-- Chapter 38 --

The house settled into the ordinary quiet of a Friday night. Matt and Luke eventually turned in. Levi and Jamie stayed up a little longer, then drifted down the hallway.

While Levi entered the bedroom they shared, Jamie headed for the bathroom, then appeared in the bedroom doorway a short while later, just standing there, watching Levi as he undressed and readied himself for bed. Studying his handsome new brother like this sent feelings through his body that he found difficult to control, but he knew that there was no way he could ever allow those feelings to rise. He turned away to close the door, and when he looked back at Levi, he was already climbing into bed.

Their dads had asked them about their sleeping arrangements, and whether they were okay with still sharing the bedroom, as it had been something raised by the lady from DoCS during the fostering process and a recent follow-up visit. Neither boy had said they wanted anything to change at this stage, and so things were left as they were. There were two beds in the room, but Jamie knew that Levi was always there for him, just as Levi knew that his new brother would sometimes need him.

‘You okay?’ Levi asked quietly, as he reached out and switched on a bedside lamp.

Jamie switched off the overhead light, then moved towards his own bed, peeling off his own shirt as he went.

‘Yeah,’ he answered, his voice small but steady. ‘Mind if I join you? Don’t really want to be by myself yet.’

‘Sure. That’s fine.’

Jamie quickly dropped his shorts and slid in beside Levi, who then threw the blanket over them both. The windows were open to the cool evening and the distant sound of the sea, and as they lay on their backs, side by side and staring at the ceiling, they talked in low voices for a while – about nothing important. School. Some new boys at the hostel who had filled the void when Martin and Jake had moved on. Whether Zack was ever going to admit he actually liked the awful energy drink he kept buying. The boundaries they had talked about after the earlier awkward mornings held. The closeness was simple and brotherly. After a time, Jamie’s breathing evened out. Levi stayed awake a little longer, listening to it, then also allowed himself to drift.

In the morning Levi woke first. Jamie was still heavily asleep, one arm thrown across the mattress. Levi reached over to the bedside table and pulled out the notebook he had been neglecting for weeks now. He sat up against the headboard and began to write – short, careful notes about the police interview, the statement, the strange mixture of relief and lingering fear, the way the house felt more solid now that Jamie belonged to it permanently.

He became absorbed enough that he didn’t notice Jamie wake, until a soft voice said, ‘What are you doing?’

Levi glanced across. Jamie was watching him, eyes still heavy with sleep.

‘It’s . . . kind of like a journal,’ Levi said, as he snapped it shut. ‘I haven’t written in it much lately.’

‘What’s in it?’

‘Just . . . personal stuff, I guess.’

Jamie considered that. ‘So . . . I can’t read it?’

Levi grinned. ‘That’s the general idea.’

Jamie made a small disappointed noise and rolled onto his back, but there was no real protest in it. The seed, however, had been planted. Levi saw the flicker of curiosity and filed it away. He knew that some curiosities were normal. But some things should be allowed to stay private.

***

Matt’s parents arrived mid-morning on the Sunday, blowing in like a hot wind, eager to meet their newest grandson.

Before this, they had only met Jamie briefly online, and on phone calls, but this was the first time they had come specifically as grandparents, to see a boy who in a practical, everyday sense, was now a part of their family.

When they stepped out of their car, Jamie instantly knew who they were, recognising them from seeing them online, and also from the framed photographs in the house. Initially, they left their belongings inside the car, preferring to greet the two boys, who were the first to reach the car. Levi stepped forward and hugged them both, with Jamie standing back a little, but then Matt’s parents turned their attention to the thirteen-year-old. Matt Snr held out a hand and shook Jamie’s, before then pulling the boy in for a hug, with his wife then smothering the boy with her own hugs.

‘My, what a fine pair of brothers you make!’ she exclaimed, causing both boys to blush as she squeezed their cheeks.

Meanwhile, Matt and Luke joined them, with hugs all around there as well, before the boys were ordered to grab the luggage from the rear seat and take it into the guest room. When they returned, there were other bags that needed to be taken into the house, which was done without complaint, even if Jamie and Levi glanced at each other and rolled their eyes.

The bags taken into the house proved to be filled with far too much food, along with several carefully wrapped parcels that were handed to Jamie.

‘You don’t think we’d show up with . . . nothing, do you?’ their grandmother asked. ‘Go on, Jamie . . . you had best open them, don’t you think?’

With a sheepish grin, Jamie began to pick at one end of the package.

‘No need to be gentle, lad,’ Matt Snr said, to which Jamie responded by ripping the paper at the end of the parcel, then tearing it along one side. A shoebox was quickly revealed, and when Jamie removed the lid, he was presented with a brand new pair of Adidas runners.

