Chapter 10 - Planning a Party

Capture 10 - Planning a Birthday

Now I knew Rory was one of the oldest students in his grade. But I didn’t know the exact date of his birthday, but it should be coming up. I wanted to do something nice for my first real friend, but I knew that I would have to be careful how I went about it. First of all Rory had an ego, which high school football player didn’t. So whatever I did, I had to be sure not to puncture that ego, or our friendship could suffer.

Now for any high school jock, the ultimate social status item was some wheels, no longer needing to ride the school bus and the chance to cruise with his matse or take a girl on a date was paramount.

I wasn’t sure how that would work out for my friend. His parents were farmers, I wasn’t sure if they owned their own place or not. Either way, farmers were not having a very good time of it in the present economic climate.

So unless Rory had enough money of his own to get a car, I thought it was unlikely that his parents would be splashing out on one for him. I was only guessing, but any spare money they did manage to get, was much more likely to be put towards college funds, for him and his sister.

I didn’t even know if he had even applied for his provisional licence yet.

So before I even thought about sorting out a present for Rory, I would need some additional information. So the first thing I did was get Graham Nash, to have a quiet look into his parent’s financial status.

Being the good PI that he was, he came back to me the next day.

As I thought Mr. and Mrs. Burns did own the farm, but there was still a substantial mortgage on the property. He couldn’t access their bank details, as that was against the law. But with a little gossiping with some of the ladies from town, he had been to find out that they had a little credit with some of the stores. But they paid their bills on time. They were frugal with purchases, getting cheaper versions if they could rather than brand names.

Now I had the first part of the information I needed, I proceeded to try and get the rest. Knowing both Rory and Chloe would be late home on a Tuesday, as they both had training at the school. I went to the farm to pay a visit to their parents.

I knocked on the back door. Mrs. Burns gave me a smile as she opened the door to me.

“Hello Jack, if you’re looking for Roderick he is still in school I’m afraid.” I cringed at Mrs. Burns calling my friend that. No wonder he preferred his shortened version. Why do moms have to call us by our full given names?

“Hello Mrs. Burns. No actually I was wondering if you and your husband had a few minutes, as I have something I want to discuss with you.”

“Well, my Bernie is still working in the fields, does it have to be both of us, or could I help?” She answered.

“That would be fine.” I hoped, as what I wanted to say was delicate, Mr. Burns might get upset with me if I just spoke to his wife about this. But then maybe I would find out what I needed without any problems while I was there.

Mrs. Burns invited me in, sat me down and placed two cool glasses of water on the kitchen table. I sat down after Mrs. Burns had. She waved me to sit in the other seat.

I took a deep breath, settled myself and thought; ‘nothing ventured nothing gained’.

“I have two topics to talk to you about. I hope you will hear me out before you answer.” I pushed on before she replied. “I wanted to talk to you about Rory’s birthday. I want to do something special for him, but it will depend on the rest of this discussion. Now if I am being indiscreet, and you don’t wish to answer me, I understand, but I hope you know I am doing this to try and be a good friend.”

I took a few more breaths before launching into the delicate topic.

“I am aware that the farming market isn’t the healthiest right now. So if you don’t want to tell me how you are personally doing, I will understand. But I wanted to ask you about a related subject. As you are very likely aware, at sixteen it is almost every teenager’s dream to apply to pass their driving test. For most this is just the precursor to being able to get behind the wheel and having some freedom. What I wanted to know is whether this was going to be an option for Rory.”

I waited, either to be given a scolding for being too impertinent, given a glare and told to get lost, or maybe to be given the answer I wanted to find out.

I could hear a clock ticking, there seemed to be an awful lot of ticks before Mrs. Burns did anything. She had just sat there studying me. I was hoping this was a good thing, as she hadn’t immediately gotten angry and thrown me out.

After a good couple of minutes she finally came to a decision of some sort and told me:

“I am glad My Bernie isn’t here now, I don’t think he would have acted too favorable to your question. I however am more pragmatic about things, yes we are doing ok, but we are not a family flush with money at present. To answer your question, no, we won’t be buying Rory a car. If he does pass his test, and I am not using it, he may, just may be allowed to borrow my little car to run around in.” Mrs. Burns stated.

“Do you know if Rory has any money of his own saved up?”

“Now that is a little rude Jack, why don’t you just ask Roderick.” There it was again, the full use of his name.

“That is simple mam, Rory is a proud person, of himself yes, but also of you and his father. I know he sometimes has moaned in my hearing about having to get up early, or having to work late to do his chores. But I also know he is happy to do them, as he knows it helps you and his father out. I didn’t know if he had ever been paid an allowance or had a summer job where he could have gotten some additional cash. If I was to ask him straight out, he might be embarrassed on his own behalf, but more likely on yours, as you didn’t have as much money as others, who are more fortunate. That might have put a strain on our friendship, which I was unwilling to risk.