Calypso Summer (17 page)

‘Well that's good, but jeez Mum, talk about sending a fella on a wild goose chase! Jingies Mum!

16

Holy fucking shit,' was all I could say when I saw my reflection in Mum's bathroom mirror when I went to the toilet in the morning. I wasn't that itchy anymore but I had welts all fucking over me, even up my neck.

‘That bastard, Vic,' I said. I came to the conclusion that his and Mel's talk about the mob was just a way to set me up. And there I was walking home, all the way along Military Road in just a pair of baggy shorts to get ready for work. And I made it to work too, after two cold showers and another lathering of calamine lotion. Gary took one look at the pink paste splattered over me and said, ‘What the hell happened to you, mate, beekeeper set you up or something?'

‘Yeah, something like that,' I said sarcastically as I made my way to the storeroom.

‘Gives me an idea though, Calypso,' Gary called after me, ‘We should get some natural lotions or something for eczema, mozzy bites and stuff.'

‘Tell me about it,' I called out from the storeroom.

When I walked out carrying two boxes Gary said, ‘That pink stuff looks shit on you Calypso. Maybe we should make stuff like that in different skin tones …'

‘Just do me a favour,' I asked.

‘Anything mate,' Gary replied.

‘Don't talk to me about it and when Clare drops by, just tell her I'm out.'

‘Out where?' asked Gary as I placed the boxes down by his feet and took a seat on a turned over Coca-Cola crate.

‘Anywhere, Christmas shopping or something.'

‘Good idea. She'll think you're buying her a present.' Gary walked to the counter and flicked open his newspaper but he kept looking up at me and I could sense his agitation.

‘What is it?' I asked, placing packets of whey powder on a hook.

‘Talking about Christmas, mate, I know I promised you a Christmas bonus … you deserve it you know, but I'm going to have to give it to you after Christmas.'

‘No worries,' I said but really I was pissed off. It was bad enough that Gary had already paid me late once before. It was a good thing government were paying top-up money straight into my account or else I would have been buggered.

‘The landlord has decided to up the rent on me, the bastard.'

‘It's alright,' I said turning back to the boxes.

‘And what about your family, are they coming up with anything yet?' Gary asked.

‘They're talking about things,' I told him.

‘Beauty mate. You know we just need to come up with a unique product or two. See, here we're just selling products made by other companies and taking a profit on sales. But if we we're supplying a product to a whole heap of stores, that's when we can really start to make some money.'

I didn't want to hear Gary talk about making money when he wasn't delivering the Christmas bonus I was counting on, and I was pissed off with my welts. Like I always did when things seemed shit, I worked hard, determined to take my mind off things.

‘As soon as you hear something, let me know and I can start to set things up,' he said.

°°°

I made sure to call Clare as soon as I got home from work. When she heard my voice she said, ‘I missed you today,' real sweet way and if it weren't for the welts I would have asked her to come straight around.

‘I missed you too. Sorry, I forgot to tell you I had to do something at lunch.'

‘Christmas shopping, hey?'

‘What?' I asked.

‘Christmas shopping,' she said again.

‘Oh yeah,' I replied.

‘What would you like for Christmas?' she asked.

‘I've already got my present.'

‘Really, what is it?'

‘Hanging out with you.'

‘That's really sweet but really, what do you want? I don't know what to get you.'

I spoke with Clare on the phone for well over an hour and as soon as Clare hung up I called Evelyn.

‘What you want Calypso?' Evelyn asked in a shitty voice as soon as she realised it was me.

‘I need some help,' I told her straight out, knowing she was going to get stuck into me.

‘What you done now, had another bath in those itchy things again? Yeah, I heard all about it. Won't be getting me to rub cream on your arse,' she said before pissing herself.

‘Evelyn,' I growled, ‘I just need some help choosing a Christmas present for Clare.'

‘Oooohhh,' said Evelyn in a real annoying voice. ‘That girl got you hook, 
line and sinker, inny? That's good, 'bout time one come along to break your heart and that girl's lovely too. When can she cut my hair and what you going to get me for Christmas?'

