-- Chapter 33 --

Levi was in the backyard mid-morning on Saturday when he heard a vehicle coming along Beachside Lane, and when he poked his head around the side of the house and glanced at the gateway it was just in time to see Tony’s car slowing, before pulling into the Avalon driveway. Matt and Luke stepped out onto the verandah as the engine cut, having also heard the vehicle. In the front seats were Tony and Aaron, while in the back seat Jamie and Callum sat quietly, looking out at the house and the surrounding bushland.

While Tony spoke with Matt and Luke near the front steps, Levi walked down to the car. Callum wound down his window.

‘You made it,’ Levi said, as he leaned against the car and looked inside.

Callum gave a small nod. Jamie managed a quick, shy smile.

‘I’m glad that they let you out every now and then. We’ll see you up at the house soon,’ Levi told them. ‘And there are a couple of my friends going to be coming too. They’re looking forward to meeting you. Tony said it would be okay.’

Jamie’s smile lingered a fraction longer this time. Then Tony was back in the driver’s seat and the car continued the short distance up Beachside Lane to Bayview.

It was an hour or so later when the Avalon group followed. Jimmy and Dan had arrived on their bikes, faces flushed from the ride. Levi took the driver’s seat of the Navara for the first time with passengers. Matt sat beside him, still careful with his leg and holding tightly onto his crutches. Luke, Tim and Guy squeezed into the back. The drive took less than two minutes. Not much in terms of log book material, but it was something at least.

Bayview was already buzzing with people when they arrived. Tony’s extended family, most of whom lived there, was larger than Levi had thought. Jess and Kellie were setting out plates under the grapevine-covered trellis. Mia darted between the adults. Aaron and Zack were lighting the barbeque. And there was another couple as well, one of whom was the woman who read the news on the local television station. Her partner was introduced as Mike, Tony’s younger brother.

The atmosphere was loud and easy, the kind of noise that came from people who had done this many times before. And moving through it all with surprising ease and composure, were Jamie and Callum. They clearly knew the lay of the land.

After the first round of introductions the six younger males drifted onto the front lawn. Someone found a soft football. Within minutes it had become a noisy three-on-three: Levi, Jimmy and Dan against Zack, Callum and Jamie. The adults watched from the shade, calling out encouragement and mock criticism. Tries were scored with more enthusiasm than skill, and by the time Tony called them in for lunch the score was six–four to Zack’s side, with all six lads sweaty and laughing as they made their way around back to the barbeque area.

As they came around the side of the house, they found the long table already set beneath the trellis. Plates of sausages, salads, bread and fruit covered the surface of a large side table, where people were already helping themselves to the food. Conversation was flowing easily. People asked Jamie and Callum how they were liking Macquarie Harbour and the hostel, but thankfully their questions were carefully framed – even cautious – and stayed on safe ground. Nobody asked how they had ended up at the centre, and while the two boys answered in short sentences at first, they gradually began to open up, especially with Levi and his friends, as they all sat together at one end of the table, while tucking into their lunch.

Later, after lunch had finished and the boys had helped clear the tables and clean up, the six lads – Zack included – set out on a walk, heading down the back of the property, where Zack had mentioned there was a creek. He led them past the outbuildings and through tall grass that was beginning to dry off in the warmer weather, then onto a narrow bush track that dropped towards the sound of running water. The creek was small but clear, shaded by willows, but there was one decent-sized swimming hole which was viewed with excitement.

Jimmy eyed the water. ‘Can we swim?’

‘I don’t see why not,’ Zack said.

Dan grinned. ‘We’ll have to go in our jocks.’

‘And do you have a problem with that?’ teased Jimmy.

‘Hell no!’

‘And what about you, Callum?’ who replied simply by dropping his shorts and pulling off his t-shirt.

Jimmy, Dan and Levi quickly joined in and dropped their clothes in piles on the bank, then all four of them ran for a flat boulder that jutted out into the water and took a running jump, shouting at the cold when they resurfaced, while shaking their heads from side to side, sending water spraying this way and that. Zack and Jamie stayed on the bank, finding a spot in the shade beneath the willow, talking quietly.

‘How come you didn’t dive in?’ Zack gently asked the boy.

