“Peterson! You wiggly little maggot!” said Simon after hearing my voice on the phone. “How are you, old bugger?”
“Hey Si, I’m doing great, thanks. I just wanted to say I am so sorry for not being in touch for such a long time, man. Things have been chaotic since you-know-what happened.”
“Natch. Don’t worry, mate. If I was a millionaire I’d also be a little pre-occupied.”
It was good to hear his voice and also being so upbeat in spite of my terrible lapse in friendship comms.
I had met Simon Bryant during basic training in the army. He was from a different town but we struck up a friendship immediately as we both loved the same kind of alternative music. We’d gone through the same officer’s training and come out of the course, older and wiser together. Our postings after training were to the same unit, the one we didn’t speak about too often, but did when we needed to.
Simon was a salt of the earth guy and a truly good friend. He had my back and I had his throughout our two years in the army. When our initial conscription ended he decided to move to the city and took a job working with his uncle in a tyre distribution business. After a year had passed he was still at a junior level in his uncle’s company, but he had also decided to go to night school and get a business degree. He was no dummy. His uncle had offered to help pay for it but Simon was determined to go it alone. He didn’t want or expect a handout from anybody.
We made plans to meet up on Wednesday night. I’d pick him up and we would go and have a steak dinner somewhere fancy, then maybe sink a few jugs at another of our favourite dive bars. The night would be on me, obviously. He was definitely onboard after hearing that.
Wednesday night I found him sitting on the steps to the entrance of his building when I rolled Clyde to a stop, giving a little hoot as I did. He didn’t respond, so I opened the passenger electric window and shouted “Hey stupid! Get over here.” He looked up, grinned and walked over to the car, shaking his head as he did.
“Of course you would buy a red BMW, you wanker!” he said, sliding into the passenger seat. “Ooh, this is comfy. Nice one, bro.”
“Good to see you too, Simon.” We had a little back patting hug in Clyde’s front seats. “Sorry it’s been such a long time, mate.”
“Yeah man, I thought you’d forgotten about me now that you’re living in the stratosphere.”
“Never. Just had a whole crap house of things happening, as you can imagine.”
“Gotcha. So where are we going to chow?” he asked. “How fast does this thing go? I’m hungry man, it’s like nearly 9 o’ clock.”
“Pretty fast!” I said, putting my foot down on the accelerator.
We drove into the middle of the frontline where there was an abundance of places to eat and drink. I had made a reservation at a place called The Pier and miraculously there was an open parking spot right in front of the restaurant.
Our table was out on the terrace so we could watch people passing by on the frontline. It was quite a busy Wednesday night, young people, old people all walking around enjoying the mild weather of the evening, some going to the amusement park, others just out for a stroll.
“So, I have got big news.” I said after the waiter who showed us to our table brought us two tall draught beers. He said our waitress would be with us soon.
“Spill it, Peterson. Did you find the lost ark? Invent perpetual motion? What news could possibly be bigger than winning the jackpot?”
“Jessie and I are getting married.” I said.
“Well I’ll be damned. You certainly didn’t waste any time corralling that girl into the pen, buddy. Mind you, she did always did have an eye on you.”
“What are you talking about?” I asked, somewhat surprised.
“Dude, she was always checking you out down at the beach. Didn’t you even notice?”
“Apparently not. I think I might have a short circuit going on up here.” I tapped my head, then remembered Jessie telling me that I was a topic of discussion amongst the young ladies down on the south end.
“I’m very happy for you guys. Here’s to your already bright future.” Simon raised his glass and I clinked mine against it.
“Thanks mate.” I said.
“You don’t think you’re a bit too young to be getting hitched?”
“I’m 26 soon. I think my Dad was 20 when he and my mom got married, so nah. Besides, we haven’t set a wedding date yet – we’re going to do a bit of travelling first. Maybe we’ll do the deed in a year or two. Who knows. I am still in the process of setting up my business, so I have a whole lot of things going on. Wedding planning isn’t high on my list right now.”
