Mark DeLancey

Chapter 2

I have racked my brain trying to think of my next memory of Mark but all I can come up with was when I was eight. I was sitting outside the library in the gutter waiting for my mother to come and pick me up. It was getting dark and starting to rain. I guess she forgot about me. It wasn't the first time. A big motorbike pulled up in front of me and the man riding it took off his helmet and looked down at me.

"Hey, Pipsqueak, what're you doin'?"

I looked up, blinking as the light rain fell on my eyelashes.

"Nothin'." I said. I guess I didn't feel like talking.

"It's getting dark. Should you be out here?" His voice was a little more serious now.

"I'm waitin' for mum," I shrugged. It was nothing new.

"Are you sure she's coming?" He climbed off his bike and stood in front of me.

I looked down the road, doubt filling my features. Probably not, I thought.

"Come on, hop on. I'll take you."

I looked at the bike, part of me thrilled, part of me scared.

"She won't like it."

"Yeh, well, she'll like it less if something happens to you out here."

I was surprised at that. I doubt it; I thought.

I stood up, tentatively. I still wasn't sure.

Mark put the helmet on my head and buckled it under my chin. It was way too big.

"There you go, Pip," he grinned.

"What are you gonna wear?"

He shrugged, "I'll be right. I'll go slow and won't get caught."

He climbed on and started the engine. "Climb up." He turned his head and showed me where to step up.

I climbed on, careful where my bare legs went, and clung on to his waist.

The bike was loud, the seat vibrating under my bum, making me scared I would fall off, but I hung on tight, my head leaning on his back as I watched the trees and houses fly passed.

It didn't take long to reach his house. He pulled into the driveway and helped me climb down. Removing the helmet, my hair a mess, my cheeks flushed. He smiled at me.

"How was it?" he asked, amused.

"Good," I simply replied, even though I was still kind of scared but I think maybe exhilarated too. I'd never experienced anything quite like it. I started to set off for my house next door, when he grabbed my arm.

"Hang on. I just wanna check on your mum first. See if everything's alright. Wait here."

He came back a couple of minutes later, his eyes concealing something he didn't want me to know.

"You hungry?"

I nodded. "Yeah. I haven't eaten since breakfast."

"Come on then. I'll make you a toasted cheese sandwich. You like that?"

I nodded again, following him into his house.

"Where's mum?" I asked as we went.

"Oh, she's..." He paused to think. "...having a rest. I guess she was worn out."

I remember wondering why. She never did anything. Not like his mum. Mark's mum was a nurse, and she was always working.

We went inside and Mark hung his jacket on a hook just inside the door. He took his boots off and I wondered if I should take my dirty, old sneakers off too. He led me to the kitchen and made me wash my hands. He washed his too and started digging through the fridge. I sat on a stool and watched him. He looked at me every now and then.

"Here have some of these, but not too many." He tossed a bag across the counter to me.

"What are they?"

He frowned. "Prawn chips from the Chinese. Haven't you ever had any?"

I shook my head.

"Well, see if you like them." He looked at the bag pointedly.

I tried one and when he turned around next, I'd eaten half the bag.

"Hey, slow down, Pipsqueak! What'd I say? Not too many!" He laughed, taking the bag from me.

I don't know why, but I remember that toasted cheese sandwich as one of the best I've ever had. Maybe it was because I was so hungry or maybe because Mark made it. I don't know.

He cleaned up quickly after we ate and asked if I liked video games.

"I don't know," I shrugged.

"What? You don't play?"

I shook my head. I'd played games at school, but we didn't have a console at home, so I had nothing to play on.

We sat in the lounge room and he got the game ready, putting the controller in my hand.

"Mario Kart." He said. "You'll love it." He showed me how to play, then stood up. "I'll be back soon. I'm just gonna take a shower."

I did love Mario Kart. It was fun. When Mark came out again he was talking on the phone to someone in an inaudible voice, looking over at me every so often.

There was something else I remembered. He came out without a shirt, his longish hair hanging damp, and I remember thinking how clean he looked. Maybe that seems strange, but my dad, I never thought of him as clean. He was covered in tattoos.

I can only guess what was wrong with my mum that night. I suppose Mark had a reason to worry. Turned out he talked to his mum on the phone and asked her what to do. She must have sorted it out because when she came home later that night she took me home. And mum was okay then. Well, as okay as mum could be.

You see, my mum? She was a junkie. That's what they'd call her around town. I was much older when I found out. Maybe ten or eleven. She hid it pretty well before that. But once I knew, it was easy to see. I must have been blind before or just too young to realise.

My brother and sister had moved to another town with my dad when I was seven. I didn't want to go. I didn't like my dad. He scared me. I didn't much like my mum either, but at least I knew what to expect. I was never close to my siblings. They were much older than me and didn't care much for me either. As you can see, we were all very close.

So I was alone that day when Mark found me sitting in the gutter when I was eight and I suppose mum was passed out on a high.

Maybe I shouldn't be glad about it, but I am.