Barefoot and Lost (6 page)

     ‘
Come on
Phil
we have to go to ch
apel, what did that creep want?’

    
‘
Lion he was being very nice
,
said he would help me when I got lonely
.’

     ‘
I bet he did, don’t ever go to his room
,
if you need someone to talk to talk to me or Mam or one of the house mothers
,
but never Flynn
.’

    
‘
Why
, what’s wrong with him?’

     ‘
I can’t go into detail just trust me, he has favourite boys
,
I tried to warn them but they didn’t listen
,
now they are in his clutches and can’t do a thing about it
.’

    
‘
My Gran told me not to talk to strange men
, is he one of those?’

    
‘
Yes
Phil
he is; only talk to him when there are other people around
,
ok
ay?’

    
‘
Ok
ay,
but he did seem very nice
.’

     ‘
Of course he did
,
he is hardly going to be nasty
. I
f he wants you to be one o
f his favourite boys, that is what he does
when you
’
r
e
new
,
confused
,
and desperate to make friends
. B
elieve me Phil
,
I was taken in by him when I first came here
,
I was your age it was horrible
,
I still dream about it; now
,
don’t ask me any more just do as I say
,
ok
ay
?
’

     ‘
Ok Lion but why should I tru
st you, you stole my money; when
can I have it back?’

    
‘
We’ll talk about that later
,
now we must run we cannot be late for chapel
.’

     Chapel is terrible I’m not sure what to do
.
I’m standing when I should be sitting and kne
eling when I should be standing.
Toby and
Brian
have
grabbed an arm each and are
pulling me up and down as required
,
giggling at me
as they do. The only good thing about chapel is that it only lasts half an hour
;
the bad thing is it’s twice a day
,
everyday in a year that is seven hundred and thirty times; groan.

    
‘
Phillip
,
have you
had a bath since you got here?’

    
‘
No Mam
,
I had
one yesterday before I came.’

     ‘
You will ha
ve one tonight and again on Fri
day night
. Y
ou will bath twice a week from now on every Friday and Tuesday
,
after chapel and before bed
, is that understood?
Lion
el
will show you the procedure?’

    
‘
Yes Mam
.’

    
‘
Well run
along what are you waiting for?’

     ‘
Lion what does she mean procedure sur
e
ly I just get in the bath and wash myself
?’

     ‘
You do
,
but this is the procedure:
take the towel
,
face cloth and soap you have in your locker, also take your dressing gown and pyjamas.
If there is no one in the bath run four inches of water
,
wash yourself as quick as you can, get out
,
dry yourself dress don’t let the wate
r go someone else has to use it. I
f
someone
is
in the bath wait for them to
finish and get out, and
then
you must
use their water
, okay so far?’

     ‘
Yeah
so far’

     ‘
When you’re finished put your
dirty
towel in the basket
, then
take a clean one and put it in
your locker
.’ He ta
k
es
a white bag from the bottom of my locker
, ‘
You see
,
it has your name on it
,
put your dirty clothes in this and leave it outside the dorm door, they will be washed and returned to your draw
er
s.
’

     ‘
I have to bath in dirty water, how many bathe
in one lot of water?’

     ‘
Three
,
but if you’re quick you can always get first dip
;
If you are third you have to let the water go and clean the bath
.’

     
‘
How will
I know if I’m second or third?’

      ‘
You’ll know
,
third gets muddy water, only joking
,
everybody wants to be first so there is always a queue, there are two baths in each bathroom
,
it’s not that bad
,
you had better hurry
.’

    
I’m fourth in the queue
but there is only one behind me.
Flynn
is supervising both bathrooms making sure there is no queue
jumping or
subsequent fighting
,
he is doing a lot of shouting but doesn’t even look at me. Although I’m fourth the boy behind me is finished first
.
I don’t think he could have got wet in the time he was in the bath.
He pulls the plug
,
and gives
the bath a quick wipe around then
rushes out
.

    
I stand up to get out of the bath
,
the door opens
,
and I think he has forgotten something but Flynn walks in.

     
‘
Hello
P
hillip
how are you settling in?’

     
‘
Ok
ay
Mr.
Flynn
.’

     
‘
My God Phillip
,
what has happened to your penis
?’
what is he talking about
   

      ‘
Your
Willy
,
your dick
,
whatever you call it, it’s only half the length it should be at your age
,
you must stretch it to make it longer
.’

     
‘
My Mum said I mustn’t play with myself
.’

      ‘
Who is talking about playing
,
I am talking about therapy
,
it is necessary to become a man
.’

      
‘
But my Mum
----’
 

       ‘Your mum was a woma
n she wouldn’t understand
, she wouldn’t know. I
f your dad were here he would agree with me
,
it is vital to improve your manhood; here
,
let me show you what to do
.’

        ‘
No
,
get away
.’
Flynn
grabs my dick and wraps his arm around my neck,
‘LEAVE ME ALONE’

         ‘
Shut up
,
no one will hear you and if they did
,
before they came in the door I would hit you and say you fell and that I was helping you
.’

         
‘
I’d tell them what you’re doing to me
.’

          ‘
And you think they would believe you a small boy’s word against mine
a respected member of staff
,
now shut up and accept your therapy
.’

         
‘
No stop it your hurting me HELP
.’

           ‘
Shut up
,
of course it hurts
,
if you stopped squirming it wouldn’t
,
just lean against me
and feel how I grow
,
wou
ldn’t you like to be like that?’

    
The bathroom door bursts open
,
Lion comes charging in shouting
, ‘
You fucking pervert leave him alone
.’
Flynn pushes me away and turns to confront his attacker, Lion charges him in the stomach
,
forcing
Flynn
against the edge of the bath
,
stum
bling
,
banging
his head on the wall as he fa
ll
s
with a splash
into the water
.

           
‘
Bates
, that’s the finish of you’

           
‘
No pervert
,
it’s your finish
.’
I try to put on my dressing gown Flynn struggles to get out of the bath
,
the bathroom door swings open
and
Mam walks in.

    
‘
W
hat the devil is going on here?’

     ‘
I’ll tell you what happened Mam I was checking the bathroom and came across Bates here molesting Phillip
,
when I tried to intervene he attacked me I want him disciplined.
’

      
‘
That’s not true
,
Lion was protecting me, say something Lion
.’

      
‘
What’s the point
,
as the pervert says no one is going to believe me
.’

      ‘Be quiet
Phillip
,
it is natural you want to protect your friend
,
we will let the Reveren
d deal with this in the morning. B
oys go to your room and thank you
Mr.
Flynn
.’

       
‘
What
will
happen now Lion?’

      
‘
We are going to go to bed
,
when you get up in the morning I will be gone
.’

      
‘
What do you mean gone where are you going
?’

       ‘
I don’t know
,
away, if I stay here they will send me somewhere
,
maybe involve the police
,
I can’t stay and let that happen
,
they won’t believe me or you
.’

       
‘
I’ll come with you
.’

        ‘
No
,
this I have to do on my own
,
I can’t be responsible for you
,
it would be worse for me, and bad for you if you came along
,
say nothing
.
I’m sorry I won’t be here to protect you from
Flynn
bu
t I reckon you will be able to
do that on your own
.’