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To My Lips

 

 

Clifton has grown up with certain assumptions.  His family would always be there for him.  His assumption was wrong.  When he was growing up, he longed to be sixteen.  Sixteen was when you were an adult.  You were old when you were sixty.

 

Children have no perception of age.  Individuals always assume that they deserve respect because of their age.  And individuals dismiss people who are younger than them.  Children should be seen and not heard.

 

Children should be heard.

 

Especially children who do not speak.

 

Silent people listen and he heard, heard them talking about him.  They had made the mistake, a common mistake – because he didn’t talk it did not mean he couldn’t listen.

 

His birthday was coming up.  On 23 September he would be sixteen.

 

Daniel.

 

Mrs Duncan said that they knew Daniel could leave their care at that point, but it was preferable that he was looked after until he was eighteen.

 

Daniel.

 

They were not cruel.  They had looked after him well but when you listen, you hear things.  Funds were tight.  They relied on donations, on volunteers.

 

They said they wanted him to stay.  Daniel knew why they said it. But he also knew they were paying lip service.

 

 

 

To My Arms

 

 

It was a terrible thing to admit.  He hardly remembered his parents.  This was especially terrible as he had watched them die.  Daniel had blotted out this memory.  Then he blocked out his speech.

 

Someone rescued him.  Everyone thought it was Clifton Maybank, Uncle Cliff.  It was not.  It was a teddy bear dressed in red.  And Daniel held him close to him every night because Daniel had a fear.  Kop did not belong to him.  So, every night Daniel held the bear because he thought every night would be the last.  He knew it was unreasonable.  Daniel was fifteen and still the most comfort he got was from a teddy bear.  He was soon to be sixteen.

 

It was time for him to grow up.

 

Daniel did not know how.

 

 

 

 

Just Say the Word

 

 

How can you extend a family if you don’t have one?  It was too much to ask.  Clifton Maybank could not commit, he had too many commitments.

 

But there were too many cakes and too many casseroles for one person to eat.

 

Clifton Maybank had taken up jogging.  You could not call it running.  But there was too much food and he was still a young man.  He enjoyed jogging.  It was an insular activity, solitary.  People that are on their own, but share their lives, need to be on their own sometimes.

 

Clifton didn’t share, he just gave.

 

Could he accept?

 

The mileage would be less.  Sixty miles there and sixty miles back.

 

It was too much to ask.  It was too much to learn.

 

Clifton tried to explain to Mrs Duncan.  He felt he was trying to explain to himself.

 

Clifton Maybank knew about rejection.

 

He just had to say the word.

 

He did not know if he could.

 

One word.

 

 

Like Taking Candy

 

 

Daniel knew the day would come.  If you live on promises then promises would have to come to an end.

 

Uncle Cliff wanted Kop back.  Daniel was almost a man.  He would be sixteen in September.

 

Clifton Maybank wanted to take Kop home – to his home.  He did belong to him after all.

 

 

 

The Greatest Wealth that I can Give

 

 

Daniel tried to be a man, tried not to cry.  He was not old enough to understand that the ability to cry also showed the ability to be a man.

 

Clifton Maybank felt he needed to explain.  This man, used to talking, talking to the boy who did not talk, but it was a boy who had learnt to listen.

 

“He is part of both of us.  I cannot take one without the other.  We both need to take care of Kop – it’s just that now we need to look after him together.  It is what sharing is all about”.

 

It was Daniel’s decision.  It would change his life.

 

It was not a decision.

 

It would change his life for the better.

 

They would be together, the three of them.

 

A Holy Trinity.

 

 

 

 

My Heart has Love Enough for Two

 

-1-

 

If you would judge the actions of Clifton Maybank you would say he over-compensated.  Clifton was not a parent and he did not know how to be a parent.  He was not a parent.

 

That was not what Daniel needed.  So, every day was different.

 

Routines did the trick.  Routines are what define us. 

 

They argued over how porridge should be served.  They argued over the best contestant in the TV talent show.  They argued over whether Danny or James was the best Roald Dahl character.

 

It dawned on him.  Clifton Maybank had been stupid.  He suddenly realised one day.  If they were arguing, they were talking.  Daniel was talking.

 

They agreed on one thing.  They both supported Liverpool FC.

 

Come on you Reds.

 

My Heart has Love Enough for Two

 

-2-

 

 

Clifton Maybank never forgot what the sound of the knocker on the door was so he was not roused at the sound. 

 

He expected cake or he expected casserole.  It was a joke between them.  Daniel always smiled politely and spoke to the ladies courteously.  Although he always spoke quietly, he always spoke.  Afterwards they would disintegrate into laughter.  Boys together.  Was that cruel?  Clifton Maybank did not know.  He only knew he loved this boy’s company.  This boy who was nearly a man.

 

If Daniel did not speak much, he produced a voice from Clifton often.  Sometimes the voice was one of retribution, sometimes harsh.  If truth be known Daniel made Clifton laugh.  There is no greater gift.  If people thought Clifton had given a lot to Daniel, he knew that the balance of their thoughts were wrong.  Daniel had given him so much more.  Clifton was becoming the man he always could be.

 

The only one to suffer was Kop.  They hardly spoke to him now.  They needed him less.

 

One day Clifton needed him more.

 

 

 

Let’s really Start to Live

 

 

Clifton Maybank never forgot what the sound of the knocker on the door was so he was not roused at the sound. 

 

The people who do not talk, listen.  Daniel heard the knock and he watched, and he listened.

 

Clifton did not need to say anything when Daniel answered the door.

 

Daniel did not have any family.

 

“Who is it Daniel?”.

 

“Daddy, it’s you”.

 

Clifton Maybank thought his heart was going to explode.  If he ever thought he might love Daniel, he knew now with a certainty, the certainty of one word.

 

Daniel did not have any family.

 

He was introduced.

 

“It’s not me son.  This is your uncle Anthony.”

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