Ack got out of prison and we all welcomed him home famously. All except Kong’s brother in law who had said; “If you had broken into this home I would have fuckin’ killed you.” But it was fair enough since the guy had a wife and kids.
But besides that things were pretty much back to normal. Almost boring normal. Until a kid that we’d gone to Clyde with decided to hang himself in his family garage which would prompt a funeral in the far north.
The reason the funeral was in the far north was because the wake was to be held In the family home. The very home that our poor classmate had hung himself in. His name was Tama.
Tama was a quiet kid, he never did no harm to no one. I knew he was battling demons but I never knew what kind. Tama was kind hearted and knew how to make the room light up with zero effort. He was sure to be missed, and Ack and I would sure as hell miss him and so he walked to the most southern side of town and asked Kong is he would give us a ride up north.
But as it turned out, Kong had moved out of town 6 weeks ago with his girlfriend and headed west 50kms. Kong would also be sorely missed.
So after that Ack and I stuck our thumbs out in the northern most part of town hoping that one of those that would stop was heading towards Paihia.
As I hitched the piano keys that Tama had most famously played during his time on earth began to ring inside my ears. I missed that guy. I pulled it together while we hitched but the furthest we managed to get was Kawkawa.
In the end it was Ack wearing a blue windbreaker and myself wearing a blue tye-dye t-shirt hitchhiking in a red town. The only acknowledgement we got was a car jam packed full of hooligans barking out at us as we stood in the cold trying to get to a funeral that had already been.
Our main reason of continued hitching was because we had held out hope that perhaps Tama’s family would have an after ceremony that we could attend. It was no guarantee, but it was all that we were holding onto.
Eventually we found ourselves in a town primarily known for meatworks. In fact, the slaughterhouse was the only business in town besides from a dingy gas station that no one would stop at.
Ack and I stood at the northernmost end of the strip with our thumbs out at 2am, yet not a single car was stopping. As could be expected when hitchhiking from a town as notorious as this. No names shall be mentioned, its on a show-fits basis.
So there we were, hitchhiking and freezing in the cold at 3am, no luck, no food, barely clothed. We ended up moving over to a bush on the side of the road and laying for warmth.
But the warmth wasn't enough to sleep, so we ripped branches off the neighbouring trees as a blanket for warmth. But that still wasn’t enough.
We tossed and turned in the cold for four hours until we decided that it was worthwhile enough to hitchhike again.
Luckily, a truck pulled over and we hopped in and were promptly asked, “What are you two doing hitching so early aye, know where to score a puff?”
A puff of course meant one thing. That one thing was meth. Ack and I didn’t do meth, so these two early birds were plum out of luck.
“A puff? Nah we don’t do that stuff.” replied Ack.
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“C'mon boys, what are you doing up so early?” asked the creature in the passenger seat.
“We’re from out of town and got stranded.” I replied, wondering where we were.
“Where are you headed?” asked the driver.
“Paihia.” Ack answered.
“Well you’re in Keri, now.” laughed the driver, as we pulled off down a road.
Keri Keri wasn’t so bad since as it turned out Ack had a couple cousins in these areas.
We were dropped in the industrial area of town, as this was where the cousins stayed. We walked towards a mechanics and climbed a stairway that ran to an upper level balcony up top.
Ack knocked firmly, and no answer. So he knocked again, and slowly footsteps began to make there way towards the sliding door.
A guy about our age answered the door, he had the top and sides of his head shaved. At first glance I thought he had a shaved head but as he turned I noticed that all of his lengthy hair had been reserved to the back of his head. A certified skullet wearer.
“What’s the haps, Ack?” said Ack’s cousin.
“Nothing much we just hitched up and ended up here. What are you guys up to?” Ack grinned.
“We’re going work.” answered a guy behind the skullet man.
“True?” said Ack, looking over his shoulder, “Mind if we crash here until you get back?”
The skullet man shook his head, “No can do. The guy that runs the shop below us gets pissed about visitors. You two might wanna clear out.”
Ack’s face grew thin, and he began to bounce on his heels, “Come on man, we’ll be quiet.”
“Nah cuz, not a good idea.” said the guy in the back, pushing past the skullet man and slipping on a high viz as he passed us.
The Skullet man began slipping on his work boots.
“Well can we crash here tonight? We’re shattered.” said Ack.
Skullet man sighed, “It woulda been better if you gave us some notice…but sure.”
Ack nodded, “Sweet, what time should we come back around?”
“Shoot for 5.” replied the skullet man, locking his door before moving down the staircase.
Ack nudged my elbow, “Come on bro, we’ll come back.”
We made our way down the road and out of the industrial area, round the corner and through the township. All the walking and I felt as though my legs were going to give out on me.
I hadn’t managed to get a wink of sleep all night, not to mention the dripping from my nose from the cold nights chill. I sure chose a terrible day to wear a t-shirt and shorts.
We walked past the skatepark, across a field, and past some trees. The sun was risen, and the temperature was warming. Half of us wanted to sleep on the field, but we could see that a game of rugby was about to take place.
So instead, we walked along to a large building complex that stood at one end of the field, entered the doors and through a security gate and found that we had entered a library.
The library had air conditioning, warmth, was quiet, and at last; soft couches to lay our heads. I climbed to the second story while Ack found a beanbag on the first. I walked behind an aisle of book shelves, curled up on a small couch and quickly drifted off to sleep.
After I awoke, I looked out of the large window pane in front of me and noticed a beautiful orange sunset with flickers of pink in it. I rose from the couch and reached wide in a stretch. Then I walked back down the upper level staircase and found Ack was reading a book titled “Five great prison escapes.”
“You reckon your cousins have knocked off work?” I asked quietly.
Ack closed his book, “Yeah, most likely.”
“Let’s make a move aye?”
“Yeah, hard.”
So we walked back across the field, past the skatepark, through the township and back into the industrial area. Over towards the Mechanics, up the winding staircase and inside the cousins apartment.
The whole night before leading to the morning that rolled over had been a blur. I had almost forgot why we had even chosen to hitchhike north and then I remembered Tama and I began to question just how useless I was as a human being.
If the death of a close friend doesn’t light a fire under your ass, I don’t know what would. It seemed as though I was destined to be a useless cluster of atoms blowing wherever the tide would take me. What at first I had thought was a fun and captivating hobby was now causing me to end up in diabolical situations of albeit humorous aptitude.
If I was going to get out of this cycle I’d need a job, and I’d need to stop smoking so much weed, I’d need to get a car with the money I got from the job and to save some more and get a house. A house far, far away from anyone I knew and start fresh.
But as soon as Ack’s cousin with the skullet passed me a beer. I felt my worries subside, and I took my first sip, a long glorious sip, followed by another, and then another.
Then the skullet man pulled a joint out of his tobacco pouch, slipped it into the corner of his mouth, and led us out towards the balcony, where we would puff and pass as we watched the sun go down.