Take an a-a-aphrodisiac, don't do no-no-nothing, just relax
Your ha-ha-heart goes piddle-pat, take an a-a-aphrodisiac
If you want to fall in love with somebody
Somebody that you're not in love with at all
With an a-a-a-aphrodisiac, your ha-ha-heart goes piddle-pat
Don't do nothing, just relax with an a-a-aphrodisiac
If you want to fall in love with somebody - hey
Somebody that you're not in love with at all
Exciting you, just make you love me too
Somebody that you're not in love with at all
I'm your a-a-a-aphrodisiac, don't do nothing, just relax
Gives you a a a heartattack, just take your clothes off, this is overjack....
That was my life for the next 18 months. Nights full of wild dirty dancing and mornings full of wild dirty sex. I was reveling in the exhilaration of new people, new experiences and a total belief in my abilities. This confidence led me to do things I would never have dreamed of only a few short months beforehand. I met people and made friends, some of whom are still close to me today. The following is a snapshot of the things I found myself doing in those wild, fabulous days.
Early one winter morning I ended up with a group of friends, all still peaking, at McDonald's in Newtown. We were only there as it was the only place open at 5am to have coffee. Walking through the door we could see a group of very rough and sinister young thugs hanging just near the counter where a very young and quite scared looking teenage girl was serving. I was wearing my usual shorts and little else outfit with my platform dance shoes, plus my favourite winter coat , denim and trimmed with fake astrakhan fur - very 1970's disco look. Anyway my friends all sat down, none of them feeling brave enough to walk past the 'gang' so I put on my best smile and waltzed right past them with a 'good morning' and up to the counter.
The girl was visibly relieved to see me and when I quietly asked her if she was alright and did she want me to stand at the counter while she rang the police (these guys really looked like they were up to no good) she said she thought it was alright but would we be able to stay until 6 when the day manager arrived? Then she started pointing towards the guys and said they've dropped money.
Looking to where she was pointing, sure enough, there was a $100 note on the floor right next to one of them. I said quick as a flash 'if I get it we'll go halves'. She nodded and I too loudly ordered 5 coffees and then walked back to our table, stopping right next to the gang and bending down to tie up my shoe laces. I managed to scrunch the note in my hand and stood up - another big smile to the gang - and walked back to my friends. The girl arrived with coffee on a tray and a $50 note which I swapped for the hundred.
The gang hung around for another 20 minutes or so before abruptly leaving, unaware that they had dropped the money. Maybe it was other early morning drunken revelers who had dropped it? Who knows. The real end of the story came the following day (Monday) when I was in class teaching. There was a knock at the door and when I opened it there was the girl from McDonald's! We both took a step back before giving each other a huge scream and big hug. My class was amazed to see me hugging a girl. Even more amazing was that she turned out to be the sister of one of my pupils!
Another morning I arrived home with a very hot young guy called Toby. Now this was also the name of my dog. Of course I took great delight in leaving my bedroom window open and spending the next hour loudly shouting 'oh yes Toby', 'do it to me Toby', 'harder Toby' and other similar phrases knowing full well that my neighbours would be hearing every word. Sure enough the human Toby hadn't been gone 5 minutes before my neighbours, David and Melissa, were running through the back door wanting to know 'what the hell I had been doing'. Over a few bongs Melissa said, 'of course we weren't worried about you, just the dog!'
David and Melissa were lovely people, but a bit lacking in responsibility. They were forever asking to borrow money off me as they usually spent it on marijuana they couldn't afford. They had a baby daughter and while they did their best to provide everything for her they couldn't always do so. I was happy to help. One Saturday morning after a night out David and I were having early morning bongs when he happened to mention that it was their daughters first birthday. When I asked if they were having a party he looked very remorse and said they just couldn't afford too and as she was only 1 she wouldn't miss it.
I was down at the shopping centre at opening time. I came home, with shopping bags full, and baked and iced a chocolate cake. Decorated it with sprinkles and lollies, made fairy bread, and cut bananas and strawberries. Then I hung balloons and a 'Happy 1st Birthday' banner up and went next door and invited David, Mel and Savannah (their daughter) over. It was a lovely and very satisfying afternoon which we all enjoyed thoroughly and thankfully of which I still have a few photos as a reminder.
