Chapter 1: Ernie Opens Up

At lunchtime on Saturday, Mike and Lewis had spent the time after their lunch discussing the wedding. Just before they were due to open the shop Lewis had a call from Derek, a lad he had counselled quite a while ago. He had been quite suicidal at the time but like all the others had left happy. He thanked Lewis again for what he had done, then asked him if he would see his pal’s friend Pauline. ‘I don’t know what her problem is,’ he said, ‘But she works with my pal. He says she has been really down for a week or so and it’s starting to affect her work. She’s a few years older than him. She won’t tell him anything about it, but she did admit it was very worrying and far too embarrassing to tell anyone.’

‘I’ve already got a booking for today,’ Lewis told him, ‘Just hang on a moment.’ He asked Mike if he could use the back room tomorrow. ‘Sure,’ Mike said, ‘No problem.’ ‘If she can come along to the shop at ten tomorrow morning I’ll see her then,’ Lewis said.

There were some muffled voices at the other end, then Derek came back on the line saying, ‘Yes, that’s great thank you. Pauline will be there for ten. She doesn’t know anything about my problem,’ he added, ‘But I have told her that I was considering suicide before you sorted everything out for me. Thank you.’ he said as he hung up.

The rest of the afternoon was busy as usual then at ten to five, Ernie came into the shop. Mike and Lewis were both serving, so he stood just inside the door waiting. Lewis caught his eye and waved to him to let him know he had seen him.

As soon as he finished serving, he called Ernie over and showed him through to the back room. ‘I’ll be with you very shortly,’ he told him. ‘Can you make us both a coffee?’

Once the shop closed Lewis went through to Ernie, followed shortly by Mike. Lewis introduced them then Mike gave his usual spiel about Lewis’s talents. ‘Whatever it is you’re in good hands,’ he told Ernie as he picked up his coat and left.

Returning from seeing him out, Lewis sat at the table where his mug of coffee was waiting. ‘It’s good to see you,’ Lewis said. ‘I’m glad you decided to come, it’s the first step to solving any problem.’ As they drank their coffees, Lewis ran through all the usual information. ‘You should be aware,’ Lewis said, ‘That I will not reveal to anyone that you have been here today, nor will I reveal anything you tell me. That includes Ella and her mother.’

Ernie nodded. ‘Thanks,’ he said, ‘That was worrying me, I almost didn’t come because of it.’ ‘I’m glad you made the right decision,’ Lewis said with a smile. ‘I’m sure when you leave, you’ll feel the same.’

‘My impression of you so far,’ Lewis told him, ‘Is that you are a very strong person physically, but you are really a gentle giant. Very shy, easy going and quite a private person.’ Ernie nodded. ‘That’s me to a T,’ he said.

‘So can you tell me why, on the way home the other night you felt able to volunteer the information that you were forty-one and had never had a girlfriend? Something I’m sure you had never ever said to anyone else before.’

Ernie looked at him with a hint of a blush. ‘I’ve been wondering that myself ever since,’ he replied. ‘At the time it felt quite natural to tell you because of what we were talking about. But later on, when I thought about it, I was horrified.’

‘Did you come to any conclusion?’ Lewis asked him. ‘I decided it must have been because you are easy to talk to,’ he answered. ‘That was another reason that convinced me to come tonight.’

‘You’re quite right,’ Lewis told him, ‘I’m a good listener, I never judge, and I have a knack of drawing information out of people that they would not normally reveal to anyone. That is helped by my reputation of never disclosing anything I’m told.’

‘What I want you to do when we have finished our coffees,’ he told him, ‘Is to take your shoes off and go and lie on the settee. Then I’ll tell you what we do next. There is a reason somewhere in your past as to why you are single. Between us we will work our way through your life and find out what it is.’

‘Once we know what it is, solving it will be easy. The hardest part of any problem is discovering what the problem actually is. Do you have any questions before we start?’ ‘You’re very young,’ Ernie said, ‘Have you helped anyone else who’s so much older than you?’ ‘Two thirds have been around my age,’ Lewis told him, ‘But the other third has been all ages up to and including pensioners.’

