Angels of Hope Part 3

[The Way of the Eternal Dove]

Chapter Four



‘So it’s life on the edge, is it?’

‘In more ways than one. But, yeh. Northside Caravan Park is on the edge of the city, and I am an edgy kind of guy,’ said Mikey, smiling at Sheila.

‘Edgy. I like that. A baaad boy.’

‘Hey, you know me,’ he responded.



She sat on the other seat around the small plastic table in front of the Robinson’s caravan cabin. The caravan cabin itself was an older model caravan from the 1970s which had had one end of it broken open and attached to a one bedroom cabin which had been put up on the campsite. They rented the site, naturally, but had a good deal with the owners for being long term residents. It was cheap, had just enough room for them to live in, and satisfied their basic needs. It was far from flash, of course, but that was the Robinson clan - far from flash. John Robinson had lived in the place since the late 1970s, after his marriage had fallen apart, with his son Paul. Nobody knew were Mrs Robinson now was – she could be dead for all they knew – but nobody really cared anymore. That was ancient history. Mikey had lived at the park all his 16 years and had never known another home. It was located on the north-west side of a town which was basically a small city, one or two hundred or perhaps even more or less kilometres or so from Sydney, the capital city of New South Wales in Australia. To Mikey it was nowheresville, but it was all he had ever really known. Of course, he visited Sydney with the family in younger years, but had not been out of his own town for a long time now. There was nowhere to go for a guy like him. He was in year 10, didn’t really fancy the prospect of going on to year 11, despite Danny having a go at it anyway with grades just good enough to consider him a possibility of completing his HSC, but for Mikey that was probably not that likely. He was not exactly thick or dumb, but he was no genius either. He was below average, but not the bottom of the class. Perhaps, if he could ever really seriously be bothered to find some sort of motivation, he could rise somewhat, do well in school, and go on to make something of his life. Perhaps. But, so it seemed to Mikey’s own way of life, he had a destiny carved out for him already. It may possibly involve sex with a girlfriend – that much now seemed likely – but, apart from that, the traditional ways of the Robinson clan, living in a caravan park, bludging from the dole, getting pissed on Friday nights, smoking too much, and watching the footie were about the limits of his life plans. It had been something the way of old John, definitely the way of his father Paul, and Mikey didn’t anticipate changing from this tradition terribly much. All he had to do was talk Sheila into its possibilities.



‘So, this is life,’ said Sheila, looking around. ‘You sit here, do you? Watching the stars?’

‘Sometimes,’ responded Mikey. ‘Oh, I get up to shit. You know. The kid I got busted with which got me the community service lives here also, with his brother and parents. I do shit with him, but not much else. We watch the footie, I drink the occasional beer which dad lets me, and I smoke once or twice a week. But that is all – I won’t smoke that much, and I will never do drugs. I saw what happened to my mum because of it.’

‘Like you said,’ responded Sheila. She looked around at the park, as they were near the centre of it, with a good view on the other camp sites and the overall place.

‘Where do you wash?’

‘There are showers just over there,’ he said pointing. ‘No bath or anything like that, but they are maintained with the toilet block. One thing, we don’t have to buy toilet paper.’

‘That’s a positive,’ she responded.

She looked at him for a while, and he smiled, eventually, finishing off his coke, leaning down and picking out two more cans from the esky and handed one to her. She opened it up and looked at him seriously. ‘So this is what you have to offer me for my life? Life in a caravan park?’

He was a little bit put off by that, her taking their romance to the next level so quickly, but adjusted. ‘Fuck. I don’t know. It’s what I have always known. I mean, if we stuck together, who the hell knows were life would take us.’

‘Probably nowhere,’ she remarked, taking a sip on the coke. He looked at her and nodded. That much was a possibility.

‘Well, what do you want to do?’ he asked her sincerely.

‘Oh, I don’t think I have ever wanted to conform to this world’s ways. But, lately, the last few days, well…’ she trailed off again.

‘Well what?’ he asked.

‘Well I have been thinking about my life. Perhaps a bit more seriously than usual. Perhaps I want to do something with my life in the end. Perhaps I want to make something of myself.’

‘What?’ he said, looking intently at her.

‘It’s just that,’ she responded. ‘I don’t know.’



