Westpoint Tales

by Kiwi

Entangled Tales - 18 - Toddy & Daniel

The previous Sunday morning, Daniel woke up with a smile on his face. He sat up, stretched, and opened the drapes on the window beside him. The sun hadn't struck the street outside yet, it was still too early - 7.15am. - but the sky was clear and blue. It was going to be a good day - another good day. He looked over the road at the Todd's garage and grinned.

He bounced out of bed and rummaged around for clothes for the day, humming an upbeat tune to himself. A pillow whacked him on the back of the head, and he looked around at his cousin burrowing under the covers on the other bed.

"Shut the fuckin' noise up! And close those drapes. God! I hate you, O'Brien."

"And I love you too, John-boy!" he grinned as he grabbed up his clothes and a towel to head for the bathroom. Today was going to be a good day and he wasn't going to let his jerk of a cousin bring him down.

In the kitchen, as he passed through, his Aunty Nita was sitting close up to the fireplace, watching the flames in the open door of the old coal-range, and nursing a large mug of coffee.

"Morning Daniel. You're up early. It's Sunday you know. Tomorrow you'll have to get up for school, I thought you'd make the most of your last chance for a sleep-in."

"Good Morning, Aunty. I'm not much of a one for sleeping in really. When I wake up, I get up. The morning is the best part of the day."

"I agree with you, I think. But if it came to a vote on that, around here we'd lose by three votes to two. Tom and the kids won't be up for hours yet. It's usually just me up early in the weekends."

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to intrude on your time on your own."

"Don't be silly Daniel. You're not intruding, I'll be glad of some company."

"Umm, okay. Thanks. I'm just going to have a shower and get dressed. Is that okay?"

"Of course it is. This is your home now - treat it like you would have at your Gran's. Just don't take all the hot water, or you won't be popular."

"I don't think I'm that popular anyway, really."

"What? Oh - it's John you mean, isn't it? Don't worry about him, Daniel. You're our family and you live here now. John's just going to have to get used to it."

"Yes. That's what Toddy said too."

"Toddy? - Oh, Barney Todd. He's a good kid that one - a bit rough around the edges perhaps, but basically a good kid. I'm pleased that you've made friends with him, he'll be good for you. You need some friends."

"Yes, I do. I met some yesterday, I think, thanks to Toddy. I'll have a quick shower then. See you soon."

When he returned from the bathroom, Nita waved at the kitchen cupboards. "Help yourself, Daniel. Monday to Friday I'll get your breakfast, but in the weekends you can get your own. Holidays too. The toaster's under the sinkbench, you know where everything is."

He plugged the toaster in, put in a couple of slices of bread and filled the kettle and switched it on. "Is it okay if I turn the computer on?"

"Yes, of course, go for it." (The computer was in the kitchen because that's where the family spent most of their time.) "Still waiting for mail from your friend are you?"

"Yeah. Maybe today he'll reply at last. I've sent him about a dozen letters so far."

"You're persistent. I'll have to give you that. Me, I would have given up by now."

"I'll never give up. This is Tony we're talking about here."

There were two e-mails from Warkworth, but nothing from Tony. After eating, he cleaned up, said goodbye, and went over the road to Toddy's house.

Mrs. Todd came to the door when he knocked. "Hello Daniel. Bit of an early bird are you? Barney's still asleep you know."

"Oh. Sorry, Mrs. Todd. I'll come back later."

"No. It's no problem, you're here now - go and wake him up. Serves him right for sleeping the day away. Go on - you know where his room is? He won't bite you, you're still too new for that."

"Too new?"

"Yes. Too new a friend for him to bite your head off. If it was Jinks it wouldn't be safe to go in there, but you should be all right. We'll know that you qualify as an old friend when he snaps at you for waking him up. So, go on then - this could be fun."

"I'm not sure about this."

"Oh, go on Daniel - it's time he was up anyway. And, Daniel, you can call me Mavis, okay? Mrs. Todd sounds like an old sheila."

Yes, Mrs... Mavis. Sure. Thanks."

He went into Barney's darkened room and stood looking down at the sleeper. Still unsure, he reached out and shook his shoulder. Barney rolled away from him, grumbling in his sleep. Daniel stood back, then, thinking it better to leave sleeping dogs lying, he decided that he should come back later. But, as he turned to go, he heard Barney.

"Daniel? Is that you?"

"Yeah. Hi Sleeping Beauty."

"Hi, yourself. Come here." He reached out a hand towards him.

Daniel came back and was pulled down to the bed. Their lips met in a brief kiss, but he pulled away. "Pheww! Toddy, your breath pongs. Morning breath, you know."

Sitting up, Barney cupped one hand over his mouth so that he could smell his own breath.

"Pheww. You're so right. Wait here a minute while I go pee and stuff."

Daniel watched the Golden Boy pad off to the bathroom, clad only in white T-shirt and boxer briefs (which outlined his package nicely.) A couple of minutes later he came back and sat on the bed next to him. Toddy leant towards him, "Now, where were we?"

Their lips met hungrily, and this time there was nothing but the pleasant minty taste of the toothpaste. They fell back across the bed and were both really getting into it, when they heard the door open behind them.

