I HAVE EDITED CHAPTER 2 NOW - SO IF YOU HAVEN'T BEEN BACK
IN TO READ THAT - GO DO THAT NOW BEFORE READING THIS PART.
ON MY OWN
The next morning, Lucas awoke from a very deep sleep. From the light that was
shining through the thin curtains in the windows, he assumed that it must be at least
9.00 a.m.
He sat up and tried to rub away the tiredness that had been looming over him the last
couple of days. He then swung his legs over the edge of the single bed and looked
about the room he had been staying in. The last thing he remembered from the night
before was being given a corn beef sandwich. Everything after that was a complete
blur. He didn't even know how he found himself to be in a bed, but he had a pretty
good idea.
He tried to stand up and walk out to see where his two hosts were. When his leg
hit the floor, a jolt of pain coursed its way through his leg from his still painful knee.
He gasped out a little too loud and now heard hurried footsteps coming towards
the closed door.
"Good Morning Sleepyhead" Sandra greeted him and then saw the expression of
pain on his face that said his knee was still troubling him.
"Are you alright?" she now asked as she approached him trying to get a look at
the protesting knee.
"I'm alright, still smarts a little that's all" Lucas replied sheepishly. He was trying
to suppress as much of the pain as possible. He didn't want these people to worry
too much over him. They had already gone to too much trouble for him.
"Well, if your sure" Sandra said still eyeing him with suspicion. "There's a nice
lunch ready for you out on the table when your ready."
"Lunch?" Lucas said incredulously. He really didn't think he had slept that late.
Sandra smiled at the teenager's lost of time due to his tiredness. "It's ten minutes
past twelve midday" she announced and left him to follow her out to the kitchen.
Lucas limped his way into the kitchen and managed to sit down at the small four
person table while Sandra's back was to him. He was surprised and a little scared
to see the giant Rottweiler dog asleep in the corner of the room nearest the door.
Sandra looked back at the teenager sitting at the table and saw his worried glances
towards the dog at the door. :"Don't pay him any attention. Biggest sook you ever
met for a dog" she said trying to ease his fears.
As if on cue, the dog now looked up at the sense of another person being in the room
and he got up and began walking over to the table towards Lucas. The teenager
was ready to make a hasty retreat if necessary when he felt the biggest wet tongue
on his hand offering a truce.
"YUK" he exclaimed at the greeting he received "That's disgusting" he said in mock
disgust to the animal.
"Where's Bob this morning, if you don't mind me asking?" Lucas now said to Sandra.
Sandra walked over to the table and placed a large plate of cold meat and salad in front
of the teenager "He's out in the garage working, should be back for lunch any minute now."
And then the two of them saw an excited MAC head to the door in anticipation os his master
coming in. The dog wasn't to be disappointed as they could both hear the footsteps of
Bob Stevens approaching the screened door.
"Well, look who finally decided to get up for the day" Bob said with a grin. He wasn't
cross. He knew that the boy had shown all the signs of needing extra sleep last night.
"Good Morning Bob" Lucas said in a cheery voice.
"How's that leg of your?" Bob asked as he took his place at the table. Mac settled
underneath his master's chair and went back to sleep.
"Still a little stiff but should be right to be on my way again by tomorrow" Lucas replied.
Bob had been watching his wife's face when Lucas mentioned about leaving. He saw
how her smiled turned into sorrow. She had become attached to the young man in only
a matter of a few hours. It would break her heart all over again when Lucas left to go
on his way.
"Do you have to be leaving so soon?" Bob asked.
"I've already probably stayed too long. I can't impose on you people any more. I
wanted to ask you about helping out in the garage this afternoon and tomorrow as well
to help pay for my lodgings." Lucas answered.
"You don't have to pay anything for staying here Lucas" Sandra now said. "We'd
only to too happy for you to help out in the garage. You can stay as long as you
like." she added, hopefully trying to change his mind.
"No sorry, have to meet a friend a bit further down the road after tomorrow." Lucas
lied. He felt that he couldn't stay in any one place for any longer than necessary at
the moment. When he got to the next big town, he would attempt to find a job
and earn some money for himself.
"Well, we can talk about that more later," Bob said as he put his knife and fork back
onto the empty table, "Come on young fellow, let's go out to the garage."
He gave his wife a slight glance as Lucas was gingerly getting up from the table. Hopefully
if he could get the kid interested in the work he did in the garage,
It was soon apparent to Bob Stevens that his young temporary employee had rarely
seen underneath the hood of a car. Where as he expected most young men to be completely
in love with the revving of a powerful motor, it seemed that other secret passions held
this boy's attention.