They sat there, Danny coming outside for a stretch, looking at the two of them, winking at Mikey, before going back inside.



‘Well, do you have any plans?’ she asked, looking at him.

‘I don’t know,’ he responded. ‘Not really. Probably, well. Well, this is life. It’s what I have always known.’

‘I guess so,’ she responded.



After a while of silence she spoke again. ‘Don’t you want, well, more from it? More from life? I think that is what I want. More than what I have seen in it so far.’

‘I guess,’ he responded, not really knowing what to say.

‘I guess,’ she repeated, and said nothing more.



They sat there, drinking cola, and when she left shortly after mid-day, he went back inside, sat down in front of the box, and started thinking. What did she want? Did she want a businessman for a husband? A guy with a career? Was that Mikey Robinson? Could that ever be Mikey Robinson? Probably not, but it did get him to start thinking on the subject.







After school the following Monday they were at the park again, there usual hang out place, and he had something to offer her.

‘I’ll be an Astronaut.’

‘Very funny,’ she said, laughing.

‘No, seriously. Australia’s first Astronaut. I’ll go up in Dingo 1, a rocket ship, land on Mars and hoist the Aussie flag. I’ll be famous.’

She continued laughing, and punched him in the shoulder softly, a habit of hers.

‘You’re an idiot Mikey.’

He smiled at her warmly.



‘Seriously, though. I have been thinking. About what you said. Those questions. Making something of my life.’

‘And,’ she said, looking up at him, looking into his eyes. ‘What did you decide?’

‘Well, nothing yet. No decisions. But I guess I have a plan of sorts.’

‘Which is?’

‘The worst thing in life. Actually studying properly. I never work hard on my school stuff anyway.’

‘And then?’ she queried.

‘Then I will do my very best to get through year 11 and 12 and get the HSC done. Look, I’m no Brainiac. You probably know that as well as me. But I’m not completely stupid and dad always said to me you can make something of your life if you try hard enough. I’m willing to do that. I’m willing to try.’

She smiled at him, came over and kissed him on the lips. ‘Bloody good to hear, Mike Robinson.’



They went inside and Danny was not around, across town at his Asian girl-friends place. He actually now liked Asian girls a lot – he had something of a thing for them. Old man John was at his friend, Nick’s caravan, and they had the place to themselves. Sheila, walking into the cabin, indicated he should follow, and they were on the bed, making out. He felt her up again, which she allowed occasionally, and she looked into his eyes.

‘Astronaut, huh?’

‘Absolutely,’ he responded.

‘Well, does the Astronaut know how to land his shuttle,’ she said, grabbing his crotch.

‘Fuck,’ he responded, under his breath.

‘Exactly,’ she said.

And they did.





Later on that week, walking around the caravan grounds, Mikey felt like a man. A grown up. He was no longer a virgin. He’d fucked twice now, last night for the second time, and was understanding even more clearly the fuss on the subject. Sheila was coming around again tonight and said she would just jerk him off tonight, as she didn’t want to get pregnant, and he was looking forward to that. He’d done enough of his own experimentations on his body, and had done so since he was 13, but having a girl to do it for him, that was wonderful. Some how Sammy Jones, who avoided him these days with his new girlfriend, never seemed to have been interested in that. It never seemed to have happened. Just not meant to be, Mike thought to himself. But he had found a girl who he really, really liked now, and they were together. And it felt really good.



‘Hey, you,’ she said. ‘What you up to?’

He turned to see Sheila approaching. ‘Waiting for you babe.’

‘Good.’

He took her hand and was about to walk with her to the caravan, when she resisted. ‘What’s the problem?’

‘I got sick this morning.’

‘So?’ he said.

‘Well, you know. I could be. Well. You know.’

Mikey didn’t make the connection – vomiting during pregnancy was still a mystery to him.

‘What?’ he asked her.

‘Pregnant,’ she said flatly.

‘Already? You have to be fucking kidding me right.’

‘Look, I don’t know. I could buy a kit, I guess. Test myself. See if I am.’

He looked at her, shocked. Somehow the leap from being a kid with his first girlfriend and losing his virginity to being a father didn’t seem to connect so easily – not straight away. It didn’t happen like that. You got to know someone, eased into a relationship, and when the time was right, you had a child. But nature often objects to those protocols, and if you have sex with a person, pregnancy often results, even from the first time.



