Chapter 7

Step enjoyed his journey back to the orphanage.  He sat beside a friendly policeman who stopped in Goulburn to buy him a pie and milkshake.  While they drove past dry and dusty paddocks Step told him the story of his dreadful weekend at the farm.

“People like that shouldn’t be allowed to foster children,” said the policeman, whose name was Jim.  “I’m going to inform the orphanage authorities so they will strike them off the list.”

After that Step dozed in the warm car and was quite surprised to open his eyes outside the orphanage door.  Jim knocked loudly and was greeted by Nurse Smiley, who ushered them into Matron’s office.

“It would seem the pleasant young lady who picks up the orphans is just a front for a number of very nasty people who mistreat the children and sometimes lock them up so they can’t escape.  Who knows how many children are in the same situation as Step but they haven’t been clever enough to stow away in a garbage bin?”  Jim said, glaring at Matron as if it was all her fault.

Matron looked very upset but did her best to hide her feelings. “I assure you Constable Hooper that this is not a regular occurrence.  The young lady was carefully vetted and ticked all the boxes for a foster parent. It was the first time she has offered her services and of course it will also be the last.  I will leave it up to you to investigate what exactly is going on here but rest assured we always make sure that foster parents are suitable, to the best of our abilities.”

Jim sighed and stood ready to leave. “All the best young lad.  I hope you find some kind foster parents who will give you the home you deserve.  If I was married I’d foster you myself but having a single policeman for a dad would be pretty hard on any boy. I’m almost never home.”

Step waved goodbye to his new friend and, looking at the clock, found he had not only missed school but most of the chores as well.  He went off to find Tear, who was in the kitchen drying the last of the dishes.

“Wait until you hear about my weekend!”

They both spoke at the same time so that they sounded like twins. Step, conscious of Tear’s feelings, asked her to go first.  She told him all about her Fantastic Fun Day and ended triumphantly.

“I’m so happy because I know I’m not an orphan.  I have a mother and even though we can’t see each other we will meet again.  When I am older I will meet her at a café and drink cappuccinos.  We will talk about what happened in our lives.” A tear glistened on Tear’s cheek but she shook it off. “I am not going to cry about this or anything else because every time I am sad I will think about the Fantastic Fun Day and it will make me happy.”

“That’s so cool,” Step said a little enviously.  He thought of his own father and the step-mother who made everyone’s life miserable.  He wondered where his own mother was and if she would ever find him at the orphanage.  However, he was not one to dwell on sad thoughts so he recounted his story to Tear who stood, open mouthed with horror as he spoke of his treatment and escape.

“All I can say is that next weekend will seem tame after this one,” said Step.  “In fact I’ll be quite happy to stay at the orphanage.”

The rest of the week passed uneventfully. The other children were not unfriendly although Step was glad he had Tear to talk to as the other children could be very changeable; chatty and kind at times and cold and aloof at others.

One of the older boys would be leaving at the end of the month.  Jack was fifteen and so could leave school and go out to work.  A big party was planned as a farewell but behind all the jollity Step could see that Jack was worried.  Step didn’t have the courage to ask where he would live and work but thought he would like to know because this could be him one day in the future.

He was fortunate enough to be partnered with Jack for chores one afternoon.  The older boy was splitting logs with an axe, and it was Step’s job to load the pieces of wood into a wheelbarrow. He plucked up the courage to ask what he was going to do when he left the orphanage.

“I’ve got a job lined up,” said Jack.  “It’s with a printing company in the warehouse department.  They told me I will just be doing odd jobs at first but if I work hard, I should get an apprenticeship.”

“Where will you live?” asked Step, imagining the other world of being a grown-up.

“There’s an old lady who has a spare room in a house near the printing works.  She will give me meals and a bed but I won’t have much money left over.  It will be lonely too without all my friends at the orphanage.” Jack looked sadly around him. “One day I hope to earn enough money to rent myself a little house and then I can have friends come and visit.”

It sounded like a good plan so Step got to wondering what he would do when he grew up.  He talked to Tear about this and they both decided that they would look for jobs that earned lots of money.  They couldn’t think of any so they returned to their usual topic of conversation.  Who would they go with this coming weekend?

Saturday morning arrived with the boys and girls lining up on opposite sides of the room.  A man walked in with two children by his side, a boy and a girl.  They were about the same age as Step and Tear so Step stared at the boy hoping to attract his attention.

“Let’s have him,” the boy called to his Dad, pointing at Step.  “She’ll do for Bethany,” he said, indicating Tear.

So it was that Step and Tear were to spend the weekend with the same family.  They couldn’t believe their luck.

Sitting in a blue and white Ford Fairlane with the man and his two children, Step and Tear peered excitedly out the window as they pulled into a large circular driveway.  The house they were to stay in was large and imposing, with tall white pillars each side of the front door and little balconies off each upstairs bedroom.

Step was shown the room he was sharing with Byron.  In it was everything a boy could want. There were shelves loaded with games and toy aeroplanes. A large stereo record player and radio stood in one corner of the room.  On top of a table was a small box which Step realised was a television, even though he had only ever seen them in shop windows. Byron was so lucky!  He had everything he wanted.  He even had a football table where players skewered on metal rods could be twisted and turned to kick the ball from one end to the other.

