Full Circle

by Linden Carroll

  “Oh God bless him, poor little lad.”

  Elsie smothered him in hugs and he thought he would actually stop breathing, so buried was he in that ample body. She smelt good though just like fresh baked bread.

  They had done him proud. He was weighed down with the weight of the bag as he went down the road humming.

  “Me mam always said I had the luck of the Irish. I suppose I do have Irish somewhere in me. Seems to me they’re everywhere, in the pubs, down in the docks, yep, reckon I’ve got Irish running through me veins.”

  ****

  Frank, Bob, Sid and Elsie were to become the mainstay of his existence; without them, he would have perished for sure.

  Chapter 5

  Alex Sets His Routine on Streets

  Alex decided to walk from Chalk Farm to Primrose Hill as he wasn’t one hundred percent sure of the exact location of the bombed building but the remains of a huge red brick building stood out in his memory and he knew he would be able to find it again. Maybe it had been a boys’ home at one time. He cringed at the thought. Boys’ home, that would be ironical to wind up living in a disused boys’ home after all his efforts to avoid it. Trudging along the road and beginning to feel somewhat desolate, he wondered if he should come clean with Bob and throw himself on his mercy. Well, he’d have a shot at making it on his own before he did that, he decided. Once he’d worked with Bob and they really got to know each other, things might be different.

  The road looked vaguely familiar to him and suddenly there it was; unchanged and just as daunting. He knew of one entrance hidden behind the coal bunker and he was pretty sure there was another behind a barberry bush around the back if it was still there. That would be his choice because from what he remembered, it led directly into the basement which should be relatively undamaged by the bombing. That entrance had the added advantage that he would be able to squirm his way around the treacherous thorns of the barberry. Being lithe and slim, he would succeed but it would be a major deterrent to anybody else who might have the same idea.

  Following a quick reconnaissance of the outer structure, he was delighted to see the bush was still there only much bigger and after a cursory glance around, he squeezed behind it. Sure enough, there was a small hatch, which he was just able to get through.

  “Well, I’d better get my act together soon, because it’ll not be long before I’m too big to get through this hole,” he muttered aggravated and stressed that he would ruin his clothes as he dusted himself down. It was imperative that he didn’t look like what he was, a street waif.

  The basement was perfect as he had suspected. There were a couple of small window slits with bars across and overall the rooms were pretty clean, all things being considered. He tracked down the stairs leading to the upper floor noting they were quite badly damaged. It was essential there was no entry from above so he ascended gingerly to the door at the top. Joy oh joy, the key was still in the lock and although difficult to turn, with the use of a little of his own lock oil he was able to lock it from the inside as he would have no need to go into the upper reaches and wanted to make absolutely sure that nobody could get down to the lower level. Having ascertained that there was just the one entrance, the one which he’d used, he felt a little more secure. In the event of an emergency, he reckoned he could exit through one of the bigger windows; there were two which seemed a little frail compared to the others and he could use his wrench on the rusted out bars.

  A few hours’ work gave him a much better sense of the place. After all, he only wanted it for sleeping and resting up. Having cleaned up the old wooden cot, he figured it would make a reasonable bed. He could get something in the form of a bed roll from the second-hand shop later. Leaving stealthily, he was satisfied that his future living accommodation was workable. Of course, he’d always carry his valuables with him and only leave superfluous stuff behind as he moved about.

  He stopped off in the little park with the willow tree for a bite to eat and freshen up in the stream as he entered the Regents Park and Primrose Hill area, and soon came across his ‘money’ tree thinking he would deposit the tin and some more cash. He shinned up it quite easily. The hole was even better than he remembered and would keep his belongings completely dry.

  The rest of the day was taken up with exploring the outskirts of Regents Park, the canal and Primrose Hill Park. Meandering down the street, his eye fell on a little second-hand shop tucked in tightly amongst other little businesses. The huge range of goods really impressed him and taking his time he scrutinised everything carefully, fully aware he too was being scrutinised in case he pocketed anything. Certainly there was everything in stock that he would need and more; something for every occasion it seemed. The old man who ran the shop was very kind once he knew the boy had honest intentions and gave him a really good deal on the last bed roll. What a steal, Alex was thinking as he affixed it to his knapsack.

  On his way back to the bombed building, he stopped at the far end of the stream in the little park and filled his water container. This end of the park was closer to the building and would be a shorter distance to carry water. Evening was drawing in and he reached his destination in half light. That night he slept well, feeing very secure in his new accommodation.

  ****

  By the time he got to Earls Court station the next day, there was a fine drizzle falling which he knew could get depressing; thank goodness he had found somewhere dry to sleep. Fred wasn’t hard to spot as Bob had said. He gave a cheery wave to which Fred responded smiling broadly.

  “Ow yer doing then? You must be the lad Bob was on about.”

  “Yes sir, Bob tells me you have the details of my next assignment.”

  Alex hoped he sounded sophisticated, a man of the world.

  “You got that right. Just give me a few minutes to sell the rest of the ‘Morning Edition’ and we’ll pop up the road for some breakie and discuss business.”