‘Uh, yeh. I guess you should get yourself tested. I guess. But, fuck. Fuck. I’m not ready to be a dad. I’m only fucking 16.’

‘And you think I’m ready to be a mother,’ she responded.

‘And we were just starting to make plans,’ he said.

‘Funny, huh,’ she said.



He took her hand and they walked to the side of the Caravan Park, into the vacant field. They sat there, and he kissed her lightly on the cheek, and they talked quietly.

‘Look, if you are. Umm, pregnant I mean. Well I won’t ditch you. I wouldn’t do that.’

‘Good to fucking hear,’ she said.

‘Yeh. I mean, if you are, we could be together, if you like. Like a proper family and shit.’

‘Were will we live?’ she asked him.

He swore. ‘Fuck, I don’t know. Here, I guess. Or, I don’t know. With your mother maybe.’

‘I’m not sure if she would like that, Mikey. I mean, sure she likes you well enough. But having a man move in to live permanently – that much she might not agree with.’

‘Then you live with me. John won’t give a fuck. He’d probably expect it, really.’

She nodded. That much seemed quite possible, knowing the Robinson’s.

‘Look, we could be jumping the gun,’ she said. ‘Maybe I was just that – just sick. I might not be pregnant.’

‘Then why the fuck didn’t you say so,’ he said, almost regretting her not being in a strange way.

‘I don’t know, Mikey. Morning sickness is a sign. But I’ll get the test done. I’ll do it tonight.’

‘Let me know tomorrow, ok. Come here after school. Let me know.’

‘I will,’ she said. ‘I will.’





The following day she showed up and shared the news. The test had returned positive – they were going to have a baby together. He swore all that afternoon and, when she had left, he looked at the caravan. If they were going to live here as a family, well. Well he would have to tidy it up for starters. Somehow, in the mind of Mikey Robinson, what he had grown accustomed to for his own life from his own family was no longer good enough. Somehow, perhaps even from Sheila’s own words, he wanted more from life – he needed more. He would do up the place, keep it clean, and make sure the kid had a good upbringing. He would make sure of that.



He told Danny who just patted him on the back and said it would be good to be an uncle. When he shared something of his worries on the issue Danny just said, ‘Fuck. Who plans on making babies anyway. They just happen. Its what happened to mum and did with me. Don’t sweat it. It will be good to have a kid around. Dad will be over the moon.’

‘Yeh, dad,’ responded Mikey. ‘I guess I will have to call him.’

‘We could go visit, you know. He gets out again in 2 months, so we could wait. But with news like this.’

‘We’ll wait,’ said Mikey, making a decision. When he gets home it will be good news to share with him.

‘You’re the boss,’ responded Danny.





Old man John was over the moon, and said the boys could get pissed tonight if they wanted to, which is in fact what they started doing. Around midnight they were singing songs and the park manager came around and asked if they could tone it down somewhat. They shared the good news with him and he gave them a break and told them to quit the revelry by 1, which they ended up complying with, simply because they fell asleep.



In the morning, Mikey feeling dreadful, not fit for school for the last day of the week, he decided he’d ditch again, which he did from time to time, even though now he had a good enough reason not to. Now school seemed almost important to the young Mr Robinson.



That afternoon Sheila came around. She had shared the news with her mother who, surprisingly, had taken it quite calmly and hugged her, saying it was good news. Sheila knew she could live with her mother after the child was born, but Miss Jenkins was in two minds about Mikey living with them. ‘She didn’t explicitly refuse the idea, ok. She just wants to think about it first.’

‘Well, you can live with me, if you like. Grandpa doesn’t mind at all. I know its not the greatest place on earth, but it will do for now.’

She nodded. She had possibly resigned herself already to that reality.





For the next few weeks things went happily enough in Mikey Robinson’s life. At school he bothered to make sure he did his homework and paid more attention than usual to his classes. He was actually surprised. He had sat in the library, one afternoon, working as hard as he knew how to do on an essay for history. He had looked up several books, written down the references in the way they taught you to, and rewrote the history in his own words, putting the ideas into his mind. He answered the question as best he could, trying to put his own ideas as well as using ideas from the books, and when he got the essay back with an A-, his best ever result in his whole life, he surprised himself. Shit, he wasn’t actually dumb. In fact, he was kind of smart. He showed the result to Danny and John and they congratulated him and, when Sheila came around, he paraded it in front of her.



