Day 29 - July 15th

Day 29 - July 15th
First shift/trial at Yah Yah's - drinks
Mushroom Sunday bend the rules
First day I've only had a couple

        I didn't know anyone in Melbourne well enough to ask them to stay with them, so I booked myself a room at the Melbourne Connection Backpackers' Hostel because at $20 a night it was the cheapest I could find. It was on King St, which is a mile-long stretch of garbage clubs and strip joints that somehow sits between Southern Cross Station and the banking district. It sucked then and continues to suck now, but the scumminess reminded me of Hindley Street and my beloved Red Square in Adelaide.
        My first night in the hostel one of the guys asked if I wanted to come to the movies with everyone, but I declined. I knew I had to get up and look for a job in the morning, but it was so hard to say no. I remember being really proud of myself.

        A few of the guys I knew from back in Adelaide were bartending at The Workers Club in Fitzroy, so they all used to congregate around there, and I probably could have got a job if I'd asked, but I didn't want to. I was too shy, and didn't want to seem like I'd come to Melbourne to leech off of people who I honestly didn't even know that well, so I went around for a few days handing out resumes and eventually landed a job at a bar called Yah Yah's. Once that was settled, I made contact with The Boys, who were:
        Brodie – Charismatic, loveable DJ/drug dealer from Adelaide who was six months younger than me, and the youngest of the group. Would readily name any of a group of 5-10 people as his 'Best Friend', and seemed to always be at the centre of everything. Never really liked him. Apparently got caught smuggling drugs into the country a few years ago? Not 100% on that, but from what I hear his life is still a nightmare.
        Timmy – Oldest of the group at around 27, and was often fighting an internal battle between his desire to party and hang out with the crew, and the obligation to his upper-middle class family to get a good job, find a nice girl, and settle down. Very intent on being serious, until he wasn't.
        Sean – Maybe the funniest person I've ever met in my life. The real centre of everything, the reluctant leader and North Pole by which we all set ourselves. Every one of these guys was a DJ to some extent, but everyone knew Sean threw himself into it the hardest. Ended up opening a record store for a while some years later, and always had hundreds of music blog tabs open on his internet browser.
        Benny – People would always say that Benny was one of the kindest souls they'd ever met, and I agreed with them. Everyone loved his understated calm, and he could usually be spotted darting around the house with a camera taking analogue photos while everyone else was deep into The Sesh. I passed him a few months ago on my bike, he works for Australia Post now and was crossing the road with a package, he called, “IT'S TACO!”, to me, in a way that sounded warm and familiar. It was as if seeing me for the first time in four years didn't surprise him at all – I on the other hand was beside myself. By the time I recognized his knowing grin I was well past him and couldn't turn around, but fuck, what a joy that man continues to be.
        Steve – The dark horse of the group, super smart, and if I remember correctly, the only one of any of us who finished uni and got a degree. Also the first, and so far only one to get married. Managed to cultivate a life away from partying, but still dip in regularly. Fantastic.
        Rich – A darker horse, if there is such a thing. Rich lived in a room above The Workers, and made money bartending there and DJing around the place with the other guys. He always seemed to be on the periphery though, in the midst of some sort of falling-out with the main crew. I've got boundless time for the guy, he lives in Queensland now, and is the only one I've caught up at all with in the last five years.

        For my first shift at Yah Yah's I let myself use one of my drinking days, and after the shift I went back to the house in Richmond that Benny, Brodie and Timmy were living at. After the clock ticked over past midday I didn't drink any more – in accordance with the rules. I did cheat a little and have some mushrooms, but EVERYONE WAS DOING ITTTT!
        When I got back to the hostel this French cocktail bartender named Remi was practising bartender-flairing with white plastic bottles in the tiny area of floor between the three bunk beds in our dorm. I sat on my bed and watched the bottles make arcing lines in the light, listening to the soft, deliberate sound of his hands grasping at the white plastic. He grunted quietly under his breath as he tried to maintain his own rhythm while we listened to some French lounge mixtape called Hôtel Costes. We went outside and smoked a spliff (he called it a 'stick') and when we came in this Dutch girl, Myrthe, jumped out from behind a door brandishing this foot-long, black dildo like a sword ready to strike at us. It's name was Rodger Double, and the Facebook page they made for it had more friends than my grandma.

Click here to read the next part - Day 30 - July 17