Names in a Hat for My Birthday (Part 4) – Mad Chaos: January 18, 1999

Planning the Birthday Night

Now I gave Keith another call back around 6:00 p.m. and at that time I started talking about the night. Behind the counter he was so Keith couldn’t talk that much but as I asked him of the night he told me that Ralf and I should plan it. The reason that Keith handed over the responsibility to Ralf was because he was finishing work at 11:00 p.m.

Having a little chat to Ralf we talked through what we wanted to happen for my birthday celebrations and knowing that I wanted to head to a nightclub Ralf sounded fine with that. Ralf had to get some matters of his own sorted out so he told me he would be over in half an hour. That time kept creeping and creeping and after an hour and a half Ralf finally came over apologizing for being late.

Hunting for a Nightclub

When Ralf finally did come over we had a comedic time in trying to pick the destination we would finally be at. Undecided on where we wanted to go the venue in my mind was always ‘Waves’ but I was open to suggestions. After half an hour of getting stuck on our thoughts we decided to bring down the color pages, the latest being from two years ago.

While looking up nightclubs in there Ralf picked some out and one after the other we called them up. I only had $5 thanks to Lyssa leaving her money and I didn’t have a collared shirt so no RSL clubs were to my taste. Ralf rang around to at least six destinations and some of them weren’t even open anymore but with those phone calls we had to make a decision.

Names Drawn From a Hat

Resorting to stupid measures we placed a couple of names in a hat and drew one out. Low and behold, it was a nightclub in Maroubra and Ralf only added that name because his sister knew of a club in Maroubra. As he gave her a call he realized that she didn’t know nothing about a club up there so with a big laugh we chose another. This time we picked Liverpool but both of us knew we didn’t want to head there so once again we picked another.

All this time we were trying to guess what was coming out of the bag and all I can say is that we must both be psychic. One by one we pulled them out and had some sort of problem with them until we finally ended up with two destinations, Parramatta Leagues and ‘Waves’. Resorting to more stupid measures we played Rock, Paper, Scissors, best out of three. I’d like to note that I’m not very good at this game and that’s why I lost two games out of three and Ralf got to choose Parramatta as our destination.

Rounding Up the Troops

Knowing now what our plans were and getting psyched up we called up Keith, told him the information and from him we got some more numbers. I wasn’t really expecting much people to come due to the short warning but we called Binh and Ace anyway. Binh just gave us a straight out no to coming out but he didn’t know it was my birthday.

On the other hand, when we called Ace at first he said he couldn’t come out because he had to watch a movie with his girlfriend but he was eager to get out of the house. For that reason he called Keith to have Ralf call him back and that we did. Having to first purchase tickets to ‘Kicks’ in Parramatta we knew to get four tickets after Ace called us and told us he was coming out with his girlfriend arguing in the background.

All through the night I tried to get Jett to come out with us but every time I called his phone it was not responding and his brothers didn’t know when he was coming back home when I called the house mobile phone. Jett was at the mountain bike trials once again with Dennis and he never did end up ringing me so he must have come home late or not at all.

Lyssa also decided to give me a call just before we ended up leaving with the plan embedded in our minds. Lyssa wanted to know if I had something to do for the night and when I informed her that Ralf and I were at my house she was glad. Lyssa then informed me how she was headed out to Camden Tavern and with that she told me she too had to head off because her ride was waiting. Great of Lyssa to wait to see if I was doing something.

Drive to Parramatta

Meanwhile, Ralf and I made our way to Parramatta to get ourselves tickets to a nightclub that sold 1200 of them. That alone excited me and let me tell you that when we got there, the girls were so polite, so hot, so sexy and so abundant in numbers. But before I get to that part let me just note that Ralf and I were having chats in his car on the way to Parramatta in between listening to his new stereo system.

We talked about Keith now being the man and how he can’t handle it. The only way Keith gets people to follow him is if he lies and we also worked out that Keith can’t be sitting at home if something is going to happen. Keith’s idea of getting people to come out is to lie to them with false population numbers, heightened expectations and the promise of a great time. Ralf knew that if either me or himself wanted to we could overthrow his leadership with the flick of the wrist but neither of us could be bothered taking on the responsibility of leading again.

