A Purple Dress and a Shared Taxi (Part 2) – Mad Chaos: January 2, 1999

A Sore Walk Home

When I finally arrived in Campbelltown the time was 4:00 a.m. and my legs had almost given up on me. I had to walk very slowly as I was beginning to get a rash between my legs and it was starting to burn with each step. Wanting to catch a bus home I also wanted to buy myself a taco with the spare money I had. Hoping that I wouldn’t have to walk down Queen Street for no reason I found my trip to be useless as the taco shop was closed. Still needing something to eat I walked into the service station and bought myself an Oak milk drink and some tic tacs.

Making my way to Mobil I walked through that and stopped to sit down on the steps of the next building where Sofia’s boyfriend has ownership of a restaurant. Thirsty I was when I opened up my drink and as I did that I noticed a couple of people walking down the path. As one of them passed me he said something to me and then stopping he said “You’re a big boy aren’t you.”

Taking his previous words back he decided to sit down with me and that’s when I realized he was as alone as me and then people he was walking with he was just bothering. As I was catching my breath and letting my balls breathe the guy informed me that I looked 14 years old but I think he was just kidding around. Despite me saying I was 19 years old he insisted that I was 14 and that joke remained for the rest of the night. “If you’re 19, you’ve really been looking after yourself” he said to me.

Strangers on the Footpath

Across the street there was a guy sitting on a pole in front of the council and the housing commission kind of guy sitting next to me started yelling out to the guy across the street. The guy with me starting yelling out “Hey curry muncher guy, what are you doing over there all by yourself, come on, come over here with us.” The guy started getting pissed off but he didn’t do anything but walk up the street. Meanwhile this long hair lout kept speaking with me as I gave him some tic tacs to share.

We started talking about everyone in Australia being a wog but him not considering me a real wog. He also insisted that Lebs weren’t anything, they were in a league of their own, he didn’t like Lebs. He also noted that if land title rights and all of Australia was given back to the Aboriginals then all of the wogs would get kicked out of Australia. His house was behind Centrelink and as he showed me pictures of his family from whom he now divorced his wife the curry guy came to sit with us.

This curry muncher guy turned out to be Fijian and he was fairly skinny, as ordinary in size as this housing commission guy chatting away next to me. The guy next to me kept making jokes about the Fijian guy and as he would stare at him the guy next to me would say “He’s got that look in his eye that says I’m gonna bash you up.” While the three of us were chatting away a couple of girls came down the street and as he tried chatting to them he done it in a perverted way.

I was left to pick up the pieces giving them some words of encouragement. Minutes later Simon pulled out of Mobil and driving around the corner I just yelled out to him and waved to him. I was hoping he would come back and give me a lift home but his face apart from surprised was not very caring. The guy started talking about how he goes to TAFE in Auburn and how he does a painting and decorating course I brought up Ali to him wondering if he would know him.

Talk of Ali and TAFE

It turns out that he did know Ali as a 24 year old leb and I remember Ali telling me once that some guy at TAFE thought he was around that age. Ali also informed me that he would tackle this guy to the ground at times and he even pulled a knife on him once. All these things this guy kept telling me happened to him, funny shit. It turns out he also knew Phoenix but he didn’t know he was married or the accident he had with the tow-truck.

The Fijian guy who was adding his word or two into conversation informed us that he was the security to guard the council’s offices. Every time the guy sitting next to me would make fun of the security guard the Fijian would look at him with that hatred in his eyes but he never started anything.

Nikita in Purple

While the three of us were still chatting away I noticed Nikita walking down the street in a superb purple dress and some guy. As she walked past me I called out her name and she stopped to chat with me. Drawing herself forward she gave me a kiss on the cheek and wished me a happy new year, I done the same.

Nikita looked superb in her dress and when she did walk up to me and after she gave me a kiss I uttered “You look superb in that dress tonight.” We chatted for a couple of minutes as I asked her where in the City she was hanging out. Nikita was also around the Rocks and so were so many other people I knew but sadly I never did see any of them.

Nikita was down in the City with Constantine, her boyfriend and the guy she was with who was Gideon. Having heard that name somewhere before I remembered that Lyssa told me she got onto him one time before at Bradbury Pub. After a couple of minutes chatting Nikita told me she had to head off to get a taxi so I wished her also a happy new year and then she was on her way. Cool and calm was our conversation never really being over the top or too interested. Maybe it was the clothes that I was wearing that gave me an edge for the night of good conversation.

A Taxi Queue for Two

When Nikita left I started talking with the other guys for a little and within two minutes Nikita made her way back to me and informing me she was now all alone she sat next to me in her purple dress from Dotti. Gideon walked home as he only lived a street or two away and Nikita was keen on getting herself a taxi but more keen on having a chat with me.

Nikita and I diverted our attention to each other and not the other two guys as she told me how some guy stuck his hand up Nikita’s skirt in the City. She was pretty upset about that but I made her feel better when I told her I would have smacked the guy out if I had seen him do it or if I was there.

Nikita arrived in the City at 11:30 p.m. and was in the same area but only got to see the midnight fireworks. Knowing that Nikita wanted to catch a taxi and wanting to get away from the idiots I was sitting with I asked her if she wanted to head down to the taxi stands. I also thought to ask Nikita if we could both share a taxi as this would be my way of getting home, she agreed. Nikita was just very tired and wanted to get home because her little sister was all alone at home.

Making our way down to the Taxi area and saying goodbye to the idiots Nikita told me how her parents were going through the final stages of divorce and in a couple of days she’s moving out with her mum to live in Ingleburn with her mum’s sister. We also talked about Nikita’s dress and how she got it from Dotti and asking her if I could feel the material I done just that.

Friendship Is the Last Frontier

Nikita is attractive to me and I have found her attractive over the time I’ve known her for. Last night if it was anyone else I probably could have invited her to my house or we could have gotten onto each other but because she was Lyssa’s friend I knew that friendship was the last frontier. It’s a shame about that though because I could sense the tension there and I could also see the barrier.

While sitting in the taxi stands we talked for about twenty minutes not even worrying about no taxi’s showing up but in the end we walked to the station. The line for a taxi was pretty big so we both decided it would be best to start walking and hopefully make it to our houses in due time. There was a taxi coming down the road and I thought that the people in front of us were going to get the taxi but as they hailed they got nothing. Walking slightly onto the road I tried hailing the taxi down and to my luck it stopped.

Nikita jumped in the back and so did I as she asked me to lead him to my house. My plan all along was to just get dropped off along the way to Nikita’s house as close as possible. Trying to give Nikita money for the taxi fare she wouldn’t take my money as she told me she had plenty and it was alright.

That was promising and friendly and as we made our way to the end of the Moore-Oxley Bypass where it connects to St. Johns Road I had the taxi stop. Giving Nikita one more kiss on the cheek for the new year I wished her luck and then waved her goodbye as she drove away. I’m not going to sound too vain but I think Nikita liked what I was wearing but tried to keep her thoughts to herself. There was definitely tension there though.