She was very happy with him that night and, sitting out on the porch, while he was inside grabbing more coke from the fridge, she picked up the essay and looked at the grade one last time. It mightn’t mean that much in the end – perhaps it was just a fluke – but if he was actually this smart, and prepared to give a damn now – prepared to actually try, well. Well perhaps they could have a decent life together. Perhaps a life with more than just what Northside Caravan Park could offer them. Perhaps life in another town, another city, with a fresh start – a new beginning. If he could finish year 10 and then go on and complete his HSC, and do well. Well perhaps he was even smart enough to get through university and do a degree, something she now thought as almost essential for her to achieve. Perhaps the gods had actually delivered the right man into her life at a young age because they already had a plan for her. Perhaps this crazy world, were the rules didn’t seem to make sense to her – well perhaps they had a plan for her, despite their legalisms. Perhaps life actually cared.



When he came back out she said nothing, but just looked at him. He smiled, passed her a coke, and they stared at the stars and the park, in their own little world.



‘You know, Mikey. I think I do actually love you. I know I’m young, and I don’t normally say shit like that. But I do. I do love you.’

She was hoping to hear something similar in response, and when Mikey leaned over, put his hand on hers and said ‘We’ll always be together. Believe it,’ she knew he felt the same way, even if he couldn’t yet say it.



They were a good few weeks from then for the little family and, as the bump in her belly became obvious, Mikey grew in pride at being a father yet to be. Things, after something of a motherfucker of a life, seemed to be perhaps finally getting better. And then Ronald Baddely returned to the caravan park after his stint in Juvenile and bad news entered the life of Mike Robinson once more.





Chapter Five



‘She’s a bitch!’

Mike Robinson, who was not necessarily a Robinson in the brawling department, was still his father’s son. He hit Ronald Baddely, hard, in the head and stood over the lad, sprawled on the ground.

‘Listen, cunt, don’t fucking ever say that about Sheila.’

Ronald stared up at him, got to his feet, dusted off the dirt from his flannelette shirt, and laughed. ‘Sure, Mikey. Look, all I’m saying is don’t listen to your sweetheart. Let’s rock, baby. Go off and do some shit. Don’t give me this ‘cleaned up your act’ shit, cause I don’t buy it. You’re a fucking Robinson – through and through. Your not a fucking do-gooder. It’s not you, mate.’

Mikey, staring at his former rogue partner, sensed the bloke had said what he wanted to say on the issue, so sat back down, and picked up his beer, drinking it slowly. He stared at Ronald, who had a new scar running over his eyebrow.

‘How’d you get the scar?’ he asked him.

‘Did it in Juvie. Some real cunts in there. The worst sort. My kind of people.’

Mikey laughed – that much sounded true.

‘Look. The shit we got up to – no more, ok. I’m trying to make something of my life now. To one day get out of this town, to do something proper. To be somebody.’

‘Rich bastards in limos laugh at guys like us, Mikey. We’re the scum which buy shit from their stores, and they are happy to take our money, but that is were it fucking ends. They don’t like us, and we don’t like them. Australia is still a class society, mate, no matter what they fucking say. It’s the elite at the top, bastards like us far down beneath them, and the abbo’s at the bottom. And that is just the way it fucking is, ok. Don’t pretend to be something your not. It don’t suit you.’

‘Fuck you,’ said Mikey, but Ronald said nothing in response.

‘Remember, you’re the fucking commie, Mikey. You should know all about the fucking class struggle. Losers like us don’t count for anything. Society will never accept our type. We don’t fit. You fit here, in places like this, with people like me. You have got to know your own kind, brother. Life is shit unless you know your place.’

Mike stared at him, and his inner conscience was seared somewhat. Those words sounded like the kind of shit his dad would say from time to time. The kind of ‘us against the world’ mentality. Home truths. But, no, it didn’t have to be like that. It didn’t have to be that way. Some people, out there…. Some of them cared. Were prepared to give a guy like him a go, if he could show he had what it took. He knew that. He was sure of that.

‘You’re talking out your arse, Ronnie.’

