Chapter 24

Sunday

The sun rose, an early pre dawn wind blew it�s breath through Joey�s. The dawn heralded a Sunday morning the start to the girl�s day off, as both Sharon and Joanne sat having a fresh croissant. Both had earned around a thousand dollars last night, and were both fairly stiff from the workout. They spent this time at Joey�s winding down. They mucked about, talked about strange clients and relaxed. Saturday nights always left them drained, with it�s constant stream of clients. Sharon and Joanne were streetwalkers for sure. Like normal workers they worked the streets, but unlike others they didn�t have to solicit much of their business. They were very attractive and more what you�d expect from an expensive call girl outfit. So when they were on the streets, the guys took notice.

Joey pulled up a seat, and began to tell them what had finally come of the thug that had tried to attack Tony. " I took him to the police station and they put him in Jail. I saw one policeman, who say that Tony very lucky. "

"Yeah, he was lucky that you were here Joey, " Sharon said vividly remembering the incident some days before.

"He also lucky he were not killed likea the rest of them." Joey said, his head falling to look at the ground in reverence to the recently departed.

"What do you mean Joey?" Sharon asked surprised.

"Wella one of the kids he kill himself. That was Slater. But another three kids killed too. Police say they were witnesses to The China Town killer."

"What? All Tony�s and Tracy�s friends?" Sharon asked her mouth wide open in shock.

"Looka that way," Joey said. "We shoulda ring and see if we can have a proper funeral service for all of them." Tony woulda like that."

"You�re so thoughtful Joey. Of course that�s the least we can do. Sharon gave the big Italian a bear hug that almost took the wind out of him. They just stayed together for a moment. Sharon is feeling his fatherly closeness. They were used to hearing of death, yet this hurt a little more, as it touched someone they loved. "How am I going to tell Tony?"

" Just tell him. Tell him straight. He�d appreciate that," Joanne said. It�ll be hard, any way you say it. It�s better also if we tell him early. He was going to go to church this morning with the Dave you were telling me about. Maybe it would be best if you told him before hand."

Sharon nodded. She looked in her purse for Dave�s mobile number and went over to the phone and called him. Before she realised how early it was, she heard a groggy voice on the other end of the line. "Sorry Dave I�ve woken you up. Are you all right?"

"Yeah, go ahead." Dave said softly.

"Is Tony with you?"

"No, I had him go home with Mike. He�s been there for a few days.I live in the Cross, as you know. So I thought it best for him to stay away from here."

"Oh," Sharon paused, "have you got Mike�s number?"

"I sure have. But promise me you�ll not ring him before eight in the morning."

"I�ll be asleep by then. Oh, it�s okay. " Sharon said, her tone depressed and hurt.

"What�s the matter Sharon. Can I pass on a message?" his tone softened as he picked up on her hurt.

"I just wanted to tell him that his two friends Slater and Colin are dead, that�s all. Joanne suggested we tell him before he goes to church, so that maybe God can help him in his grief. But I�ll be asleep in half an hour so that won�t be possible. It�s okay though, I�ll have to tell him later.

"Why can�t I tell him. I mean, we get on fairly well. He knows I care about him like a little brother. It should be alright."

"Would that be okay?"

"Yeah that�ll be the least I could do.

"Thanks David. You�re so good to us."

Sharon went on to tell him what had happened and why the children were dead. She wished Dave a good day and told him she hoped they�d have a good time at church. She invited David and Tony to the beach, to which he agreed would be fun.

Sharon returned to Joanne and Joey and told them how it had gone. Joanne nodded her head whilst Joey smiled and gave her a friendly rub on the head. They finished their croissants and they left shortly after, arm in arm. They both stopped off at Sharon�s apartment and split up the high-grade heroin.

"Thanks for the gear Sharon. It must be worth a fortune. So you reckon we may be stars in a book, hey?"

"We may. I hope so. He doesn�t seem too street wise. Can�t see him writing anything too convincing without help."

"I reckon we�d make his jaw drop if we told him everything. You said he was an old guy, he may have a heart seizure if we become too explicit. I�ll bet his pace maker would go at an alarming rate, even if I just shared a couple of things with him." Joanne laughed. "See ya". She gave Sharon a big hug." Thanks for this." she said and left.

