LITMIR.BIZ

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of striking back at a customer in revenge for her misery.

      “Next!” she half shouted revitalised. If only she could do that again and again for the rest of the day…and get away with it would be fantastic, she revelled in the thought.

      As those devastating words hit Jonno, he felt the same experience he once had when he was surfing on the crest of a three-metre wave. The sheer elation of being lifted so high and looking around all along the beach for miles made him forget how vulnerable he was. Suddenly, he was left suspended in the air as the waves collapsed under him to nothing. He looked down with terror as he fell headlong toward rocks below the surface of the water. The thought of hitting those rocks and possibly drowning made him soil his swimming pants. This time though he was left dumb founded as a great lump choked his breath and his brain froze. As tears welled up into his eyes he just turned round and walked out without another word. All he could do was to go and sit in a park bench and bury his head on his lap and cry bitterly, uncontrollably. The sheer sense of despair and heartache tore at his heart.

      It was an hour later before he was composed enough to think clearly again but the heartbreak was still so very strong. But something on the inside seemed to repeatedly say, there must be another way. There is another way round this obstacle. His mother could help. He had not told her about his plans because he wanted it to be surprise to her on her birthday. She had already promised to assist him if he ever was in a position to save enough to buy a property. Maybe she knew some people who were not from the bank. Jonno had heard of non-banks who helped people rejected by banks. Wiping his eyes with his sleeves he got up and plodded home to discuss the matter with his mother as well as tell her the disappointing news. He knew she would still be over the moon to find out that he had saved enough money for a deposit. It would be her greatest achievement and would vindicate her strong belief in him and their future. Her love and devotion to both himself and his brother Peter would be celebrated with great joy on her birthday.

      LizzyGeorges cried and cried for her son. She cried not because he had had a devastating experience at the bank. She cried not because he felt trapped being Aboriginal who faced higher obstacles than the average non-Aboriginal did. She cried not because he could only get a part-time or casual job. She said,

      “No! No! my darling son. I am just so amazed by your incredible achievement at secretly saving so, so, much money. That you’ve listened to me, and respected me, an Aboriginal woman instead of the elders of the mob. These are the tears of thanks beyond measure. I just can’t believe it. But I cannot deny it. It’s there in the bank statement with your name on it and how you’ve regularly deposited the money into the account and not withdrawn it even when you went through stages over the years, when you so much wanted to buy some things, but you chose to go without because they were not really essential things. My son, my son, how I love you for it. It’s a joy, what mothers dreams about and you’ve made it come true. You’ve made it come true for me, my son.” Lizzy sobbed uncontrollably as waves of happiness swept over her. She hugged him gently for a while and then held his hands as if to say, you are my son. I bore you. What an unbelievable blessing you are. Stay close to me. For the first time in my life, I feel I can understand what it means to feel secure.

      Tears rolled down both Jonno and Peter’s eyes as they shared those precious intense moments of joy with her, in the midst of what appears to be a devastating experience for Jonno and possibly them all.

      Lizzy was determined that day to find a reputable financial advisor who could assist them in purchasing a property using a non-bank financial institution. She already had heard about Triple-A from some of the clients at her work. They seemed to think very, very highly of the company. In fact, they affectionately call it Triple-A, because of the quality of service and the reliability of the rates of return on their investments. She decided to make an immediate appointment when she got to work the next day. It was also her way of consoling her devastated son and to keep him motivated and on the right path. She was determined to fight with all she had and then some, for her rights and her future through this incredible opportunity that Jonno had given them to breakout financially from their current bondage.

      Fantasy Future

       Fantasy Future

      One afternoon, after a long training session at the school swimming pool in preparation for an upcoming interschool tournament and selection for state competition, Robert and three of his close, swim friends, Ricky, Jonno and Dave decided to go to a Pizza Hut. Pizzas were cheaper because they could share the costs. It was also Jonno’s only few opportunities to indulge himself. It was a tradition for them to go there after training. Ricky reckoned it was a perfect place for bulking up. That wasn’t so much his mates’ problem, he was rather skinny and it did not seem to matter how much he ate. He was trying hard to maintain body weight to cope with the tough training regime.

      “As sore as… I must’ve strained a shoulder muscle. Man! Arrrgh! That hurts!” as Bob tried once again to move his left arm in an anti-clockwise direction and arching his shoulders in and out, holding it for a few seconds to stretch the muscles.

      “I told you to spend more time doing warm downs. But, naah, you couldn’t be bothered could you? aye? aye? Tucker is all you could think of… mo-o-ron!” teased Dave. The others joined in laughing.

      If the truth be told, though, they were all very sore. The swim coach, Clifford Jones, was nicknamed – Sarg (short for Sergeant). And his training regime was called “Camp Rendition.” It was nicknamed after the scandal of the secret torturing of Al Qaeda agents in Arab countries where they were secretly sent (renditioning) by the Western allies because it was illegal in their own countries. One of the worst well-known torturing techniques was called ‘water-boarding’ where the prisoner was force to experience a sensation of drowning. After each of their training sessions with Sarg, the swim team felt like they fully understood what ‘water-boarding’ really felt like. They reckon Sarg Clifford Jones was secretly retrenched from the military for involvement in inventing the water boarding regime. He didn’t muck-about at training. He was mean as ever, taking no prisoners when training was on. No wonder, their school swim team was one of the state’s best, year in and year out since the Sarg took over the swim coach position.

      As they set down to their regular selection of Pizzas, Jonno started enthusiastically with food still in his mouth. He had been bubbly all day and seemed rather positive and especially enthusiastic about life. Both Bob and Ricky had made a passing comment during different times of the day about Jonno.

      “What have you been shooting up on Jonno?” Bob teased.

      “Yeah! I need, I need! Can I have what you are on? ...gees, man! You’ve got the grins real bad, I mean. It’s got to be really, really good, aye? aye?” Dave ribbed him with his elbow and put both his hands out, teasingly and laughing. The Bob joined in with both hands out.

      Jonno had been holding back his excitement because he wanted to tell the whole story to his mates. For him it was about a life changing experience that was going to take place very soon. He wanted his mates views, affirmation, and moral support because it would be a big decision. Like all good mates, at such times, you expect them to be there for you, just as you would expect to be there for them.

      Now, Jonno often saw himself as one of those teenagers who was a deliberate contradiction. A deliberate contradiction, because he had decided against his cultural background to make a prosperous life for himself. Aboriginal people are a very communal people. He wasn’t ashamed of his Aboriginal heritage or even his family. He was just more realistic about the real world that Aboriginal people had to come to grips with. He had to get out of poverty first in order to help others who were trapped in that state of hopelessness.

      His mother, Lizzy, a name given to her at an Aboriginal mission station where she was born, to a single mother. She, like many children of parents from the stolen generation, had had her sorrowful past. She had also lost her alcoholic husband, who died of pneumonia after falling asleep, drunk, outside on the verandah one wet winter’s day. Working as a secretary in a local government department, she was left to

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