Ronald, picking up his beer, took a swig and lit a cigarette. ‘Am I? Am I really? I don’t think you know how society has worked for thousands of years. There is the upper class and the lower class. We learned that shit in school. And we are the lower, and the upper don’t fucking like us.’

‘Bullshit. It’s not like that anymore.’

‘Its not? Look around. Look at the shit-hole you live in and tell me it aint like that anymore. The more things change the more they stay the fucking same, mate. The more they stay the fucking same.’

Mikey stared at him, wanted to hit him again, but kept under control. But the words had cut him somewhat. They had cut deep.



Ronald stared at his former compatriot for a while, took another sip of beer and got up to go off and take a piss at the toilet. Coming back he sat down, picked up his beer and looked at Mike.

‘Come on, Mike. You don’t have to be so fucking responsible at your age. Shit, sure, we’re growing up. It happens fast living in a place like this. Get belted by your dad long enough and you learn about the harsher side of life. But hey, who gives a fuck. Party hard, that’s what I fucking say. You say she likes Metallica – fuck yeah. We’ll have a party, here, Friday night. Play some fucking metal, drink some booze, and listen to rock and fucking roll. And then maybe do some shit.’

He looked at him and, despite thinking he should know better, nodded. ‘Sure. We can rock. Sounds good. But nothing illegal. I don’t want to end up inside with dad. I have to think about the kid coming.’

‘Sure, whatever you say,’ responded Ronald. ‘Whatever you say.’

Mike nodded. He didn’t think Ronald gave the slightest shit about his own concerns, but he was not overly worried. He was a little older now, since they had run together. Coming to terms with being a father and making what may be constituted as adult decisions in relation to his schooling seemed to have made him grow up a lot in the last few months. He was emerging from a troubled teen into a man. Someone who wanted more out of life than the troublemaking of a troubled adolescent. He could handle cunts like Ronald Baddely. He could handle them.







Friday night came around and Ronald and his brother showed up around 6, Ronnie with a handful of CD’s and a large boombox, with his brother carrying a carton of midis – Foster’s.

‘Where’s Sheila?’ Ronnie asked.

‘Inside,’ responded Mike.

‘Right. Were can I plug this in?’

Mikey took the boombox, setting it down on the table. He went inside briefly and returned with a long extension cord and plugged the boombox in.

‘Fuck yeah,’ said Ronald, and put on Metallica’s self titled album. As ‘Enter Sandman’ started playing, Mikey relaxed somewhat and they handed out beers, starting a night of drunkenness.



Danny showed up half an hour later and, when he came back outside and joined them Sheila came out also. She stared at Ronald, sensing he was bad news, but said nothing more. But she liked the music, her kind of stuff, and sat on Mikey’s lap, smoking a rare cigarette, something she had gone cold turkey on since becoming pregnant, sipping on Mikey’s beer, and occasionally mumbling the lyrics to the songs. They were happy enough.



The little group sat there, partying away, when old man John came home briefly, stared at the group and shook his head laughing. He went inside, into the cabin, and came back out with some of his older war magazines, and again looked at them laughing.

When he left Ronald said ‘What is his fucking problem?’

‘Familiarity, probably,’ said Danny. ‘He’s seen shit like this all his life. From dad and now from us. The more things change, you know.’

‘Don’t I,’ said Ronnie.



The next CD was Megadeth’s ‘Rust In Peace’, another favourite of Sheila, and the little metal community sang their songs, the occasional ‘Dio’ Satan symbol being made with their hands, just to be cool, and talked their shit. Ronnie went on about his adventures in Juvie and how he had cut a guy’s arm with a knife before being cut himself in the forehead.

‘They broke us up after that, but it was a fucking nightmare for a few weeks. He would stare at me and say he was going to kill me.’

‘What happened?’ asked Sheila.

‘Fuck all,’ responded Ronnie. ‘It was all talk. Eventually he started sitting next to me and talking about his life. We ended up friends, sort of. Just another problem kid, like us.’

She nodded. Facts of life to Sheila Davies.



