Chapter 13

It was nice to be back home, I considered the camp to be my home as did most of the permanent residents. Alice Parsons, the relieving cook welcomed me back as I walked into the cook house.

"Welcome back Tony, how did your time in the army go?"

"Great Alice, I finished up in the kitchen, I'll tell you what, the kitchens there make this place look pretty shabby but I'm still happy to be back home. How did you enjoy cooking for the boys, did any of them give you a hard time?"

"No, they were all well behaved, I had to fend off a few offers of marriage though but they were all good about it. I've enjoyed cooking for them Tony but it will be nice to be getting up at 'normal' times."

"It might be a while Alice, I want to take a bit of time off to unwind, though I'll help you out by doing breakfasts if you like. That's if Fred approves of course."

"That would be great Tony, although I think you won't be too chipper for tomorrows breakfast, the boys have prepared a big welcome home for you so why don't you go ahead and enjoy yourself and we can talk to Fred about it tomorrow."

Alice was right, the next morning I heard her rattling the breakfast pans and rolled over, I was hung over, the first time in my life. The boys did me proud, I was welcomed back like the Prodigal son returning to the fold. My glass remained full the whole evening and I realised that these men were 'my family', there was affection I had not noticed before going away, these men were 'mates' in the highest sense.

When I recovered enough to appear human I talked to Fred about having a couple of weeks break before putting on the apron.

"I've spoken to Alice about it Fred, she's OK if you are, I told her I would do the breakfasts if she did the rest; I'd be getting up at that time anyway so it wouldn't be a burden."

"Yeah, I'm OK with that Tony, how will I pay her if you are doing breakfasts?"

"Same as you've been paying her Fred, I'm still on leave just helping a friend out."

"Right, let's just keep it between the three of us though OK?"

"Sure, that suits me. Do you need anything in Morwell tomorrow? I'd like to catch up with the folks at the orphanage if I can."

"I'm sure we can think of something that requires you to drive over there Tony."

"Thanks mate, now I need to go and get some more sleep to get rid of this damned hangover, my first and hopefully my last."

Fred laughed, "It was good to see you enjoying yourself Tony, seems like you enjoyed a little too much."

"You're not wrong there Fred." I went back to my room and fell into a deep sleep filled with images of Sally and Trish.

...

In the morning Dom was banging on my door, "Come on you lazy bastard you're not in the army now, get your fat arse out of bed, there's work to be done."

"Alright you bloody slave driver, how can anyone be so cheerful at this time of day?"

"Still feeling a bit ordinary Tony? a man that doesn't drink doesn't get hangovers."

"You were supposed to be keeping an eye on me Dom, what did you do? you let them get me well and truly pissed, some mate you are."

"Ah my friend, each of us is responsible for our own misfortunes."

We both had a darned good laugh about it. It was nice to be in my own kitchen again and I soon was back into the swing of things. Breakfast was over in no time flat, the big difference in the numbers I was cooking for was noticeable. Soon after Alice turned up and I handed the kitchen back to her and got ready to visit the orphanage.

Fred decided he needed to visit head office so we had an enjoyable drive over to Morwell, it gave us both a chance to catch up with what had happened while I was away. Fred was a bit concerned about Ernie the grader driver, he was one of the men that stayed in the camp during the week but went home for the week end.

Ernie was married with one kid. His wife was giving him a headache for working away from home, he couldn't win, he enjoyed working on the grader and was an experienced operator; to take work nearer home would mean doing menial labouring, something at his age would be hard. Grader driver jobs weren't two a penny so he was stuck between a rock and a hard place.

I had called Sister Maria to let her know that I would be visiting the orphanage so when Fred dropped me off she was waiting to receive me, much to my surprise, was this the dreaded Penguin?

"Welcome back Tony" she enthused, it's nice to see you again. Come on through to the rec hall, the children are waiting to meet you again."

Jesus I thought, what the hells going on, why do the kids want to meet me again, what's the Penguin got up her sleeve this time?

When we entered the rec hall the kids all cheered my like I was some sort of a hero, what the heck is going on? When the cheering settled down Sister Maria called on me to address the kids, "Tell them about your experiences since you left the orphanage Tony."

"Attention children, most of you know Tony as a past resident of the orphanage, since he has gone out into the world he has done well for his self, I would like him to tell you of his experiences and any tips he can give you for when you find yourselves ready to leave us, boys and girls ... Tony."

"Um ... This has been sprung on me without any notice so I might be a bit

at a loss as where to start. If I tell you that I skipped out before my time to take a job as a labourer on the roads I wouldn't want you to think that that's what you should be doing. I've been very lucky. Because I had some good tuition in cooking, thanks to Mrs Andrews and Mrs Cooper. I was able to get a job cooking for a road camp. I cook for about thirty men and believe me, that's a full time job, but understand this, if you like the work you are doing it is not a chore, I love what I am doing and my plans, if they are successful is to build and run a roadhouse. That is a long time in the future, but it's my goal that I'm aiming for."