Traditions (Chapter 10)

Chapter Ten

My cousins were both looking at me with confused expressions, while Charlie was looking at me with suspicion.

‘Well, it’s kind of a long story,’ I began. ‘But basically, one of the guys I was working with in Sydney had a birthday, so someone thought we should take him out to celebrate. There were about six of us, and we went to a restaurant in Newtown, which wasn’t too far from where most of us lived, then afterwards we found ourselves at the Imperial Hotel … you know, the place that featured in Priscilla, which also wasn’t far away.

‘I’d never been there, so I had no idea what it was like, or what to expect . . . but I soon found out what it was all about though, and I’ve got to say, that night ended up being the funniest night of my life! There was a drag show that we all attended, and Trinity de la Crème was the star attraction, then afterwards we got to meet her . . . him . . . whatever, following the show.’

‘And how did that happen?’ asked Pippa.

‘One of the guys let slip to the barman that it was Jerry’s birthday, with the message then being passed onto Trinity somehow . . . I’m not sure if I should be saying he, she or anything else . . .’

‘Maybe just settle on they,’ Kevin suggested. ‘That seems to be all the go in this day and age.’

‘Okay. Anyhow, at the end of the show they performed Happy Birthday for Jerry, like, I dunno, how Marilyn did it for JFK that time, real seductive like, while we were also ribbing him the whole time. Then they came down off the stage and walked right up to our table, still singing . . .’

‘I thought drag queens only mimed the songs they performed?’ interjected Pippa.

‘For the whole show that was all it was, but this Happy Birthday at the end of it was real, and very sexy. It was almost impossible to tell that it was a guy performing. Jerry told us later that when Trinity sat on his lap and twirled a boa around his neck, he almost creamed his pants. He hated that we were ribbing him . . . and he was as embarrassed as all fuck, but ended up saying it was the best birthday party he’d ever had!’

‘I’ll bet,’ Kevin said, with a chuckle.

‘So, did you get to talk to Patrick?’ asked Pippa.

‘Oh, yes. He hung around for a while. We bought him a few drinks. He told us plenty of jokes that I know our mothers wouldn’t appreciate . . .’

‘Your mother, maybe! Ours would probably laugh right along with them,’ Kevin added. ‘While knocking back a beer!’

‘Yeah, I think I can see that,’ I replied.

‘So, are you going to plan on meeting Patrick again when you get back to Sydney?’ Pippa asked. Charlie and I glanced at each other. We hadn’t told them yet about my losing my job and that I was going to be back in Thompsonville for good.

‘What was that look for?’ Kevin asked.

‘Well, I haven’t told anyone yet, other than my folks, but I got retrenched from my job just before Christmas, so going back to Sydney probably won’t be an option . . . especially now that I have a reason to stay here.’

‘Oh, fuck! I’m so sorry,’ replied Pippa. It seemed out of character, hearing her swear like that, but these days, especially with the proliferation of American television and movies, should we be surprised?

‘It is what it is,’ I replied. ‘I’ll have to go back down just to get the rest of my possessions from the unit I was sharing. I’ve already let my flatmate know I won’t be hanging around, so it will most likely just be a hit-and-run visit.’

‘I’d like to meet your cousin,’ Charlie piped up with. ‘Maybe we could go down and get your stuff, and while we’re there you could take me to check out that pub and see a few other sights. I’ve never even been to Sydney.’

As rain continued to fall outside, he was grinning at me, with eyebrows raised, while waiting for an answer.

‘Well, I think it’s a fab idea,’ Pippa responded. ‘In fact, we might even come too,’ she added while turning to her brother.

‘Do you think the folks will go for it?’ Kevin asked.

‘Only one way to find out,’ Pippa replied. ‘Now, when were you planning on going,’ she asked me.

‘Soon,’ was all I could really come up with. ‘Just let us sort out a few things first, and then we can start to make some plans if you like.’

‘Sure,’ Kevin replied. ‘And we’ll sort things out with our folks. Just let us know when.’

‘Will do,’ I replied.

