Fic: 5 Times Sam and/or Gene Got Involved in Little Sammy's Life, green cortina, dakfinv
Title: 5 Times Sam and/or Gene Got Involved in Little Sammy's Life, and the One Time He Remembers
Author: dak
Word Count: 2116 words
Rating: green cortina
A/N: For
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1.
Johnny Booker was a mean, little, tattle-tale. If he hadn’t told Mrs. Moyer what had happened with the substitute, she would have never found out, and Sammy wouldn’t have been sent to the Headmaster’s office along with Colin and Brian. The Headmaster wouldn’t have called his mum, and Mum wouldn’t have taken the telly away as punishment. The substitute had been ugly and mean. It wasn’t fair, and it was all Johnny’s fault. But, Johnny didn’t get in trouble.
So Colin, Brian, and Sammy decided to fix that. That’s why they were here now, in the park, giving Johnny a good kicking and telling him he had better never squeal again. It was the right thing to do. Well, it was until the large man came storming across the field, hurling threats at them all. They thought it was Johnny’s father or uncle and immediately took off. Sammy, however, wasn’t quick enough and the man grabbed him by the collar and pulled him back.
“Not you, Sunshine,” he growled and spun him round. “What d’you think you’re doing?”
“Nowt,” Sammy mumbled and stared at the ground.
“Nowt, eh?” he turned Sammy so he could see where Johnny was sitting on the ground, crying from a split lip. “You call that nothing?”
“No,” Sammy mumbled again.
“What was that?” he shook Sam by the collar.
“No, sir,” he spoke louder.
“You need to sort summat out by fighting, Tyler, you do it fairly. You think three against one is fair?”
“No, sir,” he shook his head.
“Good. Now help him up and take him home. Then, explain to his poor mum how that swollen lip came about. Okay?”
“Yes, sir.”
“Good, lad,” the man let him go and Sam, a bit scared for his life, immediately went to Johnny’s side. By the time they were both standing, the big man was already walking away. He must have been Johnny’s uncle, Sammy figured. How else would he have known his name?
2.
It was his very first football match. Sammy was so excited. He usually just played his cousin or at school, but this was a real team. They had fancy uniforms and everything - red, just like Man United. Sammy was thrilled. It was going to be so exciting.
Mum had already told him she wouldn’t be able to come because she’d been working. Mum was always working, but Sammy knew they needed the money. So, he told her that was fine. He understood, and he’d tell her all about the game as soon as he saw her.
While he was on the pitch, he was so excited about playing that he didn’t even remember his mum wouldn’t be there. He just heard the crowd cheering and imagined she was there. Then, Sammy scored the first goal of the game. It had been an amazing goal. The other team hadn’t known what hit them, and Sammy’s teammates swarmed around him and pat him on the back. He looked to the stands, searching for her face, when he remembered his mum wasn’t there. He shook it off - it was no big deal - and continued with the rest of the game.
Unfortunately, his team lost 2-1, and as his teammates moped off home with their mums and dads, Sam left the pitch by himself, utterly dejected that he did not do more to help his team. He had just passed the stands when a someone called out his name.
“Oi, Tyler!”
He spun to see a vaguely familiar man with blond hair approaching him.
“Yes, sir?”
“That were a good goal you scored there. If those refs hadn’t stuck their heads up their arses, I know you would’ve won that game.”
“Uhm, thank you, sir,” Sam smiled.
“Right then. Off you go. Don’t let this give you the hump. I’m sure you’ll win the next match.”
“Right, sir. Thank you,” Sam nodded and hurried home, somehow less upset than before.
3.
Sammy couldn’t believe he failed that test. He had studied so hard and memorized everything, but still hadn’t passed. He didn’t know what happened. He knew the answers, but when the teacher placed the test paper in front of him, he completely forgot everything. He was so embarrassed. Not only did no one else fail as badly as he had, but now he would have to repeat the whole year. Everyone in his class would move on and leave him behind. He begged and begged the teacher to let him have a second try, but she told him he should have studied harder. It was his own fault he failed.
Sammy had finally resigned himself to his fate when a week before the last day of the term, the teacher called him to her desk. She told Sam how his uncle had come to speak with her about his problems at home, how hard he had seen Sammy study for that test, and how, if she let him take it again, Sam would certainly pass. Sammy was too surprised to say anything but thank you, and two days later he retook the test. This time he was determined to do well, took deep breaths, and did exceedingly better than he had before, just like his uncle said he would.
What puzzled Sammy more than his teacher’s change of heart was that he wasn’t having any problems at home, not that he knew of. He didn’t have an uncle, either, at least that he knew of.
4.
His mum had told him it was going to happen, that he was very ill, but Sammy was still shocked the morning he ran downstairs to discover that Ivanhoe wasn’t still because he was sleeping. Auntie Heather let him have a nice box and they gave him a hero’s burial in the backyard. Mum kept telling him that Ivanhoe was happy and in Heaven, but Sammy remained distraught for weeks. Ivanhoe had been Sammy’s best friend in the whole wide world, and now he was gone.
