Barefoot and Lost (21 page)

     ‘Yes of course
Harry
. As you may have gathered, I am here to represent
Saint
Stephen
’s and
Phillip
’s interests, he has no living relatives or guardians other than
Saint
Stephen
’s.’

     I am aware, of that
Bill
; I have read his notes from the Hastings Social Services. I also have the results of his eleven plus, and quite frankly,
Phillip
does not belong here.’

     ‘Oh! Then where do you believe he does belong?’

     ‘The Grammar, his pass marks are exceptional,
Phillip
is a very bright boy.’
I can’t believe they are talking about me as though I am not here.

     ‘
Harry
, we at
Saint
Stephen
’s have a transport problem, we already have three boys attending here as I am sure you are aware. We provide a small van to transport them to and fro at a considerable cost to us, we are a charity and funded only by donation, it would be impractical to provide transport, purely for Phillip to attend Grammar, on the other side of town.’

     ‘That is all very well but I am thinking of
Phillip
’s interests, surely
Phillip
shouldn’t be penalized for the sake of a lift to and from school.’

     ‘I agree with you
Harry
,
Phillip
on the other hand could benefit from being the star pupil here instead of an also ran at the Grammar. His background, and his present situation could be a handicap there, here, he would fit in very well and would have his friends, who are in similar circumstances, they understand. At the Grammar he may be looked upon as a misfit, being the only boy from an orphanage. May I add, the reception here, by the two lads at the front door, was very
impressive, i
f this is a product of your teaching then I whole heartedly believe this is the place for Phillip.’

     ‘Thank you
Bill
, that is very kind of you. Can I make a suggestion, subject to
Phillip
’s approval, after all he should have a say in his future; I suggest we accept
Phillip
here at TSM, to be reviewed over the next school year. If it appears that
Phillip
is being held back academically, or in any other way, we will allow the governors to decide what is to be done. 

By then, with the new government you will probably find there will be funding for transport, for children in rural areas.’

     ‘That sounds very fair
Harry
; the truth of the matter is that this discussion could all be in vain, that is if
Phillip
gets fostered.’
They are still talking about me as though I’m not here, perhaps I sho
uld pinch myself to see if I am.

     ‘Of course hadn’t thought of that, is it likely.’

     ‘Anything is possible.’

     “You know Bill, it is ironic the lad that was in here before you has been selected to be here at TSM, but his mother, purely for the snob factor, believes he should be at the Grammar. She is not considering his education or future all she is concerne
d about is how will she hold
up her head at the women’s guild, knowing her, not very bright son is not attending Grammar.’

     ‘That,
Harry
, compounds my reasons for
Phillip
coming here.’

     ‘
Bill
, if you don’t mind, I would like to have a word with
Phillip
alone. If you speak nicely to
Miss
Lansdowne
I’m sure she will rustle up a cup of tea?’

     ‘Oh, I’ll do that alright, thank you for listening.’
Bill
bounces out of the office, eager to see Pru.

     ‘
Phillip
, what would you like to tell me about yourself?’

     ‘That I’m not invisible, I thought I was for awhile
Mr.
Lancer
.’

     ‘Sorry about t
hat Phillip, it wasn’t intentional
to ignore you but, if you had spoken up we would have included you, by you not saying anything it seemed to me that
you only wanted to be a spectator
, and not a participant.’

     ‘Yes Sir, I understand.’

     ‘Would you like to be a pupil at TSM?’

     ‘Yes Sir I would, very much.’

     ‘Are there any particular reasons?’

     ‘Only those that
Mr.
Simmons
said, I would be with my family and not be an outsider’

     ‘Is that how you see your friends, as family?’

     ‘Yes Sir, we are like bro
thers.
Sir when we were bombed in
London
and moved to
Hastings
I was bullied by some boys, I had to learn to box to beat them, I wouldn’t want to have to do that again.’

     ‘I see so you are boxer, an athlete, are you any good at cricket?’  

     ‘No sir, but I am good at swimming, I’m the
Sussex
, under twelve, fifty metres breast stroke cham
pion; I broke the record.’
    
‘I see, and do you have any certificates to support this claim?’

     ‘No sir, the night I won it my Gran died, and three days later I was brought to St S’s, I haven’t been swimming since, but if you were to write to Superintendent Langdon of the  police in Hastings, he would get it for me.’

     ‘
John
Langdon
. I know John
, we are in the
same club, I will speak with him. Well Phillip I am impressed, I see no reason why you cannot be a pupil at TSM.’ He stands up, reaches across his
desk,
and holds out his hand, ‘Welcome
on b
oard,
and I will see, personally what we can do to get you back in the water. You are a bright
lad;
I have no doubt you will do well
so I will place you in class 1
A when you start on Thursday.’ He then walks around the desk, puts his hand on my shoulder and steers me towards the door

 
  Opening the door I see Bill and Pru swing around, startled as though they had just been caught out.

