The Beginning  4

Kane's friendship with Dougie was just about the only good thing in his life.Mrs.Bromley had tried to split them up , sitting them at different tables to do their work and even trying to warn Dougie's mum about the sort of friend he had made,but somehow the boys' friendship flourished . Dougie's mum Mrs. Brown was aware of the gossip surrounding the Phillips family , but she could see no harm in the unlikely alliance.Dougie and Kane were like chalk and cheese.Dougie was a big ,chubby cheerful child,  full of confidence , but inclined to like a bit of a drama ,he laughed easily, cried easily and hugged easily.Kane was small and skinny , wary of adults, with no confidence , he never cried or made a fuss , and when he smiled ,it was a slow hesitant smile that spread unexpectedly across his face,showing dimples that would disappear as soon as anyone noticed.Kane almost always shared Dougies snacks , he never had any himself , and Dougie liked sharing,it was in his nature to be generous.And in return Kane got Dougie into mischief, which Dougie thoroughly enjoyed!

Kane sometimes went to Dougie's after school , it was like a palace to Kane,clean and big with beautiful things and most of all a kind mum who didn't shout and cooked nice meals.To any one else it was just a normal,average sort of a home.Kane always left before Dougie's dad came home from work.Dougie said his dad was as nice as his mum, but so far Kane hadn't felt brave enough to test this out.After all he always told Dougie that his parents were nice too , so for all he knew Dougie could be lying.

Kane was eating round Dougie's house one day, when Dougie asked his mum if Kane could sleep the night.She hesitated, six years old might be a bit young,what if Kane missed his parents?

Kane nearly choked on his drink when she asked this.He spent most of his time dreaming up ways of leaving home , he'd certainly never worried about missing his parents.

"Please mum," Dougie pleaded .

"Well OK, but you'll have to ring home and check with your mum first," she said to Kane, "do you know the number?"

The Phillips's didn't actually have a phone,it would be too much of a life-line for Rose for Jake to allow it, but Kane wasn't about to let that stand in the way of a golden opportunity to stay away from home for the night.

"Yeah, yeah,I know the number," he lied, lying already came easily to Kane, it was a useful survival mechanism when trying to avoid a beating.

Kane went over to the phone and casually dialled a random number.Alf Stewart,a man who owned the general store wondered what was going on when he answered the phone and a little voice calling him mum thanked him for letting him stay the night.

Kane and Dougie had a brilliant time playing with all Dougies toys.Kane was laughing out loud at something comical Dougie was doing when he suddenly froze in his tracks.He had been having such a good time he had forgotten all about Dougie's dad.Mr.Brown had heard the boys playing upstairs and came up to say hello.Dougie didn't notice the look of terror on his little friends face as he threw himself into his dad's arms.

"Dad,dad,dad, this is Kane, he's my best friend and mum said he could stay the night, it's great isn't it," as Dougie paused for breath, Mr.Brown looked at the skinny little boy in the baggy t-shirt and torn jeans.He noticed that Kane backed away and looked at the floor.Thinking Kane was just a bit shy he knealt down and smiled reassuringly at him.Slowly Kane looked up and even more slowly he smiled back.He felt less afraid now he had seen Mr.Brown , for he and Dougie were so alike especially when they were both smiling.

Mr.Brown went downstairs to eat his meal with his wife.

"That little boy's a bit timid," he commented.

"He might just be frightened of men sweetheart, you know who his father is?"

Mr.Brown shook his head, and Mrs.Brown replied,

"Jake Phillips"

"Poor kid," said MrBrown quietly , "you wouldn't want Jake Phillips looking after a dog ,  never mind a kid."

Kane was astounded that Dougie had infact been telling the truth.Mr.Brown was every bit as nice as his wife.Being aware of the effect he had on Kane when he first saw him , Mr.Brown had made a special effort not to do anything to alarm him.By the time it was time for the boys to go to bed , Kane had made the shocking discovery that not all men were like his father, some were actually fun and not scary at all, and not all parents acted like his parents.

When they were lying in their beds in Dougies bedroom, Kane whispered to Dougie,

"Are your mum and dad always like that?"

"Like what/"

"Well really cool,"

Dougie had never thought of his parents as cool.

"How do you mean" , he asked.

"Well do they ever shout or hit ya,"

"Not really shout and they've never hit me.Except once mummy smacked my leg cos I ran across the road and she was scared I was gonna be run over."

"Wow, that's really cool." said Kane , while Dougie wondered what was so cool about having your leg smacked.

The next morning was even more of an eye-opener.This family ate breakfast , not only that but they ate it together.It was like being in a different world , like the families Kane had seen on the telly.He ate as much as possible, he never knew how long he'd have to go between meals so it wise to stock up.