He looked up at Matt’s parents in disbelief. Nobody had ever given him anything like this before. Not brand new.

Matt’s father then handed him another package, before handing Levi a similar package as well. The two boys tore at the paper, and soon they were both holding up new merchandise from two Rugby League teams; a t-shirt and a pullover for each boy.

For Jamie, they were in the colours of the Newcastle Knights, a team Jamie had once mentioned he liked when Levi had been wandering around in Matt’s old and tatty Dragon’s jumper. And for Levi, there were replacements for that tatty old Dragon’s jumper, with a new t-shirt and pullover.

As they held up their new clobber, admiring the items, Matt said, ‘We figured if you were both keen on those teams, we may as well help the rivalry begin. And if you behave yourselves next year, we might even travel to Newcastle when they play each other. What do you think about that?’

Jamie stood in the middle of the living room holding the t-shirt, clearly overwhelmed by the attention, until Matt stepped in and hugged the boy.

‘I don’t know how things were with your family, mate, but we do things a little differently here,’ he said quietly, and as he did so he felt and heard Jamie give a little sob and a cough.

Matt’s mother fussed. Matt’s father began asking practical questions about school and whether he needed anything for his room. Levi watched the boy navigate the kindness with a mixture of awkwardness and cautious pleasure. By the time they all sat down to a long, noisy lunch, Jamie’s shoulders had dropped a fraction.

There was some talk of what was happening in Thompsonville, though there was no mention of Casey. Nor was there any mention of what had happened to Matt’s beloved Commodore. That was all in the past now.

Then Matt asked how things were back home, which got his father talking.

‘Oh, not much has changed,’ Matt Snr replied. ‘Like most small country towns, things are a struggle. Seems like every week there’s another business closing their doors. Bloody council has been letting the roads go to crap, with potholes everywhere now. Bloody disgrace if you ask me. Makes me wonder why we’re still living there actually.’

‘And where else would you live?’ Matt asked.

‘Macquarie Harbour sounds nice,’ his mother replied, getting in quickly before her husband could reply.

‘What?’

‘Well, we have thought about it,’ Matt Snr said. ‘It’d be a big move though. Sell up and maybe buy a little unit near the beach. And speaking of selling up, I noticed a family looking around your old house the other day, Levi. Maybe your dad needs to give the agents a call to see what is happening on that front?’

‘I’ll have to do that,’ Matt replied.

At the mention of his old home, Levi felt a twinge in his guts. It had actually been quite a while since he had even thought about the place, though he wasn’t sure what that meant exactly. Did that mean he was finally moving on with his life?

Once lunch was finished and the table had been cleared, the boys decided to head down to the beach for a little while. Before they left, Matt’s mother pulled Jamie into a quick hug at the door as the boys were heading outside. He accepted the moment of affection without stiffening, then later, as they walked through the scrub towards their favourite stretch of sand, Jamie said, very quietly, ‘They’re nice.’

‘Yeah,’ Levi answered. ‘They are.’

They stayed for three days, before deciding to continue their road trip north, up along the coast to Brisbane, where they had friends to visit.

Their parting words, before driving off and leaving a trail of dust, were; ‘Now you boys look after each other . . . and we’ll see you all in a few weeks at Christmas!’

That word came as a jolt to Levi, and to a lesser extent, Matt as well. It had almost been a year since both their lives had been turned on their heads, with it having been just before Christmas when Matt had received the urgent phone call from his mother that he was needed back home.

Thinking back on it now, it was kind of amusing how his parents had convinced him he needed to be with his father, and while he had been pissed with them for a while there, he wouldn’t trade a single minute of the time he’d had since then. Even the rough stuff.

Life without Levi in it was unimaginable now.

***

The final weeks of Year 9, for Levi and his friends, slid past in a blur of exams, returned assignments, and the particular restlessness that always came with the end of the school year.

Levi was aware, in a way he had not been twelve months earlier, of how much he had changed. The shy country boy who had arrived in Thompsonville – rigid with rules he only half-understood and terrified of the new world opening around him – felt like someone else entirely now. In his place was a taller, more observant version of himself: still careful, still carrying his faith like a living thing rather than a set of slogans, but now he was also street-aware, protective, and responsible for a younger brother who looked to him for cues. The lawn-mowing work with Zack continued to give him something that belonged only to him – tired muscles, cash in a bank account he’d never had before, and a growing determination to put a vehicle of his own under his hands once he had passed his driver’s licence test and a set of P-plates were in his hands.

