Date: Thu, 15 Dec 2005 09:04:55 +0100 From: Harry Anders <harry@harryanders.com> Subject: Little-Harrys-Life-2 his is the sequel from my first book 'Little Harry', and I strongly commend you to read book one first! Thus you will enjoy book two even more. You may find book one on Nifty, or you may visit my site http://www.harryanders.com and read the elaborated book from there (recommended!). 'Little Harry's Life' >by Harry AnderS, the author of 'Little Harry'< Chapter 2. Begging, the lucky mascot, and a raid. The next morning I woke up early, and couldn't wait until my parents would open their eyes and help me with dressing. Outside I saw a few children I knew, but they looked strange now, being dressed in their 'winter' outfits. Normally we were always in the nude, unless it was winter and very cold. Even then we always shucked our clothes the very moment we entered our nicely warmed caravans. Only the grown-ups used to be dressed most of the time, mostly from the time they reached puberty and wanted to look for a wife in another clan. I saw Michail leave his caravan, dressed in his inseparable fur coat; and impatiently jumped up and opened our front door: "Michail! Please, could you help me with dressing? Mom is still sleeping..." "Be patient! Your parents will wake up soon, and I have to look after Michi and Movi first." A bit disappointed, I closed the front door and turned around to the living room. "Harry, Harry... didn't I teach you to always be patient and wait?" My father called me from the bedroom, but as he used my nickname 'Harry' I knew he wasn't mad at me. I rushed to the bedroom and jumped onto their bed, throwing my arms around his neck. He grinned, kissed my nose, and started to tickle me. My mother groaned, and looked around with sleepy eyes: "Couldn't you wait for another hour or so? It's still dark outside." "Is not! Micha and Tobi and Selve are already outside, with their winter clothes on. And Michail is awake too, but he didn't help me." I jumped off the bed, and impatiently waited for them to get my clothes. "Be careful not to tear it off..." my father warned me with a grin, looking down. I looked down too, and saw I was frantically plucking at my little pecker from nervousness. "Then I will be a princess instead of a prince!" I laughed, and let my now stiff thingy flop against my belly. "I look forward to the day you will have a little baby inside", my mother laughed. She left the bed, and fetched my clothes from a drawer. I dressed in a hurry, and then I had to redo the buttons and turn my T-shirt around. Finally I was dressed, and hurried outside to join the other children who had gathered now, all of them impatiently fidgeting and looking around. Soon Michail's enormous truck appeared from the parking lot, pulling a huge caravan, causing a loud cheer. Michail jumped out of his truck, and started to count the heads: "Twenty one noses, that's fifteen of you into the caravan, and the six smaller ones into my truck." I cheered, as I realized I would be riding in his truck today. Two other grown-ups helped us climb the huge steps and sit in the back seat, propped together. The other children entered the caravan, accompanied by one of the grown-ups, while the other grown-up took the front seat in our truck. Michail let the truck hoot, our parents waved at us, and we drove off, to the 'town' where we would 'beg' to get some money or foods. The back seat was packed, and soon I started to feel very small. We were the 'smaller ones', but all the other children were at least half a head taller than I. Would they allow me to climb into the front of the truck, where was plenty of space left? Suddenly I got a brilliant idea, and looked with my best puppy dog eyes: "Petro, please, may I sit on your lap, as I'm only a small boy and it's way too narrow here?" Petro turned around, and laughed at seeing my anxious face: "Can you climb that huge console on your own?" I didn't know what the 'console' was, but clambered that huge tunnel where Michail now and then clutched a big pin with a knob. Halfway across the tunnel Petro lifted me and sat me on his lap, folding his arms around me. I grinned like crazy, and immensely enjoyed the splendid outlook I had now. Michail competently steered the enormous truck and caravan across open places, past huge trees, along steep ravines, all the time avoiding potholes and enormous boulders. I admired him, and decided to be like him once I would be a grown-up and driving a truck myself. After a while we left the thick forest, and entered a clearing where an enormous two-story caravan without any wheels was built against a wall. Michail stopped the truck, and all of us left the truck and the caravan to stretch our muscles and take a leak. A woman left the enormous caravan, looked at us, and approached me: "I think you are our young prince? Come with me, and I have something for you to serve out." I looked at Michail, a