After she had gone Sharon poured herself a drink. She looked out of her window and saw the sun in mid-rise. It was pleasant to watch the sun come up on her day off. She glanced at the heroin that she had placed on her bedside table and smiled. It would be satisfying to have another stiff hit after her sleep. She undressed, lay down on her bed and closed her eyes.

*******

It was seven o�clock when Tony felt a pillow slam across his face. He struggled and heard laughter as he tried to push his attacker off.

*******

At five past seven Christine and Nathaniel were in the shower together. As they washed each other and talked, they were comfortable. Nathaniel was so understanding, just being with him helped to distil Christine�s fears and worries. She smiled; water ran over her face and through her short, neatly trimmed, black hair. A big smile on his face led her to kiss him. His strong arms went around her buttocks and pulled her close, and he let her know his love.

Nathaniel had been up early and had already prepared a couple of salads for lunch. He was good like that. Always doing the little things that made Christine�s lot easier. It made him happy to contribute to the family. He liked to encourage Christine�s work in the Cross, and did so in action as well as words.

They stepped out of the shower, made love, and returned in laughter. After washing again they went downstairs for breakfast. The two children were still asleep. Christine had a warm glow as she smiled and padded up the stairs to wake them up. Soon there was commotion, plenty of conversation as breakfast was being made and devoured. It wasn�t often, these days that they could eat together as a family. Christine had her long working hours, and Nathaniel his business trips. So when the children had the opportunity to share breakfast with them, they appreciated it.

*******

Jonathan had a selection from his hotel buffet for breakfast. He�d had an extremely successful fashion launch and the rest of the week had been very promising. There was so much to do in Sydney, so many potential retail outlets, that he�d been tossing up whether to spend more time up here. He could quite easily leave Melbourne to the production side of things, certainly after the time and motion person had finished his job. It would do his company executives good to manage down there without him. His New South Wales manager would also profit from a closer relationship with him.

As he spread some butter on some hot toast, the sight of the buffet made him think of lunch. He looked forward to meeting Christine and her family over lunch. Eating in a family dining room would be a welcome change to hotel meals. He wondered if the meeting with her would provide him with a reason to spend more time in Sydney. He couldn�t see how his time was so important and so needed; yet he trusted the girls� opinion all the same.

**********

"Come on lazy bones, get up." Mike said pulling Tony out of bed with a jerk.

"Leave me alone I want to have a little more sleep," Tony said lying back in bed.

"Come on, we�ll go down to the beach for a swim, then you can get dressed and get ready for church."

The mention of the beach was enough motivation. Tony jumped out of bed and changed into his boardshorts. Mike had only returned to the kitchen, picked out some cereal, a couple of bowls and spoons, when Tony came bounding out with a towel over his shoulder.

"Come on, let�s go. I�m ready."

Mike stopped before he put milk in his cereal and turned to meet the gaze of his friend. He saw the eagerness in Tony�s eyes, pushed the breakfast aside and said. "Okay, hop in the car and I�ll be with you in a sec."

Tony went out to the car, and Mike came out shortly after speaking into his mobile phone. "Yeah, we�re going for a swim. We�ll be back at eight thirty. No, I�ll pass. Tony wants to come though. Yeah, I�ll tell him."

Mike hopped into the car and said to Tony," That was Dave. He said to just put a shirt and some pants on for church. You don�t have to get dressed up or anything."

"I can�t anyway. These are the only clothes I�ve got, remember." Tony said with a smile.

"Yeah I forgot. Ah well they�ll do. We�ll throw the shorts in the drier when we get home."

They pulled out onto the street, took a couple of turns and arrived on a road that ran parallel to Manly beach. They travelled up the road and stopped adjacent to Queenscliff beach. There was a moderate swell rolling in. The sun�s rays sparkled in the water and made it hard to look at without squinting. The sun was dazzling, as a fine mist from the surf settled in their eyes, partially adding to its radiance.

They ran down to the water and both dived in. Like two brothers they splashed each other and swam out towards the breakers. They were careful to avoid the surfboard riders as they ducked under the white foamy broken waves rolling towards shore. After a few minutes their heads popped up from under the last peaking wave, outside the breakers, and they trod water.

"Do you know how to body surf? " Mike asked.

"Sure do."

"That�s good," Mike said, remembering how he�d broken his collarbone, years ago. "Let�s get this one."

