Chapter 4: Lewis to the Rescue

After a busy afternoon, closing time came drew near at last. Lewis glanced at the clock to see there was just ten minutes to go. Then the doorbell pinged as another customer entered.

Looking up from the video he was re winding, Lewis recognised a lad from the year below him at school. He didn’t know him particularly, so he nodded to him then carried on with what he was doing.

Glancing up a few minutes later, he noticed that the lad whose name he vaguely remembered was Derek, was looking rather unhappy. As he studied him a bit more the thought he looked as though he had been crying.

Lewis got up and went over to him. ‘Hi,’ he said, ‘Don’t you go to my school, Derek, isn’t it?’ Derek nodded, ‘Yes,’ he answered sounding really miserable. ‘What’s up?’ Lewis asked him, ‘You look really upset.’

‘Oh, it’s loads of things seem to be going wrong at the moment,’ he replied, ‘I thought I’d come and pick a video to cheer me up.’ ‘You know the best thing to do when you’re feeling down,’ Lewis said, ‘Is to go and talk it over with a friend.’

Derek looked even more miserable, ‘I don’t really have any friends I could talk to like that,’ Derek said, ‘I’m a bit of a loner.’ ‘That can be dangerous,’ Lewis said. ‘If you can’t talk problems over with anyone, they have a habit of building up in your mind. Then they seem even worse than they are.’

‘In a really bad scenario,’ Lewis added, ‘That’s how suicides come about.’ Derek looked at him aghast as he mentioned suicide. The way he came alert and looked made Lewis think it was something he had already thought about, if not now, at least in his past.

Lewis nodded towards Mike and said, ‘You see my boss over there?’ When Derek nodded, Lewis told him, ‘Between us we make a really good problem-solving team. We’re good listeners, easy to get on with, we don’t judge or criticise, and we’ve helped quite a few people who have come in here with problems.’

‘They usually go out with a smile on their face,’ Lewis told him. ‘We close in a few minutes, why don’t you choose yourself a video, then when we close, come through into the back room with us and have a chat.’

‘If you do, I’m sure we can help, but if you felt uncomfortable or didn’t want to stay, it’s no problem, you can get up and go. Can’t do any harm to try it. Unless you prefer to keep your problem of course.’ he added with a grin.

Derek looked at him hopefully, ‘I’d like to,’ he said, ‘But I’m not sure if I could.’ ‘You’ll be surprised how easy you’ll find it to relax and tell us what’s bothering you,’ Lewis said. ‘We’ll get to know you first and wait until you feel relaxed enough before you tell us about it. But it’s up to you, you’re the only one who can do anything about it.’

‘Why don’t you go and pick your video, then come back to me, you can decide then, ok?’ ‘Thanks,’ Derek said and returned to study the videos. Lewis went back behind the counter, explaining to Mike about Derek and that they might have a job to do.

Soon after, Derek brought a video over to Lewis, who sorted his rental out. By now the shop had emptied so Mike came over and offering Derek his hand, he said, ‘Hi Derek, I’m Mike. I hear you might be joining us for a chat, so I just want to tell you that you’re very welcome.’

Derek had almost made his mind up to give it a try, but Mike’s friendly greeting was the final push he needed. He looked at Lewis and nodded. Seeing his nod, Mike went over and closed the door. Lewis took Derek through to the back room and Mike turned the closed sign on the door, then put the shop light out before he joined them.

Lewis had sat Derek on the settee, sat himself on the other end and Mike went and sat in the armchair. ‘Right Derek,’ Lewis began, ‘This is the time you will hopefully deal with all your problems. I’m going to tell you how we will achieve that, then it’s up to you to decide if you want to stay and try, or not.’

‘If we can’t relax you, it won’t work. So, the first stage is for us to get to know a few general things about you, plus start to make you feel very relaxed and at ease with us. If you decide to stay, I’ll ask you to take your shoes off and lie on the settee whilst I give you a relaxing massage and ask you some basic questions about yourself. If you do that and it relaxes you, then I’ll tell you the next bit, then you choose again whether to keep going or not.’

‘Even if you choose to stay, you can change your mind and leave anytime you want, is that clear?’ Derek nodded then said, ‘Yes.’ ‘Ok,’ Lewis continued, ‘If you want to give it a try, take your shoes off and stand up. If you don’t just say no.’

Derek didn’t hesitate, he kicked his shoes off and stood up. Lewis took the end cushion off the settee, then Mike sat in its place. Putting the cushion back on Mikes lap, Lewis told Derek to lie down with his head on the arm of the settee.

Once he was settled, Lewis sat on the edge of the settee by Derek’s knees facing towards him. ‘I want you to turn over,’ Lewis said, ‘Then I’m going to massage your back from your head to your feet and back again. Whilst I do that, I want you to tell me as much basic information about yourself as you can. Remember all I know about you at the moment is that your name is Derek, I assume you are fourteen as you are in the year below me at my school.’

Derek turned over onto his front. As Lewis put his hands on his head then started massaging, Derek began his tale. Telling them that he lived at home with his mum and dad, he carried on saying that he was an only child and didn’t mix well. As Lewis massaged down his back, Mike took over massaging his head. Derek continued, ‘My dad works for the local council on highway maintenance and my mum has a part time job in a local cake shop.’

As Lewis reached his waist, he asked, ‘Do you have any hobbies?’ ‘Yes,’ Derek told them, ‘I like walking, fishing, swimming and playing golf.’ As he spoke, Lewis moved down over his cheeks and on down the back of his legs. ‘Who do you play golf with?’ he asked. ‘No one really,’ Derek said, ‘I usually go round on my own whilst it’s quiet, or just practice on the playing field.’