Chapter 11: A True Friend

Thursday 26-Apr 2007

As Chris walked towards Shahia, he thought about what he should say, and how she might respond. In his plan, he needed to be smooth and confident, and finish with impeccable timing. Now was the time. He had one chance up front to say enough that she'd know he was well-informed, and also to show her that she didn't need to be afraid.

As for how she might respond, he figured there were three possibilities. She might explode, rip into him. If she did, well, he'd wear that. Or she might fall apart, burst into tears. If she did, he'd do what he could to comfort her. Or, alternately, she might get icy, dismissive, and insulting. He'd rather not have this outcome, but he'd just wear this one too. Whatever happened, he just had to look past it, figure out how to reassure that he was dead serious about helping her.

Chris watched her as she watched him approach. As he started to come close, she put her book aside, and put her hands on the ground, as if to get up. It was a sign he'd been watching for, and he slowed and turned a little to her side, as if he was going to walk straight past her; odd how the skill of herding cattle was coming in so handy here. She didn't relax, but she didn't stand either. When he was nearly close enough, he turned back to her and quickly sat down, as close as he could without spooking her.

He looked up at her, and saw her looking directly at him, a mix of fear and steely determination in her eyes. He took a deep breath, and started.

"I have a younger sister called Bec, and there's a girl in her class named Alyssa. Alyssa's got a brother named Hassan, and a baby sister named Maria. They don't live with their mum and dad, because they died in an accident. Instead, their oldest sister looks after them, and, like I said, I think she's just absolutely amazing, a real hero. But I know that she's so lonely and afraid, because she's an illegal immigrant and she could lose them any time. So I'd like to be her friend, to help her, so she doesn't have to be so afraid and lonely.

"And I'm deeply, deeply sorry that I've joined in ragging you because you're middle-eastern."

Shahia stared at him intensely, her expression not changing at all, though Chris could see her chest heaving. For maybe half a minute neither of them said anything.

Finally, her eyes flicked downwards, and then she looked back at him, and spoke in a soft voice, "How did you find out?"

Chris thought about his answer. She should know that she couldn't keep secrets like that, that it wouldn't even help her, but he also had to reassure her, he couldn't dump too much on her at once.

"I figured it out from what you've said, and what Bec has seen, and I found an old newspaper article about your parents' accident on the Age website."

Shahia looked around them, frowning just a very little. Chris followed her eyes, checking that no one else was approaching. When he looked back, she asked, "Who else have you told?"

"My parents know; they helped me work it out, but no one else."

"Please, don't tell anyone else," Shahia implored him.

Chris held his hands up and looked her in the eye. "I won't tell anyone, I promise. I already figured that out."

"Good."

Shahia held his eye, as if she was searching for answers. "What do you want from me?" Shahia spoke quietly, but with dread, as if she was sure that Chris would want something from her, something she wouldn't like.

Chris looked at her in surprise. "Nothing. I don't want anything from you, except that you'll let me help you somehow so that you don't have to be so lonely and afraid."

Shahia gulped in relief, though her face was still. "So why do you want to help me?"

"Because it's wrong that you should be so alone. People should be helping you out, and so I'd like to."

"Why you?"

"I..." Chris stopped. Why him? Why not someone else? He shrugged. "I don't know why it's me. But it's what you said, Australia is us, it's what we make of it, and so here I am. Now that I know about you, I have to help you."

There was a pause, and they both looked at each other in silence. Once again, Shahia's chest was heaving. Chris decided to wait it out. He'd rocked her boat, he needed to deal with the consequences, and right now that meant that he'd let her take the lead. He had to admire her self control; though she was obviously upset, and Chris could only imagine how much, she still had total control over her expression.

Eventually Shahia got her breathing under control, and asked "How can I trust you?"

Chris knew the answer to this one; he'd already discussed it with his parents, and they'd pointed out how hard this was going to be.

"Right now, you can't trust me. You have so much to lose, and you've seen me do some really stupid things. So of course, you can't trust me right now. But nothing's ever mattered to me before, there's never been a reason to care." Chris paused and looked directly into Shahia's eyes. "What you are doing gives me a reason to care. I promise you that I will never put you or your family at risk."

"You're right that I can't trust you. You have no idea what I have to lose."

Chris winced, but he knew that it didn't matter, whether she was right or wrong.

"Maybe I don't. But I know enough to know that I want to help you. You don't have to do anything, but I want you to know that I will do anything you want."

"What can you do to help me?"

"Well, I know that you miss school sometimes, so maybe I could take notes for you? Or maybe I could bring lunch for you?"

Chris paled inside. That had sounded so useless. What could he do? But after last week, he knew what he had to say, and he knew that he'd regret it, but, as he'd said before that, if it wasn't real, then it wasn't real.

"I spent all last week acting as the single parent for my brother and sister, to help me understand you better. I'm not real good at it, but if it helps you, I'll come around and do whatever housework you want."

"You'll do housework for me? A boy?"

Chris nodded. "Yes, I know how to do it. And I'm going to look out for you here, too. If anyone hassles you, I'll stand up to them for you. But most of all, I'd just like to be a friend that you can talk to and rely on."