While finishing our meal, including lavish helpings of dessert, we talked about what I needed to retrieve from Sydney and when we might be able to make the visit. For the others, I think it was beginning to sound like an adventure, but I knew the whole thing would be a little more of a challenge than that, even if I was liking the idea myself of showing my cousins and my boyfriend around my old haunts.

Just then Aunt Trish appeared at the door and asked how we were going with our lunch. She also must have heard something about a trip to Sydney being mentioned, and then asked what we were talking about.

‘Mum, you won’t believe it, but Kieran has actually met Patrick! Isn’t that amazing?’ Pippa blurted out, before anyone else could even think about replying.

‘What? How could that be? You’d never even heard of him before yesterday, as I recall,’ Trish said to me, while eyeing me with suspicion.

‘It’s kind of a long story,’ I answered. ‘But they just told me his stage name, and I recognised it. When I was with some workmates one night at a pub we saw him perform, then afterwards, because one of my friends was having a birthday, Patrick came over to us . . . though he didn’t mention his real name at that stage . . . and I wouldn’t have known then who he was even if he’d done so.’

‘What a fascinating coincidence,’ Trish replied. ‘So, are you thinking about catching up with him when you return to Sydney?’

‘Well, I’m not actually going back, other than to pick up the rest of my belongings. I was made redundant just before I came home.’

‘Oh, no! So what are you going to do?’

‘Not much I can do about it, I guess. I’ll see if there might be anything going around here, or in Mac Harbour. But I just need to get past the coming week first.’

‘So, mum . . .’ Kevin ventured. ‘We thought we might go down to Sydney to help Kieran bring back his stuff. What do you think?’

‘Ahhhhh . . . now why do I have the feeling that I’m about to be played?’ my aunt responded, with a giggle.

‘Because you love us, and it’s so easy for us to do,’ Pippa brazenly replied.

‘Well, perhaps we can discuss this later. Right now, if you lot are finished, we might clean up and pack the dishwasher. Then, seeing as it looks like our trip to the beach, along with the annual test match, have both been cancelled, we thought we might pull out some board games.’

‘Can we have Scrabble?’ Pippa asked.

‘So I guess that leaves the grown-ups with Monopoly,’ replied Aunt Trish. ‘Okay then, you get to go find them in the cupboard.’

It didn’t take us long to clean up the kitchen and start the dishwasher following our lunch, and before long we were once again seated at the outside table, with Pippa setting up the Scrabble board for us.

Stewart and Toby had disappeared inside and were watching a movie on the television, while our parents were also busy setting up their game of Monopoly. We could hear the murmur of our parents as they set up, interspersed with some laughter from the boys and the television. I had a feeling this was going to be a pleasant way to spend a holiday afternoon.

‘Have you ever played this before?’ I asked Charlie.

Judging by his grin I suspected that I knew his answer.

‘Used to play it with mum,’ he quietly answered.

‘And what are you two whispering about over there?’ I suddenly heard Pippa ask.

‘We were just discussing if we should challenge the pair of you,’ I replied.

‘And what does the winner get?’ asked Kevin.

‘Just bragging rights. Isn’t that enough?’

‘Sure thing. You’re on!’ Kevin answered.

With bragging rights on the line, it was clear that this was going to be no ordinary game. Charlie was already eyeing the letter tiles with a gleam in his eyes, while Kevin cracked his knuckles, eager to get started. Pippa looked somewhat pensive as we began the task of selecting our downturned letters from the upturned lid of the box.

‘How do we do this?’ Pippa asked.

‘Each of us take a turn,’ I said. ‘One of you lot, then one of us. Each person has their own separate points tally, then when we get to the end, we just add them together for each team. Highest team score wins. Simple enough?’

‘Works for me,’ said Kevin. ‘Okay if we let Pippa do the scoring?’

‘Fine with us,’ I answered.

‘Alright then. Give it your best shot!’

