The Little Black Book

The Little Black Book

By Adah Saveka 02/2021

The stench of urine stung Rays nostrils like a hard hit to the face. His heart skipped a beat when he suddenly found himself staring at the roof of the toilet block.

Bang! Bang! Bang! “Get out here Ray, we know you’re in there! Come out and fight like a man!”

He heard Billy’s voice. Ray struggled to wrangle his breathing down, hoping Billy and the boys would go away. But, they didn’t.

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Ray had fallen asleep on the bus and missed his stop. When he got off, he headed straight for the nearest public toilets but soon found himself in a world of trouble.

It was Billy and the boys from school. They had always been jealous of Ray’s ability to build go karts so effortlessly. Ray had stolen Billy’s title too, beating him the last three years in the town's annual Go kart race.

Ray Kelly was sixteen and lived alone with his mum in a small town called Collinsville. Go karts were Ray’s passion, everything and anything to do with the construction of them. His mother, Jules, worked down at the local pub and was hardly ever home so it was no difference for Ray to be out alone. Ray was a thinker. Not so good with social interaction but he wasn't silly.

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Not too far down the road, Walter ends his call and slams his phone down on the glass table with such force but also with such little care that either may break.

He began frantically looking for the keys to his shiny black Kowasaki 900.

“Bugger this, I need some air, I’m going for a ride!”

Walter had just had the single worst argument he had ever had with his sister. He was furious!! He was frustrated. The last sister or any family member to speak to him. Nobody else cared for Walter anymore.

Walter’s palms began to sweat and his mouth was dry as he paced up and down his kitchen hallway.

He could not find his keys anywhere and felt himself begin to heighten. Walter locked the house up and headed for the backyard. He burst out of the old wooden gates, spilled out onto the streets and started pacing aimlessly.. That is.. Until he heard yelling. Walter’s mood changed dramatically and he went into a state of distress.

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As Ray fought-trying to figure out what was happening, BANG!!!

A toilet door burst open!

Somehow through what sounded like a pack of dogs, the single sound of a piece of metal hit the tiles in the toilets sent a deafening sound through Ray’s body. He knelt down in the corner and held his ears tightly in fear as sweat dripped down his forehead. He gasped for air, bracing himself as the second door was kicked open!

THEN….

He heard a mans voice, “Oi, you kids, why don’t you piss off and pick on someone your own size, aye?! While your there, gets some respect too!! You little rascals have no respect for other people’s property, I outta dob you into the police!”

It was Walter Freeman.

Billy and the boys scattered like cockroaches and instantly- there was silence.

Although Ray could hear his heart pounding through his chest, he let out an almighty sigh of relief and after a few minutes he gathered himself. He opened the cubicle door slowly. When he looked up, Ray realized that he had not seen many dark people in his life and also never met a person with a broken nose. Nonetheless, here was a dark man with a broken nose he wanted to hug.

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Ray was from the city and had to move for a more affordable lifestyle after his mother divorced his father three years before. He was a middle-class white boy living on the other side of town with his mother. Walter Freeman was a sixty-six year old tall indigenous man who had a passion for motorcycles. He lived alone.

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Walter quickly ushered Ray to the safety of his house as he too wished someone would have saved him all those years ago; around the same age.

Arriving at the house, there was silence but there was also an understanding as they looked at each other and realized both had experienced this before in their lives. They realized they had a connection.

Ray told Walter that he had High Functioning Autism which is why he finds it hard to make friends. Immediately, Walter related, as he recalled his similarities as a young man too. As they discussed this more, Walter had a strange feeling in his belly. Hours went by and Walter a man of sixty-six struggled to understand how and why his connection with Ray- fifty years younger, was so strong. Trying not to think about it so much, they spoke about their passions for machinery, oil, engines and everything in between.

Ray shared how he dreamed of owning a shed with his own real tools and supplies so that he could build and fix things to help his mother with their bills.

Walter spoke about his struggles with his family, in particular, his sister Jane. She had a sixteen year old son Max who also shared his uncle's passion for Motorcycles.

That was it. Ray wanted to repay Walter for his kindness and decided to see if he could help rebuild Walter’s family connections.

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Hours turned into days and the days turned into weeks. The two were inseparable. Many hours spent in the warm afternoon sun chatting away with not a care in the world. Both men felt a sense of belonging. A sense of understanding between each other. Both men felt their lives had really only just begun.

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A couple of weeks later, Ray was eating breakfast alone at home. Jules was asleep from a late shift the previous night.

Ray happened to catch the news on the TV. He wasn’t usually up so early and rarely got the time to.

But today was different.

The news read:

A man in his sixties had gone off the road on his motorcycle a few days ago. He hit a tree and died at

the scene.

Today was the day that authorities identified him.

It was Walter Freeman.

Ray was hit with an almighty pain in his stomach!! He was sweating profusely and gasping for air.

Ray remembered Walter speaking about his sister, she lived in the big yellow house on the corner, a few blocks away. He had to get there! He had to see if it was really true!

If his only friend in the entire world was gone.

As Ray pounded on the door anxiously and unsure of what he was even doing, Walter’s nephew Jordan answered the door.

“Hello, you must be Ray.”

“I am” replied Ray sobbing uncontrollably.

“He was my best friend, I only just met him! Where has he gone? Tell him to come back! Is it true?

Ray broke down and spewed out lots of questions and statements with no real meanings. Jordan held him and let him cry.

A little while later they stood there in silence.

“We found something in my uncle's belongings. He had a parcel for you” Jordan said, while going to retrieve it. He handed the parcel to Ray.

Ray hesitated but thanked him and took the parcel gently.

In it was a little black book.

Ray jumped on his bike and rode furiously. He headed straight for home.

Sitting on his bed in the dark, Ray quietly flicked his lamp on. He opened the book up, and immediately smelt Walter’s scent as he flicked past the first page.

In the little black book it wrote…

Dear Ray,

I hope this gets to you well because this is a will of my own kind. I never did do things by the books. Haha.

The day I met you, my sister was upset with me because she had wanted me to go to the doctor and get myself looked at. Jane seemed to think I had some form of Autism. It has been years and I would not listen to her because I refused to believe there was something wrong with me. Although I knew I was different, I just hoped it would disappear, because I was scared.

Meeting you, was a remarkable phenomenon. In you Ray, I saw my childhood flash before my eyes- mirroring yours. I knew in my heart as soon as I met you, that I was the same. Down to every detail, word for word and feeling for feeling. You showed me that everything was going to be okay.

In here, I have instructions for you to retrieve something for yourself to make your dreams come true. I know that you will use this wisely this is why I left it for you in these circumstances.

I have left a bag for you with $20,000 cash in it. At the back of this book is the directions and coordinates to get to Central Station and to find which lockers I have left the bag in. I know you will figure it out my friend.

Lastly, just so you know why I have left this token of my appreciation...

I researched everything about Autism that night, then called my sister to apologize for everything and arranged an appointment. This is just a small token of my appreciation for such a significant change in my life. It has bought my family so much joy, understanding and growth. You have no idea the freedom it has brought us also, so I leave you this small token however, I will be eternally grateful to

you. Thank you.

All my love,

Walter.