Mikey was in his own little world, sipping on his beer, listening to some music which, although not quite his own taste, that he was familiar enough with anyway. He himself preferred bands like ‘Noiseworks’ and ‘The Screaming Jets’ and ‘Cold Chisel’ and ‘AC DC’ – traditional Aussie Rock and Roll. The harder stuff was not quite his scene, but he’d heard a lot of it by now. His dad said the heavier side of metal was just noise – banging madly on drums. There had to be something to the music to Paul Robinson in the end, also – not just wild noise. This, coming from a Sex Pistol’s fan made Mikey question his father’s authenticity somewhat, but perhaps it was just a generational thing. After all, 70s music was not quite as heavy as what came later. Perhaps Paul Robinson had his limits – perhaps he was only so much of a bad boy in the end.



‘So you’re fucking preggers?’ Ronald said to Sheila, not so much a question as a statement.

Sheila nodded.

‘Are you sure it’s fucking Mikey’s?’

‘Fuck you,’ responded Sheila, but Mikey said nothing. It was typical Ronald bullshit, which he was used to.

‘Seriously, a girl like you – you must have had heaps of cock up your vagina.’

Sheila stared at him, but said nothing. Eventually Mikey spoke.

‘There was blood. When I fucked her.’

‘So what?’ responded Ronald, a little confused.

Danny smiled. ‘It means she was definitely a virgin, Ron. Mikey was her first fuck. They hymen breaks when a woman first has sex with a man, and a little bit of blood often comes out.’

‘What the fuck is a Hymen?’ responded Ronnie.

‘Shit down below,’ responded Sheila, taking another sip of beer.

Ronald looked at her weirdly, but shrugged. Female bullshit – someday he would figure it out.

Sheila stared at Ronald, and decided to see if she could have a little fun of her own at the bastard’s expense.

‘So, you have never blooded a woman? You’re not a virgin, are you Ronnie?” she said in a cute voice.

‘Fuck you bitch!’ he responded with open hostility.

Mikey smiled and Danny laughed.

‘Yeh,’ continued Mikey. ‘That is a good question. Come to think of it, I have never seen girls hanging around you. You’re not exactly ugly, so what gives? I mean, you are not into guys, are you?’

That riled Ronald, who thought about getting up and motioned to, but his older brother just said ‘Cool down, Ronnie. They are just fucking with you.’

Ronnie was embarrassed, but soon admitted it. These people he felt he could trust somewhat. ‘Yes, I’m a fucking virgin. I haven’t met a girl who likes me for me, yet. Someone who accepts me.’

‘Perhaps an upper class bitch,’ said Mikey sarcastically. ‘You know,’ he said, looking at Ronnie. ‘Opposites attract, and all that shit.’

Ronald looked at him and nodded, taking another sip on his beer, thinking that over.





Later on, around 9, they were listening to another Metallica CD, ‘Ride the Lightning’ and talking typical teenage shit about the class struggle and the merits of communism versus capitalism. Mikey came across as having at least some knowledge, and they listened to him somewhat, but everyone had something to say. It was agreed – an anarchic system, in which they ruled the world, would be perfect. Everyone was happy with that solution.





The following morning Mikey indeed had another hangover. He was starting to get used to them, somewhat. Old man John provided beer for the kids, not really giving a shit about the issue of the law on the subject, and the caravan park manager never queried – he seemed to expect it. Sheila was inside, on the single bed, still asleep, and Danny had fucked off to his Asian girlfriend as usual, where he spent half his time these days. She worked nights in a Chinese restaurant, but during the day Danny was with her a lot of the time, they hung around her flat, having sex, watching TV, and doing the shit boyfriends and girlfriends get up to. In youth they had hassled Mr Chang somewhat, and freely used such racist terms as ‘Abbo’ about the native indigenous Australia aborigines and ‘Chinks’ about Asians in general but, in truth, they were not exactly racist. Not bred to be anyway. They were young Australian lads, used to a particular somewhat ocker culture and vernacular and they followed their traditions in this respect. But they were also lads who, despite peoples often first impressions, seemed to be growing up with somewhat decent hearts. In the end they were not the brawlers their dad had been, and didn’t hit the alcohol or cigarettes anywhere near as much as their father did. No, they were not saints, nor trying to be, but they were not the ultimate in the bad boy scene either. Perhaps they were kids out of their environment, in some ways. Kids who, in another time and place, in another family, might be riding around now in posh cars, speaking posh words, having dinners at country clubs, wearing posh clothes and listening to posh music. Perhaps they were the kind of kids that, if you invested some time and eduction into better ways into their lives, that could make something of themselves. Perhaps, in the end, they were not the traditional Robinson losers, but understood members of a society which, although it didn’t really hate them, didn’t really love them either and didn’t really have that much time for them. Perhaps they were just kids – living on the edge – and needing a break in life. Perhaps that was all they were.



