Barefoot and Lost (27 page)

    
Mathematics is a mystery
to me, and
also
most of the class. Dickfire is introducing us to algebra, he has written on the blackboard, 2x +7 x + 18 solution x = 11, how can that be, it just doesn’t make sense. The only one that appears to understand is
Rodney
. My eyes wander out of the window, being drawn to a convoy of American trucks
in the distance; they are passing the school on the other side of the playing field. I can see G I’s in the back of some trucks. At the front is a Jeep with military police in it, their white helmets gleaming in the sun. I’ve counted eighteen so far then, in my ear I hear a shout, ‘Where are you
Phil
?’
I’m startled to see Dickfire bending over me, ‘What was my question?’

     ‘I don’t know Sir.’

     ‘You don’t know, whose benefit do you think I am here for, yours, certainly not mine I can think of better things to do with my time so I expect you to pay attention, is that understood?’

     ‘Yes Sir.’

     ‘Report to me after school, so you can explain what you have learnt from this lesson today.’

      ‘I can’t Sir; I have to get the Van back to
St
Stephens
straight after school.’

      ‘In that case, come to me at lunch time.’

     ‘But Sir, I have to have my dinner.’

     ‘Do you now, in that case you will have to go hungry, there is nothing like a rumbling stomach to remind you that you must pay attention.’

     ‘Yes Sir.’

     Returning at twelve thirty to our form, there is no sign of Dickfire, so I sit at my desk to wait for him. Ten minutes must have passed, then I notice, written on the blackboard in large letters, Phil Snell, there is no point in me missing my lunch as well, so write for me one hundred times, I WILL PAY ATTENTION, also solve this equation, X+16 = 30. Both items are to be with me at our next math’s lesson. Quickly, writing down the sum on the back of my exercise book, I race to the dining room only to find the dinner lady scraping the pans into the pig swill bin. She stops and looks at me, ‘You’re a bit late aint yer or are yer looking for seconds?’

     ‘I’m late Miss;
Mr.
Cockburn
kept me back, sorry Miss.’

     ‘Ang on, I’m sure I can find you something, can’t ave you wasting away to a shadow can we?’

     ‘
No
Miss.
’ She hands me a plate with shepherds pie and cabbage on it and a dish of semolina with a swirl of jam on top.

     ‘There yer are, that should keep yer going.’

     ‘Thanks Miss,’ I sit down to eat two servings of cold tasteless food.

    
Rachel
seems to be over her rant about her argument but, like me in her conversation she is silent about my fostering. ‘You don’t seem very interested I’m quite excited’

     ‘Well, you would be wouldn’t you going to a new life and all that, I don’t want you to go, I may never see you again.’

     ‘I don’t want to leave you, or my friends here, but I also don’t want to live here for the rest of my life.’

     ‘I’m sorry; I’ll try to be happy for you if it ever happens.’

     ‘Of course it will happen, if
June
says it will then it will; we could always write to each other.’

     ‘That’s not likely; look at the trouble you had getting that letter to your friend, what chance would I have getting one out of St Gab’s.’

     ‘Well we could try, anyway, you may not be there, and you may get fostered as well.’

     ‘That’s true but it could be anywhere, I know it
Phil
, when you go we will never see each other again, I just know it.’

     ‘Well, I will try my hardest to keep in touch wherever, you are, anyway, the people that foster me will be nice, I just know it, and they will let me visit wherever you are.’

    ‘Okay, if you say so; do you not think you should be getting off the van, you’re home?

     I leap out of my seat, squeeze her hand, and kiss
Rachel
on the cheek. Jumping off the van I nearly lose my balance stumbling across the gravel I feel such a fool. Righting myself I turn to see
Rachel
looking at me as the van drives away. One hand is touching her cheek, the other is giving that special wave. I’m not certain but I do believe she is blushing; why did I kiss, her does that mean I love her?

     I haven’t any homework apart from the lines I have to do. So I am sitting in my favourite chair, cheating with them writing very neatly I have written down the left hand side, one hundred I’s and then alongside, the same number of Musts I’m up to ninety eight Pays so I am nearly finished. The algebra is still a mystery, perhaps Brian or Jack know about it, if not I will have to ask Rodney before we go into class as, once again math’s is our first subject.

     During supper we can’t help but notice that Mam is not on the rostrum. In her usual seat instead there is
Marjorie
;
Mr.
Simmons
is walking the floor like
Flynn
always did. The microphone is tapped then the speakers let out a squeal that makes everyone take notice.

     Spectacles, clears his throat, ‘Boys and Girls’ a few are still talking and several cough not because they need to but because they can. ‘Pay attention- be quiet stop that babble- you will stay here all night if need be. The noise dies, someone scrapes a chair another coughs. 

     ‘That is better; you will have noticed that Mam is not with us this evening, like the
Reverend
Harrison
she has been taken ill. A little later I will ask you to say a prayer for her.

