Chapter 4: Ron Finds Another Waif and Stray

Saturday mid-afternoon Ron reached the outskirts of Birmingham. Even with all the events he had encountered on the way, he had made good time. He still had a full day sailing even so, as he had to sail into the centre of the city, change canals and sail out in a different direction to the boatyard.

Although he had been to the boatyard several times over the past few years, he would have to keep a careful eye on his route. Birmingham has far more canals even than Venice in Italy. As a central industrial area, in the days when canals were the main mode of transport, canals were built to and from Birmingham in all directions.

There would be many junctions to pass and if he took a wrong turn, it could mean many hours of sailing to find a turning area or winding hole.

Looking at his map, he saw that there was a longish stretch ahead without any locks, so he decided to sail near to the far end of it and tie up for the night, then spend the following day sailing through the city.

Finding a clear spot, he pulled in, put his mooring pegs in and tied up. By now it was half past four, so he decided to walk to the bridge up ahead and see if there were any shops so he could top up his food stocks. Locking up the boat, he set off along the towpath.

Reaching the bridge, he could see just beyond it, the first of the locks that he would have to go through the following morning. He could also see now that he was close, that just beyond the lock was an area of buildings that looked likely to have shops amongst them.

He walked under the bridge and up the path to go past the lock. Alongside the lock were a few bench seats, for people to sit and watch the boats going through. There were no boats around at the moment, but one seat was occupied.

As he drew near, he could see it was a lad of about seventeen who was sitting hunched up. Ron knew from past experience that although his position made him look as if he was upset, he was probably just huddled over his phone.

Ron glanced at him as he walked past and probably would have walked on if the lad hadn’t looked up as he passed. He had plainly been crying as his eyes were red. He looked really miserable and dejected. Ron stopped, sat down beside him and asked, “What’s up sunshine, you look dreadful.”

“It’s ok,” he replied, “I’m fine thanks.” Ron looked at him with raised eyebrows. “No, you are definitely not,” he said, “Any idiot can see that at a glance. But if you want me to clear off and mind my own business, just say so, but I’d like to try and help if you’ll let me.”

“There’s nothing you can do,” he said, “my girlfriend has thrown me out.” “Well,” Ron told him, “There has to be a reason for that and unless you talk about it and sort it out in your mind, it could happen with all your future girlfriends too, you wouldn’t want that would you?”

“No,” came the woeful reply. “Well, here’s my suggestion,” Ron told him. “See the boat down there,” he pointed to where he had moored. “That’s my boat. I’m just going to the shops, then I’ll be back in twenty minutes to half an hour. If you’re still here, you can come on board and have a snack plus a hot drink.”

“There are several reasons why you should do that. First, I’m a good listener. Secondly, in the last week I’ve managed to solve two people’s problems. Thirdly, I’m a complete stranger to you who you are never likely to meet again. Who better to pour your troubles out to? The worst that can happen is that you decide any advice I give you is rubbish and ignore it.”

Ron stood up and offered his hand. “I’m Ron,” he said. The lad shook his hand introducing himself as Luke. “Right, Luke” Ron said, “You’ve got until I return to decide whether to take up my offer or not. Hope to see you later.” He gave Luke a smile and carried on to the shops.

Twenty-five minutes later, he returned with two big bags of supplies. He could see that Luke was still sitting where he left him, still looking forlorn. He stopped opposite him saying, “I’m going to unload my shopping, and make a drink. If you want to join me, you are very welcome. If you haven’t arrived by the time I’ve finished my drink, I’ll just sail on and leave you to it. The choice is yours. Good luck anyway.” Then he turned and headed for the boat.

When he stepped on board, he turned to unlock the door and saw that Luke was walking along the tow path towards him. He gave him a cheery wave, then took his shopping down to the galley. He put the kettle on the stove, then looked out again. Luke was standing on the towpath by the gang plank. “Come aboard,” Ron called.

Luke came down into the galley, it was the first time he had been on a canal boat, so he had brightened up a little as he looked around with interest. Seeing his reaction, Ron gave him a tour of the boat, then they sat at the table. Ron made them a coffee and put out a plate of biscuits plus some cakes he had just bought. Ron realised from the way Luke looked at them that he was hungry.

Ron took a cake and a couple of biscuits onto his own plate then pushed the rest over to Luke. “Tuck in,” he told him, “Eat the lot.” “I haven’t eaten for twenty-four hours,” Luke told him between mouthfuls. The plate was empty very quickly.

As they had their drinks, Luke told Ron that he was just turned eighteen, had lived with his girlfriend for nearly twelve months then yesterday morning they had a row, after which she told him to get out. As it was her flat, he had no option. “So where did you sleep last night?” Ron asked. “An old school friend lived nearby. He let me crash on his settee, but he had visitors coming today so I had to move on. I’ve sat where you found me most of the day.” “What will you do now?” Ron asked. “I’ll have to move back to my mums I guess,” he replied, “Although I don’t really want to. Not that there’s any problem with my mum,” he added hastily, “I just think it’s a backwards step.”

“Yes, I can follow that logic,” Ron told him, “Ok, let me explain my idea, then you can decide if you want to try it or not. Here’s my take on how you feel right now. At this moment, you feel very miserable in yourself, disappointed and hurt at what your girlfriend has done, but most of all you feel stressed and tense because you don’t know what to do next for the best. How accurate would you say that description was?” “I couldn’t have put it better myself,” Luke told him.

“For me to be able to give you any advice worth having, I need to know just about everything about you, your hopes and dreams, your experiences with people, sex, drugs, work, family virtually everything that has ever happened to you. By the time you have told me all that you will feel able to describe your life with your girlfriend and what happened.”

“Now, I don’t expect you to be able to just sit and tell me all that, no matter how much at ease you may feel with me, so here’s what I want to do. We’ll take the table down, then I want you to lie down on the bench you are sitting on. I will relax you by giving you a gentle head to toe massage whilst I ask you questions about yourself.”

“As we progress, you will feel more and more at ease and as you do, you will feel able to tell me more intimate details about yourself. By the time we have finished, I will know you inside out and I’ll be able to give you some informed advice. Whether you accept or take any notice of that advice, is entirely up to you. If my advice is good and you take notice you might just get rid of all your problems and have a happy life.”

“If you don’t, well, you won’t be any worse off than you are now, but at least you’ll have had a relaxing afternoon. One other thing, if you do start, you can pack up anytime you want, all you have to do is say stop, understood?” Luke nodded. “Ok, that sounds fair,” he said, “I’ll give it a try please.”

They got up and cleared the dishes into the sink, Ron said, “Leave them, I’ll sort them later.” He took the table down and drew the curtains. “The most effective massage,” Ron said, “Is on your skin, so I want you to take off as much clothing as you feel comfortable with, but definitely your shoes, then lie on your front.”