Chapter 6: An Unhappy Airman

The following Saturday, Danny and John had just sat down to their morning coffee in John’s kitchen. Danny’s phone rang, so seeing the caller was Lucy he put his phone on speaker.

‘Hi Lucy.’ he said, ‘You’re on speaker and John is with me.’ ‘Hi, you two,’ she said sounding excited. ‘I still haven’t come on. I’ve just done another home test which still showed positive.’

‘That’s great,’ Danny told her. ‘I know I’m wasting my breath,’ he said, ‘But try not to get too worked up.’ ‘I’ll try,’ she said. ‘My doctor’s appointment has been changed to four o’clock on Tuesday, so I’ll ring you as soon as I get home.’

‘I’ll come to Johns from school,’ Danny said, ‘Then we can both hear the news together. Good luck.’ they both called out, ‘We’ll be thinking of you.’

After Danny had hung up, John said, ‘You’ve got to admit it’s looking hopeful.’ ‘Yes,’ Danny said, ‘It would be wonderful wouldn’t it.’ They had a hug and a kiss then Danny went out back to work in the garden and John went off to the shops.

Lunch time came and Danny went in for a coffee and his butties. There was no sign of John. Halfway through eating, John texted saying, ‘Sorry, got tied up again. Been invited out and won’t be back until this evening. See you Tuesday.’

Danny texted back saying, ‘No problem, enjoy yourself.’

He returned to his gardening, quite glad of the opportunity to catch up. About three o’clock, he got a text. ‘Hi, Danny. I don’t know if you’ll remember me, it’s Wayne. I was one of the group of victims who came to see you after the Gordon episode. Is it convenient if I ring you?’

‘Yes, now is fine.’ Danny replied.

Wayne rang a few minutes later. ‘Hi,’ he said, ‘First, thanks again for what you did, my life has been great ever since.’ After a bit of chit chat Wayne told him, ‘I’m calling because a pal of mine went into the forces a few months ago, the RAF.’

‘He’s just come home on his first leave, and he seemed really down. His parents died last year so he has come to stay with us for his weeks leave. He’s a couple of years older than me but we’ve always been like brothers.’

‘We went out for a drink last night, ( I can pass for eighteen now,’ he said with a laugh.) The pub we went to was fairly quiet when we got there so whilst no one was near us, I tried to quiz him as to what was up.’

‘Dean wouldn’t tell me. Eventually he admitted it was because he found it far too embarrassing, even with me. He also told me it related to being in the forces.’

‘When he wouldn’t tell me anything else, I told him that I had been in a similar situation a year ago and had got really depressed. I told him I’d been to see you and how you were a similar age. I told him how easy you were to talk to and how you had sorted it all out for me.’

‘If he hadn’t,’ I said, ‘I would still be feeling like you are now. Can I contact him and see if he will see you. He said no, he couldn’t talk to anyone about it.’

‘However, a few minutes ago he told me he had been thinking it over and yes, he’d like to. He’s only here for another few days so if you can fit him in, I’d appreciate it.’

‘Can he come over right now?’ Danny asked, ‘Same place, do you remember the address?’ There was a sound of a muffled conversation, then Wayne said, ‘We can be with you in ten minutes, Dean has a car. I’ll come with him and introduce you, then I’ll go for a wander round town.’

That arranged, Danny packed up his tools and went back into the house. He put the kettle on, then texted John just in case he came back early for any reason. He had just had a ‘No problem,’ back from John when the doorbell rang.

Answering the door, he found Wayne and a slightly older and taller young man who was very thin. Wayne, who was once Danny’s height was now two inches higher and still powerfully built, gave him a rib crushing hug. ‘Great to see you again.’ he said.

Wayne turned to Dean who was standing quietly by him. ‘This is Dean,’ he said. Dean shook hands and said, ‘Thank you for seeing me.’ ‘Glad to help,’ Danny told him. ‘Come on through,’ he said, ‘Wayne you’ll stop and have a coffee with us, won’t you?’ ‘Sure,’ Wayne said, ‘Then I’ll go for a wander round town.’

They sat round the table in the kitchen. Danny made three coffees then sat with them. ‘How are things with you?’ he asked Wayne. ‘Great,’ Wayne said, ‘Since I left here last time life has been good. I’m finishing school next month and I’ve got a job lined up in a local garage as an apprentice mechanic.’

‘Oh, and I’ve got a girlfriend too,’ he said, ‘We’ve been going out together for two weeks now.’ ‘That’s great,’ Danny said, ‘I’m glad to hear you’re happy.’

‘Now I want you to make Dean happy too, please.’ Wayne said giving them both a smile. Dean just sat quiet and gave a brief smile that didn’t reach his eyes.

Wayne finished his coffee and got up. ‘I’ll leave you to it,’ he said. Then looking at Dean he said, ‘Whatever it is, Danny will sort it for you. Just put yourself in his hands. Text me when you’re carefree and smiling.’ he said to Dean. ‘I’ll let you out.’ Danny said. At the front door, Wayne gave him another hug and this time a kiss. ‘I’ll never forget what you did for me.’ he said.

Returning to the kitchen table, Danny smiled at Dean and said, ‘I don’t know how much Wayne has told you, so I’ll just run through everything. Then you can ask any questions, ok?’

‘Ok,’ Dean replied.

‘The front door is shut and there’s no one else in the house,’ Danny told him. ‘So, no one else can hear anything you say. Nothing you tell me will ever go any further. That’s one of the reasons people open up to me. If at any time you decide you want to leave, you can just get up and go. You don’t need to explain why. You should also know that most people’s problems involve sex of some sort or another. As I’m used to it, it won’t bother me if yours does too.’

‘Finally, if you decide to stay, we won’t discuss your problem at all for ages yet. First off, I’ll get you to tell me all about you, your life and people connected to you. Only when you are feeling very relaxed with me will we look at your problem. After that, hopefully we’ll solve it together.’

‘Have you any questions?’ ‘I think you’ve answered them all,’ he said. ‘Plus, Wayne clearly thinks you’re wonderful. I’m still not sure I’ll be able to tell you about it,’ he said, ‘But at least I’d like to try please.’

‘Come on through to the lounge,’ Danny told him leading the way. ‘Take your shoes off and stretch out on the settee.’ he said. Once Dean was settled, Danny sat on the edge by his knees.

‘There are two essentials to solving a problem,’ he said. ‘The first one is to admit to yourself that you do have a problem. The second thing is to decide to do something about it and do it.’

‘That you are here with me shows you have done both those things. After that there is only one thing that can stop it being solved, do you know what that is?’ ‘No,’ Dean said looking concerned.

‘You.’ Danny said. ‘If you get up and walk out, we fail. No one’s done it yet, so I hope for your sake that you’ll keep my record unbroken.’

‘Now, in a moment I’ll ask you to turn over. Then I will put my hands on your head and massaged your back from head to foot and back again. Whilst I do, I’ll ask you questions about you. Remember all I know about you so far is that your name is Dean, you’re a little older than Wayne, you’re in the RAF and your parents have died.’

‘When you answer, try and give me as much detail as you can. One last thing. I don’t know anything about your problem so I might ask you something connected with it before you feel ready to answer. If that happens, don’t panic, just say ‘Pass’ and we’ll move on and leave it until later. Ok?’

‘Ok.’ Dean said, feeling a little happier. He turned over. Then Danny massaged his head. As he started down his back Danny asked, ‘Tell me about your last year at school.’ That surprised him, it wasn’t the grilling he had expected.

‘I was looking forward to leaving,’ he said, ‘I was never keen on school. I only ever liked metalwork, probably because it was the only subject I excelled at.’