“You’re very lucky, Dan. I remember you talking about travelling in the army, now you can. Where will you go?”
“I haven’t really thought about destinations all that much, but I do know that going to Europe won’t be easy because of the restrictions. The USA is still open to receiving South African travellers, so we will probably go there to start with.”
“I’m sure you can get a travel visa to Europe, can’t you?” he asked.
“It’s a pain in the arse.” I said. “They send a dude with a microscope to have a look up your butt and then decide whether you have enough credibility to be able to enter their countries. I’ve also heard that if you served in the SADF and had rank you’re pretty fucked in that regard. So… we might have to go wherever they let us in. And of course the arsehole SA government won’t let you take all that much money out of the country to travel with.” I said.
“Truly fucking loathsome. Honestly, I’d just stay put and spend my money here if I was you. This is a great place. Those Europeans are full of shit dumbasses who know fuck all about what’s really going on in this country. You and I do. Fuck ‘em, I say.” He attacked his beer with zest.
“I can’t disagree with you, Si, but I’d still like to see some places like Italy and France.” I said, taking a long sip of beer.
Our food waitress arrived. She was a very pretty girl with curly blonde hair cascading down her back. Simon looked her up and down and smiled. She was definitely his type.
“Well hello there.” he said.
“Hi guys, I’m Callie and I’ll be serving you tonight. Can I tell you the specials?”
“Callie, I’m quivering in antici…” he said. Callie smiled at him warmly.
“You like that film?” she said.
“Oh, I don’t know if I liked it, but it was entertaining enough.” Simon said. “Did you like it?”
“The music was great, but ya, it was a bit of a weird flick.”
I listened to them trade Rocky Horror banter for a while. I could see Simon was enjoying it immensely, his eyes lighting up whenever she dropped a quip. Eventually she got around to telling us the specials and took our orders. We both opted for the 1kg T-bone steak.
“Don’t eat all the chips if you want to tackle the beef.” said Callie. “It’s a really big steak. You probably won’t finish it.”
“I’d be very happy to share my meat with you.” Simon suggested. The flirting was now in full swing and I loved watching him reel in this big fish. Being a ginger didn’t slow him down with the ladies at all. He struck out often, but his confidence never took a hit.
“I don’t even know your name yet, but I’ll take a bite of your steak if you’re offering it.” she said, flashing a big toothy smile. She was definitely on the hook and not fighting it.
“Hooooo-ey!” he exclaimed. “My name is Simon and you’re welcome to come and sit next to me for as much steak as you’d like.” Then turning to me he added, “How long can you keep them coming for, Dan?”
She laughed and told him to keep a spot warm for her before whisking herself away to the back of the restaurant.
“Phoar! She’s a hottie.” he said, grinning from ear to ear. “I think I might be in love. I mean lust. I mean… whatever.”
“How’s the studying going?” I asked, changing tack.
“It fucking sucks, man. These university lecturers are all mostly useless twats who couldn’t hack it in the real world, but there are a few who seem to know what’s going on. Got my first set of exams coming up later this month. Shitting myself, actually.”
“You’ll be fine.” I remembered him acing all the officer’s exams and also putting on the whole ‘I’m never going to pass’ routine when we were eighteen.
“Hope so.” he took a long gulp of the beer. “Man, this tastes great. I haven’t had a beer in at least 36 hours.” We laughed together. Apart from being smart, Simon also knew how to put the booze away, yet he never seemed to get overly drunk. He’d drink anybody under the table.
Our conversation meandered through recollections of the army days before we landed up talking about things closer to home.
“Did you hear about the McGee brothers?” he asked.
“No? What’s up with those arseholes?”
“Busted for fencing stolen goods.”
“You’re shitting me?”
“I shit you not. That prick Micky went onstage with a stolen guitar at Harlequins. Somebody in the audience recognised it and reported it to the cops who went knocking on their door the next day and found a fucking treasure trove of loot that had all been reported stolen.”
“Holy shit.” I was surprised, but not surprised at the same time. “Jessie told me that they were hanging out with some dodgy people. So what’s happened to them now?”
