYS from the GIRLS...only seven months to go. First photo to follow in a month”

Dean looked blankly at Andy and asked “The girls?”

“It must be from Alma and Brenda”

“But what does the message mean?”

“Sounds like one of them is pregnant” suggested Andy

“I wonder how that could have happened, since we haven’t seen them since the night they asked us?” suggested Dean.

“I think I know” replied Andy “That is if it’s Alma who is pregnant”

“How do you know, and why Alma?”

“Remember that night we stayed over?”

“How could I forget it?”

“Well, I didn’t tell you before because I wasn’t sure it would come to anything, but during the night Alma and I ...”

“Oh you sneaky bugger, how did you manage that?”

“With a lot of help from Alma”

“Well you better call and congratulate her...Dad”

“Enough of that, thanks”

<>

Andy went into the bedroom to make his call in private. When he returned, he said to Dean “False alarm, guess I didn’t do the job properly after all”

“You mean Alma’s not pregnant?”

“No, but Brenda is”

“Oh” Dean replied and blushed.

“Is that all you’ve got to say?”

“What else should I say?”

***

Four weeks after Pamela submitted the fostering application, she called Craig.

“I have good news for you and Justin, your application has been approved and you will soon be foster parents”

“Oh that’s great, but could we be called foster carers?”

“I’ll call you anything you like so long as you take good care of Caleb, which I know you will”

“Thanks, so what are the arrangements?”

“I’ll come over and talk to you both. There are acceptance forms and a contract of rights and obligations for you both to sign, but basically all we need to do, apart from that, is to enrol him in a nearby school and set a date for him to move”

“Ah, I have good news on the schooling part. Our nearest high school is Maroubra High and Justin’s mum is a teacher there, so she can keep an eye on him and let us know if she thinks he’s not settling in well”

“That is good news, can you enrol him if I email you an authority from DOCS?”

“Sure, I think Justin would love to do that”

“How about you let me know when you get him enrolled and we can cut through a bit of the red tape if we combine our meeting, your signing and Caleb’s move all at once”

“Sounds good, I’ll wait for your email”

“Wait no longer. If you check, you should have it already. I prepared it in advance, knowing how keen everybody is to get this done”

“Thanks Pamela, you’ve been amazing getting all this arranged so quickly”

“Just my job, and my pleasure to see such a perfect match”

***

All at Sturt St Kingsford were so excited about Caleb’s afternoon arrival. Justin and Craig took the entire day off work and Gran started baking early in the morning. Flowers were picked from the garden to decorate the house which had been cleaned to within an inch of its life. Justin had been keen to redecorate Caleb’s room but Craig suggested they wait and let Caleb be involved, so paint colour charts were collected from the paint store, as a start on the project.

While Craig arranged flowers, Justin set the table for afternoon tea and Gran loaded up the table with her freshly baked treats.

“I cooked all his favourites, I hope this Pamela who is bringing him, likes them also”

“Gran” said Justin “I don’t think that person has been born yet”

“What person?”

“The one that doesn’t like your baking”

“You do know how to flatter a girl, if you weren’t gay you’d have them lining up around the block”

“Gran, apart from my mum, you’re the only other girl in my life”

“Give me a hug, you beautiful hunk of man”

As they hugged, Craig entered the room and asked “What’s going on here?”

“Nothing you need to know about, you might get jealous” Justin replied

“Oh, I’ve been meaning to ask” said Gran “Is you mother coming to meet Caleb, this afternoon?”

“She’s working today but she will come over when school is finished. She’s bringing info from the school for Caleb and she’ll advise him what elective subject he has to choose from. I’m so excited Gran”

“And so you should be, first time dad”

“Oh it’s nothing like that, more like a new flatmate”

“Regardless” said Craig “It’s so good to hear you say you’re excited. You’ve come a long way since the time I first suggested we take Caleb for respite care”

“Were you not keen on the idea?” asked Gran

“Um...yeah...that is no, I wasn’t. I think Caleb’s situation reminded me of my own at his age. But I had loving aunts to take me in, so I guess I warmed to the idea when I realised how important it is to have someone who cares about you”

“All I can say is, he’s certainly going to be loved and cared for here”

***

The door bell rang early afternoon and Gran called “They’re here, who’s going to answer the door?”

“I’m onto it” answered Justin

While Justin was helping with Caleb’s baggage, Gran said to Craig “He’s like a kid at Christmas. I don’t think I’ve seen him so excited before”

“He’s not the only one. Who was up and baking at sunrise?”

“No need to exaggerate. I didn’t start till seven”

Craig laughed and gave his grandmother a kiss on the cheek.

“Well, here we are” said Justin as the three of them struggled into the room carrying five garbage bags, stuffed to bursting, a backpack and a skateboard”

“Are you sure you brought everything?” asked Craig sarcastically.

“Oh there’s more” replied Caleb

“Yes, the bike is on the roof of my car” added Pamela

“Pamela, I’d like to introduce my grandmother”

“Can I do that?” asked Caleb, but did not wait for an answer.

“Pamela, this is Gran, and Gran please meet Pamela, housemother from the refuge”

“Pleased to meet you Mrs .....”

