Chapter 3: Carlos Takes a Chance

THURSDAY

On Thursday evening Danny got a text. ‘Hi, my name is Carlos. I’m fifteen now. I’ve had two texts from you about Robert. I was too nervous to reply after the first one, but when I got Bruce’s as well, I decided to text as I’m having problems sleeping. Can you help me? Thank you, Carlos.’

Danny replied to ask if he could come round on Saturday at ten. He gave him the name of Johns Road. ‘If you come and have a coffee,’ Danny said, ‘We can have a brief chat, then you can decide if you want to stay or not. There’s no obligation to stop, and if you decide you don’t want to stay you don’t have to explain why.’

Danny checked with John, then when Carlos replied saying he would like to come, Danny gave him Johns full address.

SATURDAY

Danny arrived at quarter to ten, in time to have a hug a kiss and a chat with John before he left. As John was opening the door to go shopping a young man was about to knock on the door. They were both startled.

John smiled at him, ‘I guess you’re here for Danny, come on in,’ he said as he stepped back. ‘Danny,’ he called. ‘Whatever it is, Danny will sort it for you,’ John told him, ‘I’m off out, good luck.’

Danny came up as John was speaking. He shook hands with Carlos and took him through to the kitchen. ‘Sit down at the table,’ he said. ‘Here’s what’s going to happen. We’ll have a coffee whilst I tell you a bit about me.’

‘You can then ask me any questions you want, after which you decide if you want to stay or not. If you do stay,’ Danny added, ‘You can get up and leave anytime you want.’

He put the cups on the table and sat down opposite him. Carlos was about three inches shorter than Danny. He looked fit and strong in build and seemed to be of Italian heritage by his complexion and dark hair. He also looked extremely nervous.

‘You look very nervous,’ Danny said, smiling at him. ‘So let me start off by telling you that nothing will happen here without me telling you in advance. I’ll tell you what we are going to do, why we are doing it and what we are trying to achieve. Then most important of all, we won’t do a thing until you say, ‘Yes that’s ok, go ahead.’

‘Nothing you say or do in here will ever be known to anyone else unless you choose to tell them. John who you met as you arrived will not return until after you have left, and I text him to say we’re finished.’

Carlos seemed to visibly relax at that. ‘We are not going to discuss your problem for ages yet,’ Danny told him. ‘The first thing we are going to do is to get you feeling at ease with me, and me getting to know all about you.’

‘To start with, if I ask you anything that you feel unable to answer at that point, all you need to do is say ‘Pass’ and we’ll leave it for later, ok?’ ‘Ok.’ Carlos said looking even happier. ‘Finally, if at any time you want to stop, all you need to do is call out, ‘Stop.’

‘Do you have any questions?’ ‘Your texts said you had counselled two of Roberts victims,’ Carlos said. ‘How are they now?’ ‘They are both happily carrying on with their lives,’ Danny said. ‘I got on well enough with both of them to be sure that if they were still having any problems, they would have contacted me. They haven’t. Once we’ve finished, I won’t contact you again either. But you will always be free to contact me if the need arises.’

‘I can’t think of anything else,’ Carlos said, ‘I’d like to stay please.’

‘That’s a good sign that you will leave here happy,’ Danny told him. ‘We are going through to the lounge now where I want you to take your shoes off and lie on the settee. I’ll sit on the edge and tell you the first stage.’

As he finished speaking, he stood up. Carlos stood too, so Danny led the way. Danny pointed to the settee and Carlos went over and sat down. He took his shoes off and lay down.

Danny sat down on the edge by his knees. ‘The first stage is to get you relaxed and for me to learn more about you. In a moment I’ll ask you to turn over. Then whilst I ask you questions, I will put my hands on your head and massage down your back to your feet and back again.’

‘When I massage your head, I won’t move off it, or start asking questions until you feel ready and say, ‘Go.’ Turn over when you feel ready. Remember we do everything at your speed not mine, so take whatever time you need.’

After a very slight pause, Carlos turned over. Danny rested his hands on the back of his head, feeling immediate tension. He massaged slowly and gently. After about a minute he felt the tension fading, then Carlos said, ‘Go.’ still sounding nervous.

As Danny moved down onto his shoulders he said, ‘Tell me about where you live, what sort of house and who you live with.’

As he moved down his back, Carlos answered, ‘I live in a block of flats. They are fifteen floors high. We live on the eighth floor. I live there with mum and dad and my sister who is three years older than me. I was fifteen a month ago.’

As he was finishing, Danny moved up onto his trousers. He felt him go even more tense. Danny said, ‘That was an excellent answer, clear and detailed. That’s a big help.’ He moved on down the back of his thighs and asked, ‘How do you all get along with each other?’

Carlos’s tension faded as Danny moved down his thighs. ‘I get on fine with mum and dad,’ he said. ‘I get on well enough with my sister too, but she has a tendency to be bossy at times.’

As Danny started up from his feet he asked, ‘Do you have any hobbies?’ ‘I like sailing,’ Carlos said as Danny moved up his thighs. ‘I don’t have a yacht of my own, but when we go on holiday, I can usually hire a one man one. Or sometimes I can join one as a crew member.’ He had tensed up once more as Danny massaged his cheeks.

‘So are the ones you crew on, big boats?’ Danny asked, feeling him relaxing again as he moved up his back. ‘Sometimes it’s just a four man,’ Carlos said, ‘But I did get invited to crew on a millionaire’s yacht once. It was seventy feet long and he was moving it from Anglesey down to Weston-Super-Mare.’

‘It took us three days because the wind wasn’t ideal. He was selling it before getting a new one, so we came back on the train. There were six others plus me and him.’

Danny reached his head and told him to turn over. When he was settled, Danny smiled at him and said, ‘You’re doing fine. Now I’m going to do exactly the same down your front. With more questions of course.’ That got the trace of a grin.

As he massaged his head Danny said, ‘As you sail, I presume you can swim, do you have any other hobbies?’ As he moved down onto his shoulders Carlos answered, ‘Yes to swimming, I learned when I was two. I like football, I play for the school team. I like climbing too.’

As Danny moved over his stomach, he said, ‘You’re quite active then. You have a good strong looking figure so how would you describe your strength?’

‘I’m pretty strong for my size, I think,’ Carlos said. Then he added ‘Physically at least.’ As Danny moved over the front of his trousers, he went very tense. ‘How do you mean?’ Danny asked not letting on that he had noticed. ‘I’m not strong in bravery,’ Carlos said, ‘I’m not a fighter for instance.’

‘If I was attacked, I’d be more likely to run than fight.’ he said. He relaxed as Danny moved down his legs. ‘You’re just brave in different ways,’ Danny said. ‘Lots of people would be too scared to go in a yacht or go climbing. Everyone is different.’

Starting back up from his feet Danny asked, ‘How did you get on with the other boys at school?’ ‘Well,’ Carlos said, ‘I got on with all except one. The school bully wasn’t liked by anyone. He never bothered me, although I don’t know why.’

As he came up his thighs and over his trousers again, Danny said, ‘Looking at you, anyone would see a small but powerfully built person. I think any bully looking at you would assume that if he tried anything, you’d knock him into the middle of next week.’