The first few moves in the game were little more than a warm-up, with just simple words to start with. Kevin went first and dropped “cat” on the board, for ten points to start the game. Charlie then followed, laying down the letters to form “catch”, for twelve points, and it was game on.

Looking at both Charlie’s and my sets of letters, I couldn’t see any of the coveted big scoring letters on either of our racks, but it was still early days yet.

The next few moves from both sides were relatively low scoring, but in picking our replacement letters both Charlie and I hit the jackpot, picking up both the Q and the Z. Now all we needed to be able to do was use them in conjunction with a Double or Triple Word Score.

The game was no longer just about words — it was starting to become all about strategy, clever placement, and, most importantly, outwitting the other team. And that was no more evident when Kevin placed the letter X over a Double Letter Score, forming the word “annex”, then sitting back with a shit-eating grin on his face.

‘Nice try’, said Charlie, as he laid down the letter Z, then the remaining letters to make the word “amazed”, while also taking advantage of a Double Word Score.

The playful banter continued, keeping everyone engaged as the game wore on and the points slowly racked up. I thought we had them beaten when I laid down the word “queer”, which seemed to generate a good deal of laughter, but they continued to claw back the margin with some clever small words to use up their tiles.

In the end, Charlie and I just scraped home, earning our bragging rights – at least for now – but I had a feeling this wouldn’t be our last battle over a Scrabble board. We’d all had fun, and I could tell that Charlie was enjoying feeling like part of a family, and that was the best part of all, as far as I was concerned.

Kevin and Pippa didn’t go down without a fight though. There were high-fives, and some gentle teasing all round – for all our miscalculations – and when Kevin mentioned the word rematch, we knew that it wouldn’t be long before the stage would be set for another battle.

By the time we packed up the game we could see the sun was trying to break through outside and the drizzle had eased right off. Our parents also emerged from inside the house, once they saw that we were on our feet and had finished our game, and the suggestion was made that we risk a stroll down to the beach, which was just a few blocks away, before we would be heading home to Thompsonville.

‘Nan, are you and Pop coming as well?’ Pippa called out to our grandparents.

‘No, dear. We’ll still be here when you return though. You all go and enjoy yourself,’ said Nan, while coming to the door with tea towel in hand. ‘Pop wants to just watch the cricket.’

‘Alright then. We probably won’t be very long,’ Aunt Trish added, before beginning to gather us all together and ushering us off the verandah. Like Brown’s cows, a strung-out rabble muttering amongst ourselves we made our way along the side of the house and then out onto the street. Toby and Stuart forged ahead, while Pippa walked between me and Charlie, linking an arm through each of ours. Our parents and Kevin brought up the rear, while I managed to snatch brief pieces of conversation between him and our fathers, hearing the name Sydney crop up a couple of times in conversation between them. When I glanced back at him, I noticed him give me a wink and a thumbs-up sign. It looked like our plans for a trip to Sydney were already falling into place.

I suspected that Pippa had an ulterior motive for tagging Charlie and me for the walk to the beach, and it didn’t take long before these thoughts were confirmed.

‘So, dear cousin. What mischief can we get up to in Sydney while we’re down there? Can you take us to the pub to see the show? And meet our cousin?’ she asked.

‘And how old did you say you were exactly?’ I replied.

‘Old enough,’ Pippa replied, before leaning in close and whispering, ‘I do have ID . . . and it works well enough in Mac Harbour for me.’

‘Really?’ I answered. ‘And what am I supposed to do if you get busted using it down there, and we all get kicked out of the joint? Or worse?’

‘It’ll be fine. Trust me! We’re going to have a blast!’

When I glanced at Charlie, who had been listening intently, I noticed him shaking his head, but he was still smiling.

‘They sound like famous last words to me,’ he said.

‘Oh, relax! We’ve all got to live dangerously every now and then,’ Pippa replied.

‘Pip, I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but Charlie and me . . . we’re not exactly the live-dangerous types, you know?’

‘We’ll see,’ was all that she said as we continued walking.

