Byblos Tickets And Keith’s Sulk (Part 3)

Tickets At The Petrol Station

Placing the television in Keith’s car our next place of visiting was Ace’s work in Narellan. The drive out there was filled with more calming music but I was already a serene character due to the sudden relief from such stress-ridden torment, known only as Lyssa. Parking the car closest to the doors at Ace’s petrol station, we watched a woman walk into his store that looked quite a glamour.

When Keith started commenting that he knew Ace better than any of us and that Ace would be licking his lips and eyeing this lady as she walked in, I knew there was something different about Keith, perchance envy. In a way of his exacting words it sounded like Keith was trying to put Ace down a couple of notches, using his womanizing in his bid to say “See, I told you so” and make it seem like his attraction to women is bad.

Ace didn’t look at the woman unless when he served her which increases my assumption that Keith is just resentful of Ace’s planning for the night and his being thrown out of the plans. Keith’s persistency to head over to Ace’s work and obtain the tickets was his downfall for the night. Keith’s aim in the first place was to head to this party with Binh and I figured when Keith uttered “Ace’s always full of shit and goes against his word, I bet he hasn’t got the tickets”

I knew that he was praying for his wish to be right. However, as we walked through the doors Ace pulled out his wallet, threw a couple of tickets onto the counter and praised “There’s your entry for tonight”. Such a commendable character Ace is and to most guys he would have a certain aspect that we all look up to and aspire to have in equality. Myself, I don’t wish I was like Ace but I hope one day I can have a handful of his confidence that he carries around with him daily.

Keith Sulks

With the tickets now in our hand I could sense that Keith’s perception of the night was heading downhill. I knew that Keith wouldn’t fit into the crowd at Byblos because I didn’t even think I would be able to adjust. When we were chatting to Ace about the tickets he sounded indirectly half-hearted about Keith’s admission to the night and his voice did prep up a notch when Keith read into his stance and announced “I might not go tonight”.

Ace was fairly busy but he came outside with us and as we sat around Keith’s car, more dispirited words came from Keith’s mouth. Keith’s plans of heading to a party were being broken up by Ace’s brother’s birthday party in which they were both arranged around the same time. However, Keith was the selfish one as he was only thinking about himself. Keith only cared if Binh would head out to the party with him and when he heard that Binh was attending Byblos he tried to take matters into his own hands but they blew up, kind of like the ice bomb in mine.

If Binh and Tyler ended up postponing I would have had to stay home and I can be sure that Keith wouldn’t have thought about inviting me, Shawn, Tatton or any other person that he deems a minority and insignificance to his great plan of fun for the night. In a way, I am glad that Keith’s plans had been ravished of any life and now he had to conform to Ace’s night or force himself to be alone with nothing to do.

The selfish behavior didn’t end when we received the tickets and Keith knew he had to make a decision, nope, it kept on for the whole night. Keith wasn’t only selfish but he was trying to convert me by making me believe that I was gay if I went to Byblos, little schoolboy tactics. Keith also had a little whinge to Binh about his role in the matter and at the end of the night he had Shawn to help him out in his whining and attempt at converting our plans for the night.

Binh’s Shop

Scooting along back to his duties as a petrol station assistant we scurried off ourselves to do Keith’s next bidding at Binh’s shop. Having five tickets in our possession (not including mine) we headed to give them to Binh so he could also distribute one to Tyler. Keith was undecided on whether he wanted to head out to Byblos for the night so he didn’t take a ticket himself and rather, gave them all to Binh. That Asian girl from our night at QSB was working in Binh’s shop (Not Zadie) but neither of us got a chance to chat with her.

Keith had the idea of inviting Ralf to Byblos for the night but Ace, Binh and myself had a different and more menial opinion on that matter. Each of us had a personal reason not to invite Ralf but the main reason was that he wouldn’t fit in with the crowd and he wouldn’t get in. My personal reason was that Ralf would just end up doing his break-dancing and I would feel embarrassed to be standing near him as he looks at me with that stupid grin as if he was Dr. Dre busting some moves on the floor.

Sheer embarrassment for him was my calling card, well that and our discrepancies. Ace just didn’t think Ralf would have been suitable for Byblos as his dull apathy would prove and Binh held the same views but in mixed combinations from our pool of thought. I feel that Keith was so intent on inviting Ralf because Keith knew he was an outsider and he needed another outsider to make him feel vaguely accepted and comfortable once there. Keith’s decision to head to Byblos weighed heavily on Ralf’s decision.