‘Don't know yet Evelyn, but I'll organise a haircut and will get ya something nice if you help.'

°°°

I woke up punching the air the next morning because my welts had disappeared. I ducked into Cleopatra's on the way to Mystic Dolphin to quickly see Clare and make plans to catch up for lunch. She gave me a quick kiss when Steph wasn't looking and asked if I'd heard anything from Vic.

‘Vic,' I said trying not to show how pissed off I was with him, ‘nah, haven't heard anything yet.'

°°°

I didn't hear anything from Vic until just a few days before Christmas. I was sitting at the counter reading the paper when I got a call.

‘G'day cuz, how you going?' Vic said.

‘You left me scratching my arse off you fucking prick, why would I want to speak to you?'

‘Hey wait up cuz, it was just a joke. Anyway, how many of those things you use?'

‘A few.'

‘Fuck that Calypso! I told you to only use one.'

‘Nearly scratched me skin off.'

‘Well anyway, forget about that now, we decided to help you out, cuz.'

‘What?' I asked.

‘We're going to show you some proper good bush medicine.'

‘Yeah right. How do I know you're not bullshitting?'

‘Look Calypso,' he said, ‘I know I was being an arsehole when I first met you … but you're alright cuz. And, this thing with your work, it might be a good for us 'ey.'

‘You better not be bullshitting me, Vic?'

‘I've hardly got any phone credit left, why would I be wasting it on you if I was bullshitting, cuz?'

I thought about what Vic had said and decided that he wasn't bullshitting. ‘When do you want me to come up?'

‘After Christmas would be good. Just let us know when you're ready.'

‘No worries Vic. What about Boxing Day, I won't have to work, got the day off.'

‘That should be alright but the other thing is, we're gunna have to speak with our lawyer before we start doing anything.'

‘What for?'

‘We just can't go giving our stuff away without a contract. We need to make sure we're getting paid proper for it and that no other mob can just come along and steal our stuff … You know, we just need to be … precautionary.'

‘Of course,' I said.

‘Bruce reckons we might even have to get a scientist too.'

‘True, what for?'

‘So they can tell us what exactly it is in these plants you know, that makes 'em work.'

‘Never thought of that,' I said surprised by how Vic was being all businesslike. ‘Of course.'

‘And last thing, don't go thinking about payback on me, 'ey cuz? You should just be glad I taught you something.'

‘What you teach me?' I asked.

‘I'll see you soon cuz,' was all Vic said before he hung up.

Instead of taking Clare to lunch at the deli for a sandwich that day I took her to Estia's café to share the good news with her. We had a good yarn as we sat outside eating and watching the waves roll into the beach.

°°°

I went to Robbie's mum's place to speak with Run the night before Christmas Eve. The yard was dusty with only a few sparse patches of dry grass. I knocked on the ripped flyscreen door of the brick duplex. I stood there psyching up. I didn't want no trouble, didn't want to start an argument. I was just going to take things easy and try to not tell Run what to do. It was Christmas after all.

I knocked again and Robbie's mum came to the door wearing faded black track pants and a stained white shirt. ‘They're in his room,' is all she said when she opened the door. I walked across ripped and dusty lino into Robbie's room. It was small with only a cupboard, some clothes spilling out of a garbage bag in the corner, two mattresses and two posters on the wall, one of Tupac, the other a picture of Bob Marley performing on stage and flicking back his mane of dreadlocks.

Run and Robbie were surprised to see me. They were sitting there on either side of the room with their backs against the wall. Their eyes were red and I could smell ganja. Run's pipe was on one of the pillows.

‘How you fellas?' I asked.

‘Irie,' said Robbie nodding his head slowly.

Run sat there staring at his toes saying nothing.

‘Just come to see how you fellas are going and to see if you're coming to Mum's on Christmas Day. Only a day away you know.'

‘Course I'm coming around,' Run said softly.

‘That's good then bruz,' I said giving Run a friendly shake on the shoulder. ‘You know I'm gunna buy all this deadly stuff for lunch, oysters even, cook 'em with bacon you know, real flash way.'

‘Calypso, the rich fella,' said Run, sneering at me.