His dads encouraged him to set goals for himself, and he was saving with a quiet ferocity that made Luke smile whenever the subject came up.

***

The second last Friday of the school year was the night of the end-of-year dance, which was held in the school auditorium. It had been decorated with more enthusiasm than skill. Fairy lights. A photo booth. A DJ from Mac Harbour who played a mixture of current tracks, to please the kids, and older songs the teachers remembered. The air smelled of aftershave, perfume, and the faint, residual hint of mildew, from the theatre productions of years gone by.

Levi walked in with Brooke.

They had circled back toward each other over the preceding weeks with a carefulness that gradually relaxed into something warmer. She looked good in a simple dress that suited her. He felt awkward in the collared shirt and tie that Matt had insisted on, but he wasn’t entirely unhappy. They danced. At first with space between them, then with less. By the middle of the night, with her head resting against his shoulder during a slower song, neither of them wanted to pull away.

Jimmy and Dan were there too – present, laughing, part of the group – but they kept a careful public distance from each other. Everyone already knew, of course, but the knowing and the open acknowledgement were still two different things in a school hall. Levi caught Jimmy’s eye once across the room and received a small, complicated shrug that said this is as far as we go tonight.

Not everyone was comfortable with how closely Levi and Brooke had folded back into old patterns, however. Dan said something mild about taking it slow. Jimmy simply watched them with a thoughtful expression and later, outside in the cooler air, muttered, ‘Just don’t rush the bit where you figure out what it is that you actually want.’

Levi didn’t have a clean answer for that. He still didn’t know what he wanted. He only knew that the night felt good, that Brooke’s hand in his felt familiar and steady, and that the future still contained more questions than certainties.

Everything else would be questions for another day, and like Dan had said, taking it slow wasn’t a bad idea, especially knowing how Brooke sometimes reacted to stuff going on around them.

There was certainly a lot on Levi’s mind for him to consider lately.

***

The Monday after the school dance, Constable Leggatt paid a visit to Avalon late in the afternoon. It was the last week of school and the boys had arrived home just before Matt. A few minutes later they all heard another vehicle approaching and soon found it was the police car that was pulling to a stop in their driveway.

‘What now?’ Matt muttered under his breath, just loud enough for only Levi to hear, before heading for the open gateway, where the policeman was climbing from his car.

‘Hey, Shane. To what do we owe this pleasure?’ Matt asked, as he held out a hand for the policeman to shake.

‘Got a bit of news for you,’ the policeman answered.

Before he could continue, however, Matt asked, ‘Are you off duty? Can I buy you a beer?’

‘I won’t say no,’ Shane answered.

Without even being asked, Levi headed for the kitchen, returning a few minutes later with two beers and two Coca-Cola cans. He handed over the beers to Matt and Shane, who had found themselves seats on the deck, then he and Jamie leaned against the railing sipping on their cokes and listening to the conversation.

‘So, you said something about news?’ Matt prompted.

‘Yeah. It’s about Casey Thompson.’

‘Oh?’

‘He had a court date in Macquarie Harbour today . . . he has been out on bail, as you already know, but he didn’t show for court.’

‘And should we be surprised?’ Matt asked.

‘Probably not. The judge has now issued a warrant for his arrest, but if he’s not still hanging around here, he could be anywhere by now,’ Shane said, before turning his attention to Levi and Jamie. ‘You boys haven’t seen him around at all, have you?’

‘No,’ Levi replied.

‘Should we be worried?’ asked Matt.

‘If he shows up, then yes, I would be worried. Just keep your wits about you, and if you happen to see him, please don’t go near him . . . and just let us know as soon as you possibly can, okay?’

‘We certainly will,’ Matt answered, while the boys just nodded.

While they finished their drinks, they chatted away as if they were old friends. Shane and his partner had settled in well at Thompsonville and had appreciated the hospitality the locals, like Tony and Aaron, and Matt and Luke, had all shown them.

Once the policeman had left, Matt talked to the boys some more about what this news meant, and it was while they were still discussing this, that the others all arrived home. Matt and Luke were practical about it. Extra attention would be needed when locking up at night. Extra vigilance would be required everywhere they went, until Casey surfaced. It wasn’t a time for panic, but there could be no complacency either.

By the following morning, the facts had landed in the town like a stone in still water, and by the end of the day the rumours were fully alive. He had run. He had been warned off by people further up some chain no one could name. Something had happened to him. The police had issued a warrant for his arrest. Dylan and Jarrad, when asked, claimed to know nothing and looked more frightened than defiant.

