Pool Shots and a Supreme Court Run (Part 6)

Linh Draws Out Cash

Digressing now to lunch, meeting them again in the corridor, we headed downstairs and as they smoked we came up with the idea of heading to Macdonald’s. On our way Linh headed back to the bank, telling us that he would meet up with us later. Catching a hint of his reason, Thao informed me that Linh was heading to the bank to withdraw $5,000 in cash, yep cash.

Arguing about his bold stupidity, I figured he was just as eager to count that money in his hands as I was when achieving $1,000. Not walking too far for Macdonald’s I noticed one of the ladies from reception up on level eight. Having red hair and shorter than myself, I was thinking of saying hello to her since grabbing a package earlier in the day for Jana had refreshed my mind but I chose to mind my own business.

Seeing that she was alone, I didn’t want to make her feel intimidated if she sat down by herself. Buying myself a McOz burger which is new and the combo you receive with it, Thao, Rhett and myself sat down to the four seats I had managed to find downstairs. Talking about how Linh’s daring withdrawal, he soon walked past us and to the toilets of Macdonald’s. “Where he going, he probably didn’t see us” Thao noted as I remarked “He’s probably headed to the toilet to count his money”.

When Linh joined us he looked thrilled with the money weighing his inside jacket pocket down. “Fuck man, I can’t believe this” he kept exclaiming as his eyes were wide open with anticipation for the whole time we ate. Linh was on cloud nine as he dreamt of the motorbike he was going to buy, claiming that he took it all out in cash because when buyers see cash, they lower the prices favorably.

A Hopeless Game of Pool

When our meal was finished we made our way back to work and with twenty minutes on our hand, a quick game of pool was called for. Hoping that I would be able to slip downstairs away from the possibility of playing a game of snooker, I wasn’t so lucky as we teamed up. “I’ll just warn you that I don’t play that good” I uttered to which I asked to break first.

This was the saddest mistake of the day as I miss-hit the ball and sent it crawling to the left hand side of the table. “Let me go again” I shouted feeling no shame as they looked at me surprised to my inexperience on the pool table. Digging myself further into the ground, my lame shot again spun the side of the ball and it crawled this time to the right hand side. Thao decided then to start the game as he sunk a ball with his first hit and to my knowledge, it was me and Rhett against Thao and Linh.

All three of them played remarkable pool and when it came to my shot, I was shit to say the least. In the whole game I didn’t shoot one ball in the holes and the best and flukiest player would have been Rhett who sunk all our balls and won the game. Linh and Thao were also good hustlers as with my experience I could be the joker to say “I’m just hustling, how about we place a bet for $5,000”.

Rhett sunk some incredible shots in as later he told me that he’s been playing on and off since he was three years old. Sinking the black ball was the most awarding sight as he shot backwards across the table, hit the back wall which bounced into the black ball and landed in the far corner pocket to which it was almost on the corner itself. Maybe the actual striking and position varies but to my knowledge it was an awesome shot.

Gum and Gossip Out the Front

Heading back to work with five minutes to spare, we stood out the front as they had a smoke and I walked out to grab some chewing gum. Handing them out, Rhett told me he didn’t like the green color so I headed back inside without any drama to swap the packet for the blue variety. Handing them out to whomever wanted one, the three of them talked about the new work experience kid and how he was wearing a multicolored shirt, a cross between a Hawaiian beach shirt and a Latino vest. Figuring that he must have been Porte Rican, they explained how he was the brother of one of the lady supervisors on level two.

When we walked past the entrance to HIH I realized that the sister was indeed the chubby girl who stands out the front with her man in arms and uncaring to whoever is watching, gets onto him which is sickening to our eyes. What’s more, the little brother was standing there between the both of them as they were still joined together and as they kissed in front of him I could just imagine him saying “What are you’s doing, what’s that”.

Smooching out the front (Or being all over each other like they were) isn’t what people need to see of HIH. I felt sorry for her as we walked past them and with smirks of revolt on all our faces, our minds were obviously poking fun at the kid and thinking “Get a room” for the supervisor. She needs to set an example, not appear to be a desperate hoochie mama.