bit unsure what to do; but he laughed at me and started to walk to the strange caravan, followed by the other grown-ups and me. We entered a huge front door, and the woman took us with her to an enormous room where a man was brewing nicely smelling coffee. The grown-ups got a cup of coffee, and I got a big glass of lemonade. I looked around curiously, at what had to be the largest caravan room in the world: "Michail, how come this caravan hasn't got any wheels at all? How are they able to drive it away?" The grown-ups started to laugh, and patiently explained this wasn't a caravan, but a 'building', and it was not intended to ever be driven away. This special building was called a 'hotel', and it accommodated many rooms where people could spend the night before they went on. I would soon see many more of those buildings, called 'houses', where people lived like we used to live in our caravans. When they moved to another place, they didn't take their houses with them, but sold them, and bought another house in the other place. I thought it to be a very strange way of living... The woman handed me an enormous basket, filled with shiny red apples. That was a real treat, as we weren't used to having apples in the mountains. The grown-ups helped me carry the basket, while Michail carried a huge tray filled with plastic lemonade cups. The other children cheered when they saw us coming, and huddled together to receive a cup of lemonade and an apple. Soon the tray and the basket were both emptied. The woman wished us all the best, and looked at me a bit sadly: "It's a real shame you have to accompany them to beg..." I absolutely didn't agree with her, but was keen enough to keep my mouth shut. We returned to our truck and caravan and drove off, on our way to the gadjo world where those strange people lived in enormous 'buildings' without any wheels attached. What a weird world... After driving for another while we suddenly left the mountains and entered a levelled landscape, marred by what Michail called 'highways'. Never in my life did I see so many cars driving at so high a speed. It made me a bit dizzy, and for a while I kept my eyes shut; only looking now and then. Slowly I got used to the constantly passing by of fast sports cars that seemingly were in a tremendous hurry. All the time I sat on Petro's lap, his arms protectively around my stomach and his chin tickling the hairs on my head. Michail slowed the truck down, and turned to the right into a clearing. He parked the combination, and gathered us around the grown-ups. "You know what you have to do? Always be very polite, but persistent in telling them you and your family are hungry and don't have any money. Try to produce some tears; they will help sometimes. Don't enter any houses on your own, and be very careful not to be trapped. The older children will choose a younger one to be with all the time. Be back when the sun starts to descend. Now I wish all of you a lot of luck!" Micha chose me to be with, and together we left the clearing and descended a small path between the bushes. Some of the other children followed us for a while, until we decided to split up. Every pair of children took another route to the big town in the distance. Soon we entered a suburb, and I didn't know where to look first! I was totally overwhelmed by lots of big two-story caravans without any wheels, called 'houses'; most of them were surrounded by nice gardens. Men and women in funny clothes walked around or sat down in their gardens, while fully dressed small children frolicked around and played a game I knew: hide and seek. I wanted to join them, but Micha took my hand and guided me away: "Don't try to contact them, because they certainly will not accept us!" Suddenly a few children saw us, and looked at us with open mouths: "Look at the strange clothes they are wearing! DAD, those gypsies are in town again, and now they even brought their children with them!" One of the boys snatched a pebble from the street and threw it at us. At first I thought maybe he was in for a game, so I tried to pick the pebble up and throw it back, but Micha dragged me away with a troubled face: "Don't ever react, because that will make them even angrier." "But why are they angry at us? We didn't do anything bad..." "I don't know why. I think they just hate us gypsies..." We walked on and on, and after a while I got a bit bored: "Where are we going, and when do we start the begging?" "We're going to a big market. There will be a lot of people with money, and sometimes one of the booth owners has something for us to eat." I didn't know what a 'booth' was, until we reached a huge square filled with all sorts of little stalls where they sold all sorts of food, clothing, pretties, knickknacks, and lots of other nice things. I looked around with bulging eyes, and at first I felt totally lost in the crowding. Fortunately Micha took my hand and guided me to