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make the comment and then went back to studying the label on his beer.
    â€˜Vacuum cleana, same as I orlways do,’ said Trent.
    â€˜Ha!’ said Spud.
    â€˜Remind me never to borrow your vacuum cleaner,’ said Baz. He looked at me and rolled his eyes. I grinned at him.
    â€˜So you lost a few inmates today,’ I said.
    â€˜Ah, just a few,’ said Baz. ‘Don’t worry about it. We’ll have most of them rounded up by tomorrow. Won’t we, Hose?’
    Trent grunted. ‘You’d be fucken lucky,’ he said. ‘They’ll all be in Adlae by tomorra or Sinnie the day afta.’
    Chook had come to the bar. ‘Who gives a rat’s, anyway?’ he said. ‘What they gunna to do, escape back to Afghanistan? Let ’em.’
    â€˜Nah, yer can’t trust them fucken towel ’eads,’ said Trent. ‘Yer never know when one of ’em’s gunna blow up in ya face.’
    I refrained from telling Trent that in his case nobody would notice the difference.
    â€˜Nobody’s safe in this country anymore,’ said Chook in a quavering voice, mocking him.
    â€˜Too fucken right,’ said Trent.
    â€˜Maybe one of ’em’s doin’ your missus as we speak,’ said Chook, grinning at the rest of us.
    â€˜He’s bloody welcome,’ said Trent.
    â€˜Worse, he might be doin’ your vacuum cleaner,’ said Baz.
    â€˜I’ll kill ’im if he is,’ said Trent. ‘I fucken love that fing.’
    â€˜They should all be sent back to their own fucken country,’ said Hose, who was now peeling the label off his beer. His face was inflamed with anger or alcohol or a combustible mixture of both as he looked around at us. ‘It shits me – no one invited ’em and when they get here they expect five-fucken-star ’ccomm’dation, and then they start riotin’ when they only get three-and-a-half-fucken-star. I wish the gov’men’ would pay all my fucken ’ccomm’dation.’
    â€˜One day I expect they will,’ said Baz. ‘For two to four years, I’d reckon.’ He winked at me, and I grinned.
    â€˜Fucken towel ’eads,’ repeated Trent. ‘Half of ’em are probly terrists. Y’know the gov’men’ just put the terror ratin’ up ta ’xtreme. Means an attack is imm’nent or ’as already occurred.’
    â€˜It’s a pretty useless rating system if it goes to extreme after the attack,’ said Baz. ‘Talk about stating the bleeding obvious.’
    â€˜Well, nothing has happened yet, as far as I know,’ said Spud. He had been cleaning glasses and now he threw his dishcloth onto the counter. ‘So it must still be imminent.’
    â€˜Yeah, imminent,’ said Chook, enunciating the syllables. ‘Means it’s about to happen,’ he explained to Hose.
    â€˜Fuck off yer little prick,’ said Hose. ‘Anyway, bitta luck they’ll fucken blow up parlymen’ ’ouse. Do us all a fava.’
    â€˜What’s the matter with you tonight?’ said Baz. ‘Didn’t enjoy the nice riot?’
    Hose grunted. ‘Nah, I didn’t enjoy gettin’ spat at and punched and kicked in the fucken balls.’ He stood up from his leaning position, got his legs tangled and decided it was easier to resume leaning. ‘Nah, fuck ’em. You hear what they was yellin’ out? “Fuck Woomera, fuck Austraya.” Ungrateful shitheads. Bunch o’ fucken animals.’
    â€˜And that’s just the women,’ said Baz to the rest of us.
    â€˜I’d like a shtring a few of ’em up by the balls,’ said Hose.
    â€˜Jesus, the women even have balls,’ said Baz.
    â€˜I heard that one of the escapees is a shit-hot woman,’ said Chook.
    â€˜If ya like dark meat and big eyebrows,’ said Hose.
    â€˜Aw, cut it out, Hose,’ said Spud. ‘We don’t need