“As far as I know they were arrested and spent the weekend in jail. Somebody posted bail, so they are out now, but facing quite a few charges. Hectic shit.”
“Wow. I wonder who paid their bail? Jessie said something about their old man being…” I caught myself before I blurted it out.
“What?”
“I can’t say. I promised I wouldn’t.” I said, feeling sorry because now I was halfway between betraying Jessie’s trust and withholding juicy information from my best friend.
“Dude. It’s me, I’m not gonna blab whatever you’re about to say all over the world. Promise.” he said, looking at me earnestly, holding two fingers upwards in the Scout’s Honour position.
I told him Jessie’s theory about their old man’s profession and his current station in life.
“Fuuuck.” Simon exhaled, shaking his head. “That all makes sense now. But why the fuck would they be fencing things if they had access to the old man’s loot?”
“I’m thinking that maybe it’s part of his operation?”
Some time passed before Callie the waitress came walking towards us carrying two wooden boards, each holding what looked like a small roast on a cast iron plate. There were steak knives thrust to the hilt in the centre of each enormous lump of meat.
“Gentlemen, here are your 1kg t-bone steaks. Bon apetit. Sauces are on the way. Can I get you another round of beers?” she said, laying the cast iron plates in front of our disbelieving eyes. “Oh, and be careful – these plates are really hot.”
“But not as hot as you.” Simon said. I thought I saw her blush before he continued laying it on. “I hope you’re hungry, Callie? Plenty of beef here.” She giggled.
“Are you keeping my seat warm, Simon? I’ll be off shift at about ten-thirty. I hope you’ll still have some leftovers then.”
“Babe, I’m still waiting in antici…” he shot back. She laughed and disappeared to collect another order.
The food was incredible but absolutely way too much for any normal human to finish. I ate the fillet side of the T-bone first, then got stuck into the rump, but quarter of the way through it I just couldn’t eat any more. I had made the fatal mistake of eating the chips. Simon was going to go home with two doggie bags tonight.
“Bro, I just can’t eat any more of this. Fucking hell.” I said, pushing the plate away from me. “You want to take it home?”
“Dan, I’m taking that waitress home. Watch this space.”
Just then a tall, moustached guy in his forties came up to the table, looking at me with his chin resting between forefinger and thumb.
“You’re that guy, right? Pete… Peter…” he paused and then got it right. “Peterson! You won the millions at the casino a few months ago. Am I right?”
I wasn’t sure I wanted to have a conversation with this stranger so I just looked at him. He decided to sit down at our table anyway.
“My name is John Savage. I work for Sykes & Co. We’re property developers.” he thrust out his hand to me. Simon leaned back in his chair and folded his arms, waiting for this interloper’s next move.
“John, pleased to meet you, but we’re kind of in the middle of a private dinner here.” I said, shaking his hand anyway.
“Oh shit, sorry man. I don’t mean to be rude, but I heard that you were in the property game now, so I thought I would introduce myself. If you’re interested in what we’re building up on the north coast I’d really like to show you around the site sometime. The north is going to explode soon, so it’s a really good opportunity to get in now.”
I could tell that this guy was a smooth salesman. He wasn’t going to simply get up and go without some kind of a commitment so I thought I might as well try and spin the nut backwards off the bolt in as gentle a manner as possible.
“Cool man, give me your card and I’ll call you tomorrow. I’m not really into the speculation business, we’re buying finished properties at the lower end for now, working on a rental income portfolio, so I’m not really chasing any short term equity.”
“Totally understand, but please, let me show you what we’re doing and maybe I can change your mind.” He brought out a metal business card holder, opened it and gave me a black business card with his name in gold lettering. “I’ll definitely be waiting for your call. Enjoy the rest of your dinner guys.”
He stood up and apologised again before going back to his table on the other side of the restaurant.
“Does that happen often?” asked Simon.
“It has happened a few times, but not as often as I’d been expecting it to. Most of the time the people just want to say congratulations and would you believe it I have even been asked for an autograph once or twice.”
