I had a great time today. By the way u passed. You looked beautiful ;)
Who does he think he is judging MY sense of dress? I grinned as I selected reply.
:) so did you
I was really starting to like this guy. But I didn’t want to take it too much to heart. I was all too familiar with the pursuit of men. It may still all be an elaborate tactic to get into my pants.
When are you free? I’d love to c u again.
I smiled. I loved how he kept wanting to see me. Gosh, he was fun. Logic said this was crazy. Intuition said it felt too good to deny. There was a new spring in my step.
‘You’re looking much happier now. See? Told you you’d get used to it.’ Whoops. Failed to update Mum on the goings-on. Of course when I first announced my leaving, she didn’t take me seriously. I sat mum down.
Mum listened in silence. When I finished she quietly muttered, ‘Oh…’
It didn’t take long for Mum to report to Dad.
‘Who is this Knight boy?’ Dad had his elbows on the table with his hands clasped in front of his mouth.
I told him as much as I knew. Which wasn’t that much. Which actually got me pretty worried too. Hmm…
‘He’s from Queensland…he’s my age…he owned a café…he’s funny?’ I flinched.
‘Has it occurred to you that he might be a conman?’ Dad tossed the newspaper at me. ‘Have you read the stories that happen to girls like you? He could be a bloody pimp taking you on as a girlfriend to make you fall in love with him and then make you prostitute yourself. He can lure you into the underworld blinding you with love. How can you be so stupid?’ He sneered.
I couldn’t hear any of it. I saw Knight as my way out of this mundane existence I called a life and I found myself refusing to believe that he had an iota of insincerity in him.
But the smart side of me did pipe up in a small voice of reason. I really didn’t know much about him.
…
‘Knight…’ I took a breath. We sat on milk crates with cushions in a café nearby his place. ‘We don’t know each other. My dad pointed out the dangers out there…how am I to know the good guys from the bad?’ I studied his face.
He thought for a bit. ‘You know, I’ve known you only for as long as you’ve known me. That’s like, what, a week and a half? How do I know you’re not…’ he dug for an example, ‘an organ harvester?’ My jaw dropped. ‘I hear you Asians are reaping it on the Black market.’ He folded his arms with a raised eyebrow of suspicion.
I retorted, ‘‘twas you who propositioned me.’
‘True.’ He paused. Something was ticking. He was a loud thinker. He had the type of mind that could be heard from across the room. ‘How about I meet them?’
The light fitting came crashing down on our table. It didn’t. But it should have.
‘My parents?’
‘Nah, my parents. Of course, your parents!’
Who the hell was this guy? Don’t men usually cower and shit their daks at the realization that a girl even HAS parents?
‘I’ve got nothing to hide.’ He said with a casual shrug. ‘I think it’s quite flattering they don’t believe my story. It’s pretty out there, hey?’ The ceiling opened up and a radiant beam of light shone down on Knight, revealing a glowing halo.
I pitched the idea to my parents who received the offer with glowering, prejudiced hatred. So, a meeting was organized. My parents chose a traditional Chinese restaurant of inconvenience for Knight to challenge his determination as well as his cultural flexibility. He had to catch a tram and a train, and then meet me at the local train station to drive him the rest of the way. I was so anxious. So much could go wrong.
Don’t worry. We’re kind of a team now. We’re doing this together =)
He was meeting my parents and he was reassuring me? What?
On the day of the dreaded congregation, I called him about 15 minutes before the time of his due arrival at the station.
The number you have dialed is currently switched off or unavailable…
My heart stopped. Oh no. It can’t be. Shit. He backed out. But he said… ah FUCK! He was all talk and no action! My family was already at the restaurant waiting! What was I going to say? How was I going to face them without him? Excuses started to run through my mind: he fell down the stairs in a rush to get out that morning and broke his leg and is now dragging himself to hospital as we speak; there was an unexpected death and he was called to identify the body; he walked into a wood chipper thinking it was the train to get here… I could feel my stomach turn itself inside out. I tried his number again.
The number you hav-
Damnit! What the hell happened? Shit, shit SHIT. I was too quick to trust him! Everyone was right. FUCK. I feverishly paced around in circles trying to figure out plan B. Maybe as the train pulls up it’ll still be fast enough to do some damage if I threw myself in front of it… Just as I was calculating the leap, my phone vibrated.
‘Hey, I just got out of the tunnels. Shouldn’t be too long now, right?’
A tsunami of relief hit me. Of course! I turned red with embarrassment and smacked my forehead. The train passed through the underground tunnels en route where all phone reception cut off.
‘You scared the bloody crap out of me! I couldn’t get through before! I thought you weren’t coming!’
Knight laughed. His ringing voice calmed me down. ‘No way would I miss this! See you soon.’
My heart returned to its normal rate as my faith in Knight was restored. And then it quickened again. Oh gosh. In less than 10 minutes a metro white boy was going to meet my Asian parents. I broke into a cold sweat. Oh shit.