     ‘Pru, Phillip will be starting with the other freshers on Thurs
day, I have allocated him to1
A.’

     ‘Very well
Mr.
Lancer
: welcome to TSM Phillip.’

     ‘Did you get your cuppa
Bill
?’

     ‘Yes thank you and a biscuit as well.’

     ‘Hope that wasn’t one of mine Pru?’

     ‘No
Mr.
Lancer
, I know that would be more than my life is worth.’ Mr; Lancer gives a chuckle.

     ‘See you Thursday Phillip, nice to have met you
Bill
, can you rustle me up a cuppa now please Pru, I’m parched.

     The taxi is still waiting, John is reading a newsp
aper, and the headlines read in
bold print ‘JAPAN CAPITULATES.’ ‘Looks like, at last it is all over Bill’.

     ‘So, the Jap’s have finally surrendered.’

     ‘Yeah
, it says here that yesterday, they signed the surrender document on board an American destroyer, called US Dunlap, just off the coast of an island called Chichi Jima in the Philippines, thank God for that.’

     ‘Hopefully we can all get on with our
lives;
this damn war has left the whole world in tatters.’

     ‘What about you
Bill
, did you serve; you have a military bearing, if you don’t mind me saying?’

     ‘Yes, I did my bit as a Second Lieutenant; I was one of the lucky ones to get out of
Dunkirk
, although I don’t remember much about it. I was blown up on the beach while I was organizing the troops in the water, waiting to be evacuated. I copped a load of shrapnel to my right shoulder and my face, ending up blind in my right eye. Some kind soul got me onto a boat, I spent six months in hospital, I was then pensioned out, couldn’t spend my time sitting on my bottom so joined Dad’s Army, spent the rest of the war as an instructor.’

     ‘What blew you up
Mr.
Simmons
, was it a bomb?’

     ‘I have no idea Phillip, one minute I was shouting at the men to take cover as this Stuka came screaming at us, the next, apart from a couple of brief moments when I regained consciousness,
it
was not until I woke up in hospital several days later
that I found out what occured
’

     ‘My Mum was killed by a doodlebug.’

     ‘Sorry to hear that Son, my elderly mum my sister and her two kids were killed by one of them bloody things, over in Deal. 

     ‘Right Bill, I assume it is back to
Saint
Stephens
?’

     ‘Yes, I suppose so, I’d like to say we could go for a spin in the country but no, it will have to be
Saint
Stephens
. What did you think of the school
Phillip
?’

     ‘I liked it very much, I think I will like it there; I think you liked Pru too,
Mr.
Simmons
.’

     ‘My God, was it that obvious?’

     ‘Are you going to have a date with her?’

     ‘You ask too many questions.’

     ‘
John
, could I please have your newspaper to read?

     ‘Not me Mirror son, but I have a local rag here you can have that if you want.’

     ‘That’ll be great, I like to read the paper, but, since I’ve been in St S‘s I’ve not seen one. Why don’t they put one in the library for us kids to read?’

      “Probably because there is not a lot of call for it, not too many children read newspapers.’

     ‘Well I like to.’

     ‘Tell
you
what I will do, I get a paper every day, it’s a little more hi brow than John’s, however I will leave it in the Library each day after lights out. The news will be a day old but that is better than no news at all, will that be okay?’

     ‘Thank you very much
Mr.
Simmons
that will be fantastic.’

     ‘What do you think about that
John
, I never thought for one minute I would become a paper boy, especially delivering to a twelve year old?’

     ‘There you are
Bill
, you may have found your true vocation” he says with a laugh.

     ‘You could be right
John
, I must admit paperboy is a little lower than I had set my sights, I intended a career in the Army, becoming at least a Field Marshall.’

     ‘Circumstances certainly change ambition, I had a good position in the city, and then the bottom fell out of that in thirty one. I had to feed the wife and kids, my dad had an old car. I started running folks to the station that couldn’t afford to run their own cars, and here I am fourteen years later still doing it, mind you I did change the car for this Hackney.’

     ‘I want to be a journalist.’

     ‘And so you may well be
Phillip
, if you keep reading as you do.’

     ‘Tell you what son if you do, will you not write rubbish like this lot does?’

     ‘
John
, change your paper to a broadsheet.’

     ‘Can’t do that
Bill
, I like the sports page, and, what’s more, I wouldn’t be able to get one of them bloody big things behind the steering wheel.’

      The others have all gone to school. I’m spending the morning being fitted for a school uniform. St. S’s keep the old ones that kids have grown out of, they also keep the ones from kids that have been fostered in other areas.
Mrs.
James
, an old lady who works in the laundry alters them to suit. There is a blazer that looks new but, unfortunately it won’t fit me it must have been made for a midget, and that is probably why it is still in the wardrobe