Simon chuckled and took another sip of what was now his fourth beer. “You handled it well though, I’d have told him to fuck right off.”
Callie came back to the table, asking if she could put the leftovers in a takeaway container for us.
“Babe! I missed you!” said Simon. “Look at all this chow we couldn’t finish. Where you been?” Callie laughed, her golden hair bouncing lightly as she did.
“Just put it into one container, Callie.” I said. “Simon’s having a big midnight snack tonight.” She didn’t get the double entendre but nodded and grabbed hold of both wooden boards again.
“Cool, can I bring you guys another drink so long?”
I looked at Simon and he nodded as he swallowed the last of draught number four.
“Bring him another one of those but I’ll have an Irish coffee please.”
“Coming right up.”
A few minutes later she was back at the table, but her waitron’s apron was off and she was wearing a red and white checkered shirt instead of the white one she’d had on a few minutes ago. She put down a big white paper bag in front of Simon and another waiter carrying a drinks tray behind her offloaded Simon’s fresh beer, an Irish coffee for me and what looked like a pink cocktail for her.
“Thanks Joe.” she said and then turning her attention towards my dinner companion continued. “So, Simon… do you always pick up girls in restaurants or is this a special occasion?”
We both burst out laughing.
“Simon, I like this girl. She’s the right one for you, for sure!” I said.
Callie was 24 and in her sixth year of studying medicine at the university. She’d won a full bursary for her studies because she’d literally been the top provincial student in her last year of high school, obtaining something like nine distinctions in the process. She was also staying in a shared flat not far from Simon’s and had to do the waitressing gig to pay the rent seeing as her bursary didn’t cover residence at the university.
Watching the two of them get acquainted was like staring into the melting wax of a larva lamp – easy as you like, lots of heat. After we had finished our second drink since she’d arrived I asked for the bill, which she got Joe to bring to me. I tipped her 100% of the total.
“Seriously?” she asked. “That’s very generous of you but I’m not that good company.”
“Trust me, he can afford it.” Simon said. “Doesn’t he look familiar to you in some way?”
She wrinkled up her nose looking at me as she tilted her head like she was examining a blemish in the mirror.
“Not really. Why? Are you like a movie star or something?”
“Noooo, not pretty enough to be a movie star.” I said. “I just got very lucky recently.”
There was a pause as she continued to survey my face through squinted eyes. Then a moment later she got it, her mouth hanging open as the pieces of recognition all fell together.
“No ways! You’re that guy!” she was truly flabbergasted, putting both palms flat on the table as she continued to look at me with her jaw ajar.
“Yeah… I am. Guilty as charged.”
“I can’t believe it. You’re like a celebrity.”
“Oh God, no. I’m just a regular guy, trust me. Ask Simon.”
Simon took the opportunity to agree with me. “Yes, he’s a total paw-paw, this guy. I taught him everything he knows, now look at him. John D. Rockefeller. With a BMW.”
I asked Simon and Callie if they needed a lift back to their neighbourhood because I was ready to check out for the day, my eyes were getting really heavy. They declined and said that they would walk back home together. Then I remembered to invite them to the engagement party Jessie and I were hosting the following weekend.
“You’re both invited, please come.” I said. They looked at each other for a moment and then decided that it would be a firm yes. I got up to leave, giving each of them a hug. “Enjoy your midnight snack, Si.” He winked and nodded, patting me on the back as I turned to leave.
I probably shouldn’t have driven the block back to The Sentinel as I was way over the legal driving limit for alcohol, but I didn’t want to leave Clyde outside all night, so I took a chance and fortunately didn’t encounter any police on the way home. When I got back inside the penthouse Jessie was sitting on the couch waiting for me. I could tell immediately that there was something wrong. Her eyes were burning like torches, her lips tightly pressed together.
“What’s wrong, Sweetie?” I asked, taking a seat next to her. She had a look on her face that I hadn’t ever seen before.
“She’s back. My mother is back.”
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