a big food stall, where he stopped. He pushed me in front of himself, and looked at the stall owner: "Please, sir, my little brother and I didn't eat for a couple of days now, and we don't have any money..." The stall owner looked at us, and started to laugh: "Well, well, a little bastard gypsy... did your mother sell herself to a blond haired sailor with blue eyes?" I stared at him in confusion, shocked by the roughness I felt in those words. Slowly my eyes started to tear up, and to my amazement I saw his face soften. He even turned his eyes away, as if he was ashamed of something... "Nah, sorry, I didn't really mean that. Here, today is your lucky day!" He started to fill a paper bag with all sorts of fresh foods, and handed it to me: "I hope your brother and you will have a good meal out of it. Now move on; you're hindering the other customers." "Thank you, sir, for your kindness! Now we have something to eat this evening." We left the stall, and Micha nearly crushed me: "Wow, little man; that was amazing! I've made a good choice by choosing you." "Why? I didn't do anything, and that man was using really mean words..." "Who cares? Look at what we've got in this bag! Let's go on, and please keep getting tears in your eyes..." I furtively wiped them away and followed Micha; until suddenly a man called us from behind: "Boys, do you want to earn some money? Just follow me." I looked around, and saw a man who beckoned us to follow him, but I didn't trust him at all. He looked at me as if he saw a prey... Micha stepped in front of me, and appraisingly looked at the man: "How much?" "Twenty..." "Are you crazy? He's a virgin, and this is his first time. He's very soft all over, and an absolute joy to play with." I had no idea what they were talking about, but now the man's eyes stared at me as if he was hungry. I decided to help a bit with the begging, and laughed at the man while I tried to show him my best puppy dog eyes. Now the man nearly suffocated, and started to redden all over: "Fifty?" "Two hundred; and just for feeling him up, nothing more. You will have the time of your life..." "One hundred!" "You are insulting him! Now it's two hundred and fifty, and next time it will cost you three hundred." The man took his wallet out of his pocket, trembling all over, and handed Micha a huge pile of banknotes, two-hundred-and-fifty-thousand Lei. Micha carefully counted them, and put them away in his pockets: "Okay, and don't forget there are several others around. They will be here within ten seconds after I've whistled." The man nodded his head and beckoned us to follow him, still trembling. I took Micha's hand and tried to look confidently, but I didn't feel at ease at all... What was that 'feeling up' they were talking about; and what did that man PAY Micha for? Was this 'begging' too? We followed the man to a rest room, where he entered a nasty stinking stall and beckoned me over. I looked at Micha, now very unsure... Suddenly Micha slammed the stall door shut, and clamped a chair beneath the door knob. He smiled at me, took my hand, and together we walked out of the rest room, letting a very angry yelling and shouting man behind. "Wasn't that easy, little man? Again your blue puppy dog eyes did it!" "But... I don't understand. What did that man pay you for, and what's that 'feeling up' you were talking about?" "Well... there are men in the world who want to abuse little boys like you. They are even willing to pay for it, as you could see. 'Feeling up' means that he wanted to feel your little pecker and balls, and perhaps even play with them for a while." "But... our grown-ups are doing that all the time, when I'm sitting on their laps around the campfire. Do they pay you for it too?" "Of course not! They don't want to ABUSE you. They are just trying to let you have a nice feeling. Or don't you like it?" "I LOVE it, and sometimes I'm taking their hand myself and put it there! Now I think these gadjo's are REALLY crazy, to pay you for that..." We sauntered back to the caravan, not daring to return to the market. Micha laughed all the time; and we started to kick small pebbles towards each other. Fortunately the boys who pestered us before seemed to have vanished; and soon we entered our caravan, where Michail and the other grown-ups were drinking coffee and lazily waiting for us. "You two are back very soon! Did you have any luck today?" Micha grinned, put the paper bag onto the table, and emptied his pockets. Suddenly Michail protectively put his arms around me, angrily looking at Micha: "That's a lot of money you've got there! I sure hope you didn't..." "Of course not! Do you think I'm crazy?" Micha proudly told him what had happened, and how that child abuser first yelled and then begged for mercy... Now Micha was the day's hero, and they all complimented him with his mercantile spirit. He beamed, and took a snack from the paper bag to munch on. Michail took me