Repeat After Me

Chapter 12

Asten texted me. 'The abandoned tram factory is now abandoned. We can go and pick out our space. Meet me there Friday?'

It was confusing. I couldn't work out why he had a girlfriend and yet was so insistent on doing things with me. Maybe she was a bore. Maybe he was a Picasso. He collected women and destroyed them. He made them weeping women. Who knew? Whatever his game was, it was dangerously alluring. My head said no. And yet my heart said yes.

I felt curious about the Abandoned Spaces exhibition. Even though I did street art for myself and by myself, I thought it would be interesting to see what other people did. I loved the idea of that exhibition opening by candlelight, it sounded so magical and otherworldly.

I met him in Footscray that Friday afternoon. I told mum and dad I was going to St Kilda beach to draw for a visual art assessment. Dad said, 'I don't know if that's one of the four reasons you're allowed to leave home.'

I said, 'yes it is. Study is a valid reason to leave home.'

'Okay,' he said. 'Just make sure you take your student card with you or something. I heard about a mum giving her daughter a driving lesson and they were fined $1600 by the cops. It's getting ridiculous. The police are out to make money at the moment, because apparently the crime rate has gone right down.'

I didn't tell them about our little interaction with the police the other day.

'Don't sit on any park benches,' dad said. 'And I'll give you some hand sanitiser.'

It was a lot of rigmarole just to get out of the house. But eventually, I found my way to Footscray station.

'How are you going gorgeous?' Asten asked when he saw me. I was carrying my backpack, with a sketchbook and some painting materials, just in case.

'Fine,' I said.

'It's a five minute walk this way. Want me to carry your bag?'

'Thank you,' I said and passed him my backpack. Asten was wearing a navy cap, a grey t-shirt, knee-length shorts and trainers. My heart sent a little message to my brain by a love dove cooing, 'he's sweet', 'he's sweet', 'shame about the girlfriend'.

When we got to the construction site, Asten took my hand and guided me through the rubble. 'It's a fucking mess here. Worse than we thought. We'll have to get some kind of pathway cleared for the opening.' We stepped over smashed bricks and broken windows. It was a real wasteland of destruction.

'It's criminal,' Asten said. 'Four perfectly good buildings flattened like this. It's like all those schools Kennett shut down. It keeps people employed to shut things down and rebuild them again. What a waste of taxpayer money. Not any more though. The economy is screwed. Everyone is affected.'

'Hey kids!' a guy yelled out in a hi-vis vest and black trousers.

'Shit. Security. I thought they'd gone,' Asten said.

'What are you doing?' the guy asked, walking up to us and putting his hands in his pockets and standing like a cowboy.

'She's doing an art project. She wanted to take photos of the building before it's knocked down.'

The guy looked me up and down. My heart was pounding and I was too nervous to speak. 'Go on then. But be quick. There ain't supposed to be anyone around on this site. Besides, you two should be at home. You've got five minutes.'

We walked over to one of the last remaining buildings.

'Hey, you're all flushed,' Asten said. 'Calm down, it's nothing.'

'We shouldn't be here,' I said, wondering if this Abandoned Spaces show was a stupid thing to do. It was quite likely something the cops would find out about and shut down. I didn't want to get myself a fine or a conviction. I didn't want my parents finding out about this street art thing. They'd be furious.