Ronnie stared at the old Commodore, sitting there, its parts all over the place, and wondered to himself. ‘Would it actually fucking go? If work was put into it, to properly put it together, would it actually fucking go?’ And so, for the next few weeks, taking school a lot more seriously, he bought some cheap commodore manuals from a garage down town and, with Danny sometimes helping out, he tinkered away, working on the machine, seeing if he could get it going. Having a reliable care for a new family would perhaps be a good idea. They could go down to Sydney for short holidays and do all the shit people with cars normally did. And he was 100% sure his father wouldn’t give the slightest fuck. Thinking on him, his father was due out very soon – next Friday – so, asking Sheila if she could visit for the day, they did up the caravan with some streamers and balloons and a ‘Welcome Home’ sign and waited on Paul Robinson to front. He did, but later that night, after he had become suitable intoxicated at the pub.



He was somewhat sober the following morning and when he saw Mikey tinkering away at the Commodore he said ‘What the fuck are you doing?’

‘I didn’t think you would mind,’ responded Mikey. ‘I am trying to get it going.’

‘Not the beast,’ responded Paul, with a winging tone in his voice.

‘Fuck. I didn’t think you would mind,’ responded Mikey cautiously.

‘Only shitting you,’ said Paul in a more sober tone. ‘Fuck, I could never get it going. If you can, it’s yours.’

‘Thanks dad.’

‘Sure thing.’



‘Dad,’ said Mikey, in a somewhat serious tone.

‘What?’ responded his father with concern in his voice over Mikey’s tone.

‘You know the girl who came last night. Sheila.’

‘The blonde girl. Somewhat cute.’

‘Yeh, her.’

‘What about her,’ responded Paul, taking a sip on his beer.

‘Well,’ he spluttered somewhat, making Paul hassle him to get his words out.

‘Well, she is like the latest addition to the family.’

‘For fuck’s sake, you asked your girlfriend to move in with you?’

‘Well, I kind of had to. There’s a reason.’

Paul smiled. He knew the reason. ‘She’s up the fucking duff, isn’t she?’

Mikey nodded.

‘Great. Grandfather already. And in the prime of my life, too.’

Paul came over, patted his son on the back, and said, ‘This home is her home, if she wants it. Ok. Family is family. Now you know I don’t give a shit about you marrying her or not. I once proposed to your own mother, but she just laughed in my face. I had a ring ready and everything. So that means a lot less to me than you think. So, she is family either way.’

‘Thanks dad,’ responded Mikey, pleased at his father’s grace.

‘Only, make sure it is a boy.’

‘Sure thing, dad.’



The next few weeks were a brighter spot in the life of Mikey Robinson. Sheila came around a lot, watching him tinker away at the beast, and the bulge grew slightly, or so it seemed to Mikey, each time. He was about to be a family man.



He had considered the stupidest of things – buying her a ring and asking her to marry him. Of course, she didn’t believe in marriage – society’s way of controlling women, she would quickly point out to him. But, you never could tell in the end. Sometimes people changed. Mikey sure had. Sometimes what you thought was right you later regret and change tacks on – sometimes, for someone like Sheila Davies, becoming a mother might make the thing instinctive rather than intellectual.



He decided, in the end, he would give it a go. He would buy a ring and propose anyway. Just in case. He went to a jewellers in the city mall, found a cheap enough ring with a tiny diamond, paid out the money his grandpa had given to him, and looked at it time and time again that day, walking back home, walking with his future in his pocket.



She came around that afternoon, after school. It was Thursday, and she looked good. Almost as if she were glowing – like she was ready to be a mother. He took her off to the side of the field and they talked their usual shit for a while and then he kissed her softly and produced the ring.

‘What the fuck is that, Mikey?’

‘It’s a ring.’

‘I know it’s a fucking ring. And what are you going to do with it?’

