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RANDY GOT A LUNCH-PASS next day and biked into the centre of Kainui. He went straight to the Kainui District Council’s offices and walked up to the reception desk.
“Hi, uh, like, how do you get to talk to the Mayor around here?”
“The Mayor? Do you have an appointment?”
“Uh; no, but it’s real important. Real important.”
The receptionist smiled blandly, “Of course it is. Now, um, I might be able to fit you in early next month. Are you part of a group, or a sports club or something?”
“No? Do I have to be?”
“No. I just thought... you are rather young...”
“But, like, anyone can talk to the Mayor, can’t they?”
“Yes,” she said doubtfully, “if it’s that important. What exactly will you be talking about? Perhaps someone else in the council might be able to help you?”
Randy took a long shot, “Is Mr Birke here?”
“Do you mean Mr Dirke?”
“Oh, yeah, yeah, him.”
“I’m sorry, Councillor Dirke is in Auckland today, and tomorrow too...”
“Then I’ve got to see the Mayor!”
“I’m sorry, he won’t be back until late tomorrow as well, then he has the Environmental Arts Festival on Saturday, then appointments all next week. As I said...”
“It’s alright,” muttered Randy, “forget it.” He walked out. 'Sheesh! Why’re adults so darn difficult! If they were all teenagers, life would be way easier!'
He sat glumly in the little park outside. He had two and a half thousand dollars in one pocket and a brand new purple cell-phone in the other. His love-life was back in action and the weather was perfect. Wasn’t he meant to be happy?
He stood up decisively and grabbed his helmet. What a dumb idea - trying to save the town! Piho was right – ‘make hay while the sun shines and stuff the rest of them’.
He was just unlocking his bike when that same silvery-grey BMW pulled into the council parking lot. He paused, watching. The two rich-looking city-people went into the council offices. Randy quickly re-locked his bike and discreetly followed them in.
They went straight to the receptionist’s desk, “Good afternoon. We’d like to talk to the Properties Manager please.”
“That would be Councillor Dirke,” replied the receptionist in her cheerful robotic voice, “but he is out of town at the moment. Can someone else help you?”
Randy had heard enough. He went back to school, feeling more depressed than ever.
#
PIHO WAS IRRITATINGLY cheerful that afternoon. The sun blazed down and Blowfly was on a roll, finding three truffles in the space of ten minutes. Blowfly got his bacon crisps, and Piho was hooking into it too.
“Go on!” he said, shoving the bag repeatedly at Randy, “I bought heaps ‘cos you like it so much! Oh, and by the way you owe me thirty bucks for your share.”
“Here y’are,” mumbled Randy, digging out the money and giving it over without any resistance. But he still didn’t eat any bacon.
“What’s up with you?” asked Piho crossly, wiping bacon-fat from his chin.
“Nuttin’.” grunted Randy. He didn’t look up.
“Ahhh, I know,” said Piho, sounded positively gleeful, “love-trouble again!”
“Nah, it’s not that,” mumbled Randy.
“Well, what is it then?”
“I told ya, nothing!”
“Geez, you’re a real cheer-leader!” muttered Piho, giving up on that subject, “Hey anyway, tell me about that babe you were with yesterday!”
“Eh? Who?”
“That babe from Auckland – Rhonda.”
Randy nearly freaked right out of his skin. He didn’t answer.
“Well?” asked Piho, after a long silence. Still no answer. “What’s up with you, man?”
“Nothing!” yelled Randy, “I told, you, nothing!”
“Shee! You’re acting pretty weird, man. Have you got the hots for her or something? Is that what’s gone wrong on the ‘ol Tammy front?”
“No way!” shouted Randy, “Not with her!”
“Good,” said Piho, mysteriously pleased, “so, is she still in town? How old is she?”
Randy, without thinking, said his own age.
“Excellent!” said Piho, “So is she part of your Greenie group?”
“Uh, yeah, sort of. Why’re you asking?”
“Aw, nuttin’. So, like, is she still in town? Has she moved here or something?”
Randy was beginning to get worried. Was it possible? Oh no! He had to find out.
“So, do you like her, then?”
Piho snorted, “Who, me? No way!” (He did; he liked her! Arrrrgh!) Piho continued, “I’m just, like, interested, that’s all. So tell me – is she still in town?”
“No!” snapped Randy abruptly, “She’s gone! You won’t see her again! Okay?”
“Sheesh! What’s up with you? You trying to put me off or something?”
“No, it’s just, well, I just know you’ll never see her again.”
“You are trying to put me off!” crowed Piho, “Right - I’m going to ask Tammy then. She’ll tell me the truth!”
“No she won’t! Ah, I mean, I mean... oh I might as well save you the disappointment.” Randy took a deep breath, and very sincerely, in his most truthful voice, he told Piho the bad news, “Listen, Dude, I’m sorry. Rhonda’s actually eighteen, she’s already got a boyfriend, and she lives way up north. Okay?” He lied. It was the best thing he could do. Really.