onto his lap and kissed my nose: "I KNEW you would be a real gain to our group! With all that money we can buy us wagon loads of foods! Thank you for helping!" I coloured a deep red, but didn't really understand why he thanked me. I hadn't done anything... One by one the other pairs of children showed up. Some of them carried paper bags filled with foods, others had gathered some money. Together we had gathered enough to be able to fill our hungry stomachs for quite some time. Michail waited until all of us were back; and then we drove off, loudly cheering, on our way to our secluded camp in the mountains, happy to get rid of our now sticky clothes as soon as we would be home. We stopped at the hotel, where the owners loved to hear about all our adventures. However they were a bit worried about my adventure, and warned Micha to be very careful a next time. He nodded, and promised them to never provoke such a thing himself. We all got another apple to munch on, and a plastic cup of lemonade. Loudly cheering we went on, me sitting on Petro's lap again and looking around with my face glued to the front window. Soon we were back in our camp, where we were the hero's of the day. I was carried around on lots of shoulders, and Micha had to tell our story over and over again. My dad beamed, and even called me 'our lucky mascot'... We shucked our clothes and went into the bushes, to inspect our traps and snares. Unfortunately we didn't catch anything this time. At the end of the day the other men and women showed up, carrying lots of nice gadjo clothes and other useful things. They had been to another town, far away. The clothes and other things were carefully stowed away in one of our secret places deep in the woods. Then they gathered around the campfire, and told us about a day without any troubles. We told them about our adventures, and soon all of us were in a joyful mood. Now the paper bags were emptied, and all of us started to eat until we were filled to the brim. The rest of the food was stowed away to serve us during the forthcoming days, neatly stored in a few dry and cool places around our waterfall. The two violin players got their instruments, and played beautiful melodies full of joy and happiness, while everybody started to sing and dance. We danced until we were too tired to lift our feet from the ground, and went to our caravans to sleep ourselves out during the next day. I woke up in the darkness with the sounds of several cars entering our camp. Doors slammed, and suddenly I heard strange voices and a lot of angry yelling and shouting all over the place. My father pulled me out of the bed, and held me close for a short moment: "Be swift, my precious boy. Flee to our hidden caravan as fast as you can, and wait there for us!" He opened a small hatch in the floor of our caravan, and pushed me through. I landed in the space between our caravan and the ground, and he carefully closed the hatch. I heard him shift something onto it, but the sound was nearly drowned in all that angry yelling. I felt sleepy, and hardly realised what had happened. Slowly, I crawled from under the caravan and tried to orientate where I was. I had to go to our hidden caravan... but what was the meaning of all that yelling and crying? I woke up a bit more, also due to the sudden coldness; and decided to have a closer look first, before I went to our hidden caravan. That couldn't cause much of a problem, or could it? I crawled back, and furtively looked from under our caravan at the spectacle. Flashlights went on and off everywhere over the place, and a couple of cars with burning headlights lighted the environment causing spooky shadows. A couple of men were dressed all the same in strange clothes, which I later on learned was called 'uniform'. They yelled and shouted, and drove several of our people to their cars, where they were harshly pushed into the back seats. Why did they do that, and where were they going? Suddenly I saw my father, being pushed forward by one of the uniformed men. Now I became very angry, as angry as I had never been before. They had to keep their stinking hands off my father! Who did they think they were? My father was Our King! I crawled from under our caravan; and attacked the uniformed man, pummelling him with my fists as hard as I could: "Keep your nasty hands off my FATHER!" Another uniformed man started to laugh, and lifted me high into the air: "Look at what I've caught today! A little bastard gypsy, as naked as the day he was born!" He took me with him, and threw me into one of the other cars; where I landed at the feet of a couple of our own men. The doors slammed shut, and we drove off. I rose to my feet and curiously looked around, feeling a bit safer now I was among my own people. The next moment I slammed down, falling against a knee, slapped in the face by one of the uniformed 'officers': "Sit DOWN, and I warn you not to say a word to each