"Jeez!Where does a little fella like you put it all?" laughed Mr.Brown,wishing he hadn't said anything the minute the words were out of his mouth.Kane looked unsure and hesitant.Had he done wrong , was this where the shouting and hitting would start?But Mr.Brown had realised his mistake and quickly tried to put him at his ease.

"I love to see kids with big healthy appetites ,myself" he beamed at Kane, "here have some more bacon."

Kane visibly relaxed and the incident was quickly forgotten.

Soon it was time for Kane to go home, Mr.Brown insisted on driving him home.Kane was scared that his dad would be at home and cause a scene, but he breathed a sigh of relief when he noticed his dad's car was not there.

"Thanks heaps for letting me stay!", he grinned to the man, then took a deep breath and went into his house.

Mr.Brown drove off ,he had heard of and met Kane's father, and did not like what he knew about him.But he had been unprepared for the squalor of the dump of a house on the edge of town.

"How on earth can people live like that?" he asked himself.

Later that day Kane asked his mum why she and his father weren't like Dougie's parents , she ignored him as usual , her mind numb with anti-depressants and alcohol.Kane's voice irritated her, it always had, she thought as she concentrated on the American talk-show on the telly.But Kane's father heard, he was drunk and angry.He grabbed Kane and delivered some punches to the terrified boy before slinging him out of the house and locking the door.Rose turned up the volume on the TV to drown out the noise.

Kane never stayed at Dougie's again.His father had forbidden it.But he never forgot that one magical night he had spent away from home.It fuelled in him a desire to run away and he spent more and more time at the wharf watching the boats sailing away, wishing he was anywhere but there, and anyone but himself,and that his life was like Dougies.

When Kane was ten years old Dougie's family moved away.Kane never had another friendship as close as the one those boys shared,and he often felt lonely and angry that his life was different to that of his schoolfriends.Dougie had never judged him, they were so young when they met that they just accepted the differences in their lives without question.But Kane was older now and knew that the kids at school looked down on him, his scruffy clothes , his dirty dump of a home, his trouble-making brother, his violent father and reclusive mother.He knew what they thought of him.He was scum.And what was worse he thought of himself as scum too.

Kane's behaviour at school and out deteriorated over the next few years,he spent more time with Scott getting into petty crime and mischief , his life seemingly mapped out to follow his father's and brother's example.Scott had dropped out of school at fifteen,just like his father before him .Now at eighteen he had already been convicted of joy-riding,assault and various minor offences and like his father spent time in prison, albeit a juvenile one.Kane kept going to school , however, it gave him a break from his father and Scott's violence, and even if he was bored most of the time he enjoyed the fact that although most of the kids hated him , he had a small band of followers who admired him.He did what they didn't dare.He was rude to the teachers, didn't do any homework, bullied the unpopular kids and was singularly cool and unconcerned about the teachers reactions.Who cared what the teachers thought, he knew that they looked down on him , why should he make life easy for them,the Mrs.Bromley's of this world.He hated them and thought that they hated him, and what were they going to do about it, lt's not as if they could even hit him!

Lily sometimes thought about her former friend Rose.She no longer hanckered after her friendship, she had other friends now, but Rose had the one thing Lily wanted more than anything in the world.Children.She hated Rose now, hated her with a vengeance, how could she treat her kids so badly , how could she not leave that brute.The worst day for Lily was when she heard that Rose's daughter had been taken away.She felt no pity for Rose, all she felt was the pain of being childless, while Rose destroyed the lives of her sons and gave away her daughter without a fight.How could she?!As the years passed she sometimes glimpsed the boys, but they rarely spoke, each knowing how Jake felt about his brother and his wife.They never had the chance to get close.

Ebony and Ellie remained best friends as did their mums.They were happy children, secure in their parents love.They were both doing well at school and were popular with teachers and pupils alike.Life was good and they had the school holidays to look forward to.

Kaitlyn was discussing holiday plans with Jane, they were to go to Summer Bay with their daughters who were now ten and twelve, they were looking forward to it , the only down-side being that Jane had been saddled with her nephew Josh for the trip.Kaitlyn was describing Summer Bay to the others , recalling the happy time she had spent there, when suddenly the image of a frightened little boy popped into her mind.

"I wonder how things are with Kane," she thought "God,I doubt if I'd even recognise him now, he'd be about Josh's age."

"Who?" asked Jane.

Kaitlyn didn't realise that she had spoken out loud at first,and described her time at the pre-school and Kane to her friend.

"You definitely did the right thing reporting it to the department," said her friend. "I should imagine he's fine now thanks to you."

"I hope so ," said Kaitlyn,but she couldn't shake an uneasy feeling and that image just wouldn't go away.