Piho was silent. He seemed pretty disappointed.
Then he started up again, “Hey, she was a pretty cool unit though, wasn’t she? I mean man; did you see the noogies on her? Hubba, hubba, hubba!”
Randy stopped on the spot. “Piho,” he said stiffly, “sometimes you’re disgusting.”
Piho stopped too, turning on Randy fiercely, “Ah well stuff you too, man! Geez you’re a pain in the butt when you’re in love!”
“Right!” shouted Randy, stomping off, “I’ve had enough of this. I’m off home.”
And he left Piho, Blowfly, the bag of bacon and many thousands of possible dollars worth of truffles, and walked right out of the Journale Reserve, never to return.
Mind you, he still had those three truffles in his pocket.
#
RANDY DIDN’T TALK TO Piho all day Friday. He avoided him, and everyone else. In fact he’d sunk into a deep dark depression. And he couldn’t exactly figure out why. But one thing was for sure; he was never going to eat pig again! Seeing them close-up had done it. That mad gleam of intelligence in their eyes; that pleading begging look they’d given him.
Damn Piho and his bloody bacon!
Damn that idiot Pierre, letting himself get followed.
Damn everybody!
At lunchtime Randy wandered alone, far from the maddening crowd. Until Tammy caught up with him. She was very concerned.
“Randy, are you alright?”
“Yeah,” he began, then admitted the truth, “no, not really.”
“What’s up?” she asked kindly.
“Aw nothing,” he huffed, feeling his general anger rising, “Just my whole life!”
“What?” she asked, incredulously, “But... you’re okay, aren’t you? I mean... like... you are okay really? I mean I think you’re really quite a wonderful person. I mean, sure, you’ve made some mistakes, but you do try, and I think you really do care. And... and I care about you!”
He looked up and smiled for the first time. Tammy was being nice to him. Awww!
“Do you want to talk about it?” she asked, gently.
Randy was silent for a moment, then all in a rush he poured it out, “Yeah, I do! I’m greedy, I’m selfish, I tell lies, and I couldn’t care enough about this town to really do something about it. I mean really try.”
“But you do! You are! What you did for those pigs was amazing!”
He shrugged, and smiled, remembering Tammy’s little kiss on ‘Rhonda’s’ cheek. Then he looked up at her, “Tammy,” he said, “I... you... like... well you’re a great person, not me. I’m just a piece of scum; always out for myself. But I think you’re wonderful. I really do. You’re too good for me. You really try, and you really care, and you are always so truthful...”
She laughed, “No I aren’t! I sometimes tell fibs. Oh gosh, I once told a real whoppa, and got away with it completely! Oh dear, and here’s you thinking I’m a complete angel!” she shook her head in disbelief, “And I’ve never told anyone about it, until now.”
Randy looked at her in a whole new way.
“Oh, Randy,” she said affectionately, “I guess I’m not surprised you’ve had doubts about yourself. ‘Cos I do too. Like these last six months, you know - I’ve been very distant. You probably thought I was mad at you.”
He nodded.
She laughed, “Well actually I was a bit to start with, but mainly I’ve been, y’know...” he voice went quiet and sort of like she was about to cry, “...I’ve been feeling like nobody could possibly love me. ‘Cos I’m so geeky...”
He protested, “You’re not geeky!”
She smiled, and looked up at him, “You’re such a sweetie, Randy, you really are.”
“Well no, I mean it! To me you’re... you’re Tammy. The girl I...”
And then he said it, at last.
“...The girl I love.”
She looked at him a long time, and he was surprised to see real tears in her eyes. He reached out and took her hand and squeezed it nicely and she smiled and the tears spilled over and she slowly brushed them away, smiling like her face was going to bust. He got a bit wet-eyed too.
#
THUS THEY SAT QUIETLY together out past the tennis courts, secretly holding hands, until the bell rang. Tammy got up. “Finally strategy meeting tonight,” she reminded him, “I guess you’ll be working at Bennithorpe’s again this afternoon?”
“Ye... Uh, no.”
- Should I tell her everything? Even about the truffles? -
“Wanna come round?” she asked.
“Ah...” he wanted to, but he had a huge backlog of homework to catch up on, “Maybe, after tomorrow? We can relax a bit? Catch up?”
“Randy, ” she said fiercely, “you know as well as I do that there’ll be no relaxing until that farm is closed down! Tomorrow we free the pigs! And that’ll just be the start!”
“Yeah,” he agreed mysteriously, “Tomorrow will be the start of a whole new Kainui.”
“That’s the spirit!” she said, “I’m so glad to see you back to your usual self! Come on, we’re late!” And she starting running back to class.
Randy was glad to follow. He liked the way she ran.