Ralf At The Car Wash

On the way to Binh’s shop I forgot to note that we headed to the car wash and while there we noticed Ralf parked, spraying his car with cleaning fluids. Keith’s face beamed with delight upon this moment as he parked his car, and as Ralf came over Keith asked casually if he would be attending Byblos for the night. That was the first time Ralf had heard of it and all for good reason, he wouldn’t have fit in.

Nevertheless, Ralf didn’t sound too keen on heading to Byblos because he knew tight leather pants weren’t his style, neither mine but more affluent to these trends. Redd’s old girlfriend was there cleaning her car also and as the others were doing their thing I was taking every conceivable opportunity to steal a glance at her breasts. She wasn’t too great a looker despite her being blonde but she did have a great set on her and I’m sure she probably knew I was checking her out but to the extent of being spotted, I was too careful.

Keith had me drive his car a couple of yards into the car-wash when he had finished vacuuming it and I feel that he must get personal satisfaction out of seeing other people feed off his generosity. Keith in some insignificant way would have felt like the ‘Godfather’ in which he done a favor for me by letting me drive his precious car so now, I owed him one.

Keith Throws A Tantrum

Getting back to the drama at Binh’s shop, Keith started his conceited ways when he knew that Binh was heading to Ace’s party. Even though Binh was going to visit the other party but shorten the duration Keith kicked up a fuss about it. When Binh went inside to serve a customer Keith turned to me and griped, “I hate it when Ace does this and I wish Ace was never having his party anymore”.

Once again, self-conceited and selfish viewpoints on the night’s events. To everyone else it was going to be a good night but because Keith is one who doesn’t like to conform and would rather be a planner by heresy, he kicks up a fuss. Ace doesn’t need to lie to make a night happen mostly like everyone else I know but Keith and Ralf are the only two people I know who will embellish to the point of stupidity in order to be vain leaders.

You could see the distress in Keith’s face as he sat there complaining about how life wasn’t going his way and his great outlook on life crumbled before him simply because he couldn’t get his own way. Keith’s like that little baby who cries every time you take away its bottle of milk, nice little simile.

The Long Way Home

Our little visit to Binh ended twenty minutes into our stay and from there it was time to head home. On the way I asked Keith to stop off at the station so I could purchase myself a ticket and as we stopped at Macarthur Square my hopes were awarded. On the way home you could tell Keith was frustrated in the roads he took back to my house.

For a minute I thought Ralf was driving me home the scenic route but it was just a perplexed Keith, obviously with a lot of detestable thoughts in his mind about how he was an underling in the life of friendship. Keith probably just saw himself now as the big buffoon without what made him for three years, his girlfriend. However, would I be so brash as to say that Keith’s attitude hasn’t changed for the whole time I have known him these past few years.

Even before he started going out with Tamsen he has been the equivalent of what he is now. Keith has always been the same selfish character, weird in the scope of money and selfish in everything else. If there was a woman up for grabs he would have no chivalry to the man most in love, he would just be the conspirator. If there was a scam involving money he would be the ‘Godfather’ and rorted money would be all the sweeter to him.

If it ever came to sharing his bounty there would be no such appraisal to his good deeds and yet, an idiosyncrasy of Keith’s would be that he wouldn’t share his rorted money but he would shout people to make himself superior. Keith really is a tale within a tale, of deception, of betrayal and of a dog but there isn’t really much good skin to his bad apple.

Chasing The Prelude

Nearing Bradbury Shops Keith noted what he thought to be the neighbor’s car across the street and asked me if the Prelude was indeed hers. Taking a glance in the rear vision mirror I noticed that it was her Prelude and because Keith hadn’t seen her yet he wanted to pass judgment. Therefore, as she drove up Jarrah Avenue we climbed rapidly up the other side of my street in hopes that we would arrive at my house the same time she arrived at hers whilst in opposite directions.

Asking Keith to speed his way up the twists and turns he done so and as we careered down my street we noticed the Prelude park where we thought it would. As Keith parked just a bit up from my driveway he looked so obvious as he stared in her direction, waiting for her to jump out.

His eyes didn’t wander at all which made me think “Hey idiot, I have to live here and you’re acting like a crazed stalker”, once again, completely oblivious to how his actions affect others, kind of like when Keith decided to prank my neighbor from two houses up when we had the cross-wires caring not to think that he might trace our call with the new phone feature.