A wave was rising to a peak, fast approaching the two of them. They turned and swam quickly to catch it. It simultaneously picked the both of them up, and they rode down it�s face as it broke. The white wash exploded before them, as they disappeared under it. Twenty or so metres later, the whitewash had settled and as Tony looked across he could see Mike next to him riding the wave. Within another twenty metres the wave�s velocity had stayed the same - yet for the boys to keep their momentum was becoming harder. This was when they stood up and stopped riding the wave. They smiled at each other and started to swim out the back again.

Just as they were reaching the outskirts of where the waves broke, an enormous wave loomed up in front of them. Mike swam furiously out further and turned to catch it. Tony meanwhile watched it break, enough to see Mike hurtle down it on his stomach, before he took a large breath and dived under it. When Tony came up from under the broken wave the sight before him took his breath away. Another larger wave had loomed up. He thought for a moment and turned. Why not? You only live once. He took a couple of strokes and then he faced the biggest wave ride of his life. The drop from the top of the face to the bottom would have been three times his height. Seeing the drop his stomach froze in fear, yet he continued, committed.

Mike had ridden his wave in seconds and had turned, just in time to see Tony sliding down the face as graceful as the best snow skier. Spray darted out from under each outstretched hand as Tony moved them and started sliding sideways down the face, like a surfer, on the Iron man ad he�d seen on television lately. Mike stood in the water up to his waist and watched.

The wave finished, he swam over to Tony and gave him a high five. Tony smiled and breathed heavily catching his breath and sighed. " That was a biggy."

"Certainly was," Mike smiled. "You�re pretty good for a young fella."

"I had a foster brother once, who taught me. It�s like riding a bike. You never forget."

"Come on, let�s go wait for some more."

The two of them swam out the back. They waited as the normal sized waves broke and rolled in. They trod water chatting and looking out at the horizon. Mike was first to spot the rise a fair way off. The waves normally came in threes, the second sometimes being bigger than the first. They swam over the first wave, of the set, and were pleased they did. A wave approaching seventeen-foot loomed up before their eyes. Putting away their fear, they paddled out a little further then, where the first one broke, they turned in unison, and took a couple of strokes. A mighty scream came from Tony�s lungs. "Yea haaa," he yelled as they rode the wave, parallel to each other.

After a couple of dozen waves the boys left the surf. They stood outside the car and wiped themselves dry with a towel. Tony spoke animatedly as he recounted some of the best waves he had caught. Pumped up with adrenaline he wiped himself roughly leaving patches of droplets on his back. It did Mike�s heart good to see. He was glad he could help the kid.

They had only just arrived home and put Tony�s boardshorts in the drier when Dave drove up in his ute. He was half an hour early. Mike greeted him at the door and let him in as Tony was taking a shower. " Did you have a good swim?" Dave asked.

"Fantastic. I tell ya, that Tony is great. He�s a good swimmer. We caught some monster waves; he was keen as ever. Dave could see, within the short time that Mike had known Tony he had warmed to him already.

"Tell me Mike. How do you think he will take the news of his friend�s death?"

" I think he�ll take it all right. I mean, he�s had a tough life. But he has hope now. There are people who care about him. I just wish that Sharon would get off the drugs and out of prostitution. They would be so good for each other."

"Yes I think so too. She has a big heart. If only she could get out of her lifestyle. The thing is, though; she has to want to better herself. She has to have an incentive of some sort, and she needs a lot of emotional support. She�s a very nice girl. I really like her "

Mike winked at him. "You really like her hey?"

"I�m attracted to her, yes. If that�s what you mean," Dave smiled. "You know she even called me David and I let her. I haven�t let anyone call me that since my mother died. That�s when I knew Mike."

"That�s good to hear. She seems a lovely girl."

"Yes she is. I�m really attracted to her. But she has a lot to deal with. I�m just praying that she will come to a decision to change her lifestyle.

*******

Peter woke late. He�d slept in this morning. His dreams were manic. His excitement level knew no bounds. He knew at least one of the girls would die today. It didn�t worry him which. If Joanne did, she would be in his past and never be able to identify him as the author of the book. If Sharon died he knew it would rip Joanne�s heart apart. He�d seen how close they were. He knew how they needed each other. If he couldn�t have his little girl neither should anyone else. He was so happy with himself. He had his first massage appointment in half an hour so he packed the car and drove over to her address.

After a couple of knocks, a girl in her twenties opened the door. She was dressed in a light summer�s dress that was see-through in the sunlight. Her figure was medium with large breasts, her smile inviting. "You must be Peter," she said, seeing the massage table under his arm.