‘Why don't you stay at home tomorrow night, then we can cruise to Mum's together Christmas morning?' I said trying not to react.

‘Maybe,' Run said.

‘You can come around too, Robbie,' I said.

‘Maybe.'

There was nothing but a wall of silence between us and it wasn't just because of the ganja.

‘You guys still hitting the bowling clubs and that?'

‘Yeah man,' Robbie said, ‘Buying the best weed with the profits too. I'll show you,' he said. Robbie rolled over and reached beneath his mattress and pulled out a couple of ounce-size bags of ganja.

‘And check this out,' Run said, getting up to open the cupboard to reveal a couple more ounces.

‘Check it out,' I said, trying to sound enthusiastic in the hope that I could reconnect with Run and Robbie in some way. I took the parcel from Run's hands and gently opened it, holding it to my nose and breathing in its musky scent. ‘Jingies, that'd blow your head off.'

‘Want a smoke?' Run asked reaching for his pipe.

‘Nah,' I said, ‘not tonight. Going Christmas shopping.' Run grabbed the bag from my hands and began packing a pipe.

‘Don't smoke it all at once,' I said.

‘We can buy more, bruz,' said Robbie, reaching inside his pillowcase and pulling out some bills. ‘Our dealer has almost got a flat-screen television in every room of his house from all the jobs we been doing,' Robbie bragged.

‘We nearly got busted the other day though,' said Run, as he exhaled a cloud of smoke.

‘Yeah. How?' I asked.

‘We were hitting this bowling club,' Run said. ‘Had it all under control but then this car pulled up. We bolted under the pool tables. This old fella came in. We had bags full of grog and they were rocking around you know. Old fella must have been deaf.'

‘I was shitting myself, true,' Robbie added.

I felt sick hearing what Run and Robbie were telling me. I'd introduced Run to stealing. It was nothing like he was doing but it was still stealing. It made me feel like I didn't deserve my job and hanging out with Clare and that. I had promised myself not to preach to them boys so I just said, ‘Well you fellas better be careful you know.'

‘I'm the black panther,' Run reminded me.

I had to get out of there before I blew my cool. ‘Catch yas later, gotta get to the shops.'

‘No worries,' said Robbie. Run just nodded.

‘I'll see you fellas tomorrow night then?'

‘Yeah mahn,' Run said.

‘Later, Calypso,' said Robbie.

I let myself out of the house, passing Robbie's mum who was drinking cheap cask wine from one of those old pannikins like the one Bruce takes camping. The television was turned up flat out. An advertisement for last minute Christmas specials flashed on the screen. I caught a taxi to Mum's later that night to drop off the food I'd bought for Christmas day. That picked me up a bit, seeing Millie and Vance all excited, hanging out for Santa.

°°°

Run and me walked to Mum's on Christmas morning, both of us carrying bags of presents. There were kids everywhere you know, riding their new bikes and skateboards around the street, playing with their new toys. Run turned to me and asked, ‘Remember that time we found that BMX bike under Mum's bed just before Christmas?'

‘Yeah, and you started crying because you searched the whole house and couldn't find another one, just a couple of t-shirts and that?'

‘You said it was mine to stop me crying, that Mum had told you to keep it secret.'

‘I got a spanner from the neighbours, straightened the handlebars and let you ride it around the backyard.'

‘Mum went boonta when she got home?'

‘She kicked my arse good and proper.'

‘But there was still two BMXs on Christmas Day, hey bruz. Mum just had the other one on layby,' Run reminded me.

I felt the weight of the presents in my backpack and was happy that Run had presents too, even if I knew he'd probably flogged them.

‘You know I'm going to pay you back for everything soon bruz, pay some bills and that, maybe even try to stop smoking … at least not as much.'

I slapped Run on the back, ‘Just hearing you say that makes my Christmas.'

Run raised his eyebrows and we laughed when we opened Mum's gate and could hear her singing along with Dean Martin as he sung ‘I'm Dreaming of a White Christmas'. As soon as we opened Mum's door, the kids started running to meet us. ‘Uncle Calypso, Uncle Run,' Millie and Vance called out, all excited.