Chapter 1: The Girl In Joeys Dreams

At the end of school, Lewis headed to the main gate. Joey was already there waiting. His face lit up as Lewis approached. ‘Let’s walk along,’ Lewis said, ‘And I’ll explain as we go.’

‘Are you going to get into any trouble getting home late?’ Lewis asked him. ‘No,’ Joey said, ‘My uncle is away for a couple of days, and I rang mum to tell her I was going to a school friends house for tea.’

‘Does that mean you won’t get a meal when you get home?’ Lewis asked. ‘Yes, but it doesn’t matter, this is more important,’ he replied. ‘Ok,’ Lewis said, ‘We’ll get something from the chippy before we start.’

‘As they reached the bench where Lewis had intended sitting to kill a bit of time, they carried on. He told Joey, ‘I use the room behind the video shop where I work on a Saturday. It closes at five and Mike the boss goes home then.’

‘So, what we’ll do is get something from the chippy a few doors down and take it in whilst we wait for the shop to close. Then you can have something to eat and get to feel used to being there as well. But we won’t start until Mike has gone home, so no one but me will hear anything you say.’

That seemed good, and Joey was pleased to hear that he wouldn’t be going hungry after all. Then he remembered something. ‘Oh, I can’t.’ he said, ‘I’ve got no money.’

‘That’s ok,’ Lewis said, ‘I invited you, so I’ll get the meals.’ ‘Thank you.’ Joey said. They went to the chippy and selected their meals. Arriving at the shop Mike was serving, so Lewis waved to him and led the way through to the back room. He had texted Mike earlier out of courtesy to let him know they were coming. As usual he had got a thumbs up back.

Lewis split the meals and put them on the table then put the kettle on. As they ate Lewis told Joey that a lot of people had been in this room having suffered the same thing as him.

‘Did you move in with your uncle at the same time as you started at our school?’ Lewis asked. ‘Yes,’ Joey said, ‘Just a week earlier.’ ‘Where you happy at your last school?’ ‘Yes, I was very sad to leave it.’ he told him, ‘But it was a sad time anyway.’

‘Why was that?’ Lewis asked. ‘We lived on a farm,’ Joey said, ‘My dad had an accident on a tractor, and he died before he reached hospital. We lived in a cottage on the farm.’

‘It was what’s called a tied cottage, which meant it goes with the job. Once dad was no longer working there, we had to move out ready for his replacement. There was no council housing available in the area and we had three months to leave. It was a last resort moving in with my uncle.’

By now they had finished eating and were having a coffee. ‘Mike will be in soon,’ Lewis said noticing the time. ‘He’ll just say hello, collect his coat and go.’

‘Who is your uncle related to?’ Lewis asked. ‘He isn’t,’ Joey said. ‘He’s a friend of my dad’s from his childhood. I’ve always called him uncle.’ ‘Before you moved in with him, how often did you see him?’ Lewis asked. ‘Rarely,’ Joey said. ‘I can only ever remember him visiting us twice.’

‘Did you or your dad ever visit him?’ ‘I never did, and I’m not aware of dad doing it either.’ Joey told him.

Just then Mike came in. Lewis introduced him to Joey as a friend from school. Mike smiled at him, ‘If you’re here with Lewis, then you must be an unhappy friend,’ he told him. ‘But one thing you can be sure of is that Lewis will soon change you into a happy friend.’

‘He’s solved a lot of problems for a lot of people,’ Mike told him. ‘Including a few members of my family. And don’t worry, he never tells me, or anyone else a thing. Good luck.’ he said shaking his hand.

Lewis saw him out with their usual farewell. Then he called Joey in and showed him the key in the lock. Returning to the back room, they sat back at the table.

‘The hardest part usually,’ Lewis said, ‘Is getting the victim to admit to what has happened to them. You have already done that more or less so today it should be easier.’

‘Once I know everything that happened, how it started and why, it’s usually fairly easy to come up with a solution. But you should know that no matter what you tell me and no matter what I advise, nothing will happen without your full approval.’

‘What I want to do now is to find out all about you and everything connected with your life. I want to get you feeling so relaxed with me that you will be able to tell me everything that happened and how you felt about it.’

‘If you are happy to continue, I want you to go over to the settee, take your shoes off and lie down. Then I will sit beside you and start off by massaging your back from your head to your feet. That will start to make you feel relaxed with me.’

‘At the same time, I’ll ask you all about you. That will help me understand what happened. Have you ever had a massage before?’ ‘No, never,’ Joey said. ‘But I’ve seen them being done in films.’

‘What is the person who is being massaged usually wearing?’ Lewis asked. ‘Either shorts, or just a towel.’ Joey replied. ‘Do you know why that is?’ Lewis asked. ‘I’ve never really thought about it,’ Joey said, ‘But I have seen some of them where they rubbed oil in, so I suppose it’s to stop them getting it on their clothes.’

‘Quite possibly,’ Lewis told him, ‘But feeling someone else’s hands massaging you is far nicer, and far more relaxing, when it’s directly on your skin. Much more than when it’s over layers of clothes, regardless of oil.’

‘Remembering that we are working towards getting you totally relaxed and not frightened, I want you to go over to the settee, take off as much or as little as you feel comfortable with, and lie down.’

Joey got up and went over to the settee. As he took his shoes off, he was deciding what to do. He was still amazed that he had admitted to Lewis some of what had happened to him. Thinking it over that afternoon he had decided that it was because he felt safe with him.

With what Lewis had told him and what Mike had said, he was starting to believe that a solution was possible that would stop his suffering. He thought about running around in his trunks at the swimming pool. He had never given a thought to the dozens of people seeing him.

Being in here in a private room with Lewis should be terrifying him and making him remember being with his uncle in the cabin. But it wasn’t, he just sensed that Lewis would never ever do anything to hurt anyone.

He stood up again and pulled his shirt off. He put it on the armchair and without any hesitation, he undid his trousers, took them off and put them with his shirt. Turning to face Lewis, completely at ease in just his underpants, he asked, ‘Should I lie on my front or my back.’

‘On your back for a moment, please.’ Lewis said. As he settled into place, Lewis went over and sat at his side. ‘This is an exceptionally good start,’ he said. ‘I’m already certain we’re going to succeed.’

‘Nothing will hurt you in here or take you by surprise.’ Lewis explained, ‘Everything we do, I’ll tell you beforehand what it is, why I want to do it and what I hope to achieve by doing it. But even then, nothing happens until you tell me it’s ok.’

As he spoke Lewis studied his body. He was about five foot seven inches tall. He was slim but not skinny. His shoulders were slightly wider than his hips, but he didn’t give the impression of being particularly strong.

He had brown hair and the hairs on his chest were also brown and quite thick. The bulge in his underpants was soft and seemed to be quite big compared to his body size.

‘When you turn over,’ Lewis told him, ‘I’ll massage from your head to your feet and back again. Whilst I do, I’ll ask you lots of questions. Please try and answer them all fully. But if I ask you something you feel too embarrassed to answer at that point, just say ‘Pass’ and we’ll move on, ok?’ ‘Ok,’ Joey replied thinking that sounded good.