Off to the Supreme Court

There was one other importance of my Thursday at work which started off to be relieving but ended up being a nuisance. Jana asked either Najla and I to head to the supreme court to pick up a document but because she was oh so busy looking at the filing and dawdling, it was up to me to do the deed. Fair enough, it was a nice little walk up to the Supreme Court but I had a strange feeling that it wouldn’t work out as to planned or that I would get stressed out in the process.

Jana handed me $42 and informed me that I had to head to reception on the fifth floor of the Supreme Court and ask for a package. Writing down the key information on a post-it note, when I arrived to the Supreme Court everything seemed to be in order. Following her directions to a tee I found myself soon to be passed around as I was at work previously. Seeing that there was no lady at Reception in the corridor, I headed to the left and walked up to a Perspex counter.

Showing my post-it note and explaining what little knowledge I knew, the guy ushered me over to the other direction, asking me to give it to reception or just beep one out. Unsure on where he meant, I headed to the normal section to which I usually file documents and reading a sign I headed to the second counter.

To cut a long story short, I pressed a buzzer and had a lady come out who after telling her that Jana spoke to some guy, told me that I had to wait for him to come back from lunch. “Come back around 2:30 p.m.” she noted as I looked at the clock and noted I had half an hour to wait.

Hunting for a Payphone

Heading down the corridor I caught a lift up one level hoping I would find a public phone but much to my aggravation there was none. Stepping back into the lift I had some old geezer tell me that there were some payphones on the top level and as I made my way up there, I found it all the more irritating that there was only thirty five cents in my pocket, not enough for a phone call.

The view was lovely from the top floor and as there was also a restaurant there which handled barristers and the like, I headed to the counter asking if they could change my ten dollar note. Having no problem with my request, I placed forty cents into the phone and called Jana’s extension only to find that it hung up once she answered. Luckily the phone spat out my money and it wasn’t until later when I headed to ground floor that I realized the phones took a minimum of fifty cents.

Therefore, giving Jana a call, I calmly explained the situation and asked her opinion to which she noted the package was ready to be picked up and all they had to do was look for it. Inevitably I had to stay back which was a good choice and heading back to the second counter I was in luck to find that Mr. Man who was at lunch was back at 2:00 p.m.

With his assistance, we walked over to the other end of the room to which I had come to earlier and asked for my package. The guy at Reception had no clue and sent me back to the second counter but this time around, we found the package. However, having to head out to the payments window next door, the lady uttered, “You have to fill out one of them” and showing no concern or care she just sat and stared at her screen not offering any assistance.

Collecting the Package

Unaware of what to write I sat there baffled for a couple of seconds but after a while I just wrote what I thought was necessary, asked a question and then handed it to her. Paying the money I then headed back to the reception area to which my helping friend was gone. One of the ladies at Reception stood clueless as I handed her the Receipt but lucky the sheep brain guy who didn’t have a clue before was there when the guy brought out the package. “Give him that package right next to you” he uttered as she handed me the package and I so mentally worn-down walked back to work for some more wear and tear.

The whole trip to the Supreme Court took me just over an hour and in that time nothing but irritation. Silently walking over to Jana with a blank expression on my face, she could obviously see the disheartened state it had created and whilst on the phone whispered, “Thank you, thank you so, so much.” Placing her thumb up in the air as approval, that gave me a touch of relief but completely stressed out, I needed something to preoccupy me.

Heading back to my section, Najla knew not to speak with me as I just sat myself down in silence and began cooling down with some filing. Shortly after I eased pressures a touch more by completing the outgoing mail and at the end of the day a brief was accomplished to further release some pressure. There weren’t much words spoken between Najla and I for a while to which she must have thought I was arrogant and overbearing.

At worst, Najla would have thought me to be a sulker but if she had been in my shoes, being run around by untrained idiots, she wouldn’t have been so optimistic if not. That without due cause is the end of my explanation for Thursday. All after my departure from work has been explained and as the time is now 9:05 p.m., I shall consider continuing with Friday’s episode…