"Okay Lucas, this is where you.........." Bob started to explain. He felt like he was teaching
his own son Gavin all over again, but he didn't mind. He felt a connection with his young
man. Before he could get any further, they both looked up at the sound of somebody
pulling up at the petrol pump outside.
"I'll handle this one" Lucas said with a grin on his face. This was his very first paying
customer and he wanted to make a good impression in front of Bob.
Lucas walked out towards the expensive looking car parking underneath the garage
awning. A man in a three piece business suit was getting out of the driver's side
and gave the approaching young attendant a stern look.
"Can I help you Sir" Lucas asked in a polite voice. He had seen the man looking him
up and down and saw that the man was not impressed with someone so young being
given the task of touching his pride and joy. He tried to ignore the man's piercing stares.
"Yes you can young man" the man snapped "I'm in a hurry, but I need this car filled up
and taken care of. Make sure you only use unleaded fuel and I want those windows
crystal clear, understand?"
"Yes Sir" Lucas said trying not to let the man's rudeness get the better of him.
"Stand up straight when I talk to you sonny" the man barked back at Lucas's slouched
posture. Lucas found himself reluctantly obeying, but he didn't like the way the man
called him sonny.
Lucas filled up the man's car and went about cleaning the windows. The man had
inspected his work on three separate occasions and told him on the last one that his
less than capable effort would have to do. He was in a hurry and didn't have time
to dilly dally around with young pups that didn't have any business working in jobs
that didn't suit them.
"Now make sure that there's enough air in those tyres and I suppose that will have
to do for today. You had better smarten your act sonny if you expect to last long
at any job. If you worked for me, you'd already be out on your ear." the man said
with disinterest in his voice.
Bob Stevens had been watching the whole scene played out and while he had been
happy to see how Lucas handled a difficult customer at first. With the man now
outright shouting at him, he needed to intervene before the kid blew a fuse and
decked the guy. He had thought Lucas's efforts were adequate for a person who
had not had much to do with car's before.
"How bout you go back in the garage and carry on in there Lucas" Bob said as
he walked towards the businessman. He thought he would see a scowl or a
look of anger on the teenager's face as he walked away. But he saw something
entirely different.
True, Lucas had been angry at first when the man had kept shouting at him and
poking fun at his genuine efforts at doing his job. Now, while he walked away,
the only feeling he showed on his face was one of failure. It had been his first
chance to show somebody that he could do something else other than type on
a computer keyboard and he blew it big time.
Bob had accepted the man's money and watched him as he drove away.
He now turned back and saw the dejected teenager sitting on a pile of new tyres,
looking sad and sorry for himself.
"Don't take it so hard Lucas" Bob said as he tried to smooth things over. "Once in
a while you meet jerks like that. You just gotta learn to brush their comments
off and take them with a grain of salt. I am sure that the next one won't be so
bad."
Lucas looked up into Bob's smiling face and was grateful that he at least believed
in him. "It's just that things to do with cars is so new to me. Where I live, there
isn't much call to fill up your petrol tank or fill your tyres with air." He said the
words and them immediately knew that he had let a little about his past slip out
without realizing it.
Bob had heard the words and knew that the boy hadn't meant to reveal that much
about his past just yet. He didn't push the boy to elaborate either. That would
just make him curl into his shell even more.
Another car pulled up to the petrol pumps "Here's your next customer Lucas"
Bob said cheerily.
Lucas gingerly got up from his temporary chair and started walking towards the
red station wagon. Bob noticed as he watched from behind that the boy was
still favouring his left leg some what. He would make the kid take it easier after
this one. His leg must still be very tender and getting up and down all of the time
wasn't going to help it get any better.
"Can I help you Madam" Lucas asked again, with politeness in his voice. The woman
getting out of the car just looked at him and them started shouting back to the three
kids in the back to settle down.
"You can fill up my car and be quick about it young man" she snapped and then turned
again to the youngsters in the car and shouted at them again.
Not again Lucas thought to himself as he groaned and rolled his eyes at the situation
before him. He couldn't be this unlucky could he. Two bad customers within the space of an
hour. This job really had its perks.
He could hear a slight chuckle from Bob behind him but gave the man a scowl when he
turned in his direction. Bob pretended to go back to his work but still watched the amusement
out of the corner of his eye and laughed again at the boy's poor misfortune.
One of the children got out and demanded that he needed to go to the bathroom NOW. And
he meant now. He tried to push his way past between his over sized mother and Lucas who
was manning the pump. Without realizing it, the young boy stood painfully on Lucas's
left foot, sending a sharp pain up his leg and into his swollen knee.
"Little Bastard" Lucas said through clenched teeth as he tried to wave out the wave of
pain in his leg. But unfortunately for Lucas, the woman had been close enough to hear his
unsavoury comments towards her son.
