Chapter 3: A Calamity for Oscar

Saturday morning Danny arrived at Johns as usual. He had missed the previous Saturday having been at Mikes Wedding. They sat and had their usual cup of coffee at the kitchen table. They chatted about Lucy and Chris. During the week, Danny had had a text from Lucy to say she had just started her period. She had sent the text to John also. Danny said, ‘It was too much to hope that they succeeded the first time, so next time as long as John hadn’t changed his mind, they would include his sperm in with Chris’s.’

‘No, I’m still fine with the idea,’ John said, ‘Although I’m doubtful it will do any good at my age.’ ‘You’re not old,’ Danny told him, ‘Your just well matured. Anyway,’ he added, ‘They reckon children of older parents are often brainier.’

They had a discussion then about genes. ‘When you think about it,’ Danny said, ‘There are people who claim to have memories of a previous life, sometimes with accurate facts recalled that they couldn’t possibly know. We accept without question that genes are passed down from generation to generation. Families often have visible traits running through the family, height, build, colour of eyes, temperament, lots of things. If we can accept that, why not include memories as well.’

‘So, you are saying that if someone claims to have experienced Déjà vu and seen themselves in a previous life,’ John asked him, ‘That what they are actually seeing, or feeling is a real memory of events that actually happened, not of theirs but of their forefathers passed down through their genes.’

‘Yes, exactly.’ Danny said, ‘It makes far more sense.’ ‘I’d never have thought about it before,’ John said, ‘But I have to agree with you.’ As they chatted John’s phone rang. He listened for several minutes then he said, ‘Actually he’s here with me right now, I’ll pass him over.’

‘It’s Keith’s mum,’ he said, ‘A friend of hers needs help.’ ‘Hello,’ Danny said. ‘Hi Danny, it’s Keith’s mum,’ the voice said. ‘I was talking to a friend of mine this morning and she was upset because her son has been down in the dumps for the last few weeks. The other night she is sure that she heard him crying in bed.’

‘He assures her he wasn’t, and he is fine, but she doesn’t believe him. I said I knew just the chap to sort him out, but I wanted to check with you before I get her to contact you.’

‘It’s fine with me,’ Danny said, ‘What’s his name?’ ‘Oscar,’ came the reply, ‘He’ll be fifteen next week.’ ‘Rather than his mum pushing him to see me, just send me his phone number and I’ll see if I can persuade him.’ he said.

‘That’s great, thank you so much,’ she said, ‘We’re still so grateful over what you did for Keith.’ ‘I was glad to have been able to help,’ Danny said, ‘And your gift was very much appreciated.’ ‘I’ll get his number and text it to you.’ she said.

As he hung up John said, ‘I presume it’s my shopping time?’ ‘I don’t know yet,’ Danny said, ‘Let’s see what develops first.’ He had no sooner finished speaking when his phone pinged. It was Keith’s mum sending Oscar’s phone number.

Danny sent a thumbs up back to her, then rang it. After a couple of rings an unhappy sounding voice said, ‘Hello?’ ‘Hi Oscar, you don’t know me but my name is Danny. A friend of your mums gave me your number because your mum had told her that you were unhappy about something. She knows I’m easy to talk to and pretty good at solving problems so she feels I could help you. So, I’d like to invite you to come and meet me.’

‘If you don’t like me, or don’t feel at ease with me, you can just get up and go. But if you’ll let me, I’m sure that I can solve the problem that’s troubling you. If you come round now, your mum won’t know you’ve been or anything we discuss. If you decided not to and it’s your choice, your mum will no doubt keep on about it because she is worried about you.’

‘Are you saying that if I come, you’ll never tell my mum anything I tell you?’ Oscar asked. ‘Not only your mum,’ Danny told him, ‘But no one at all. Nor will I tell anyone you’ve been to see me.’

‘Ok, yes please,’ Oscar said. Danny gave him John’s address, ‘Can you come round now?’ he asked. Oscar only lived a few roads away, so he said he’d be round in ten minutes.

‘He’s coming round now,’ Danny told John. ‘Right, I’m off to the shops,’ John said, ‘Usual arrangement. See you later.’ He gave Danny a hug and a kiss then set off for the shops.

Five minutes after he had gone, the doorbell rang. Oscar was tall, skinny and looked unhappy. ‘Hi Oscar,’ Danny said shaking his hand, ‘Nice to meet you, come on in.’

They sat in the kitchen at the table. Danny made them both a coffee then as they drank, he explained all about his ability, how everything was confidential and that if he decided to stay, they would discuss everything about him except his problem to start with.

‘I’m sure I can solve your problem,’ Danny told him, ‘But I can’t do it alone, I need your help. Without that we are wasting our time. If you decide at any time you want to stop, you can just get up and leave without having to give any explanation.’

‘But you should know that problems never go away on their own,’ Danny told him, ‘So unless you do something about it, you’re stuck with it forever. I don’t think you want that do you?’ ‘No,’ Oscar admitted sounding really down.

They had finished their drinks, so Danny said, ‘Come through to the lounge where it’s more comfortable then I’ll tell you what we’re going to do. But feel free to just walk out of the front door if you wish.’

Danny led the way to the lounge, followed by Oscar. ‘Well done,’ he said ‘That’s another hurdle you’ve just got over. Take your shoes off and lie down on the settee and I’ll explain.’

When Oscar was settled, Danny sat on the edge of the settee and smiled at him. ‘When you have a problem, there are two very difficult hurdles to overcome before you can deal with it,’ he told him. ‘The first one is to admit to yourself that you do have a problem. If you hadn’t already done that, you did it by coming here today.’

‘The second hurdle is to decide you want to do something about it. You overcame that by coming into this room and lying down. From this point on, the only person who can stop us sorting it out is you. If you get up and leave, I can’t do anything for you. But remember at all times you’re free to leave anytime you want.’

‘Now, all I know about you so far is that your name is Oscar, you’re almost fifteen and your mum is a friend of a friend of mines mum. So, what we’re going to do next is get you to tell me more about you. Whilst I ask you questions, I want you to turn over onto your front so I can massage your back from head to foot to help you relax. Because I don’t know what it is yet, if I should happen to ask you anything connected with your problem that you don’t feel able to answer just yet, simply say pass and we’ll move on, ok?’

‘Ok,’ Oscar said sounding a little more cheerful. ‘Oh, one other thing,’ Danny said, ‘Most peoples problems involve sex of some sort or another, so I’m used to dealing with it. So, there’s no need to feel embarrassed about the subject if it comes up.’

Danny noticed a slight grin cross Oscars face, so he realised he’d picked up on the ‘if it comes up’ comment. ‘Turn over when you’re ready and we’ll start,’ Danny said.

Oscar turned over without any hesitation. Once he was settled Danny rested his hands on the back of his head and started massaging. Then as he moved down onto his shoulders he said, ‘Tell me about where you live and who lives there with you.’

‘I live with my mum and dad,’ Oscar told him, ‘And a younger sister aged eleven. We live in an ordinary three bedroomed semi-detached house. I’ve lived there all my life. All the houses in the road are the same.’

As Danny reached his waist having massaged down a back which seemed to have no padding on it, he asked, ‘How do you all get along with each other?’ As he massaged up over his trousers, he felt a slight tensing up, then as he started answering, the tension quickly faded.

‘We all get on pretty well,’ Oscar said, ‘There’s an occasional disagreement of course, but I can’t think of anything ever being serious enough to last overnight.’ ‘That’s excellent,’ Danny said, ‘In other words a happy home?’ ‘Yes, definitely.’ Oscar said.