‘Can’t swim,’ was the matter-of-fact reply. Zack just left it at that and collapsed back on the lush grass, with Jamie doing the same.

They continued talking, but about not much in general, while the others whooped and hollered in the water. Jamie propped himself up on one elbow for a while and watched them, smiling to himself, and hoping that they could all be friends. That would depend on a lot of things however, and maybe he shouldn’t go getting his hopes up, he figured.

After a while the swimmers hauled themselves out of the water and collapsed on the sun-drenched grass, totally exhausted, to dry.

Levi dropped down beside Jamie. He felt the younger boy’s eyes move over him – a quick, involuntary glance that took in shoulders, chest, the line of his stomach – before Jamie looked away, colour rising in his face. Nothing was said. Levi filed the moment away, in much the same way he had learnt to file other complicated moments: noticed, acknowledged, not acted upon.

A few metres away Jimmy and Dan were deep in conversation with Callum. The three of them looked comfortable together.

Levi turned back to Jamie. ‘So, how do you like Mac Harbour so far?’

Jamie shrugged. ‘It’s all right, I guess. Quieter than where I was.’

‘You getting out much?’

‘Not really. I don’t have many friends. Just Callum, I guess. Tony has brought us up here a few times. He says we’ll be starting at the local school soon.’

‘But you haven’t started yet?’

‘No.’

They sat with that for a while, the sound of the creek, or the native birdlife, filling the gaps.

***

When they walked back up to the house later, the adults were still gathered in the backyard, enjoying a few drinks.

‘How was it?’ Tony called out to Zack, when he had noticed them approach.

‘Wet!’ Zack replied. ‘They insisted on diving in . . . all except Jamie here. I suppose there had to be one sensible kid amongst them all!’

Jamie blushed as Zack gave him a friendly slap on the back. The adults all laughed.

The boys all grabbed themselves a can of soft drink, and joined the conversation, with laughter soon filling the afternoon. Matt was the one who eventually floated the next idea.

‘We should take them down the beach tonight. Light a fire. Stay late if we want.’

Tony looked at the boys, then at the others. ‘That could be good. They all seem to have hit it off. Give them a bit more time together. What do you reckon, boys?’

There were no arguments from anyone, and it was all decided quickly. They could even camp on the sand if the weather held.

Shortly after that, the Avalon group headed home to gather up some gear and make some phone calls. Jimmy and Dan both got permission to stay out. By late afternoon Levi and his two friends were on Hidden Beach, the three of them collecting driftwood and fallen branches, building a proper pile of sticks for their bonfire, well above the high-tide line.

At sunset the others began to arrive – Callum and Jamie, along with Tony, Aaron and Zack. Matt and Luke followed shortly afterwards, with coolers and blankets, accompanied by Tim and Guy. The fire was soon lit. Drinks were passed around. The night settled into the easy rhythm of voices and low flames and the steady sound of the sea.

At some point Levi and Jamie found themselves sitting a little apart from the main group. The younger boy was the one who started talking about the past. He spoke in the same flat, careful voice he had used at the centre – about the bashing, the fear of going home, the nights sleeping rough before the police found him, before the youth workers connected him with Tony’s charity. Levi listened without interrupting, and when Jamie finished he simply sat there, shoulders hunched.

Levi didn’t think twice about it. He put an arm around the boy’s shoulders and pulled him into a brief, firm hug. Jamie stiffened for a second, then leaned in, and wrapped an arm around the older boy as well. There was nothing to read into their actions; just one kid caring for another.

Across the fire, Tony was watching carefully, with Matt sitting beside him and watching also. When Levi glanced up, Tony caught his eye and gave a small, approving nod. And when Levi glanced at his father, he too, was nodding, then gave him a quick thumbs-up sign.

***

Most of the adults drifted home before midnight, but Zack stayed with the boys. They fed the fire until the early hours and finally slept in a loose row of swags and blankets on the sand, lulled to sleep by the constant roll of the ocean.

Morning came, soft and grey, as entwined bodies began to unwind. Levi found that Jamie was alongside him, not really touching, but still together, in a brotherly kind of way. He glanced around quickly, his eyes settling on those belonging to Zack, who was sitting on the far side of what was left of the bonfire, poking at the ashes with a stick.

