Me and JP
January 19th 2008 22:37
I caught up with an old mate of mine on the weekend, one of those old buddies who seem to slip through the gaps as life proceeds and time contracts. We were mates at that transcendental age when you believe there is nothing you could not do better, and no force that cod harm you. We were both reckless and rebellious, and always as close as you could be to expulsion from our school. If we hadn't been the stern pair of the 1st VIII I am sure we would have got the boot. We didn't and went on to win the rowing championships and travel to the National titles in Perth, representing our school.
When I look back at some of the risks we took I don't cower or regret anything - they were amazing times. We used to wag school and play pokies at the Veneto club during PE, or sneak away and climb the impossibly tall Electrical Towers. From so far up you could see for miles, and I remember one time we saw our class boarding the bus for an excursion we had forgotten about. We had to fly down the tower ad run back, too late of course, and we were duly punished. We would compete to see who could amass the most detentions in one term – I think it was 27 hours to 23 at one stage.
Invariably we would have to return to the school at the end of the term and suffer a reverse detention, which was secretly my favorite part of the school year. It was like a handpicked bunch of the most creative and disobedient girls and guys set loose in an abandoned school. One teacher was in charge of the lot and our chore would be to wander the grounds collecting rubbish. The only other souls on campus would be the cleaners, who sympathized with us and drank at the same topless bar, that we did. One of the cleaner’s sons played footy in the same team I did, and would kick the ball with us. Ahh detention. It’s where I made most of my true school friends.
JP and I shared one great love – comics. Especially Conan, and specifically the Savage Sword of Conan. We were also incorrigible kleptomaniacs and would sneak off at lunchtime to go looting at the comic shop. We had an impossibly brazen but effective way of stealing the goods. We would walk around store, removing the comics we wanted from their protective plastic bags, to which the metal alarm was attached. Amassing a pile of the best of new releases and back issues, we would stuff the comics inside our blazers, keeping them in place with one arm. We would select sleepy looking victim, usually an Asian school boy, and deftly slip the alarm tag in their bag or pocket.
The side blazer pocket usually had a yawning gap perfectly suited to this purpose. Both of us would approach the front counter and purchase an Amazing Spider man or something cheap, then become distracted by the collection of miniature models near the front of the store. When the hapless target unknowingly set off the alarm, the security guard would approach them and move them into the store to frisk them, past our vantage point from where we would causally stroll out, suppressing the laughter and booming adrenalin rush that shoplifting will inject. Loaded with contraband we would retreat to JP's house via the 7-11, and slurpees in hand, would languorously devour the pages of Black& White fantasy we loved.
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