A month after his passing, there was a knock at the door. Sammy was up in his room, trying to ignore the stupid, mean, whole wide world, and let Mummy open the door herself. When it finally closed again, curiosity got the better of him. Sammy peaked his head out his window and saw a man with funny hair and a leather jacket walking away down the street.
When Mum came upstairs, she was holding a box - a box that kept meowing. He peeked inside to see a tiny, calico-colored fluff ball. Mummy told him she knew it wasn’t Ivanhoe, but that this kitty was in desperate need of a good home. And, since Sammy knew so much about cats, maybe he’d be able to watch over him, just like Ivanhoe had.
Sammy carefully scooped him out of the box and the kitten immediately began to purr. No, he wasn’t Ivanhoe, but Sammy thought he could be a great cat just the same.
5.
Sammy loved the new sweet shop. It was right on the corner of their new street and he passed by it everyday on his way home from school. It had more candy than any sweet shop he had ever since in his entire life. He couldn’t wait to get his allowance so he could run down to the store and buy everything he had his eye on. It would be the best day of his life.
The end of the month couldn’t arrive sooner. Mum handed him his pocket money with a smile, but warned him that it wasn’t as much as usual, because of the higher rent on the new house and all. Sammy wasn’t really listening, though. His thoughts were filled with images of jelly babies and chocolates and his favorite - peppermint sticks.
As soon as the money was secure in the palm of his hand, he raced down the street and into the store. He greeted the clerk with a cheery “hiya” and started searching the shelves and jars for his favorite candies. He was so excited, he couldn’t help but bounce from aisle to aisle. When he finally spotted the peppermint sticks, his eyes lit up and he nearly jumped for the higher-set jar.
Sammy didn’t realize he’d bumped the jar of black liquorice until it was too late. It came tumbling down and fell to the ground with a great smash, sending liquorice and glass everywhere. Sammy was one of only two people in the shop, and the other man was on the other side of the shop. There was no guessing as to who the culprit was.
He stood where he was, his head bent low, until the clerk came to see what happened. He looked at the mess and told Sammy he would have to pay for all of it. Sammy sighed and reached into his pocket, pulling out his money. He would be lucky if it was enough to cover all the damage. There was no way he’d be able to buy anything else. Worst of all, Sammy hated black liquorice. Just as he was handing over his money, the other customer came over.
“There it is. Just what I were looking for,” he said and began picking up all the liquorice.
“Sir, I’m afraid...”
“ ‘S alright. I can wash it off. Will taste the same, won’t it?” he looked up and winked at Sam. Sammy couldn’t help but smile. The clerk frowned and walked away, most likely searching for a broom to sweep up the glass.
“Now, what is it you were after, son?” he asked.
“Those, sir,” Sam said quietly, pointing to the peppermint sticks.
“These? How many?”
Sammy carefully counted his change.
“Four, sir.”
“Four peppermint sticks,” the man nodded, and handed them over. “Anything else?”
Sammy pursed his lips and shook his head.
“Alright then. You go on pay for those. Don’t worry ‘bout this mess.”
“Thank you, sir,” Sam smiled politely and hurried to the counter, eager to get away from the clerk’s disapproving stare. As he left the store, he heard the stranger asking where the sherbet was.
And the one time he remembered...
All he knew was that his mum had been hurt. She’d been at work and there had been some sort of accident. Sammy didn’t know what. He ran to the hospital straight after school and begged and begged the nurses to let him see her. They pat him on the shoulder and said his mum wasn’t ready for visitors, yet.
Sammy paced the waiting room. He couldn’t sit down. He couldn’t sit still. If something awful happened to Mum he didn’t know what he’d do. Dad was already gone. If Mum left him too, he’d be all alone. He’d have to live with Auntie Heather and go to a new school and everything. But, what if Auntie Heather didn’t want him? If Mum died, that would make him an orphan, wouldn’t it? He’d have to go the orphans home. No one would adopt him because he was too old. He’d have to stay there until he was seventeen. Then what would he do? Were orphans allowed to be policeman?
He was already crying silently by the time the two detectives arrived at his side. They showed him their badges and said they were here because of the accident. They were going to investigate it. The larger one in the tan coat, helped him sit down and explained that his mum would be just fine. She was probably only banged up a little and the docs just wanted to be sure she hadn’t bumped her head or something.
The skinnier one was more standoffish. He stood to the side, occasionally glancing at Sammy when he looked his way, but didn’t say much. Together, all three of them waited until the nurse came forward and told Sammy he could see his mother now. The detectives told him to go on ahead. They’d ask his mother some questions later, when she was feeling better. Sammy thanked them then ran back to see his mum.
*
They left the hospital right after the boy was taken back to see Mrs. Tyler. As they piled into the Cortina, Sam let out a long breath he didn’t know he’d been holding.
“Thank you,” he said quietly, staring at his feet.
“Anytime, Sammy-boy,” Gene replied, patting him on the shoulder. The Guv reached into the glove compartment and pulled out a brown, paper bag, offering it to Sam. “Peppermint stick?”
“Yeah, sure,” Sam smiled, immediately cheering up. “They’re my favorite. How’d you know?”
“Trust the Gene Genie,” he grinned, then drove them to the pub.