"That�s right," he said, moving into the house as she motioned him in. He watched her as she led the way into a spare room. Peter set the table up and was putting the oils and lotions on the floor next to it when the young girl took her clothes off, totally uninhibited. Peter had a time controlling his sexual urge as he told her to lie flat on the table.

"Monique, I would like to ask you a couple of questions as we begin." He poured some oil on her back and as he began to rub it in the smell of lavender filled the air. "Would you like a hard massage or one that is more sensual, and stimulating?"

At this, Monique turned from her stomach, leant over and pulled him to herself. "Why don�t you get undressed and we�ll just take it as it comes."

Peter had no objections...

*******

Tony came out of the shower and saw Dave had arrived early. "Hi Dave" he said as he came over and shook his hand. "You�re early aren�t you?"

"Yes I am mate. I�ve come over to tell you something." Dave motioned for Tony to take a seat. The look Tony saw in Dave�s eyes made him uncomfortable.

"Sharon rang me this morning to say Slater, a friend of yours, went to report Cyril for the China Town murder. Apparently he�d seen the body in Cyril�s house. Cyril asked him where he should dump it and Slater suggested China Town. Any way, Wednesday morning, Cyril raped Colin and he mentioned that he�d like to rape you again. Slater couldn�t handle seeing his friends hurt, so he took Colin to the police station and confessed to Christine. I spoke to Christine the other day also and she told me the whole story. It turns out that Cyril was going to lunch with the Chief of police. He came to meet him at Kings Cross police station. Slater saw Cyril and recognised him in a Judges outfit. Sorry mate, but Slater was terrified. He shot himself. Colin, poor kid could also have identified Cyril as the Judge. A doctor whom Cyril knew killed him.

Another couple of children that you know, Rodney and Geoff were killed too. That�s why it was essential to get you away from the Cross. It seems Cyril is knocking off every street kid that can identify him. That�s why he sent the thug after you."

Dave watched as Tony�s eyes filled. His whole world was tumbling in around his ears. He burst into tears; Slater had been a good friend. He�d stood up for him and even been hurt by Cyril for that. Even though he knew he was risking his life, he went in to report Cyril, to save further hurt and heartache for his friends. Tony couldn�t believe it. Someone had died, so that he could live. It hurt Tony all right, and at the time he couldn�t fathom why someone would care that much for him.

Dave sat next to him and stroked his hair, and Tony wept like he had never done before. A storm broke once again. This time a man was stroking him lovingly. Years of hurt were rising to the surface. The mere mention of Cyril�s name brought eruptions of turmoil in his stomach, purging him and pushing tears out of his eyes. The guy was a monster. Slater had stood up for him after that rape. Now he had died. It was all too much to contain.

His heart was awash with relief that Cyril was gone. It was a threat that had hung like a cloud over his life. Now Slater had even removed that. But in doing so, had taken his own life. He turned to Dave, his heart filled with remorse and asked. "Is there going to be a funeral?"

"I would imagine there would be. I�ll ring up and enquire if you like. Meanwhile you get dressed and we�ll go to church." Dave dialled the police station and when answered, asked for Cliff Harrison.

" Hi Cliff. This is Dave, a friend of Christine�s. That�s right. We are looking after Tony the street kid. Yes, he�s fine. Yes we have been careful. The reason for my call concerns the matter of the funerals. Do you know when they are? Yes I�ll hold." After a little while Cliff returned to the phone. "Yes, thanks very much Cliff. I�d love to catch up with you some time. See you later."

Tony came out dressed, and Dave told him the funeral was going to be in a couple of weeks. Further autopsies were required. Apparently a new Forensics team has arrived and they are going to double check everything done in the investigation. When the funeral dates are set, Cliff said Tony would be the first to know.

"So are you ready. Right well let�s go. See you Mike I�ll bring him back tonight."

"See you Mike. Thanks for the swim," Tony said.

"That�s okay mate. You�ll have to get used to it. You go off to church and stop worrying. We�ll look after you. Tony waved as they left in Dave�s ute. Mike couldn�t believe it. He couldn�t understand why he thanked him for such a simple thing as a swim. He shook his head and went inside and rang Loran.

"Hi sweet thing. Love of my life. Guess what I�ve just found out about?"

"What? ", Loran asked.

"The China Town Murder "

"Oh, have you seen the paper too? "Loran asked

"No Why? " Mike asked.