That seemed to satisfy Ernie who got up, kicked his shoes off and lay down on the settee. Lewis went over and sat on the edge of the settee. Smiling at him he said, ‘In a minute I want you to turn over. I will then massage your back from your head to your feet and back again. Whilst I do, I will start asking you questions to find out all about you. If I ask you anything that you find too embarrassing to answer just yet just say pass.’

‘Remember that all I know about you so far is that you are forty-one, are single and a self-employed builder. So, try and give me as much detail as you can when you answer. Turn over whenever you are ready.’

Ernie turned over, having to be careful not to roll off the settee as he was so broad. Once he was settled, Lewis put his hand on his head and massaged it. Then as he moved down onto his broad shoulders he asked, ‘Tell me all your medical history since your early teens.’

Ernie thought for a few moments whilst Lewis moved down his back, then as he reached his waist he started to answer. ‘When I was fourteen,’ he began. ‘I had concussion and a broken leg when I was a passenger in the car crash that killed my dad.’ As he spoke Lewis had moved up onto his trousers and was massaging his cheeks. He felt Ernie go extremely tense, then as he moved on down his thighs he relaxed.

‘What do you remember about the crash?’ Lewis asked. ‘Not very much,’ Ernie told him, ‘I was in the passenger seat. My dad was driving. We went round a corner and found a car hurtling towards us on the wrong side of the road. The next thing I remember was waking up in hospital a day later with a plaster cast on my leg.’

Lewis had reached his feet and started back up again. ‘How long were you in hospital?’ Lewis asked as he moved up his thighs. ‘Nearly a week,’ Ernie told him. ‘My leg was a simple fracture but my concussion worried them so they kept me in until I could have a brain scan.’ Ernie went tense again as he massaged his cheeks then as Lewis moved up onto his back he relaxed and continued, ‘Then after that by the end of the week they were happy with my recovery, so I went home. I’ve been fine ever since.’

‘What about your dad?’ Lewis asked as he moved up his back. ‘Mum was there when I came round,’ he said, ‘First she told me dad was badly injured. It wasn’t until the day before I was due to come home that she told me he had died instantly at the scene.’ ‘That must have hit you hard,’ Lewis said as he reached his head. ‘Yes, it took me ages to get over it.’ he said.

‘Ok,’ Lewis said, ‘Turn over please.’ Once Ernie was lying on his back, Lewis smiled sympathetically at him. ‘Whilst I massage your front exactly the same, tell me who was living at home before the accident.’ As he put his hands on Ernie’s head, he answered, ‘Mum and dad, my eldest brother Damian who was two years older than me. My second eldest Adam who was one year older, and me.’

As he massaged down his chest, Lewis asked, ‘After the funeral when everything had settled down, apart from missing your dad, how did life at home change.’ Ernie was silent for a while clearly remembering that time. As Lewis reached his waist he said, ‘The main change was dad not being there to keep a firm hand on Damian.’ Then as he was about to continue, Lewis moved up onto the front of his trousers and massaged all over the front.

Ernie stopped speaking and went extremely tense, he closed his eyes and looked as if he was really struggling to cope. Lewis watched his face and moved quickly down onto his thighs. As Ernie relaxed, he opened his eyes and said, ‘Sorry about that.’

‘Don’t be,’ Lewis told him, ‘Clearly it brings back unhappy memories and that could be important. Just remember you are safe here with me, your memories can’t hurt you unless you let them.’ As he moved on down his thighs, Ernie resumed, ‘Damian had always been trouble from as far back as I can remember,’ he said. ‘Dad was like me and Adam, easy going and quiet. Damian was always hard to get on with, mean, nasty, noisy and for ever in trouble.’

‘Without dad there, he acted as head of the house, but not a nice one. I think even mum was glad when he was out.’ Lewis had been down to his feet and was moving back up on his thighs as he asked, ‘How did you get on with all the other lads at school?’