Chapter 1: Lewis Senses A Problem

‘I’m not suggesting you do,’ he told him, ‘But if you did happen to return here at five minutes to five today, you could learn a bit more about what I do. And if you didn’t,’ he said giving him a card, ‘This is my number so you could always contact me in the future if you wanted to.’

‘Thank you,’ Len said putting it in his pocket. ‘Do you want to do general building or anything specific?’ Mike asked changing the subject. ‘I’d like to be able to do most things,’ Len told them, ‘But plumbing and roofing would be my favourite, I think. I don’t know for sure,’ he said sadly, ‘Because I’ve never done any of it.’

‘How did you get the trial period that you’re doing now?’ Lewis asked. They could both see the difference as Len went from bubbly and excited about building to quiet and reserved. ‘I went to the job centre,’ he said, I thought they would have jobs to send me to.’

‘What happened?’ Lewis asked. ‘They gave me a form to fill in,’ Len told them. ‘It asked all my details then what I wanted to do and what experience I had had. I put that I’d like to learn to be a builder or a plumber. Then I said, ‘Although I have no experience, I am a hard worker and keen to learn.’

‘I took it back to the counter and handed it in. The guy looked through it, scanned it and his machine printed out three names and addresses.’

‘Try them,’ he said. ‘If you do get a job, let us know.’

‘I went to the first one who said they had taken someone on six months ago and were fed up with telling the employment office.’

‘The second one was a small shop selling DIY materials who had wanted a shop assistant. Even so I would have taken it just to have a job, but they had taken someone on four weeks ago.’ ‘I’m sure we’ve informed the job centre,’ the man told me, ‘I’m sorry you’ve had a wasted trip, I’ll let them know again.’ He wished me luck.’

‘Then I went to the third one. He at least seemed to be a builder. He had a small yard and advertised all types of building work. I wasn’t very taken with him, but when he said I could do a three-month trial I jumped at it. At least I thought, at my next job interview I could say I had actually done something.’

‘How long have you been there?’ Mike asked. ‘Three weeks so far,’ Len said. ‘So, what building jobs have you done up to now?’ Lewis asked. ‘None,’ Len replied, ‘I’ve been loading skips mainly. I get dropped off and left on my own to fill it. Then when I ring to say I’m done, I’m picked up and usually dropped off at another one. If there’s not a lot of time left in the day, the boss’s nephew picks me up from the last skip and I go and help him.’

‘How do you feel about loading the skips?’ Mike asked. ‘It’s very boring,’ Len said. ‘And it’s jolly hard work. But at least I’ve got a job and it’ll build my strength up. I was disappointed not to be learning anything, but mum said everyone has to start at the bottom.’

‘That’s very true,’ Lewis told him, ‘What do you do when you help the nephew?’ They both noticed the change in Len at that question. ‘Oh, just bits and bobs.’ he said. ‘We just knock plaster off the walls and pull the ceilings down in an old house, nothing of any great interest.’

‘Do you get the impression that the builder would start teaching you things if he kept you on after your trial?’ Lewis asked. ‘I can’t be certain,’ Len said, ‘But I don’t get the impression that he does any actual building work, he just seems to clear rubble away for other builders.’

‘You don’t seem to be happy there,’ Mike said, ‘Why don’t you leave and look elsewhere?’ ‘My dad died three years ago,’ Len told them. ‘Mum struggles to make ends meet. My wage is only the basic minimum wage for my age group, but it helps her out no end. I couldn’t do that to her unless I had another job to go to.’

‘So, for the sake of your mum you’d suffer anything,’ Lewis said sympathetically. ‘That’s a credit to you, but there are some things you should never have to suffer. Please don’t suffer alone. If you did come and see me, often just sharing a problem is a big relief. Someone else can often see a solution that you can’t. If you did come, you can get up and leave anytime you want. You don’t have to give a reason, just get up and go.’

‘Right, it’s time we opened up.’ Mike said as he shook Lens hand and wished him luck. As Mike went through to open up the shop, Lewis shook Len’s hand and told him, ‘Whatever it is you are being forced to suffer, it’s unlikely to be anything I haven’t heard before. I’ll be here at five. The rest is up to you.’

They went to the counter and Len picked up his videos. Then as he went to leave, he gave Lewis a smile and said, ‘Thank you for lunch.’ he waved to Mike who was already serving a customer.

As their busy afternoon came to a close, they were both serving a final customer. As they both headed for the door Mike followed ready to lock up. As he was closing the door Len appeared. Mike held the door and let him in. ‘Welcome,’ he told him, ‘Come on in.’

Lewis had gone through to the back, so Len followed Mike through. ‘Visitor.’ Mike called out as he came in. Lewis shook hands with Len and told him, ‘Welcome and well done, the hardest part of any journey is the first step.’

Mike had put his coat on by now, ‘Right, I’m off home.’ he called out, ‘Len, you’re in good hands.’ he said as he shook his hand. ‘Put the kettle on,’ Lewis told him, ‘I’ll be back in a moment.’ He went into the shop with Mike, gave him a hug and a kiss then locked the door behind him.

‘Len, can you come out here a moment please?’ Lewis called. When he came through Lewis pointed out his key in the lock. ‘With that in there,’ he said, ‘No one, not even Mike can get in and hear anything you say. But if you want to leave, all you need to do is come through, turn the key and let yourself out.’

They returned to the back room where Lewis made them a cup of coffee each. As they sat at the table Lewis explained about getting to know all about him first. ‘We won’t even look at your problem until you feel relaxed enough with me to do so.’ he told him.

‘If I ask you something you find too difficult to answer at that moment, just say ‘Pass’ and we’ll leave it until later and move on. Whatever we do, we move along at your speed, not mine. Let me reassure you again that nothing you tell me will ever be repeated to anyone without your express permission.’

‘Obviously Mike knows you are here today, but he won’t tell anyone that and no one else will ever know you have been to see me unless you tell them yourself.’

‘Now, very occasionally, some problems are so bad and so difficult that I need a bit of help to sort them out. If that should happen with your problem, I’ll tell you who I want to tell, what I want to tell them and why I want to involve them. But unless you agree to what I suggest, none of it happens, ok?’

‘Ok,’ Len said, ‘That seems fair enough.’ Do you have any questions Lewis asked. ‘How did you learn to do what you do?’ Len asked. ‘Accidentally, by practise really,’ Lewis told him. ‘A friend asked me to try and find out what was upsetting his relative. It turned out I had a knack for getting people to open up to me and it mushroomed from there.’

‘Solving the actual problem is usually the simplest part. When you try and deal with a problem on your own, because it is affecting you personally, you often can’t see the obvious solution. But a fresh pair of eyes usually can.’

They had finished their coffees by then, so Lewis told him, ‘There are five stages to every problem. You have already done two. The first one is admitting to yourself that you have a problem. The second one is deciding to do something about it. You wouldn’t be here now if you hadn’t done both of those already.’