Chapter 2

As time moved on I taught Lennie how to drive, so by the time he was eighteen he was ready to sit for his licence. He knew all the answers but had a problem in as much as he couldn't read or write. I spoke to the licensing body and they said that he could take an oral test instead of a written one. When the day arrived Lennie passed both tests with flying colours. I felt comfortable riding with him as he was always a very careful driver, something I couldn't say for a lot of the young drivers I'd encountered over the years.

Finally Lennie could buy a vehicle, Terry had found a Jeep with a blown up motor. He knew where he could pick up a short block Chevy motor cheap, Lennie was like a dog with two tails. We did the transplant in my workshop and soon Lennie had his own wheels, a changed man since I first met him scrawling in the sand.

We still went on our fishing trips and his main topic was taking off to see the world. I tried to instil some caution in him and I think I succeeded somewhat. "You need to have a solid plan Lennie, if you just take off you're bound to come a gutser that's for sure."

"I've been planning for years Tony, I want to see Australia but I'm prepared to have a go at anything to work my way around."

One evening we were sitting at the kitchen table having a few beers and shooting the breeze when he spied my tarot deck. "They're funny looking cards Tony," he said.

"Oh them, that's a tarot deck, something I got bit interested in a while back."

"What's tarot, is it some sort of a card game?"

"No, it's a type of fortune telling thing. You shuffle they cards, then I lay them out in a special sequence; each card has a special meaning. Want to try it?"

"Yes please, I want to know what's in my future." I passed him the cards and he shuffled them, I then spread them out in the three card spread, on the left was the past, in the centre the present and on the right was the future. A simple spread without confusing answers.

The past card was the page of swords, "This indicates your past frustrations Lennie."

The present card was the three of swords "This means you can expect change and negatives will become positives."

The third card was the Fool. "That's right, they know who I am" he muttered.

"Whoa there Lennie, the Fool indicates the start of a journey; the Fool is young and inexperienced starting out into the world to learn about life. It doesn't mean he's a dill."

"So I'm going on a journey then?"

"That's what the cards tell me mate, let's wait and see."

A month later we read the cards again with a similar result, the Fool was in the right hand position. "I'm going on a journey Tony, I can feel it."

Another month went by and Lennie was asking for another reading. "Are you sure mate, what happens if things have changed over the last month?" I dealt the spread and I tell you no lie, the Fool was in the right hand position again; I felt the hair on the back of my neck rise, it was uncanny.

"That's it Tony, I've been talking to Grandpa and he's offered me his old caravan if I want it. The grape picking season is soon to begin so I'm going to see if I can get a job in Mildura."

My thoughts were, 'have I opened Pandora's box'? I didn't really believe in the cards, perhaps I've taken this a bit too far. I think I need to talk to Terry and Jo. I caught up with Terry doing a small excavation for a house slab.