other!" I felt very humiliated, and started to cry; while my face felt hot where a big swelling formed. "Stop crying, or we will kick you out of the car and leave you to the wolves!" What happened to me? Why was I slapped in my face, for the first time in my life? Why were those men so angry? What had I done to deserve this treatment? I started to feel very unsure now, and a panic overwhelmed me. Were they going to 'feel me up', or maybe even 'abuse' me? A feeling of sickness overwhelmed me, and I started to puke. A moment later my people attacked the officer that had slapped me, and they nearly murdered him, until the other officer drew his gun and threatened them to shoot everybody. They calmed down a bit, and one of the men tried to clean my face with a handkerchief. A moment later I puked again, panicking more and more and again crying loudly. Both officers looked very pale now, and didn't say another word until we entered a police station. The car doors opened, and the men were driven into a room. The officers immediately took me apart and guided me to a restroom, where they cleaned my face with a tissue and a bit of cold water. One of the officers handed me a pair of trousers that were way too big for my small hips. I clambered into them, and they wrapped the legs up and tried to fasten them with a rope around. I felt ashamed and humiliated. Why had I to wear this strange looking thing? I puked again, for the third time, but this time nearly nothing came out. I felt really sick and cried all the time. They left me alone for a long while, until my sobs lessened and the sickness slowly faded away. I felt dead tired and my stomach rumbled loudly. I went to the small water tap and gulped a lot of water down, using my hands as I always did under the waterfall. Now I felt a little bit better. I slumped down onto a small wooden bench, and waited. What were they going to do now? Were they going to abuse me? Was that why I had to wear that strange trouser thing that slipped down every time I moved around? Should I take it off? Perhaps they would be even more angry at me, and slap my face again... I decided to do nothing about it, but wait for another while. After a very long time another 'officer' entered the restroom, wearing that same 'uniform': "Sorry for letting you wait for such a long time. We had to interrogate the others first. Are you coming with me?" At least he SOUNDED nice... but what was 'interrogate'? Was that very painful? Had that to do with the 'feeling up'? I nearly panicked again. The officer saw the panic in my eyes, and tried to reassure me: "Don't be afraid. We only want to ask you some questions, and then we will let you go home. Just trust me, nothing will happen to you." TRUST him? Nothing will happen? What about the slapping in my face, and all the other humiliations? I certainly will NOT trust him! I jumped off the bench and went to the door, very determined to be fearless and let myself be 'abused' and 'felt up' without uttering a sound. We walked through a long corridor, while I tried to keep my 'trousers' onto my hips all the time, and entered a small room where another officer waited for us, looking tired and a bit bored. He offered me a cup of tea, but I refused. The other officer looked at me for a long time, and at last started the 'interrogation': "Are you always sleeping in the nude during the night?" What a stupid question! Ever heard of a little child that slept with clothes on, with the exception of little baby's who wore a cloth? I stared at him in disdain. Was that all he had to say, before the feeling up and abusing would start? "Please answer my questions. When I am satisfied with your answers, I will let you go home." That was a clever man! What would happen when he was NOT satisfied with my questions? And who would decide about being satisfied? Indeed! He was probably planning to keep me here for a long while... I knew I had to answer him, and looked at him with my nose high into the air: "I'm never wearing clothes, unless it's too cold in the winter, or we are going to those stupid gadjo's to beg." The officer started to laugh, but now he looked at me with a hint of respect in his eyes: "Are you just begging, or are you taking things too?" Again such a stupid question... Of course 'begging' means: 'taking' gifts out of the hands of those gadjo's! How else could I get them? Open my mouth so they could put their gifts in it? What was that stupid man up to? Yet another of those boring questions and I will start to yawn... I looked at him, and pretended to yawn: "Sir, please, stop the questioning now, and start with the feeling up and the abusing. I'm tired, and I want to go home." I looked at my feet, now a bit afraid and slightly trembling, and waited for the inevitable 'feeling up' to start... The room was dead silent. Nothing happened. In a distance I heard a door shut with a dull bang. Two men were talking to each