"Because it�s all in the paper. It�s a judge that did it. It�s amazing I know him Mike. He�s a good friend of my boss. Actually, he was the Judge on that paedophile case, which dealt with the alleged sexual molestations at a North Shore Kindergarten. No wonder they got off. The damn judge was a paedophile himself. I�ve a feeling it�s not going to be all joy tomorrow at work."

*******

Peter finished his appointment. He had another one booked in a couple of hour�s time. Monique had certainly worn him out. He hoped that all the clients weren�t as demanding. He smiled though as he left with a hundred dollars in his hand for a couple of hour�s work. Who could call it work anyway? Monique was a doll that was for sure. She even wanted to become a regular client, once a fortnight. Peter had other ideas. She may rise to a greater role in his plans.

*******

As Dave pulled into the driveway of the church, Tony couldn�t believe his eyes. It was massive. He entered and looked around. There must have been a thousand people in there. Dave introduced him to the Senior Pastor. The pastor asked Dave if he was prepared to speak about the subject Dave had rung him about earlier in the week. Dave nodded with a quiet "yes", and introduced Tony.

They went inside the church and took a seat. The church was nothing like he�d imagined in his wildest dreams. It had a whole lot of green mesh like army material hanging from the roof. Big posters on the wall had messages like. "We fight not against flesh and blood, yet against unseen forces and principalities." Another poster read "If God is for us, then who can be against us." They had just taken a seat, and a constant stream of people came up and gave Dave a hug. Dave would introduce Tony and they�d shake his hand. A couple of older ladies, even hugged Tony. The hugs were nice. They felt loving, and before the service had started, Tony felt comfortable.

All of a sudden a loud noise erupted and Tony looked toward the stage. A young guy, who looked a little like Jimmy Hendrix, stroked a lead guitar as a modern day rock band exploded into music. Tony was astounded to see and hear as the lead guitarist ran around the stage playing an awesome lead break. A drummer perched high above the band started thrashing at his drums and the audience stood up and clapped along. The first song was about how Jesus won the victory in his death. It went on to say death could not hold Christ down, because he had risen. The enthusiasm of the crowd, as well as the fantastic music encouraged Tony into singing himself. Within a few minutes he was lost like the rest of them in his clapping and singing.

Dave watched Tony and was encouraged. He witnessed the effect the songs were having on Tony, as slowly they became more personal. The band�s volume dropped a little and the people held their hands in the air. They all seemed to be worshipping a God that was alive. The minister who was leading the singing, said the Holy Spirit of God was there in their midst. Tony began crying tears of sorrow and new hope. The songs were poetic; they were so full of praise and happiness. His throat became sore as he sang.

After about half an hour the minister read a passage of scripture. He read "See the birds of the air, and the lilies of the fields. They want for nothing. Yet, Solomon in all his glory wasn�t adorned in such splendour as them. If your father in heaven cares for them, and looks after them so well, surely he will do more for you." Tony couldn�t believe his ears. How had that minister known? That was the verse he�d remembered only this week. That was the verse that had caused him to pray and to reach out to God. Now it seemed God wanted to reach out to him.

The minister invited Dave to come out the front, and Dave asked Tony to come with him. Dave told the whole church he wanted to help some of the Kids of the Cross. He introduced Tony as one of them. He asked the congregation to pray about whether they felt drawn to committing some time to help. He told them he wanted to form a large group of interested people, those who could help in the long term. He then asked the church to pray for Tony. The whole church bowed in prayer and stretched out their hands toward Tony as they prayed. Tony felt a feeling come over him, like being drunk his legs felt light and he fell over. Dave continued talking and Tony lie on the stage floor. It seemed all the hurts of the morning began to leave him. He felt completely happy. They left the stage shortly after and took a seat.

After some more singing the minister stood up to preach. The title of his sermon was Love. The scripture verse he read was, "Greater love has no man than this, to lay down his life for another". As he preached about how a Christian should help and serve other people, the verse kept on coming back to Tony�s mind. Slater had laid down his life so that he might live and come to church. Slater loved me. Tony could remember little of what the Minister said in the half-hour that followed; yet he did remember something. He remembered walking forward to the front of the church to receive Christ as his personal saviour. It wasn�t hard for Tony to believe that Christ died for him, because that�s exactly what Slater had done. He smiled as he prayed the prayer and whispered a thought to Slater. "I�m going to be all right Slater, I�ve found our answer.