At Halloween they organized a Halloween party and asked me to invite all my friends which I did. The day arrived and in the morning I realized that they were planning little else than a few drinks and cones. I had to go into school and feed the animals so I took the opportunity to raid our arts & craft store as well as stopping on the way home at a Halloween shop and going on a shopping frenzy. By 6pm I had both our houses and gardens totally themed. I worked like a trooper cutting and making decorations, hanging barbie dolls with knives and red nail varnish, carving a dozen pumpkin lamps, draping fake cobwebs and plastic spiders everywhere, not too mention making oodles of party food (with one of my girlfriends) as well as making an amazing goblin outfit to wear.
Another great night where I ended up leaving my friends partying at my house and went, in full costume, off to The Imperial. Halloween was still a relative novelty in Australia then and the show girls had me up on stage during their act to show off my, I must say, very good costume and amazing make up job. Not surprisingly I didn't manage to pick up that night but it didn't matter as I got home to find 4 of my friends still partying at my house.
The football became another fun day out for me. Even though I had never played a game in my life I was a great fan of Rugby League. My favourite team's home ground was close by and I began going every weekend when they had a home game. At first I went by myself, popping another pill before grabbing a taxi and spending an exhilarating afternoon 'at the footy'. I soon found clubbing friends who enjoyed it too and we often made a party of it. A striking contrast to the regular crowd who were never anything but friendly and some of whom I became quite friendly with.
The most memorable of these outings was one night when I went to a night game with my clubbing friend Elvis. Yes that was really his name! He was a wild Croatian boy who I met at the Imperial one night. He was almost straight (given enough alcohol or heroin he would want to go home with drag queens) and we were just very good friends. He was an uncontrollable alcoholic and sometimes junkie and I took pity on him. He had a heart of gold and I always felt safe with him wherever we went.
Anyway Elvis and I had continued from the previous night clubbing and day partying and attended the match. It was an important game for the team, if they won it meant they would make the final series. About 15 minutes before the end of the game Elvis started panicking as the bar would be closing and he wanted another beer. As we were pushing our way through the crowds my team scored a try which put them in front. While buying the beer and beginning to return to our seats the cheers of the crowd started to turn to very loud and angry booing. Looking at the big outside screen we saw that the 'try' had been disallowed by the referee due to some technical point and my team were still behind. Being a vital match and at the home ground my club's supporters were not happy. The end result was that a full scale riot began and within minutes hundreds of scared people were rushing down the slope heading straight for me and Elvis.
Behind us was the wall of a building, in front of us were dozens of panicking people who had little chance of stopping. I honestly thought we would be crushed. Amazingly Elvis shielded me with his small but powerful body and used one arm to push away anyone who got to close to us and we emerged unscathed. Dozens of people were injured, none seriously, from falling down, crashing into the wall, getting trodden on or being roughly shoved but we were both fine. Later that night we were at the club dancing and Elvis took me by one arm, lifted me up and balanced me on his hand above his head while he danced - that was definitely a peaking moment.
We had many great nights, and days together, before he eventually disappeared (I was in a relationship by this time and he slowly realized that he couldn't rely on me to finance his night's out anymore). The last I heard of him was on the radio news about 6 years later. The story was about a young man who had been hit and killed by a train while crossing the tracks just near the Imperial. Apparently he was with a stolen TV set and neighbours reported hearing a loud yell and then voices calling out the name Elvis after the incident before running away when they heard the police sirens. Putting the coincidences together I was pretty sure that this was my Elvis - the very unusual name, the age reported, the area, and the petty theft all sounded like him. A sad but unsurprising end.
When the school zoo closed down (after one of the boys who had gotten into trouble snuck out and badly injured a rabbit which I had to put down) I had my weekends totally free and I began heading into the city and partying on at ' recovery clubs', often ending up sitting in outdoor cafes on Oxford St watching the sun rise and chatting with other revelers. I met some really interesting people that way. I discovered the joy of taking a ferry ride all the way from the city (Circular Quay) up the harbour and Parramatta River - a really beautiful thing to do if you are peaking - getting off not far from John and Trudi's where I would call in before heading home on the bus.
I would of course meet dozens of hot, cute guys none of whom lasted for more than a few hours, or days at best. I was in no hurry to get into a relationship and simply wanted to live for the moment. Relishing the freedom of expression and the buzz of ego which the pills delivered. It was a life of fun and fantasy that I wanted to last forever. There were so many great nights and days. Marching in the 20th Sydney Gay & Lesbian Mardi Gras was one of them.......