‘Good morning,’ Zack said softly.

Levi simply gave a nod, as beside him Jimmy and Dan stirred.

Breakfast happened at Avalon – toast, cereal, leftover sausages reheated in the microwave, served on toast. Some cut up fruit. Then juice, or coffee, or Milo, or tea, as the boys desired. And then it was time. They said goodbye to Jimmy and Dan first, who rode off towards town, then Levi, Zack, Jamie and Callum walked the short distance back to Bayview. Promises were made to do it all again, but nobody really knew whether they would be able to do that.

At least Levi would be able to catch up with the boys while doing the lawns and gardens at the hostel. Or at least he hoped that he would be able to.

***

School on Monday felt smaller than usual. Levi, Jimmy and Dan compared notes before pastoral care, while Brooke seemed to just scowl at them. Apparently, they weren’t supposed to be having fun without her.

But that wasn’t all that Levi had to be concerned about. Casey and his crew had apparently decided the period of silence was over. Any truce had run its course, so it was time for the barbs to continue. They started before pastoral care – quiet comments in the corridor at first, a shoulder that lingered too long when they passed, the same old half-smirks and snide comments about parties and cars. Nothing loud enough to hand to a teacher, of course, but just enough to remind Levi they were still there. The rumours had never completely died; now they seemed to have fresh air again.

Levi tried to let them slide the way he had learnt to let other things slide, but it was harder than he wanted it to be.

And if the day hadn’t been bad enough, that afternoon, riding home through town, a police vehicle pulled in ahead of him. As Levi went to ride around the vehicle, the driver’s window lowered. Constable Leggatt gave a mild nod.

‘Hey, Levi. Got a minute?’

The constable’s tone was friendly, almost casual. Levi stopped his bike beside the driver’s door.

‘Just wondering if you’ve heard anything more about your dad’s car. The one that burned. You or your mates heard any talk going around? Any rumours of interest? Names of anyone who might have been involved?’

Levi’s stomach tightened. ‘Not really. People say stuff at school, but nothing new. Nothing you wouldn’t have already heard, I wouldn’t think.’

Leggatt watched him for a moment, then nodded. ‘Yeah, that’s kind of all we’re hearing too.’

Levi knew he needed to be careful, so didn’t want to say anything more than he really had to. He figured that if the cops had anything solid, they would be asking different questions, and probably not out here on the street.

‘Fair enough. You take care then, mate,’ the constable said, then he wound up the window and started the vehicle.

The police car pulled away, as Levi stood with one foot on the pedal for several seconds before he started riding again, his mind filled with questions.

He told Matt that night, and his father’s silence raised more questions than answers.

Two evenings later Constable Leggatt came to the house. This time the conversation happened at the kitchen table with Matt and Luke present. The constable was still measured, still polite.

‘I’ve been hearing a few whispers,’ he said. ‘Someone apparently said that Casey was seen near the wreck a few hours after the accident . . . but we don’t know who that someone is. It was late, apparently. He was on his own. Doesn’t prove anything. But it’s interesting.’

After the constable left, the house felt too quiet. Levi went outside and sat on the back step, staring out into the night. The old tension had returned. It wasn’t like the sharp pull of attraction, but a much colder fear. A fear of consequences. He was finished with Casey. He knew that. The question that kept circling – especially after the week at school – was whether Casey was finished with him, and whether the past could still reach out and drag him back into the middle of something he had spent months trying to climb out of.

When he heard the back door open a short while later, he didn’t bother turning to look and see who it might have been. He knew who it would be.

When his father sat down beside him and draped one arm over his shoulders, Levi shuddered just a little. He wasn’t sure why exactly. He felt strangely safe, and comforted, whenever his father held him. He figured it was just the unknown that he still seemed to be facing.

‘It’s going to be fine, mate,’ Matt said to him. ‘We’ve got this.’

‘We?’ Levi asked.

‘Of course, mate. Who else?’

They stayed on the step a long time after that, Matt’s arm still draped around his son’s shoulder. Eventually the night won, however, and they went inside.

To be continued . . .