     ‘
Marjorie
will, during the absence of Mam, take over her duties and I expect you all to give her your cooperation, to make a difficult job easier. With three senior members of staff absent there
is an extra strain on those who
are here, so I expect you all to help. There are changes to routine that have to be made, the first is, that early morning chapel will no longer take place. A cheer goes up and an excited debate erupts, ‘Calm down,’ the hubbub subsides. ‘This does not mean that we are to relax our religious activities, I am not qualified to hold service, so the morning service will be replaced by Bible reading, which will take place her
e, after supper every evening
, from tomorrow you will come to supper with your Bible. Each evening one of you will be selected, at random, to come to this rostrum and read a passage, is that understood? A murmur of yes sir floats around the dining hall.

    
‘Good- there will be other changes but, as yet, no decision has been made on what they will be. Finally, a prayer for Mam, he rambles on about the good Lord looking after her and how with the power of our prayer, she will be returned to us quickly. Not with mine she won’t, I am thinking about
Rachel
and my kiss. ‘Now I wish you good night and, stealing a catch phrase from the good
Reverend
Harrison
, I ask you to go about your business, good night.’

     Our pow wow, before lights out, is all about the disappearance of Flynn, Reverend and now Mam they must be getting out before the police become involved, but who has warned them, someone must have, it is certainly not one of us, so who?

     ‘Hell, I nearly forgot; who knows anything about algebra?’

     ‘What’s that got to do with the perverts buggering off?’

     ‘Nothing, it’s just that I need help.’ I then go on to tell them about my detention. 

‘Its just doesn’t make sense to me, how can you add letters and numbers together will someone help me?’
Jack
gives me a pained look, ‘I’ll help what’s yer problem.’ I show
Jack
the equation.

     ‘Hell
Phil
, it couldn’t be easier, what can’t you do?’

     ‘Any of it, it doesn’t make sense.’

     ‘Okay, X plus sixteen equals thirty; what is the question?’

     ‘I don’t know, it doesn’t make sense, I’ve already told you that.’

     ‘Okay, X is an unknown value so it is called a variable, the equal’s sign you know, it means the sum of. You know what sixteen and thirty are they are called constants because their value is constant, with me so far?’

     ‘Yes I think so.’

     ‘Right; so, if you knew what X was you could add it to sixteen and get thirty, right; so, if you take away from thirty, sixteen, what have you got?’

     ‘
Err
, fourteen.’

     ‘So, X must be fourteen because fourteen and sixteen make thirty; right?’

     ‘Right
’

     ‘Then your answer is fourteen simple as that.’

     ‘I think I understand now, thanks
Jack
wonder why Dickfire couldn’t make it sound simple like that?’

     ‘Who the hell is Dickfire?’

     ‘Our maths teacher his name is Cockburn, he says it’s Coburn but
its
spelt Cockburn, we reckon his dick is on fire. So we call him Dickfire.’

      ‘That’s a good one, he’s new at TSM, we don’t have him ours is called
Mr.
Bolton
so we call him Meccano.’

     ‘I don’t get that.’

     ‘Meccano; you must know what that is.’

     I do, it’s a lot of metal strips with holes in and you use nuts and bolts to bolt them together-Oh now I get it,
Bolton
.’

     ‘
Jesus
you’re slow
Phil
, you couldn’t catch a cold if you tried.’

     ‘I got flu once; it just happened I didn’t try to get it.’

     ‘Yeah
right.’
what is catching a cold to do with teachers nicknames beats me
,
I think I’ll keep quiet
,
I don’t want to appear silly
,
I’m sure Jack means something else
.

     No chapel should have meant an extra half hour in bed, but
Mr.
Simmons
was, as usual giving us our wake up call at six-o-clock. When we asked him why, he said, he didn’t make the rules, he only followed orders. In spite of the extra time, which somehow disappeared, I still find myself rushing to catch the van, and as usual, I’m last on.

    
Rachel
looks very worried; she looks like she has been crying, her eyes are very red.  

     ‘What‘s wrong, have you been crying?’

     ‘No, I haven’t slept, worrying about Mir’

     ‘Why, what’s wrong with her?’

     ‘Well, last night she said to me do I have to check myself for nasties now that
Mrs.
Fitzgerald
has gone away?’

     ‘Who is
Mrs.
Fitzgerald
?’

     ‘That house mother that had taken her under her wing. You know the one I sa
id was being very nice to her.
Well I’m pretty sure now she has been abusing Mir, just like Mam Miller was doing to Doris and Enid; I’m supposed to be her sister and look after her, but all I wanted to do was have some free time and not have her hanging around me all the time, now look what has happened. I’ve let her down
Phil
what am I going to do?’

      ‘Are you sure that’s what she meant?’

      ‘What else could it be? When I asked her what she meant she said you know worms and things that crawl inside you. I asked her to explain but she said she had said too much because if she told anybody I would die or God would make me have a bad accident.’

     ‘You have to tell someone and, the only person we trust is
Mr.
Simmons
, he was going to the council about the abuse but the police stopped him.’

     ‘Why would they do that?’

     ‘I don’t know but it’s something to do with a big investigation that’s supposed to be secret, but I don’t think it is anymore because first, Flynn
disappeared two days later the Reverend went because he was ill, then Mam and now this Mrs. Fitzgerald, I think they have got the wind up and are running away.’

     My God Phil, they all seem to be mixed up in whatever it is
, how can I tell Mr. Simmons, I
won’t be able to see him.’