It wasn’t long before we reached the beach, upon which there were only a few hardy souls who had been putting up with the weather, but even as we crossed the beachside road we noticed a couple of cars pull in, obviously with the same idea as us, now that the weather was showing some sign of clearing.

Toby and Stuart ran down to the water’s edge and quickly pulled off their joggers, then ran out into the rolling waves, laughing all the way, while the rest of us found a spot on some seats looking down over the beach, or on the damp grass.

As we watched the boys playing and kicking water at each other we could hear Kevin still talking to his father, trying to convince him that he and his sister should be able to come to Sydney with Charlie and me.

It was then that Uncle Leo turned to me and asked, ‘So, Kieran, do you have very much stuff you need to bring back with you? How are you going to get it back here?’

‘I’m not sure yet,’ I replied. ‘Other than knowing I need to bring back my personal items, like my computer stuff and books and clothes and whatever, I was figuring I would need to leave most of it there actually, which would be a shame, as some of the household stuff cost me a bit of money.’

‘And do you need it all here?’ my father asked.

‘I’m not really sure. Charlie and I haven’t really talked about it yet, so we need to figure out what we do and don’t need. I’d like to bring my desk back here somehow if I can . . . I just need to figure out how, I guess.’

‘Hmmm . . .’ Uncle Leo murmured.

‘What are you thinking, dad?’ Kevin asked.

‘Oh, I’m just wondering if I can trust the four of you with the Everest and the trailer, that’s all,’ Uncle Leo answered.

‘What? Seriously, dad?’ Pippa squealed.

‘Well, with some conditions, of course,’ my uncle replied. ‘What do you say, Kieran? Would that help you out? At least the four of you will be able to travel together – and safely – and the trailer will allow you to pack up everything you have. Will that help out?’

‘That would be awesome. Thank you,’ I replied.

‘You’re welcome.’

‘And now we just need to figure out where we can stay?’ added Pippa. ‘Is there enough room where you live?’

‘Just leave it with me,’ I replied. ‘I’ll check with my flatmate and see what I can do.’

As Charlie had driven down, it was my turn to drive us home. After saying our farewells, where some friendly banter amongst the younger generations had continued, such as Kevin saying how disappointed he was that he didn’t get to see how handy Charlie was with bat and ball in hand – which received the response it deserved from both Charlie and me – the trip home that afternoon was a relatively quiet one.

Toby travelling with my parents also helped, as this saved us having to drop him off when we reached town, though I had no doubt that he would have been asleep as soon as they had reached the Macquarie Harbour city limits, as he was obviously tired by the time we had all gotten back to the house from our walk. He and Stuart had obviously had a fun day, which for some reason, I felt I needed to get some more details of later. The last thing I wanted was to see my brother get hurt in any way.

As we drove, Charlie and I chatted briefly about the day we’d had, and his introduction to yet another of our family traditions. His initial shock at Kevin’s parting comment had given way to amusement and we both thought there was more to it than just being a flippant remark. We needed to talk to Kevin some more, we figured.

I glanced across at Charlie a couple of times as we travelled north, and he seemed to also be struggling to keep his eyes open, as he leaned against the door, his head against the glass. It had certainly been a big couple of days for my two boys, but I let Charlie sleep, rather than try to keep him talking. Half an hour later I pulled into the driveway of his home, and as I bounced slightly over the footpath I looked across again to see him stir.

‘Here already?’ he mumbled.

‘Yeah, babe. Home and all safe and sound.’

‘Well, I was sound asleep . . . I think.’

‘Yep. I didn’t have the heart to keep you awake.’

‘Thanks for that.’

I switched off the ignition and stopped the car, but neither of us made any move to get out.

‘Anything you want to do tonight?’ I asked him.

‘Yeah. Cuddle and sleep . . . and preferably in that order. No dinner please . . . after yesterday and today I don’t think I’ll want anything to eat for a couple of days.’

‘I know what you mean.’

‘Tomorrow though, now that Christmas is over and done with, I think we need to talk.’

‘Yeah?’ I asked him. ‘About what?’

‘About what comes next,’ he replied.

To be continued . . .