Step found his new friend was great company until Step started winning at football.  Byron wanted to stop playing and asked him to choose a record to play on the record player.  Step chose Rock Around the Clock by Bill Haley and the Comets but Byron said that was last year’s hit and chose Heartbreak Hotel by Elvis Presley. Byron pretended to be Elvis, playing an air guitar when he suddenly lost interest and turned on the television.

“There’s not much on the box,” he said, peering at the small black and white picture. “It’s all about the Olympics at the moment.  You know, swimming, running and all that stuff.”

Step wanted to watch but Byron turned it off and indicated he was going outside. The boys ran down the large sweeping staircase and out onto the lawn. Inside a small room opening onto the outside was every imaginable piece of sporting equipment from tennis rackets to cricket bats and balls, hockey sticks and some things Step had never seen before.  Byron pulled them all out until the lawn was covered.

“Let’s try baseball,” suggested Step.  “I’ll pitch while you bat.”

Step was pretty good at baseball as this was all he ever played at the orphanage.  He threw the ball carefully at Byron who made a huge swing but missed by a mile.

“Throw it properly,” yelled Byron. “How am I supposed to hit the ball when you throw it all over the place?”

Step tried again and produced a perfect pitch.  Again, Byron missed it and threw his bat down angrily.

“Let me show you how it’s done,” Byron sneered.

He picked up the ball and aimed it straight for Step’s head.  Step tried to avoid it but it hit him a glancing blow on the cheek so that lots of little lights exploded behind his eyes.  It was some time before he was able to pick himself off the ground and by then Byron was nowhere to be seen.  Tear came running over, followed by Bethany, and led him to a seat.  She examined the rapidly rising bump on his cheekbone.

“We’ll have to get some ice on that,” she said. “Bethany, where is the kitchen?”

Bethany was a mouse like girl who rarely spoke, but she wordlessly led them to a large room where a cook and a maid were preparing food.

“Please may I have some ice for Step’s head?” asked Tear.

“I’m not asking how that happened,” said Cook.  “Because we already know, don’t we Bethany.”

Bethany nodded and as Cook applied ice she told the children what they already were beginning to realise.  Byron was a bully and treated everyone and everything the same way.  He had no respect for others and did his best to hurt them when he wasn’t winning.

Step decided to play with Tear and Bethany.  It seemed that Bethany was happy for their company because it meant she wasn’t alone to put up with her brother’s bad temper.  Byron was nowhere to be seen until dinner time, when he turned up looking glum and sulky.  They ate in the kitchen with Cook as it seemed the parents were busy entertaining. At the back of Step’s mind was a lurking fear of what Byron might do to him that night so he delayed bedtime as long as he could.  They played Monopoly but when Byron saw he was losing he wiped all the pieces off the table and ran out of the room.  Bethany pleaded with him to come back to play a card game, but he refused, disappearing upstairs into his room and playing music very loudly.

Suddenly the father could be heard bounding up the stairs.  “Cut that racket or I’ll smash all those records to smithereens,” he yelled. “How am I supposed to entertain guests when you make all that noise.”

The mother came into the games room.  “Off to bed, all of you. Nighty night.”

The time had come.  Step quietly opened the door of Byron’s room to see him curled up sobbing on one of the twin beds.  Despite all the lovely things he owned he seemed a very unhappy boy. Step put on his pyjamas, cleaned his teeth and climbed into his bed.  In the other bed the sobs continued.  Step decided he could do one of two things.  He could ignore the sobs and try to go to sleep or he could talk to Byron and maybe make him feel better.

He started by recounting his adventures of the previous weekend, how he travelled a long way to a farm and was made to sleep on a verandah and eat the leftover food on its way to the pigs.  He told how he escaped in a garbage bin and was picked up by a policeman in Tumbarumba.  As he talked he noticed the sobs had stopped.  Byron was either listening or asleep.

Then he went on to tell of how he arrived at the orphanage with his father because he wasn’t wanted by his stepmother, of the room where he slept, with eight beds and eight boy orphans, of the little school where the children ranged from Kindergarten to 6^th Class and sometimes beyond and the massive kitchen where he peeled potatoes and wiped dishes with Tear.

Step stopped talking.  Byron must be asleep by now. He jumped when a voice said, “I wish I lived at the orphanage….   I’m sorry I hit you.  I’ll try to be better tomorrow.”

The next day Step could see that Byron was trying to be on his best behaviour. “I want you to come back again for a weekend. Please,” Byron pleaded.

Here was the boy who had everything, wanting Step to come over and stay for another weekend.  If he did come back he might be able to help Byron with his problems or he might find himself a victim of Byron’s anger once more. 

As Step and Tear climbed into the big luxurious car ready to head back to the orphanage, Byron and Bethany waved goodbye.  Would they ever see each other again?  They were children and it was the grown-ups who made the decisions so none of them knew what the future would hold.

End of Chapter 7