  Alex pulled his cap down further over his ears against the drizzle and squatted down next to Fred under the canopy. It was essential to keep himself and his clothes as dry as possible. His mum had warned him about hanging around in damp or wet clothes. “That’s where the colds came from,” she always said and he couldn’t afford to get sick, not now, not right at the start of his career.

  He liked Fred who obviously reciprocated and as they ate their breakfast in the little café, Alex felt quite at home. George, the owner was a long-standing friend of Fred’s and was very generous with their eggs and bacon, and with the bill, as Alex found out when he was counting out his money.

  “Put that away lad, it’s on the house,” was the almost irritated retort he got from the big man in the apron. Alex felt obliged to repay the gesture.

  “Thanks very much and if you ever need me to do any jobs for you, I’m right handy with locks, cash tills, in fact just say the word if you have anything you need doing or fixing. I’m your man. I’ll be in here with Fred quite regular.”

  He looked at Fred for reassurance and confirmation which he got, along with a knowing wink, directed at both him and George.

  “Well young man, I’ll keep that in mind. I should have some jobs for you from time to time. Now do you want refills or anything else?”

  Alex thought he’d died and gone to heaven.

  ****

  His assignment was for the next night. He was to meet Charlie, Bob’s contact and his mate at a warehouse in the city centre; they needed him to crack a lock which had proved impenetrable for both men. After they had gained entry and completed their tasks, he was to return the lock to its unopened state. Alex thought it would be a real feather in his cap if he could achieve what they couldn’t.

  After the job was done, they would be giving him either an envelope or package to take back to Bob. That would be terrific because he could spend the night at the old theatre and visit Frank the next morning before he hooked up with Bob. Yes, that would work really well.

  After a shaking of hands, he bade Fred go
odbye and both looked forward to their next get-together which by all accounts was not too far off.

  ****

  Sid and Elsie gave Alex the usual warm welcome and fed him well when he called in later that day. He did a few jobs for Sid and repaired Elsie’s old treadle sewing machine, for which she was eternally grateful. Sid was beaming broadly.

  “See, I told you he was a clever lad.”

  Once again Alex left with a knapsack that he could hardly hoist up on his back and enough food to feed an army. By this time, the drizzle had turned to light rain and he was anxious to get himself bedded down for the evening. Must get more batteries when I’m at Bob’s, the torch light is getting a bit dim, he thought, he made a mental note on his ‘to do’ list as he drifted off to sleep that night.

  ****

  The next day found him at Frank’s who was overjoyed to see him and once the preliminaries were through, Alex got straight to the point.

  “Do you have any jobs for me?”

  “Yep, made a list if you want to work through it.”

  Alex glanced over it and was pleased to see that the items listed were a piece of cake for him; every job was dead easy. He enjoyed his day with Frank and was glad he could help out. He knew the old man was getting on and his arthritis was impeding him in many ways. When he left, he knew he’d have to stop off at the theatre before he went on to the job. Once again the knapsack was too heavy. He couldn’t take it like that to work, it was essential to travel light. Deciding to lighten the load a little, he entered his city residence and reorganised his knapsack, preparing food and clothes for his evening’s return after meeting with Charlie.

  The job went well that night, very smooth without incident. Alex was through the lock in less than a minute; both men looked at each other and back at the boy with admiration if not a little sheepishly as it had proved beyond their capabilities. Alex did his disappearing act and melded into the shadows while he waited for them to come out which was in short order. As always, anxious to get going, he demanded Bob’s ‘return on investment’ while he restored the lock to its original state.

  Clutching his package, he disappeared down the back streets like grease lighting and didn’t breathe easily until he was back in the theatre. Upon opening his food package from Frank, he came across another little envelope once again a generous offering from his benefactor. Boy, I may have to get that bank account opened sooner than I expected, he thought. That tin isn’t going to hold too many more of these rolls of notes.

  ****

  The next day as Alex approached Bob’s front door, it burst open and he noticed with amusement that Bob was hastily hustling a very nice looking woman onto the pavement. Her dress resplendent tripped the fine line between decadence and flamboyance. Bob was covered in embarrassment exacerbated by Alex’s cheeky wink.

  “What are you ogling at boy, aren’t I allowed friends? This is Cathy. Cathy this is Alex.”

  Bob was making a valiant effort to bring some composure into the proceedings but knew he’d been well and truly nabbed. It wasn’t far past sunup and lady friends would normally be at home in their own beds at this time.

  “Nice to meet you young man, Bob has told me lots of good stuff about you,” and turning to Bob, “Bob don’t forget about Friday. I’ll meet you at the pub.”

  Cathy’s bright and friendly personality more than made up for any shortcomings in her dress sense, a style unto her own. Then she was gone, her delightful perfume pervading the air.

  Bob met Alex’s penetrating intense gaze.

  “Yes, that’s my friend Cathy, I’ve known her for years, we’re really good friends.”

  “Yes, I gathered that.”

  Alex was really sticking his neck out just begging for a clip round the ear for his insolence but he was having too much fun and anyway Bob was now much more interested in the package that he was digging out of his knapsack. Positively snatching it from Alex, he disappeared into the back regions, only to appear shortly after grinning all over his face.