For Levi, even after their discussions at home the previous evening, he carried the news like a low-grade fever. The immediate threat of Casey’s presence at school had lifted, but the absence was not the same as safety. Somewhere out beyond the edge of their ordinary lives, the boy who had fixated on him, who had pushed and manipulated and burned, was still moving. The possibility of Casey seeking revenge sat at the back of Levi’s mind in the quiet moments – when he went to bed at night, when he watched Jamie walking ahead of him along the beach path, when he woke to the sound of a car slowing on Beachside Lane.

Until he could know for certain that Casey was out of action, whatever form that took, he would find it difficult to rest easy.

***

After what had been a long and draining year, Christmas arrived with the particular soft intensity it always carried in a coastal town – heat, tourists, the smell of sunscreen and seafood, the long evenings that refused to darken properly. This was all new to Levi, as it was his first Christmas in this town, just as it was also Jamie’s first Christmas here.

Avalon filled up, with familiar faces, and some not so familiar. As well as Matt’s parents calling back in, at various times there were also Luke’s parents, along with Tim and Guy’s parents. Most only stayed a day or two . . . just passing through as they did the rounds visiting friends and family over the holidays. It was one thing about Avalon that the boys were quickly learning . . . it was quite the place for entertainment and social gatherings, which meant there always seemed to be something happening.

Matt’s parents stayed three nights. Tony, Aaron and Zack drifted in and out. As did Scott and Justin from the caravan park. This circle of friends belonging to Matt and Luke, and Tim and Guy, were ever present in their lives, even if not living in each other’s pockets. Jimmy, Dan and Brooke, as friends of Levi, also frequented Avalon, with the four of them, along with Jamie, spending quite a bit of time on Hidden Beach.

For Christmas day, however, there was only family at Avalon, which included the six regular residents, along with Matt’s parents, and Tim’s parents – who left after Christmas lunch. Others would come and go over the next few days.

Presents were piled under a tree that was slightly too big for the corner it occupied. Breakfast came first though, as decreed by Levi’s grandmother, and so everyone stepped in and helped to cook and serve, then eat and clean up, before attention returned once more to the living room.

The boys both sat on the floor in their new board shorts, and nothing else, opening packages with a concentration that kept tipping into open wonder.

For Jamie there was a proper cricket bat. Headphones. A small stack of books someone had noticed him eyeing in town. Clothes that were his, not hand-me-downs or centre issue.

At one point he simply stopped, holding a wrapped box in both hands, and looked around the room as if still checking that he was allowed to be there. Levi, leaning back against the arm of the couch, caught the look and felt his throat tighten. He knew that feeling.

For Levi the gifts were somewhat similar, with headphones and clothes, accompanied by a new leather journal, for the new year ahead.

They both loved their gifts and hugged those who had given them.

‘Okay,’ Levi said, once the last of their own presents had been exclaimed over, ‘we need to get ours for you now.’

He glanced at Jamie, who was already scrambling to his feet with a quick, excited nod. The two of them disappeared down the hallway. There was the sound of a cupboard opening, some low muttering, then they came back into the living room carrying three carefully wrapped packages.

Levi held a flat, rectangular parcel wrapped in plain red paper with a slightly uneven bit of sticky tape on one corner. Jamie clutched two smaller, softer packages, each tied with a bit of ribbon he had clearly done himself.

They stopped in front of Matt and Luke.

‘This one’s from me, for the two of you,’ Levi said, holding out the flat parcel. ‘And those are from Jamie.’

Matt took Levi’s gift first. He peeled the paper back carefully, then went still for a second as the silver frame and a picture that had been taken at the Chinese restaurant came into view – the four of them at the table the night that Jamie’s fostering had been made official, caught mid-laugh by someone with a phone.

In the lower right corner was a small banner showing 2018.

It was only when the wrapping paper was completely removed that the rest of the image came into view. When Matt noticed the banner across the top left corner, even his breath caught for a moment. It simply read, “Family”.

Luke leaned in to look. ‘That’s a good one,’ he said quietly, as Matt wiped at his eyes with the back of his wrist.

Jamie thrust his parcels forward before the moment could get too heavy. ‘These are from me. They’re matching.’

Matt and Luke each unwrapped a set of fluffy dice. Tucked inside each package was a small, slightly crumpled heart-shaped card, hand-drawn and coloured in pen, with the words “His and His” written in careful, though uneven letters.

There was a short silence.

Then Luke started laughing – the proper, surprised kind. Matt turned one of the dice over in his hand, shaking his head, but now he was smiling too.

‘His and His, huh?’ Matt read aloud. ‘Reckon we can manage that.’

