"I'll always want to be back home." Michael said, with a pay phone to his ear, chewing on a heavily salted French fry. He looked up at the table his grandparents were sitting at. They seemed concerned.
"Cal, I gotta go. I'll call you before I get to the Sunshine Coast." He said, putting the phone back on its hook.
Down the change spout spat twenty cents. He pulled it out and stuck it in his jeans pocket. Moving toward the table where his grannies sat. He scooted into the booth. It was his grandmother who spoke first.
"Making calls, are we?" She asked, sipping through the straw of her cup.
"I broke my phone." Michael replied, pulling his french fries from his shirt pocket.
"Third one this year. You've got to control your anger." His grandfather said. Mike nodded and looked down. His face was emotionally faint. He couldn't help but think he was such a bad kid that his parents sent him away for a problem he had trouble keeping at bay. For years he'd blamed himself for not being like other kids, being angry and confused all the time. His upbringing was a normal Australian one. Taught how not to be a bogan or a yobbo. He stayed off public transport to avoid conflict with the kids of Holy Spirit College. But numerous times was he dumped behind shopping centres and beat til he bled. The kids who did this to him always laughed as they tormented him for what he was and who he was as a human. But it was when they stopped kicking him and punching him that he felt alive. A sudden rush came over him and all of a sudden he was free. He could feel pain and emotions like every other kid his age.
"Time to hit the road?" Michael's grandmother asked, her husband looked at his watch and nodded reaching for his car keys from his back pocket. He looked his grandson and tapped his shoulder.
"Come on, Mikey. Once you fall asleep and wake up, we'll be in Sunny State of Queensland." He said, Michael got up and looked back at the pay phone. It swung as the weight of the receiver became unbalanced. Getting to his feet, he groaned and his grandfather guided him with a hand on his grandson's back.
Another one from the vaults, a thought he could not fathom. He had to find a way to call Calum, this was his best mate. Discouraged by the thought he may never see him again, he just kept thinking back to his happy place. Summer of 2003, making a space shuttle from Christmas hamper boxes. Michael and Calum spent a whole two days working on it, using UTH glue to stick cardboard together before the rain came to wash it off. Michaels father had covered the space shuttle in paraffin, in case it did ever rain. The wax would stop the water from breaking down the papery wings and axel. This day was such a raw memory, it was the day an ant stung his ass. He ran around the backyard screaming for his mother while she ran around frantically inside looking for vinegar. Such an Australian thing to do. A bug stings, a little vinegar oughtta fix it! Cut your knee roller skating, better rub some 'Savo (Savlon Antiseptic Cream) on it! His mother was trained with the armed forces as a nurse and also with apothecary. The ant bite left a welt on his left buttock. Poor little Mikey couldn't sit right for a week, he used extra pillows when sleeping to cushion it. His mother had to coaxed him with an ice cream to stop him moving so she could douse his particularly cute pale bottom with vinegar. The sweet smell of chocolate ice cream was a moment away.
"Michael, I need you to stay still please, pull your pants down." She said, "where'd it bite?"
"Mummy!" He cried.
"Bub, tell me." She said. Poor little Calum Hood watched from the slide as the woman in a garden hat wiped her sons' tears off his red cheeks.
"My bum!" He said, Calum pulled grass out of the ground metres away. "My bum, mummy." Michael carried on. These sweet memories were such a lingering effect. Michael smiled and fastened his seatbelt once again.
"What's so funny, Mike?" His grandmother said leaning into the back seat.
"Nothing, Nan. Just thinking." He replied. She looked at her husband who was putting his spectacles on, smiling as well.
"Caloundra shouldn't be too far." He said. Michael didn't hear, he was busy focusing on his thoughts while he shut his eyes. He thought of Calum and their funny situations. Here's to teenage memories! He thought, sipping on his cola. He smiled gently, he was almost asleep.
YOU ARE READING
Letters To Luke
Fanfiction"What would you do if you received a letter from someone you didn't know. Would you reply." Young Michael has just moved from Sydney to Brisbane, and is finding it hard to keep up with life, until he sends a letter to an old friend. Luke, shy and sw...