  “That’s for you boy and welcome to the team.”

  Alex was grinning all over his face too when he saw what was in his envelope and continued to do so all through their meal, even when Bob got launched on one of his political diatribes.

  “And I don’t know if you’ve heard or been following this nuclear debacle but they’ve just announced that we’ve got a nuclear bomb, you can bet it’s only to compete with the Ruskies. Well, we’re well and truly in it now. You mark my word, this is the start of the cold war. Wouldn’t you think they’ve had enough of it, two wars since 1914? The country’s only just beginning to recover from the last lot and they’re at it again.”

  Alex was listening with half an ear, busily planning his routine as he wouldn’t be reporting to Fred for a couple of days. He would definitely call on Arnie at the market. Maybe do a few jobs and stock up on produce. He also thought he might look Dan up as it was ages since he had seen him.

  ****

  Such was the routine for the next couple of years. Bob never asked him about his mother and Alex suspected that he knew he had been fed a load of codswallop regarding Alex and his mum moving back together. Alex did wonder; however, what Bob must be thinking about how he was living but the subject was never raised.

  Bob had given him the use of his loft to sleep over when timing between jobs got erratic and when an assignment was in the area. Alex had another growth spurt and thought he’d better do something about the ‘money tree’ situation. His last trip to the tree had been rather nostalgic for Alex and after retrieving his personal stash, his feet firmly on the ground, he laid his hands on the bark of the trunk.

  “Thank you, tree, you’ve served me well but I’m almost a man now, too old and too big to climb you anymore.”

  His hands felt warm against the bark, almost as if he could feel the life of the great tree pulsating up the trunk.

  Bob had been only too pleased to let him use the pawnshop address for convenience and helped him to open his first bank account. A sizeable sum was deposited to open the account. Bob was impressed, giving Alex one of his familiar winks.

  That day was memorable. When they left the bank they jostled and played around all the way up the street, bonding in friendship with an ice cream each.

  “I’m a man of means, thanks to you. I’m the rich kid on the block.”

  “That you are lad, that you are and there’s more in the pot at the end of the rainbow.”

  Chapter 6

  The First Meeting

  Alex was in his 15th year and knew he should be 16 to apply for a social security number, which he was going to do, as that was the only way to earn real money. A permanent address and an employer would be required to complete the forms so he resolved to sit down with Bob and ask him if he would help him out so that everything was legal.

  Cripes, he thought, I suppose I’ll have to come clean at that time and spill the beans about how I’ve been living. One thing’s for sure, everything is going to be in order so that I can’t be forced back to the authorities and shipped out of the country.

  He went back into the city fairly regularly on jobs for Bob, although he was still based in Primrose Hill. The burnt building had been his home off and on for more than two years now, along with a couple of emergency stop overs, as he called them. When he was in the centre doing jobs for Bob, he still stayed in the old theatre overnight which was much the same as when he and Dan had played there. It was one of those old buildings that everybody seemed to have forgotten about. His ‘quarters’ were quite liveable now that he had furnished them with a few basic necessities and quite comfortable considering the circumstances.

  Since opening his bank account, Alex had accrued an impressive amount; every pound he could spare went into the bank and the clerk had set him up with a little record book so that he could see his total increase with every deposit he made. He was filled with pleasure as he watched it grow. Grinning wryly at the last deposit, the thought cross
ed his mind of an old man still climbing the tree to get his stash. Bob had been really terrific in helping him out and had personally accompanied him to the bank to open the account.

  Frank was always glad to see him. Alex was sad to see his old friend was definitely showing signs of age although always appeared young at heart. He put him at somewhere around 70 or more. It was hard to pin point his exact age because he still had a full head of hair only flecked with grey. Frank still loved his bakery and all his customers kept him on his toes. They had been regulars for years and the business was mostly through word of mouth. Alex would remember the vanilla slices for as long as he lived, light and fluffy layered pastry squares stuffed with jam and cream, and topped with an icing sugar glaze and when dairy was in short supply, the bread pudding full of raisins and spices was out of this world. A slice of that would carry him all day. Frank’s prices were good too, so he was never short of customers.

  Whenever Alex worked at night away from Bob’s, he continued to stay overnight in the old theatre if it was reasonably close or if not, a bombed tenement building or disused warehouse were always places where he could avoid the other street people. He was aware there was always the chance of running into acquaintances and other boys who had been orphaned as he was, running wild to escape the authorities. The city was full of them; he had to watch himself that was for sure. Alex knew he could stay with Frank and did on some occasions but he had to have some very good reason for working at night, so on those occasions he stayed on the street and that night was one such occasion.

  He had to meet a buddy of Bob’s in the alley behind an antique shop. There was a safe to be cracked and they knew Alex was just the boy for the job. As always, casting around in all directions, he entered the alley. About halfway down he came upon two men in an alcove. He knew Charlie but not the other man and regarded him suspiciously as he did all strangers. He would get the job done and get out of there pronto he decided.

  “Come on then let’s get a move on. Where is it?”