Remembering Things Past by Vikki Petraitis

Author:Vikki Petraitis [Petraitis, Vikki]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: True Crime, Crime Shots
ISBN: 9780987553829
Publisher: Clan Destine Crime Shots
Published: 2013-04-09T09:07:50+00:00

Captain Francis, head of the Bayswater Boys' Home, was sitting on the steps of the veranda in the quadrangle, watching the boys.

'Oh, you're the new kid, Braybon,' he said, bluntly.

'Yes, Captain,' said Rod.

'What do you want?'

Rod was surprised by the tone of the man's voice. He had seemed different, nicer, the day before.

Nonetheless, Rod was on a mission. 'I wanna tell you about what happened last night with Lieutenant Haywood,' he began.

'What was it?' Captain Francis asked, looking at Rod through narrowed eyes.

Rod blurted everything in a rush. 'He called me into his room last night, and he made me fold his clothes, and clean his shoes and then take off my pyjamas and he showed me how to fold them so I wouldn't get into trouble…'

Francis's face turned red with fury and he spluttered, 'You filthy little animal! How dare you accuse a man of God, who has put so much work into you ungrateful urchins!' There was even spittle flying from his mouth as he spoke.

Rod knew he had miscalculated. Badly.

Captain Francis leant over, grabbed a wooden tomato stake from the garden bed next to him and stood up. The stake hit Rod in the stomach before he even saw it coming. He doubled over, but recovered quickly and spun around to flee. Too late.

Captain Francis whacked him across the back of his knees with the stake and Rod's legs buckled. He dropped heavily to the ground, and lay there, as blows rained down on him. The only thing Rod could do was to try and protect his face with his arms. The rest of the body could take a beating; the head, not so much. And he was beaten relentlessly until a voice, an almost fearful Envoy Collins as it turned out, yelled: 'That's enough!'

The blows stopped and Captain Francis tossed the tomato stake back into the garden. 'Throw him into 48,' he said.

Collins grabbed Rod by his arm and dragged him to his feet. Even though he couldn't walk unaided, Rod was largely numb from the beating.

Collins hauled him into his Vanguard ute and drove for 10 minutes to a place with a sign out the front that said: Salvation Army Youth Training Camp. Rod found out later it was the Bayswater No 1 Boys' Home for older boys; juvenile delinquents ordered by the court to serve time. Run as a dairy farm, Number 1 also had market gardens and the produce was sold in the community.

As Collins drove up the pristine driveway and parked at the entrance, the extent of Rod's injuries became apparent as feeling slowly returned to his body in a fiery throbbing. Collins led him through the office.

'Another one for 48,' he told the two officers they met.

'Your cell's empty,' said one of the officers without interest.

Collins led Rod downstairs to a semi-basement with a row of cells, unlocked the first door and shoved Rod into a tiny cell. The officer kicked a jam tin into the room and banged the door shut.

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