Lucas looked up and saw the woman glaring back at him. He tried mumbling his apologies
and tried to tell the woman that he really hadn't meant what he had said. But the woman
was determined to let this young man know that she was unhappy. She began whacking
Lucas with her large and heavy hand bag across the shoulders and chest area.
By now Lucas had backed away from the pumps and had to put his hands up to try and
deflect the blows from the woman's purse. He received a few good whacks that stung
a bit before Bob again intervened and took over from Lucas.
It was at this point in his short but memorable career as a driveway attendant what Lucas
decided that this was definitely not the job for him.
He had limped back over to the tyres and sat down, trying to massage away the ache
that prevailed. Bob walked over to him after the woman and her kids had departed
and saw the grimace of hurt on the teenager's face.
Bob helped him to stand and Lucas leaned on the man a little as they walked back
into the kitchen.
Sandra leapt into action when she saw that Lucas was limping again. This time
she was determined to get some ice onto his injured knee.
Lucas was set up in the living room again with the stool and a towel full of ice
chips wrapped securely around his leg.
Sandra had tried to scold Bob about not watching out for the teenager enough
when he told her about the two customers Lucas had encountered during the
afternoon. She wasn't really angry at him or Lucas, but she let her worry for
the teenager show through harsh words instead.
Later that evening, when all three of them were trying to watch television,
Lucas was trying to get the courage to ask his two new friends a favour.
He really needed to convince himself that his family still didn't want him.
The events of the last two days had taken their toll both physically and emotionally
and he felt that he needed some of that T.L.C. that had always been on offer back
home. He needed to try and call Bridger and Kristen back at the island.
"Um Sandra," he began nervously, "Could I please use your phone to make a call?"
Sandra looked briefly at Bob and knew that the teenager was uneasy about asking
this question for some reason. "Sure Lucas, we don't mind. Phone's in the hall.
Do you know the number of who you want to call" she said trying to pry just a little.
"Yeah, I want to try and call that friend and arrange to meet him tomorrow night
after I leave here" Lucas lied. It sounded like a good enough story for the time
being.
Lucas took the damp towel off from around his leg and carefully walked into the
hall and spotted a small wooden desk against the wall. A black coloured touch
button phone sat on top of it.
Bob and Sandra couldn't see what he was doing from the living room, but he
looked around nervously every few seconds just to make sure that nobody could
see what he was doing or have the chance to overhear any conversation.
He picked up the receiver and then quickly put it down again. A rubbed the
clamminess away from the palm of his hand on his jeans and picked up the receiver
again.
His mind was telling him the number to dial, but his brain wasn't quite with him at
the moment and he needed to listen to his own instructions twice to get the right
sequence of numbers to dial.
555 6437 he said to himself as he pressed the correct numbers on the phone.
The was a brief pause before the phone at the other end began to ring.
Back on the island, Kristen was sitting in the living room when the telephone rang.
It startled her at first as she had been lost in her own thoughts for a minute.
Bridger and the rest of the search parties were still out looking for the missing
teenager. She had agreed to stay behind in case they rang her with information
or by any such miracle, Lucas might phone home.
The phone had rung three times before she got to it. She picked up the receiver
at her end and spoke into the mouthpiece "Hello" she said. There was nothing
but silence on the end of the line.
Lucas could hear Kristen saying 'Hello' on the other end. His mouth was suddenly
very dry and he couldn't find any words to answer back.
Kristen thought the silence on the other end of the phone was strange and almost
put it down to a prank caller. She then said Hello again and waited for any
response. Something told her that this wasn't a prank call at all. Somehow
it was the call that they all had been waiting for.
"Lucas is that you............" she asked, desperately waiting for an answer to come back.
Without waiting any further, Lucas then hung up at his end. He had tears welling
in his eyes as he put the phone down. He didn't know the words to say.
Lucas had walked back along the hallway and instead of returning to the living room,
he had gone into his temporary bedroom and closed the door.
Bob and Sandra had exchanged worried looks when they saw the teenager walked into
his room. They had spied the upset look on his face. They both went to the closed
door and tried to listen for anything on the other side.
Lucas had thrown himself onto the bed and now cried into his pillow. He felt so
alone at the moment. His heart was telling him to call home but his mind kept
echoing the words he had heard that night over and over again.
There's no place for him on SeaQuest. his brain told him. That's what they had
said, wasn't it. He desperately wanted to believe that they hadn't said those
words. He would give anything to get them to take him back again and love him
like before. Love him for just who he was, Lucas Wolenczak.
THE INTERESTING BITS ARE YET TO COME - SOME BADDIES WILL START
TO COME INTO THE PICTURE SHORTLY - I PROMISE.