‘Look, I don’t know. I know you say you don’t believe in that shit, and it has never been a big issue to me or my family. But, somehow, in this shitty world, in this shitty life on the edge, I would like to at least get something right. If the kid could have married parent’s before it was born, it would be legit – in the old fashioned sense. That might, in the scheme of things, make it a bit easier on him or her in the end. I think it’s the right thing to do, okay.’

She looked up into his face, noticing his sincerity, and then looked at the ring. Despite thinking she should know better, she took it out of its box and tried it on. It fitted perfectly – absolutely perfectly.

‘Is that a yes?’ he asked her.

‘You’re still a dickhead,’ she responded.

‘But is that a yes?’

And she smiled at him, and he knew.





Chapter Six



Mikey was nervous. Today was the day. The Robinson family were not the richest residents of their town – in fact, in terms of the spectrum of social wealth, they were near, if not, the absolute bottom of the social hierarchy. But this was a special day. This was a one of a kind.



Paul had some savings – savings which he didn’t normally talk about – and he allocated to his son just enough for a basic wedding, with a few trappings. The trappings consisted of a spiffy wedding cake, a decent outfit rental for Danny and Mikey, and enough for the honeymoon. Mikey was grateful.



When all was said and done, despite their very questionable status as such, the Uniting Church did not refuse them the wedding in their chapel as members of their church. Sheila had no particular religious beliefs to speak of, but the elderly pastor still remembered baptizing both of the lads, and would not refuse Mikey on his big day.



He’d had to buy yet another ring – but it was simply a gold band which didn’t cost the earth which, again, Grandpa John provided the cash for. They had had a single wedding rehearsal which the pastor had arranged, and they both had vows which they had agreed on. There was nothing to do with serving or honouring the other person, but they agreed to be dedicated to each other. The pastor, somewhat used to liberal members in his church, didn’t mind – he’d seen that all before.



‘Do you, Michael John Robinson, take Sheila Jane Davies as your lawfully wedded wife? Do you promise to dedicate your life to her, forsaking all others? To Cherish her and show her your love?’

‘I do,’ responded Mikey, looking with love into Sheila’s eyes.

The pastor turned to Sheila.

‘Do you, Sheila Jane Davies, take Michael John Robinson as your lawfully wedded husband? Do you promise to dedicate your life to him, forsaking all others? To Cherish him and show him your love?’

She looked at him and, coyly, said ‘I guess so.’

The pastor didn’t blink an eyelid and said ‘The Ring,’ to Danny.



Danny produced the golden band, handed it to Mikey, who put it on the end of Sheila’s finger.



‘Repeat after me,’ continued the pastor. ‘With this ring, I thee wed.’



‘With this ring, I thee wed,’ said Mikey, putting the ring onto Sheila’s finger, who blushed severely.



‘By the power invested in me as a steward of God Almighty and as a servant of the Lord Jesus Christ, I now declare thee man and wife. You may kiss the bride.’



And they kissed.

And it was beautiful.



* * * * *



Life was good after that. For the Robinson family, ultimately, life turned out alright. When Mikey had finished school he moved with his small family to Canberra, and Danny soon followed him. He finished a university degree to ANU and graduated in Economics finishing his honours degree. He found himself, with the drive which had come into his life, capable of doing this. Danny found a new girlfriend in a certain ‘Lee Kim’ who had been a Pentecostal Christian but had become a Noahide. He felt like he had known her in a previous lifetime, and they were good together.



Old man John Robinson eventually parted for the next world, and Paul inherited the Cabin/Caravan. He found another lady later on in life and lived out his years, content enough.



It was later, as an older man, that Mikey Robinson truly found God. He found God, in prayer, and in his heart. Lee Kim gradually converted him to Noahide Faith and he became a member of ‘Assembly of the Divine Creator’ which a ‘Daniel Daly’ had formed in Canberra. It really suited his personal style.



He believed in God and an afterlife and, when he died, finding himself in a long queue suddenly, with a flashing sign on the sides of the wall of a large white room, he found himself in, saying ‘Welcome New Arrival’s to Joniquay – the Diamond City of Heaven. May Gabriel’s blessings be upon you.’ he quickly worked out were he was. A lady in front of him said ‘We’re in heaven. Aren’t we.’

‘I guess fucking so,’ said Mikey Robinson, and the lady laughed.



The End