"Barney?" said his mother from the doorway.

He struggled upright, "Yeah, Mum, what?"

"Nothing really. I've got bacon and eggs for breakfast. I just wanted to know if Daniel wants some too."

Daniel sat up on the bed, his face bright red. "No thanks Mrs., umm, Mavis. I've just had breakfast thanks."

"Okay, but there's plenty there if you change your mind." She went out, closing the door behind her. Daniel sat on the edge of the bed, shaking, his face buried in his hands, moaning.

"She knows, Barney. Your mum saw us! Oh God - what are we going to do? She saw us!"

Barney hugged his shoulders and kissed his forehead. "It's all right, Daniel, calm down. It's dark in here, she didn't see anything. Or, she doesn't know what she saw. It's cool. Just act like nothing happened and she'll think that nothing did."

"You really think it's okay?"

"Yeah. It's cool. It's so dark in here I can hardly see you from here, let alone from the doorway. Just play it cool, go and make friends with my mum while I have a shower. We'll continue this later, and I'm definitely going to put a lock on that bloody door!"

Daniel, nervously, went back to the kitchen. Mavis made him a drink. His nerves settled down and he decided that Barney was right, she wasn't acting like she'd seen anything. Barney came back, glowing from his shower and eagerly anticipating his cooked breakfast. Daniel drifted through the open door to the living room where the younger Todds were watching cartoons on TV. He sat down and joined them while Barney and Mavis were eating in the kitchen.

After a few minutes, Barney came in and flopped down beside him on the couch. "So, whatta you want to do today?"

"I dunno, whatta you want to do?"

"I dunno - whatta you wantta do?"

"Oh, Shut up Toddy," giggling. "I can think of some things, I'll tell you later."

"I can think of some things too. Anyway, let's go around and roll Jinks out of bed. That'll be fun. It's Sunday, it's still early, so he'll still be sleeping. We'll flip his mattress and roll him out. C'mon."

But as they were heading out through the kitchen, with a cheery, "Later, Mum!" Mavis stopped them, saying, "Barney, before you go I want a word with you in private. Shut the living room door would you. And, Daniel, would you just wait outside for a minute please."

Barney came out the back door a couple of minutes later, to find an anxious Daniel pacing up and down. "She knows doesn't she? She saw us. What did she say?"

"Daniel, it's all right, Man. She doesn't know anything - chill out Man, you'll give yourself a heart attack or something. Anyway, even if she did see us, so what? We weren't hurting anybody, we were just being friendly."

"Yes. Well. Well, what did she want then? Was it about me?"

"Yeah, it was about you actually. Mum just said that Nita's been telling her about what a sad case you are - losing your Gran and your home and friends and everything. She just wanted to tell me to be nice to you. And, don't worry, I intend to be very nice to you."

"That's cool. That's nice of her, and you can be as nice as you like."

"Yeah, my mum's pretty cool. Now let's go and tip Jinks out of bed.”

As they walked up the street in the early morning sunshine, Daniel asked, "Are you sure about this? It seems pretty mean to me. I mean, how would you like it if Jinks did it to you?"

"He wouldn't bloody dare. That's what makes it fun."

As they approached the Jenkins' house, Daniel asked, "What about his mum? Won't she complain?"

Barney stopped, "Whoah! Information time, Boy. Jinks' mum is dead. She was killed in a car crash a few years ago. Jinks is half an orphan, and so am I and you're a whole orphan - all because of bloody car crashes. So there's just Jinks and his dad and big sister there now. They don't mind what I do, as long as I don't wake them up - or pinch his beer."

They tip-toed into Jinks' dark bedroom. Barney lifted a corner of the mattress, then stopped and peered at the big bed. He turned and flicked on the light. "Bugger, he's already up! Where is he?"

"Right behind you, Toddy. You'll have to get up earlier than that to catch me."

"Oh. Hi Jinks. What are you doing up so early on a Sunday?"

"Hey, Toddy. I had to get up to answer the phone - My friend, your beloved brother Grant - was ringing to warn me that you were coming."

"Grant! The little shit. I’ll boot his backside for him."

"You leave my friend alone, you big bully. Want some breakfast?"

"No, we've eaten. Do you want to come up to the Square? We might catch the Reynolds kid doing his morning streak around the track."

"Justin Reynolds has got a busted foot, and he’s really sick isn’t he? He won't be running. You'd be too late anyway he did it before breakfast and you're not that early. I'll just micro-wave a pop tart and we can go. How's it going, Daniel, all right?"

"Yeah, good thanks Kevin."

"Call me 'Jinks', Guitar Man, all my friends call me Jinks."

"ALL your friends, Mr. Jenkins?"

"Yeah, all my friends. I've got more than just you, Mr. Todd."

"But I'm your best friend though. Aren't I Jinks?"

"Sure you are, Toddy. Always have been."

"Yeah! And you're mine too. No offense, Daniel. But me and Jinks go back a long way."

"That's cool. I've got an - I did have an old friend, a best friend. I did have."

