Mindf**k Read Free Page A

Just in case.
    Then I stepped back into the house.
    I heard my mom looking for her cell phone.

TRACK 05
The Mystic Boer
    It was Saturday night. Kerbs and I were on our second beer. We were at the Mystic Boer in Kellner Street. The place was jam packed. Bodies rubbing up against each other. One of Muse’s songs was playing. I tried figuring out which one it was, but the name eluded me. I saw Kerb’s leg moving with the beat of the music. He probably didn’t even notice it; he only checked out the girls strolling past to the restroom, the bar or on their way outside.
    We slouched on the red couch in front of the wall with the silver corrugated iron sheet. Nice spot. Close to the bar. Further off guys were playing pool. Every once in awhile you could hear the crack of the pool balls over the music. The Voortrekker lads on the wall at the back stood watch over us. I sometimes wondered what they would have done if they were here now. Would they have joined us for a beer? They looked so emaciated; maybe they’d rather like a slice of Mystic pizza.
    Sky Eyes found us in the dusky club. Sky is my other buddy. If you’re a girl and you had to choose between myself, Kerbs and Sky, you would probably choose Sky. He’s the most presentable of the three of us. Someone you could introduce to your mother. And he has the looks – blond hair, blue eyes. It’s weird that he’s still single.
    ‘I almost floored a car watch just now,’ said Sky, sinking down on the couch next to me. ‘Fucking old timer tells me that I shouldn’t drink too hard.’
    Kerbs and I laughed, but we knew that was all talk. Sky wouldn’t do something like that. He has a soft heart.
    ‘Did you tell him you only drink Red Bull? To give you wings!’
    ‘Fuck you.’ Sky got up. ‘I’m gonna get a beer.’ He ambled over to the bar.
    Sky tried getting one of the barmen’s attention. Eyes cast down they scrambled from the Coke machine, over to the booze bottles, to the till. Only then did they make eye contact with another customer.
    A poster was stuck to one of the walls of Mystic:

    And that was where we were going. What we needed cash for. Why Kerbs and I broke into my mom’s car.
    Kerbs was going to sell off the stuff. He had his contacts for scaly ventures like that. They wouldn’t screw him over.
    ‘I’ve done this kinda thing a million times, bru, don’t worry.’
    But somehow I was still worried. What if things went wrong?
    Sky Eyes came back with his beer.
    ‘Hey, fuck, where’s ours?’
    ‘Get your own. Do I look like a beer brewery?’ Again, he fell down between us.
    ‘All right,’ said Kerbs. ‘I’ll get my own. I don’t even drink that crap. I drink Black Label and piss Castle.’
    Kerbs wanted to demonstrate and almost fell of the couch. Not only was hedrunk, but he was high as well. Sky and I laughed as he tried straightening up only to lose his balance. Sky gave him a kick on the ass and he stumbled onward to the bar.
    ‘How’re things moneywise for you, Sky?’ I asked when Kerbs left.
    Sky had to provide for himself. The radio and other stuff only covered my and Kerbs’ MindFuck expenses.
    ‘I’ll come up with the money, no worries. My old-timer will provide, as always.’
    Sky was a lucky son of bitch. I reckoned his parents stuffed him with the money just so that he would stay the hell away from home. Even though he was more presentable than Kerbs or me, he remained a social embarrassment for his parents. As soon as he finished Matric that year, there would already be a flat nearby the university standing at the ready for him. No worries anymore for his mommy and daddy, because he would be out of their house and out of sight permanently. (Then we are going toparty like there’s no tomorrow.)
    ‘I’ll bring the meat. And beer,’ said Sky.
    ‘Will they let us in with beer? Don’t you have to buy it there?’
    ‘Shit, I hope not. We’ll take some along just in case.’
    ‘And some reefer.’
    Sky started