other, and I could hear them until the sound went softer and softer and at last disappeared. When would they start the abusing? Would it be very painful? Would they pay me for it, just like that other man paid Micha? But that man didn't get his chance, fortunately... Still nothing happened, and after a while I looked up. Both officers were staring at me with their mouths wide opened, and did I really see tears in the eyes of one of them? That was impossible, of course. What were they waiting for? Let's get over with it... The officer with tears in his eyes coughed a few times, and scraped his throat: "Boy, please, look at me. Why do you think we would abuse you?" "Isn't that what all you gadjo's want to do? But it will cost you two hundred and fifty, and that's only for the feeling up..." Again they were silent for a long time, while both officers really brushed their tears away: "Oh my God! Please, little boy, carefully listen to me. We would NEVER abuse you or 'feel you up'. Do you hear me? NEVER. We are here to protect you, and to help you grow up in a safe world full of joy. Unfortunately there are bad men in the world who want to abuse you, but we are here to PROTECT you against them by putting them in jail..." "I don't believe you! Why were you slapping my face, and yelling at me in your car? Why did you threaten to throw me to the wolves? Why do I have to wear this ridiculous thing? Why did you take me away from my parents, and let me puke three times?" I started to cry now, and both officers offered me a packet of tissues, at the same time, with worried faces: "Sorry, little boy, we will start and investigation concerning what you've told us; and it will never happen again..." They took me with them, and suddenly I entered a huge room. There our men were waiting for me, sitting down on wooden benches! A few men softly cheered when they saw me, and I crawled immediately onto my dad's lap. At last I felt safe again! He nearly crushed me, but I didn't care at all. I started to laugh and cry at the same time, while the other men ruffled my hair and laughed at the look of my silly 'trousers'. In the other room we heard a heated discussion, and I picked up words as 'what did you do to him', 'letting them go', 'bringing them home', 'are you crazy', 'let them fend for themselves', and 'we are not a taxi firm'. They seemed to decide on something, talking with angry voices. At last one of the officers appeared in the doorway, and announced: "This time we will let you go, but be very careful, because the next time we will put you in jail for a long time." He opened the front door and beckoned us to leave the building, which we did in a hurry. There we were, far from home, without any means of transportation or money. Fourteen men and one nearly-six-year-old small boy who was holding his way too big trousers with both hands... We started to walk in the rising sunlight, towards a highway that led to our mountains. After a while I was too tired to walk, and from now on I shifted from shoulder to shoulder. At last a nice truck driver with an empty truck stopped at our signals and took us to our crossing, where we abundantly thanked him for his kindness. Again we walked and walked, until we reached the hotel in the afternoon, being dead tired. The hotel owners took care of our blisters and cramping muscles, and kindly drove a few of the men to our camp. Soon they returned with a couple of cars to pick us up. I honestly can't tell you what happened next, as I fell asleep in the car and woke up in my own bed, halfway thru the next day... ------------------------------------------ A few excerpts from all the nice emails you sent me: * Harry I have read many stories on Nifty and on authors own sites. Most of them are shit but some have a message and/or depth. For me so far I have found only 2 stories that could really engage me. I sure hope that a lot of people can come to see the world clearly like U do. * ik zat vrijdag avond wat op nifty rond te kijken toen ik little harry zag staan, ik ben begonnen met lezen om ongeveer 12 uur, en 3 uur later lag ik pas in bed, heb de volgende dag tijdens mijn werk er de hele dag over nagedacht en heb het net uitgelezen. Sommige stukken heb ik gelezen met tranen in mijn ogen, mijn eigen vader is overleden toen ik 9 was en daardoor heb ik veel vader liefde gemist. Door jouw boek kreeg ik toch het gevoel hoe het moet zijn om een echte vader te hebben. * Even after 3 or 4 readings, it is always fresh and exciting. I still laugh at the same places every time. You are a GREAT writer. * An amazing story, you have a rich imagination. I enjoyed "Little Harry" and look forward to knowing more about him. Thanks for reading my story, and I LOVE emails... harry@harryanders.com http://www.harryanders.com I wish to thank the Nifty archives for hosting my stories. When you have a few spare dimes, please donate them to Nifty! They are doing a marvelous job.