| Sunday�s Child
By Minerva Monday�s Child is Fair of Face William Andrew Philip Bodie was a beautiful baby. Named for three generations of Bodie men, he was the picture of health and happiness. Round faced, fair skinned, rosy cheeked, curly dark hair and a bouncing nine pounds two ounces. Not bad for a premmie baby born nine weeks early according to his Mum. Maybe that was why his Dad left? It wasn�t because he wasn�t a beautiful baby. Everyone said so. Tuesday Child is Full of Grace Little Billie Bodie could not understand what all the fuss was about. Father McCarthy was shouting and his grandmother was crying and his mother was standing there looking like she was ready to slap him. Maybe helping himself to the altar wine in the Vestry hadn�t been the wisest thing to do, but it had been done with the best intentions. If anything could make him good, then surely it was the altar wine. He knew being an altar boy was a special honour but he hadn�t wanted the job in the first place. That had been Gran�s idea, trying to make him into the little angel that he clearly wasn�t and never would be now. The altar wine hadn�t worked so he must really be a naughty little devil. Everybody said so. Wednesday�s Child is Full of Woe Young Bill Bodie hadn�t meant to call his mother a whore. He�d been angry at her and at himself but most of all at that new bloke she�d taken up with after Gran died. He�d moved on in and made himself at home and started throwing his weight around. Do this, don�t do that, and the more he pushed, the more Bodie pushed back. Who did the tosser think he was? His father? So here he was, alone at the wharves, knowing he could never go home after saying that to his Mum. She�d never forgive him because she hadn�t deserved it. What she did deserve was a bit of happiness even if it was with a two bit tosser. At least he made her smile, which was more than Bodie had ever done. She�d be better off without him. That tosser had said so. Thursday Child has Far to Go Bodie gritted his teeth, fought back pain and tried to remember how many miles he�d travelled in his twenty three years of life. Must be a lot he reckoned, trying to put his mind to calculating the distance and not think about the bullet currently lodged in his shoulder. He�d been all over Africa, up and down, side to side. And now here he was in the Middle East, still far from home, wounded and hurting. Home. He�d told himself once that he�d never go back, but of late he�d had a yearning to return. He�d had enough of running and fighting and killing. His fellow mercs thought he was mad, telling him he�d never turn his back on good money and easy women. He was too much of a mercenary. They all said so. Friday�s Child is Loving and Giving Sergeant William Bodie was a womaniser. He liked women, chased women and caught them easily. Women liked Bodie too. He made sure of that. The secret to getting in good with women was to be a generous lover both in bed and out. He went out of his way to give them pleasure and make them happy. When he moved on, as he always did, they still had those memories to ease the pain a little. Yes, even ex-lovers still sang Bodie�s praises. He was wonderful. They all said so. Saturday�s Child Works Hard for his Living Bodie was the tough man of CI5, a bit of a rogue with a shady past. One who walked just the other side of the law at times which was probably why he�d been partnered with Ray Doyle, ex copper. It was a calculated move to keep him on the straight and narrow. He and Doyle balanced each other. They were the perfect team, Cowley�s finest. The ones he relied on in tight situations. They were dependable and expendable. Yes, in CI5 there were none better than Bodie and Doyle. Everybody said so. But the Child that is Born on the Sabbath Day,� Bodie dreamed of a very different life, one where he didn�t have to fight and kill. A life where he could wake up in the morning and not have to wonder if today he or his partner would meet a bullet. He dreamed of spending his days, side by side with that special someone that he loved. And that someone loved him too, just as he was, warts and all. Because, despite everything that had happened in his life, Bodie was special. Ray Doyle said so. �Is Peaceful and Loving and Good and Gay The End 2009 |