Chapter 1: Lewis Gets a Job

It was the start of January, Christmas had been good, with plenty of cash as gifts from relatives. Lewis was fifteen, he lived at home with his parents and two younger brothers. It was a happy family and his childhood had been good. His parents kept a close eye on him but still let him go his own way as much as possible. Now he was older, he found that his pocket money was not sufficient for some of the things he wanted to buy, even his Christmas cash was dwindling rapidly. So, on his way home from school that Friday, he decided to look for a Saturday job. The family lived on a large Council estate which had its own small row of shops, so he decided to call and ask at each of the shops plus he would have a look and see if there were any job adverts in the window.

The first shop in the row was a Green Grocers. His request was unsuccessful as it was family run and they had more than enough family members for their needs. The Shopkeeper he spoke to was impressed with his manners. In response to his question, Lewis told him that he had no particular skills and as yet had no idea what he would do when he left school. As he left, the shopkeeper wished him luck.

The next shop was a video rental shop. Going in, he found a queue of people returning videos they had hired during the week and collecting new ones for the weekend. He browsed the videos on display, waiting for the queue to clear before approaching the counter. The Manager of the shop was around thirty. He listened to Lewis explain what he wanted, then said, ‘You’ve just seen the queue, Saturdays are even worse. I’ve been thinking for a while that I could do with someone who can give me a hand when it’s very busy. In between times they would have to check the returned videos to make sure they are undamaged and fully re-wound. It would be from nine to five each Saturday with an hour for lunch. You’d get £4 an hour for the seven hours you work. If you’re interested, come in and work tomorrow, then if you still want it, and if I think you are ok, the job is yours.’

Lewis couldn’t believe his luck and said, ‘Yes please,’ right away. Arranging to come in at eight thirty on his first day, he left the shop walking on air. £4 times seven hours he thought, that’s £28 every Saturday. He hadn’t really thought how much he would earn if he got a job, but to a youngster who previously had only had a small amount of pocket money, it seemed a vast amount.

The following day Lewis was at the shop door waiting at twenty past eight. Mike, the manager, arrived five minutes later and opened up the shop. He showed Lewis the kitchen and toilet area at the back of the shop then the video machines under one end of the counter which were used to check the returned tapes. Satisfied that Lewis could operate them ok, he told him that his main duty today would be to deal with the returned tapes, then in between times he would teach him how to serve in the shop. Telling him that if he was stuck with anything at all he only had to ask, he went to the front door, unlocked it and turned the open sign to face outwards.

They were soon both busy. During the morning Lewis made them both a coffee which they had at the counter. It seemed no time at all before it was lunch time. Lewis had told Mike that he was going to the chippy a few shops further along rather than go home. In answer to Mike’s question Lewis said he would just eat them outside and wait for the shop to reopen. Mike told him that he could collect fish and chips for him as well, then if he wanted, they could sit in the back room to eat them and also have a coffee. Lewis said that was great so at ten minutes to one, Mike sent him off to the chippy.

After eating their lunch, Mike made himself a coffee as Lewis had brought himself a can of coke. Whilst they sat having their drinks, Mike asked Lewis how he had found his first morning at work.’ It was great,’ Lewis replied, ‘I enjoyed every bit of it, did I do ok?’ ‘You were fine,’ Mike told him with a smile. ‘Now he continued, if you’re going to work with me regularly, I want to know a lot more about you.’ Lewis nodded, ‘Ask anything you want’, he said, chuffed that Mike was hinting that he was going to be around for a while.

‘It’s not just questions,’ Mike told him, ‘As well as learning all about you, I need to know you are fit enough physically to last out. Do you have any problems with any of that?’ ‘No,’ Lewis replied, although he wasn’t totally sure what was being asked of him. ‘Great’, said Mike, ‘However the problem is, that for me to find out all I want to know I will need to ask you some very personal questions about yourself. I will also need to get you to do some physical tests like press ups, sit ups and taking your pulse. Now the problem with that is that because of your age, I could get into trouble for doing that sort of interview with you.’ ‘I don’t mind, I’m fit and healthy’ Lewis said. ‘And I’m happy to answer your questions.’

‘Great’, Mike grinned at him, ‘But what I am going to propose is that if you are willing to do it, I will pay you an extra £5 every Saturday for answering any of the questions I ask you, plus another £5 for taking the physical tests I’ll give you to do. I’ll do that until we run out of questions and tests or until you say stop. How does that sound?’

Lewis had already added up in his head that if it lasted ten week’s he would have an extra £100. Plus, Mike was clearly intending keeping him at work, so he was thrilled. ‘Sounds really great,’ was his reply. ‘There’s another major snag,’ Mike said, making Lewis’s heart drop. ‘Your parents wouldn’t approve of what you are going to do, especially as some of the questions I’m going to ask you will be about how you get along with various people close to you. Also, if you do the tests, it will mean I will have to put my hands on you, like for instance when I measure your heartbeat. I’ve no machines to do it so I would put my fingers on your chest over your heart and count its beats. There are people who would say you shouldn’t allow anyone to do that.’ ‘It wouldn’t bother me’ replied Lewis, ‘I will decide if what I do is ok or not’

‘That sounds good,’ Mike replied, ‘But even so, it would have to remain completely confidential between the two of us that you were doing the interviews and the tests. No one but the two of us must know about it, especially your parents. The reason is, he continued, partly because you are underage for me to legally give you any physical tests, and two, as I said previously, I’m going to be asking you questions about your relationships and experiences with your family and relatives who would be bound to object and stop you.’

‘Now to do any of this, you need to feel safe with me and trust me. I promise you that if you say no to anything at any time I will stop immediately. I also promise that nothing that you tell me about you or anyone else will ever be repeated outside this room.’ ‘Ok,’ Mike continued, ‘Now you know all that, how do you feel about doing it.’

Lewis had no hesitation in replying, ‘Fine, no problem,’ he replied as he was already feeling completely at ease with Mike.

Mike smiled at him, saying, ‘Ok, so the next question, do you want to start them today, or would you rather wait until next week after you’ve had time to think it over a bit more?’