“No, she doesn’t like that, something about an old king. Just call her Gran”

“Pleased to meet you Pamela. You certainly are a brave woman taking on a house full of kids”

“Oh, I don’t do it single handed, but they do keep me on my toes”

“Now while the boys get all that gear put away and retrieve the bicycle, why don’t you and I get the kettle on the boil and then we can all have afternoon tea”

“We’ve got our orders, boys” said Caleb

As they left, Pamela said to Gran “He certainly has made himself at home here. He must feel so welcomed by you all”

“I can’t begin to tell you how excited my boys are, and me too”

“Yes, he did tell me about helping you in the garden and how funny you are”

“I hope he meant funny ha ha, not funny peculiar”

“I’m sure that’s what he meant. Now I have some papers for Craig and Justin to sign, is there somewhere we can do that, I don’t want to spoil this beautiful table arrangement”

“Craig has a home office down the hall, you can use that”

“Is it alright if I go there now, so we can get the formalities out of the way and then enjoy this lavish spread you have here?”

“Certainly, second on the right, I’ll send the boys in when they return”

<>

While the documents were being signed, Gran and Caleb made the tea and waited for the others to join them.

“Are they the triple chocolate biscuits like we made before?”

“Exact same recipe”

“May I?”

“Yes, bolt one down before the others come”

Caleb chose a biscuit, held it up and looked at it thoughtfully, prompting Gran to ask “What are you doing?”

“This is your triple choc recipe, with chocolate batter, white choc chips and milk choc chips, right?”

“Yes, where are you going with this line of questioning?”

“If we added dark choc chips also, then we’d have....”

“...Caleb and Gran’s quadruple chocolate biscuit” Gran finished”

“Or the choc quad cookie”

“Has a ring to it, but I prefer the term biscuit”

“Then I bow to your preferred nomenclature...partner”

“Wow, what a big word, don’t hear that very often”

“It was the word of the day, in English class last Monday and this is the first time I’ve been able to work it into a sentence. Pretty good hey?”

“You like English as a subject?”

“Yeah, except for the Shakespeare stuff. That’s a real turnoff, but I like the drama component, so long as it’s a bit more modern”

“Well, I don’t know how she feels about the Bard, but an English teacher will be here soon to meet you”

“Why is an English teacher coming here?”

“Justin’s mother is an English teacher at your new school, so you might have the chance to get some private tutoring, if you need it”

“Is that good?”

“Just saying Sonny Boy. Use any advantage you can get”

“You constantly surprise me Gran”

“Good, like to keep your attention... Here they come, get that biscuit inta’ya”

“Sorry to be so long” said Pamela

“No problem at all, Caleb and I were just swapping recipe ideas”

“Oh do you like to cook?” asked Pamela

“I do now. Gran and I are going into partnership with a new coo...that is a new biscuit to market. Aren’t we Gran?”

Caught by surprise, Gran replied “Oh..yes...whatever he said”

Craig ignored the suggestion and said “Well Caleb, it’s official now. All papers signed, so you are now in our care and part of the family”

Caleb hugged the nearest person, Gran, who then said “I think there are two others expecting a hug”

“How about a group hug” suggested Justin.

<>

Pamela left and sat in her car for a few minutes thinking about her latest achievement. She knew a gay teenager would be difficult place in care but congratulated herself for approaching her old colleague Craig.

As she drove off, she turned her mind to the next most difficult placement at the refuge. She thrived on the challenge.

<>

When Jessica arrived, after five, Justin gave his mother a hug and said “I’m so excited Mum. I know you’re disappointed that I won’t be giving you grandchildren, but I hope Caleb can fill some of that gap in your heart”

“That is so sweet of you to say so. Of course I’m looking forward to getting to know Caleb and in some way influence his education, but I don’t want you to ever think that you have disappointed me in any way, son”

“Thanks Mum, now let’s go meet him. Gran tells me he has a particular interest in English, so that might be a starting point for you both”

“Caleb, this is my mother, Jessica Haynes. She is also a teacher at your new school”

“Pleased to meet you Mrs Haynes.

“Pleased to meet you Caleb. I hear you have been enrolled at my school. What year are you in?”

“Year eleven Miss”

“I don’t have any year eleven classes this year, but you can always come to me if you need any help or advice about settling in or with your studies”

“Thank you Miss”

Jessica then redirected her attention and said “So good to see you Gran. It’s been a long time between drinks”

“It certainly has, and speaking of such, Craig...”

“Yes Gran, I know. It’s after five, sun over the yardarm and all that”

“Well trained, isn’t he?” commented Jessica

“That’s the way I like my men”

“Gran?” asked Caleb “Does all this talk mean you want a G & T?”

“Yes Sonny Boy”

“Then I want to learn how to make it for you. Craig, how about it?”

But before he could answer, Jessica added “Oh my god Gran you’ve trained him already, as well”

“Yes, he’s a quick learner, our Caleb”

Then Craig said to Caleb “Just for Gran I’ll teach you how to make it, but not how to drink it. Am I making myself clear?”

“As clear as a bottle of gin”

“Gran, why do I get the impression we have an old head on a young body here?” asked Jessica.

“Is that a compliment Miss?”

“In a way, but we need to do something about what you can call me out of school. Do you think you could manage Jessica here and Miss at school?”

“What would you like to drink Jessica?”

<>

While Craig was showing Caleb how to mix a Gin and Tonic, he reminded Caleb about the making but not drinking rule.

“Oh that’s no problem, I don’t like this G and T thing anyway”

“How do you know that?” asked Craig

“Ah...Gran...told me so”

*****