Jamie’s ears had gone pink, but he looked fiercely proud. Levi just stood there with his hands in his pockets, watching the two men turn the gifts over, and felt the quiet satisfaction of having got it right.

***

The Christmas lunch was unlike anything that Levi or Jamie had ever seen. A feast of prawns, cold meats and salads; a suitable feast for the weather outside. It was followed by desserts the likes of which they had never before seen, including pavlova stacked with cream and fruits, as well as trifle, rum balls and some kind of ice-cream log smothered with chocolate and other toppings.

Everybody ate too much, and drank too much, and when it was over, all everyone wanted to do was nap, or veg out. So that was what they did.

Jimmy and Dan both called after lunch while the boys were in their bedroom, and they chatted for a while, comparing their days so far. Then afterwards, so too, did Brooke.

Later, when the worst of the heat had eased and most of the adults had drifted into the backyard with cold drinks, Jamie found Levi in the hallway.

‘This is the best Christmas I’ve ever had,’ Jamie said, very quietly, as if saying it too loud might break it.

Levi didn’t try for anything clever. He just pulled the younger boy into a brief, firm hug.

‘Good,’ he said. ‘I think that’s the whole idea. And it’s the best Christmas I’ve ever had as well.’

Outside, the afternoon light was turning gold. Somewhere down the lane a radio played an old Christmas song that had no business sounding as right as it did. Inside, the house held the ordinary, miraculous noise of people who all belonged to one another, and to this place.

Boxing day was even better, with most of the Bayview crew also coming down to join the celebrations, along with Jimmy, Dan and Brooke, as well as Scott and Justin. Constable Leggatt and his partner, Jimmy, called in for a little while after lunch, and even joined in the game of beach cricket.

For Levi, Christmas also marked a full year since he had first met his father in the hospital back home. And what a year it had been! As he sat in the backyard later that Boxing Day afternoon, watching Luke and Jamie hitting a tennis ball with Jamie’s new cricket bat, and after Brooke and the others had also gone home, he felt guilty about how little time he had spent thinking about his mother lately, and especially these last few days leading into Christmas.

His world had changed so much in this past year. A new home. A new family. A new school. Year 9 was over. A boy named Casey had awoken inside him feelings that he had never dreamt he would feel. And now Casey was missing. The future still contained sharp edges and unanswered questions. But for this one long afternoon, Avalon was full, Jamie was laughing at something Luke had said, and Levi stood on the edge, watching it all with the quiet, tired certainty that he was now helping build something worth protecting.

The truth had not made everything safe. It had, however, given him a place to stand – and people to stand there with him.

Later, as the day began to wind down, he wasn't sure where Matt and Luke were, but he could see Jamie was now talking to his grandparents on the back deck.

In the lateness of the afternoon, the sounds of insects were slowly building, and some were already flying about. Levi watched some butterflies hanging around some of the flowering plants. These weren't amongst the noisy ones, but he liked watching them.

When he heard the back door open, he glanced over and saw his father step outside. Matt spotted Levi and started towards him, finally sitting himself down on the garden chair beside his son.

'Big day, hey mate!' his father said.

'I was thinking more along the lines of it being a big year,' Levi answered honestly.

‘Yeah, I get that.’

They sat in silence for a few moments, before Levi eventually spoke.

‘I’ve never had a Christmas like this,’ he said, simply.

Matt nodded, knowing full well what Levi was meaning.

‘I think last year, Christmas and New Year just got lost in everything else that was happening back home,’ Matt answered. ‘Today just reminded me that it’s been just over a year since we met . . . and since your mother . . .’

‘Yeah.’

‘I’m sorry for that. I should have thought of it sooner . . . and about what it might mean to you.’

‘Thank you.’ Levi replied. ‘Not just for that . . . but for everything. And I'm sorry I've caused you so much trouble . . .’

‘Sssshhhh . . . don't give that another thought, mate. Things are replaceable. Family isn't. You're the best thing that's happened to me in the past year, and I don't regret a thing that has happened. Luke and I love you for the incredible young man you are growing into,’ Matt said, as he placed an arm around Levi's shoulder and pulled him close. ‘I never knew that I had this much love inside me, and I can't wait to see how much more that I have, for both you and Jamie.’

Levi turned his head and grinned at his father, but then Matt hugged him tight, and kissed the side of Levi's head.

When they separated, both needed to wipe away tears and when they looked towards the house all they found was the loving, smiling faces of all their loved ones looking on.

Matt Snr raised the glass in his hand towards his son and grandson.

Yeah, it really had been quite a year . . . for all of them.

To be continued . . .