As they, quietly, left the house, Jinks asked, "So, have you got a bike Daniel?"

"Nope, not any more.No bike."

"Well I'm bloody not doubling the both of you. Take a tip, Daniel, don't buy a bike or you'll be ferrying Toddy everywhere."

"No he won't, Jinks. That's your job, eh?"

"Well I'm resigning then. Get your own bloody bike."

They walked the few short blocks up to Britannia Square, entering there by the driveway between the children's playground and the Westpoint Bowling Club's lawn, on the opposite side of the Square to the grandstand. The town clock behind them struck 9 o'clock as they stood at the edge of the running track looking around. There were a few people dotted around the Square, but not many.

Jinks perched up on a picnic table to light some cigarettes. The other two sat up with him, each taking a lit cigarette. "Quiet here today," said Barney still looking around. "It's still too bloody early for a Sunday. Civilised people," (poking Daniel in the ribs,) "Are still in bed."

"Well I didn't know we were living in sleepy-bloody-hollow. So, what are we going to do then?"

The bell started ringing at the Catholic church over the road behind the grandstand. Jinks looked up, "We could always go to church.”

"Yeah, right! If I'm going to sleep, I'll go back to bed. Wait a minute though, here's something."

Two girls appeared across the park and walked up into the grandstand. "The girls are back in town. C'mon Guitar Man, you've got to meet these two."

They ran straight across the playing field, up into the grandstand, and sat down near the two girls.

"Hey, Girls. How's it going?"

"Fuck off Todd. We're not talking to you."

"Hey! Don't be like that. What have I done?"

"Sherry's our friend, and you dumped her, didn't you? So, fuck off, we're not talking to you."

"Come on. That was weeks ago. Besides, I didn't dump her, she dumped me."

"Did she? She seemed pretty cut up about it.”

"You know Sherry, nothing she likes more than a drama, and she dumped me. I'm the one who should be crying all over the place."

"I'd like to see that. Anyway, who's this with you?"

“Ladies, this is my new neighbour - Daniel O'Brien. Daniel, these are Susan Jones and Shirley Hunter."

"Hey, Daniel. You're new in town? Where are you from?"

"I'm from Warkworth, up by Auckland."

"Yeah. Yeah. Enough of that - Susan sings and Shirley plays the drums. They are two-fifths of Westpoint's number one rock group - well the only rock group really. They won this year's West Coast heats of the Rock Quest. Pretty good group really. 'Time Out', they call themselves."

"Well, thank you, Sir. Didn't know that you were a fan. Do you want our autographs?"

"Yeah, Right! I said you were pretty good. Daniel here is a guitar man, and he's good - really good."

"A guitar man? Really? What do you play then?"

"Nothing special. I've just got an old 'Handler'."

"A 'Handler'? What the hell's that? I've never heard of it."

"It's just a guitar - electric. Made by a guy up in Whangarei, I think."

Barney, feeling that he was losing control of the situation, chipped in, "Maybe the guitar's nothing special, but the guitarist is - he's something else. He'd blow you lot out of the water anyday."

"Oh? You think you're pretty good do you?"

"I'm okay. I can find my way around a tune."

"Don't be modest, Daniel. He's good, Girls. He's really fucking good. Isn't he, Jinks?"

"Yeah, I suppose so. I don't know much about guitars. But, yeah, he's good - he makes his guitar sing."

"He makes it sing? What does that mean?"

"He plucks the strings and makes it sound like the guitar's singing."

"Oh. Okay. So are you in a group then, Daniel?"

"No. He's new in town, Susie. That's where you come in - you've got a group, we've got a guitar man."

"Uh, Uh, no thanks. We've got a group, and we've got a guitarist. Robbie's our lead guitar, Time Out's got no vacancies."

"Aww, Come on, girls - you've got to hear our man playing - he's much better than Robbie will ever be. Don't you want the best?"

"No. we don't, Toddy. No offense, Daniel, but Robbie's our lead guitar. He's been with us from the start and he's our friend. We're not going to drop him for someone new, no matter how good you are."

"Fair enough. I wouldn't expect you to dump your friend. This was all Toddy's idea anyway. I'm not looking to join any group, I just like playing with my guitar. I don't need any more than that."

“Oh, come on, Man! Have some ambition. You're going to waste just playing with yourself in the garage."

"Eww Daniel! How could you?"

He blushed bright-red as they laughed, and he stammered. "That's not what...I..What he means is ...."

"We know what he means and it's disgusting! Anyway, gotta go - see you later, guys. Nice to meet you, Daniel. Come and see us play sometime."

The three boys sat and watched as the girls ran down to get in the car that was waiting for them out in front of the grandstand.

"Well, that went well, I thought," Jinks grinned.

Barney shrugged. "Screw them anyway. They don't know what they're missing. Robbie's nowhere near as good as you."

"Toddy, just drop it will you. Robbie's their friend. You don't dump your friends."

"But they...Hey, wait up - here's Dee Jamieson, and what the hell's she doing pushing a pram? Dee's supposed to be putting a group together for Jay Kynnersley to play with. Yeah. This is what you need, come and meet Dee, Guitar Man."