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tuckash1b.jpg (19988 bytes)Day 18
~ Dear Diary --:
Today is June the 1st and it is a beautiful sunny day here in Tramore. I went home today with Ashley McCarthy. Ashley’s Mum collected us from school at 3 o’clock. He showed me to his Mum and she thought that I was cute (I blushed, again). When we got to Ashley’s house he showed me around. He lives in a two-storey house, with his Mum and Dad. When we were finished looking around we went down to the kitchen and we had something to eat. Later we went down to help Ashley’s Dad, Tom with his fuel (coal) business. Ashley’s Dad is very busy supplying people in and around Tramore with coal, turf, sand and gravel. Things were very busy out in the yard so I was left in the office, by Ashley as he was busy , helping his Dad outside. Ashley told me to stay out of trouble. Then the phone rang so I looked for Tom or Ashley to answer it, but I could not find them. I then called out as loud as I could “Ashley, Tom, the phone”. They couldn’t hear me, as there was a large truck making deliveries and the noise of the engine was deafening. The phone kept ringing and ringing so I had no choice but to answer it myself. I picked up the phone and said in my best Tramore accent “McCarthy’s Fuel Depot, can I help you”. The man on the phone said he wanted six blocks delivered in a hurry so I wrote down his name, address and order on a piece of paper. Then Tom came back and I told him what the man wanted. “Who wants them? “ said Tom. “Jimmy Murphy in Fenor” I said. “Good man Tuckamore” he said “ you must come and work with me for the summer”. I said,  “That would be lovely, thanks” I really felt proud of myself on how I handled that job. My mother would have been proud of me, back home.  So Tom headed off to Fenor with the six blocks in the truck and delivered the six blocks.

tuckash2b.jpg (15163 bytes)About forty minutes later, the phone rang in the office again and this time Tom answered it. He had to hold the phone away from his ear because the man at the other end was shouting down the phone.
I could see Tom’s face getting red. He looked over at me. I couldn’t figure out why he was doing that.  I could now hear the man on the phone shouting, “Why did you deliver six cement blocks to my house”. “Because” says Tom  “that is what you ordered”. “No, its not I what I ordered” said the voice on the phone. “I ordered six bags of blocks, wood blocks, not cement blocks. I can’t burn cement blocks, can I?” then the man hung up. Tom was very angry with me he said that I was to go and sit in Ashley’s pocket for the rest of the evening. I told Tom “ I was only doing my best”. “Go away and stop annoying me he said  “go back to where you came from, you have made a right mess of things in this yard this evening. Now I have to go back out to Fenor and deliver those wooden blocks that the man ordered. I will be on the road all night over you”. I felt very sad after that. I just wanted to curl up in Ashley’s pocket and have a good cry. If they answered the phone when I called them, this wouldn’t have happened. I always get the blame for everything. The other men that work in the yard together with Ashley and Tom began to load the lorries for the next delivery of coal. It seemed very hard work. It was raining and very messy. I was sitting in Ashley’s pocket.

I was looking around watching everything that was going on  and the next thing I fell out of his pocket and landed in an open bag of coal. (BOY WAS I DIRTY). “What’s that fellow doing in there” shouted Tom “ I thought I told you Ashley to keep that fellow out of harm’s way, before he causes more trouble” Ashley grabbed me out of the bag of coal. I looked a right mess. I was wet, dirty and really upset. I told Ashley I wanted to go home. Ashley said that everything would be alright and he would make sure that I didn’t get into any more trouble.

At six o clock we went back to Ashley’s house and he washed the coal dirt off me. First Tom had a shower, then Ashley had a shower and lastly I had a shower. I felt better when I was cleaned up and in a nice clean dressing gown. I came down stairs and said nothing. Tom said he was sorry for eating the head off me and could we start all over again. He said I was welcome to Tramore and if I ever called into the yard again I was not to answer the phone. I asked about the summer job and Tom mous_anm.gif (10566 bytes)said, “I’ll have to think about that one”. They asked me loads of questions about Newfoundland and what life is like over there. I told them it was a beautiful place and they should visit it someday. I promised to show them round. By this time his Mum had the dinner ready. We had potatoes, sausages and gravy. It was lovely. To make up for all that happened earlier, Tom, his dad went down to the shop and bought ice – cream for us all.  We all sat down with our ice - cream and watched a movie on the TV until 8.30. I felt happy again.

Ashley then asked me would I like to go upstairs to play pool. Pool is played on a small table with pockets at the edges.  In the final game Ashley was winning. He needed one point to win and I needed three points. Then Ashley said, “Hey Tuck (that’s the nickname Ashley gave me), I have to go to the bathroom, back in a sec”, but when Ashley was gone I pushed a yellow ball into the pocket. When Ashley came out he looked at the table and he then looked at me. “Did you cheat tuck?” he said.  “No, I didn’t” I protested  but my hand slipped and the yellow ball just rolled into the pocket”. “Now tell the truth or I'll put you out with the rubbish” said Ashley. Now I had spent some of the day in a coal bag and I didn’t want to spent time in a rubbish bag so I told the truth

“Ok, my hand did not slip and I pushed a yellow ball into one of the pockets” then I went off sulking for the night. I ran in to Ashley’s room, threw myself on the bed and burst out crying. . I told him that all the boys are always beating me and I just wanted to win one game, for once in Tramore. Ashley said I was good at pool and nobody likes people or moose’s that cheat. I said I was sorry for the second time that day. Later we went into Ashley's bedroom to play the computer and at twenty to ten we got ready for bed, but first we had to brush our teeth. When we were in bed Ashley read me a story. It was a good story. Then we fell asleep. And at 2am I woke up and pushed Ashley and asked him if he wanted another game of pool but he said “No, you know that I have to be up early for sports day, tomorrow”. So I closed my eyes and went back to sleep. We woke early the following morning, got up, got dressed and headed for school for a fun day at the sports. I said I was sorry for all the trouble I caused and thanked everyone for having me.  

And that was my day with Ashley.

Ashley McCarthy
3rd class

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