Kylie & Jack 1: Humble Beginnings

9. Extraordinarily Ordinary

Jan. 5th, 6:20 PM

Murruma was hosting a community dinner to celebrate the fire being put out at long last. Kylie's car was still at Graeme Toohey Smash Repairs; getting paid for by the RFS, so she caught a ride with her sister, brother-in-law and the kids, where she would see Bev and Carol for the first time since; her cousin Brad (who had been on a truck with his brother, Dave and her father, John), who had taken it upon himself to tow her battle scarred car into town; the three crew paramedics who attended to her; her parents and everyone else. To say she was feeling disinterested about the dinner was an understatement. Apart from Loz and her immediate family, nobody had stopped to bother asking her how she was - everyone just wanted to shake her hand or say thank you for whatever she had done. It pissed her off, frankly.

Amy pulled up at the pub and they all spilled from the car like ants. The pub was already overflowing with people, the car park - admittedly only designed to hold about twenty cars - was full and both sides of the street were lined. Kylie half-heartedly entered the pub through the bar - while Amy lead the kids to the toilets near the back door.

As soon as Kylie entered the packed pub, she took a deep breath and tried to prepare herself for whatever would come her way.

"Hey, look who's here!" someone yelled out. An arm wrapped itself around Kylie's shoulders and she unenthusiastically rolled her head upwards to see the brigade captain, Mark Pyke squeezing her to his side, a beer in his other hand. He yelled out for quiet, making Kylie squeeze her eyes shut momentarily.

"Everyone, hey, guys! Can I have a bit of shush!"

Someone in the depths of the crowded bar hollered "oi!" and everyone promptly fell quiet, turning to Mark. A few people raised their glasses to Kylie in a premature toast.

"So, we all know tonight's about thanking everyone for their efforts during the recent fire, but I want to take this opportunity to offer my thanks, on behalf of the Murruma Bush Fire Brigade and everyone here, to our very own Kylie, for doing, let's face it, something pretty fucking incredible -" a titter of laughter rippled across the group, but what was louder were the random cheers of several locals at the front of the crowd. Kylie could see her mum's best friend, Debbie among those cheering. Mark was still talking, although Kylie had tuned out to him by now and she had no idea what he was saying. Finally, he let go of her, took a step back and indicated to Kylie that the floor was hers.

"Ah ... thanks. I, ah ... I suppose there's nothing more I can add to that. Happy bloody New Year." She said flatly, feeling entirely disengaged. Her uninterested demeanour was missed by everyone in the room, except one person she hadn't noticed yet and was instead met with laughter. Everyone cheered, watching her head for the bar.

Debbie stopped her and said happily, "smile, you're a hero!" Kylie smiled patronisingly at Debbie, who missed the tone, busy getting pulled into conversation with Bernie, the president of the P and C committee.

Kylie leaned against the laminate bar, rapping her fingernails over the maroon beer mat. Brenda appeared out of the cool room, saw Kylie and beamed, making a beeline for her.

"Oh, my hero!" she giggled girlishly. "What can I get you?"

"Smirnoff Black Ice if you've got it, thanks." Brenda made a quizzical look and headed back for the cool room as someone leaned against the bar beside Kylie. She didn't even have to turn; she knew who it was by their Lynx deodorant.

"What brings you all the way out here? I thought you were doing New Year's in Sydney?" Kylie asked without looking at him, busy thumbing through her purse.

"Thought I'd come show my support for the community where I work, you know." Jack replied with a grin. Brenda returned with Kylie's drink and opened it with one of her novelty bottle openers.