The Rise and Fall of Leaders

Ralf and I also talked about the history of our group breaking up, reforming and giving power of control to others. The power first started with Ralf way back in the days when we used to go out with the Goon Girls. That’s when everyone got onto everyone except for me because I had a thing about getting onto girls that drank gallons of goon every day to get cheap thrills.

The downfall of Ralf’s era came when the girls started getting onto too many people in the group and then all hocus pocus started to happen. Rory got onto some of them, Jermaine onto the rest and then clashes of morality came out with me also splitting the group when I had a fight with Rory. Pretty soon Ralf got sick of being the leader and therefor Rory took over the responsibility.

When Rory’s reign took off so did his big head. The power that went to his head transformed him slowly into the fake leb he became. Rory’s reign was good, we went to parties, we floated around at hangouts but it was to be short lived as once again a scuffle broke out. Rather, I started getting tired of Rory’s lameness and in an attempt to overthrow his popularity I made my move.

Basically the only person that liked the idea of Rory being the man was Jermaine and soon enough everyone started looking to me for our nights out and that’s when I gave everyone the taste of old school shit. Those were the days when we started stealing gnomes, we stole an automobile, we visited parties, we hung around in the usual places and we always had something to do.

There would be occasions where we would travel to the City. There was a time when I was the leader and going out with Jewell, not even knowing Ali as a great friend and then there was the time that I led with Ali. But, my downfall was soon evident or rather, I stepped away from the public view.

Ali the Trigger Finger

The last of my triumphant days of leading was when we started to get acquainted with the girls, taking them to Kentlyn and all that. No one really liked Ali being my side arm man and people started to loath coming out if Ali was there. Ralf told me that the main reason that I was such a (effective) good leader was that Ali was always there immediately to back up my ideas. That is fairly true, if I wanted to go somewhere I would speak it to Ali and being in his car we would dart off.

You know Ali, he always wanted to be leading with his car and me and him went along with each other’s leadership like a firearm and a trigger finger. The downfall arrived with the last fight between Rory, Imad, Jermaine and I when it was said Rory started a rumor about Velda having AIDS. So Rory started being hated and then slowly me and Ali being the trigger finger and the weapon began to fade from everyday social existence. Ali and I remained tight but we left behind all those that didn’t agree with him and hence, I gave away my leadership.

Ralf told me that after I left it threw the whole works into chaos. No one went out in groups anymore, everyone stopped coming over my house after a short while and people started leaving the scene as I did. The passing of my leadership led everyone into confusion about what to do and soon enough everyone started doing their own thing.

The Group Falls Apart

The days of our group was over and seeming that no one wanted to take my leadership back from me the group as we knew it was doomed. My house was the last refuge for the group, where we could all get together. Alas, Lyssa would usually be at my house and those video nights or nights with everyone soon started to diminish as people started giving me space for my relationship. It was almost impossible to lead from within my entrapment of faith and even though I tried I was fairly miserable and thus, the group was over.

Keith Lets Everyone Down

The group was in ruins for well over six months and I was told by Ralf that Keith tried to pick up the pieces nearing the end of my relationship with Lyssa. Another reason I left the scene and further divided people was because of what Keith done out of his stupidity to make me hate him. This was back in the days when I first started going out with Lyssa that he told me he had seen her dancing topless at some restaurant and I never forgave him but let him back into my life nonetheless.

Ali and I became closer as friends due to having girlfriends that were best friends and thus, we too became best friends. When Lyssa and I broke up that once again caused some controversy and because Ali was such an idiot with his mouth I gave up my trigger finger status. With that great headache that created so much argument between Lyssa and I it finally calmed over.

After Lyssa and I broke up and the same happened with Ali and I Keith decided to pick me up and back into the original grouping that had died in the ass. The days after this Keith has tried to lead but even though we don’t go out in large groups anymore we do have our days. Under his rule we no longer go out and do our old school shit.

Plans for a Reunited Leadership

Ralf told me that if me and him get together and unify in leadership we would not only take everyone by storm but we would bring back the flair of our old days with much more zeal. After all, boys still want to be boys and I know that with Keith under our influence and everyone else accepting our combined leadership our old days would be back.

No one listens to Ralf alone when he tries to make plans like Kentlyn but if I was backing him up and he was doing the same with my ideas it could happen. Even though we have now lost Simon and Lucas to argument involving Tatton and Shawn we don’t really need them, they were never really part of the establishment.