We raced each other to the playground and quickly climbed on everything we could. There were a few other kids around but they soon got off anything we wanted to use. Four of us jumped onto the round swing and started to swing as high as we could. Cue and Jav watched while they smoked and flicked the butts at us. Some adults watched us from a distance. I was the first to spot the cops, I nodded to Jav. "Here come the pigs to chase away the naughty coloured children" Cue yelled out. We jumped off the swing and left the playground. It was getting dark anyway.
The car was pretty full, we tried to climb up the poles and shoved each other around as I checked out the people around us. Most looked like they were on their way home from work. "Ok, settle" Big W told us. I watched and waited for a bit longer then moved up and down the car just before the next stop. We all got off and quickly boarded another car. We didn't muck around this time, just waited quietly as the train went through a couple of stations before making a move.
I went into the paint shop with Possum, he wanted me to meet Rodney. We grabbed a few cans and headed to the counter. "Still working on your mural?" he asked. "Yep, this is Lucy. My new apprentice" Possum said. "Cool. You got cash?" Possum put a hundred on the counter. "I'll check it out later tonight" Rodney said. Possum gave him a quick nod and left. I followed.
Jav threw me a can "draw what ever you want kid" he told me. I looked at the rest of the mural, it was just a collection of things from our lives. There was the dog that chased us a couple of days ago, the front door of the condemned house we broke into, a tree we had climbed in this weird little park on the west side, the L, candy bars, meth zombies and a cool car we saw. Jav was working on that, he was really into cars. I decided to paint some of the people and kids that had stared at us while we played at the playground.
Javs sister Mary Rose stood in the middle of the room and watched us as we heaped together a bunch of blankets and comforters in preparation for our movie night. Mary Rose didn't talk, she was special. We just ignored her, which is what Jav told us to do. The front door slammed open, a drunk man stumbled in. Mary Rose ran into her bedroom. Javs mom rushed out of the kitchen and over to the man who I assumed was Javs dad. "What the fuck is going on? Get these kids out of my house!" Javs dad yelled. Jav got to his feet "you said I could have some friends over" Jav said. "These are your friends? A bunch of black kids and a little girl? What a pussy. Get them out of here" he yelled. Jav didn't back down, he stood as tall as he could in front of his dad. His dad laughed then punched him in the face. Big W got up and grabbed Jav while the rest of us rushed to get our bags and coats. Javs mom tried to calm his dad down and was pulling him into the bedroom as we left. "Where to now? The condemned house? I can't go home" Cue said. "We could go to mine? Fi will let you stay" I told them.
I unlocked the front door and went in, everyone followed me. Fi, Conner, Debbie, Carl and Ian were all watching tv in the lounge room. Fiona had already turned around "Lucy, I thought you had a sleep over?" she asked as she got off the couch. "Jav's dad changed his mind, can we have it here instead?" I went over to her and hugged her "please, please, please?" I begged as I looked up at her. She put a hand on my head "Lucy, we don't have the room" Fi whispered to me. "Please. None of them have anywhere else to go. Their parents don't want them home tonight" I told her. She sighed and pushed me back a bit. "Downstairs only, they'll have to make do with the floor and the couch" Fi said. "Yes!" I yelled and gave my friends a big smile. They sat down in front of the couch and started watching the tv. "No! No way!" Debbie whined. "Kitchen" Fiona said to her, she grabbed my shoulder and led me in there as well. "Fiona, this isn't fair. She can't have all those kids stay" Debbie complained. Fiona just looked at me, "get something cold for Javs face and there's a bag of crisps you can share" she said. I hugged her again "thank you" I told her.
"I'm going to bed" Fi said as she got up off the couch, Conner followed her. Everyone mumbled goodnight. Cue jumped up and went over to his bag. "Ready?" He asked as he held up a cd. "What is it?" Ian asked "Freddy got fingered" Jav said. "Oh yeah!" Carl said. "Great. Where's the pot" Lip said. "I got a bit" Big W offered.
Frank stumbled in and squeezed his way onto the couch. He stared at the tv for a bit "what the fuck is this?" he said after a while. "Bong?" Lip offered. Frank leaned forward and grabbed it of the table. We all continued to laugh at the movie. "You're pretty lucky Luce" Cue whispered to me. I smiled and silently agreed.