Chapter 3: Can Liam Swim to Safety

Lewis arrived at the shop to find no one there. He let himself in and put the kettle on. When time to open arrived with no sign of Mike he opened the shop and did his best to cope with the usual rush.

It was nearly an hour later when Mike came rushing in. ‘Sorry,’ he said, ‘Tell you later.’ and dived into the fray. When lunchtime came, they were both relieved. Lewis couldn’t get out to go to the chippy before ten to one.

They were busy too, so it was ten past one before he returned. As they ate their lunch Mike explained that Catherine was teething and had kept them all awake most of the night. ‘We finally got some sleep about four o’clock,’ he told him. ‘We both slept through the alarm and even Catherine didn’t disturb. Thank you and well done for opening up.’

‘No problem.’ Lewis told him. After they had eaten Mike took his coffee over to the armchair and stretched out. Seconds later he was fast asleep. Lewis finished his coffee and cleared up the lunch things then sat and relaxed. At a few minutes to two he shook him awake. ‘I’ll go and open up.’ he said.

Mike joined him a few minutes later. ‘That nap and cold water on my face has really bucked me up,’ he said, ‘Thanks.’

They had a busy afternoon and were looking forward to closing. Two minutes before closing time a tall well-built young man came in with an unhappy looking small but wiry looking lad in tow.

They stood to one side waiting. Then Lewis realised it was Dudley. ‘Wow,’ he said going over to him, ‘Great to see you, you haven’t half shot up.’ Dudley gave him a rib crushing hug. ‘This is Lewis.’ he said turning to his companion, ‘Lewis this is Liam, he’s the youngest member of our swimming team.’ They shook hands and Lewis said, ‘Nice to meet you, Liam.’

By now Mike had served the last customer and seen them out. He had eventually recognised Dudley too, so he closed the shop with him inside. He came over and they hugged. ‘I’d never have recognised you,’ he said, ‘What happened?’ ‘I had a growth spurt,’ Dudley said happily, ‘I’m three inches taller than I was last time I saw you.’ He introduced Mike and Liam. Mike smiled at him and told him it was nice to meet him.

They all went through to the back room and Lewis made them all a coffee. ‘Alison sends you both her love.’ Dudley told them. ‘The first time I came into this room,’ Dudley told Liam, ‘I was deeply unhappy, colossally overweight, and very, very unfit. How I am now is entirely due to these two wonderful people.’

Lewis grinned at Liam. ‘He forgot to mention his own hard work and sheer determination.’ he told him. ‘I came at closing time so Liam could meet you,’ Dudley said. ‘He was fourteen two months ago. He’s been a member of the swimming team since then and is popular with the whole team.’

Liam looked a little embarrassed at the praise. ‘One of the many reasons he’s so popular is that he’s always happy and cheers everyone up. But this last month everyone has noticed that he’s been down. He just says there’s nothing the matter when we ask him and then he changes the subject.’

‘A couple of days ago, Michael and I were talking. We decided it was so unlike him, it must be something serious. We got him to sit down with the two of us and told him that we had both had problems we had felt were so embarrassing we couldn’t possibly tell anyone else about them. They could have ruined our lives,’ we told him, ‘But they didn’t.’

‘They didn’t because we went to see Lewis who solves everyone’s problems. Not only does he never tell anyone anything you’ve said to him. He never even tells anyone you’ve been to see him. We can’t make you get help,’ we told him, ‘But we are both asking you as a favour to us, just to come along and meet him.’

‘He agreed and here we are.’ Lewis told him, ‘Anytime you want to come along just let me know. If you do I promise you neither Dudley or Michael or anyone else will ever know you’ve even been.’

He saw that Liam had finished his coffee so he told him, ‘I have a suggestion. Come through into the shop with me for a moment.’ Liam followed him. In the shop Lewis said, ‘In five minutes time Dudley will have left and Mike will have gone home. I’m going to stay behind for fifteen minutes in case you want to come back tonight.’

‘Don’t worry if you don’t, it won’t put me out.’ Lewis gave him his card. ‘There’s my number, so now you have my card and have met me, you know there’s always help here for you if you ever want it. Remember without your cooperation it would be a waste of time, so there’s no point in anyone pushing you into it.’

He explained the five steps of problem solving then they returned to the back room. ‘I’ve given Liam my card and assured him he can contact me any time,’ Lewis told them, ‘So leave it up to him now.’

On cue, Liam stood up and shook hands with him. ‘Thank you,’ he said, ‘It’s been nice to meet you.’ He said goodbye to Mike then looked at Dudley who stood up too. After Dudley had hugged Mike and Lewis the two of them left.

‘I’m going to hang on for ten minutes in case he comes back on his own.’ Lewis said. Mike gave him a hug and a kiss then set off home. Lewis switched the shop lights back on and opened the front door a couple of inches. He sat behind the counter rewinding some of the returned tapes they hadn’t had chance to deal with.

After ten minutes he decided to finish rewinding two more tapes then he would go. He finished them and stood up. He was just coming round the counter when the door opened, and Liam stepped in looking very nervous.

‘Hi,’ Lewis greeted him, ‘Come on in.’ Lewis closed and locked the door, leaving his key in the lock. ‘Look,’ he said to Liam. ‘With a key in the lock even Mike can’t get in and disturb us. But if you want to leave, all you need to do is unlock it and go.’

They went through into the back room were Lewis made them another coffee. As they drank, he ran through with Liam about leaving any time, nothing hurting him, not asking about his problem until he was fully relaxed, going at his speed and saying stop and pass.

Liam had seen how much Dudley liked Lewis, plus he and Michael had praised him so much. Having now met him and chatted to him, he could understand why. He still didn’t think he’d be able to tell him anything about what had happened to him, but he already felt as if he’d known him for ages.

When they had finished their coffee Lewis told him that if he wanted to try, he should go over to the settee, take his shoes off and lie down. ‘Then I’ll come and sit beside you and tell you what happens next.’ he told him.

‘But if you want to leave, you know they way out. Just remember you will always be welcome to return in the future if you want to.’ They stood up and Lewis took the cups to the sink.

Returning he found Liam lying on the settee, shoes neatly placed underneath. Lewis sat on the edge and smiled at him. ‘What I want to do now,’ he told him, ‘Is find out all about you and your life and at the same time get you feeling completely relaxed with me.’

‘How we’re going to do that is by doing two things at once. First, I’ll ask you to turn over, then I’ll massage your back from head to foot and back again. That should get you feeling relaxed with me. At the same time, I’ll ask you all about you and your life because all I know about you so far is that you are called Liam. That you were fourteen two months ago and you’re the youngest member of the school swimming team. Plus, you’re very good friends with Dudley and Michael, both of whom seem to think you have a problem.’

‘When you turn over, I’ll massage your head, but I won’t move on down, or start asking questions until you say, ‘Go.’ So, take as long as you like and when you’re ready, turn over, but remember we move at your speed not mine.’

Liam soon realised that Lewis was just going to sit patiently and wait for him to decide. That seemed to remove any pressure and he felt himself relaxing even more. He smiled at Lewis and turned over.