Ride On

Chapter XVIII: There's Gonna Be Some Fuckin'

How was it already Christmas? 

Yesterday was the first day of spring, I swear. Now I'm suddenly window shopping for Christmas presents and hoping to God I don't faint from the heat. What kinds of things would my family want anyway? A pool? Can't afford it. A reservation to a fancy restaurant? I wouldn't even want to go. Tinker toys? Eugh.

What would I want...

...what would I want? 

Before I could answer that I saw a man walk into the store I was window shopping at. I wouldn't have noticed him except for he violently sneezed then shook his head of huge hair. Stepping closer to him and staring at him through the glass I saw the man who had sung his heart out onstage at the Sydney concert a few months ago and who had blessed our ears with a rendition of "There's Gonna Be Some Fuckin'" as a joke. 

You should have seen him laugh.

You would also never believe how embarrassed I was to see I had left a circle of fog on the window pane. I wiped it off and looked around. But I had to be sure I was right and not just hallucinating from the hot sun. Causally, I opened the door and walked in. The air conditioning wasn't working and there were about six fans in the store. Seven if you included me. The man turned around and looked right at me.

I was right. It was him.

Quickly I looked at anything else. I picked something up and pretended to be interested in it. That is, until he spoke.

"Hello there."

He was grinning like an imp and he stood over me so his hair shadowed whatever it was I was holding. My palms were so wet I almost dropped it and I couldn't think of any way to respond. Finally I just spit out the first thing that came to mind. "Hi, Bon."

"You lookin' to buy a pack of men's knickers?" I finally paid attention to what I had grabbed and threw it back on the shelf. 

"Uh...Christmas shopping." He nodded.

"I see. Well it's obvious you know me already. The question is..." He pointed a finger at me. "Who might you be?"

"H-Hannah."

"Anna?"

"Hannah."

"Oh, Hannah! Hannah Banana, is it?" I stared up at him. 

"It most certainly is, Bon Scott Apricot." He laughed. I can't believe it, I'm not a hopeless tryhard! I smiled. Bon reached a hand up to floof his hair from the back and scanned the store over. 

"I haven't had much of a chance to think about Christmas yet but Mum an' Dad will be waitin' for me to get home for the holidays. You seein' your folks too?"

Technically I saw them every day. "Yeah, I....I live there." I braced myself.

"Oh! That's probably much easier then, eh?" What, no comment? No teasing? "I'm in for a treat when I get home, ya' know? 'Bon, I saw you on the telly last month an' your hair was down to the floor! You could've mopped it!' It's almost comical, ya' know?" He sighed and picked up a pack of men's underwear. Turning it over in his hands he put it back. "Not tight enough," he muttered and I snorted out a laugh. My dad would have a field day if he could hear this now. "Well, see you around, kid."

I shook his outstretched hand and watched him go. 

That wasn't as bad as I thought.