Taking Chances Pt. 01

"I remember being taken out of school and told I was going to see nanna. She told me my mum had to go to hospital and would be there for a long time. By the time I found out the truth I was eight years old and it came out by accident at Christmas dinner."

"She never told you earlier?"

"No, I think she just wanted to protect me from harm but at the time I resented her for it, I started getting into trouble at school and by the time I was twelve I was shop lifting. I ended up hanging out with a couple of hardened crims and when they decided to do an armed robbery I went along for the ride."

Prison will do one of two things, it will either help you to advance your criminal career or reform you and in my case it was definitely the latter.

"I was fucking terrified. I was skinny and like a cat on a hot tin roof. If it wasn't for nanna I think I would have ended up necking myself. She used to make the drive every Saturday to see me and we'd sit there trying to pretend that this was just like visiting a hotel. She'd go home and I'd pace my cell and try to recall everything she'd said. It was nanna who bought me the drawing materials, she had to appeal to the prisoner governor before he let me have them."

"She sounds like quite a woman."

"She is," I replied, "she's more a mother to me than my own mum ever was. My mum was a street prostitute, she worked to earn money for drugs and to raise me. I live in the bungalow out the back of nanna's house. She was always there for me."

"What about your father?"

"I don't know who he was. There's no name on the birth certificate so we suspect he was some client. For all I know my dad could be a High Court judge or a copper."

"You never know."

When it was all over I felt drained. Not that the work itself was draining but I'd told her a lot about me, which I found slightly unsettling. However, she did love the work and kept admiring it in front of a mirror while I packed up my gear and rearranged the furniture.

"So, I have to wait a whole month to see you?"

"You can see me whenever you want," I replied, "the studio is just down the road. I might be busy but I usually take a break for lunch."

"Okay," she regarded me for a moment, "we'll do lunch some time soon."

I had the suspicion she was looking for something without actually knowing what she was looking for but I never expected Jodie to turn up to work. I remember telling nanna about it over dinner on Sunday night and she smiled.

"Maybe she's got a crush on you."

I laughed and she laughed too but when Jodie turned up on Tuesday just before half past twelve I didn't notice until Davey, my young apprentice asked if she needed help. I've got designs all the way down the wall and she was close to the door. I was doing a freebie for my mate, Muzza.

"G'day," she smiled at me, "told you I'd drop in."

"So you did," I turned the gun off, "um, I'll be another half an hour."

"Oh, I didn't mean today," she stared at Muzza's chest which is a maze of tattoos, "but if you're gonna be free I'll duck into Belgrave and grab a few groceries and come back."

Muzza was checking her out while she talked. She was wearing a white shirt that was open to her cleavage, and a black skirt, I knew he was mentally undressing her but she almost seemed to enjoy it because she leaned a little closer.

"Nice work," she stared at a picture of a naked woman in a pool with her breasts covered by waist-length blonde hair, "I want her on me."

"So did I," Muzza grinned.

"See ya in half an hour," she grinned, "you fancy chicken and chips? My shout."

"No worries, thanks."

Muzza looked at me after she was gone.

"Now that's what I call punching above your weight."

"She's my accountant but she sounds curious."

"Well if curiosity turns to rug munching, remember to take pictures."

I laughed at that. If any other man said that I'd have said something else entirely, but Muzza is my mate. He could have been a one percenter, God knows he's been around long enough to know some of these outlaw bikers when they were still jerking off behind the high school.

"I'll keep it in mind."

"So you're doing back yarders for her, are you?"

"Did the tattoo on her back at the weekend, I do her for free and she does my books for free."

"She's got a nice arse."

"On that we're both agreed," I turned on the needle, "now, let me finish this and don't mention her arse for fuck's sake or I'll make a mistake."

We had our first lunch together in her Holden Commodore out the back of the shop. I have a car and a bike, a Kawasaki 1200 cc sport tourer, and at first she thought the bike near the door belonged to Muzza until I told her it was mine.

"So, when are you taking me for a ride?" Jodie poked my leg playfully.

"I'll take you for a ride whenever you like."

"Ooh, I like the sound of that," she chuckled.

"So, when and where?"

"Let's see," she took out her phone and brought up an organiser, "I can't survive without my phone, I've got my whole life on this thing. I'm free on Sunday, come around elevenish and we'll have an early lunch and go for a ride."

I hesitated before I agreed and when she left some fifteen minutes later I stared at the phone number she'd left on my phone. I had her mobile number and she had mine but everything pointed to the bi curious type.

Nanna was philosphical about it over dinner that night.

"Just go, take her for a ride. You don't know the full situation yet, go slow and ask questions, never judge a book by its cover."

Kind of like closing the gate after the horse has bolted I thought, I'd been checking her out all along but I did resolve to take my grandmother's advice. Grandmothers usually have good advice and one other piece of advice she handed out was to, "get your hair done."

"What's wrong with it? I just had it done three months ago."

"Because it gives you something to talk about and it gives her an excuse to run her hands through your hair, women love touching hair."

My grandmother cracks me up like that. She's totally supportive of my lifestyle and if ever I need advice on how to break the ice with a straight woman or go further, she's always got tips.

That Saturday I let Davey close the studio on his own, I always keep it open until three o'clock, and I headed down to Mountain Gate for a hair appointment nanna had made for me two days ago. My regular girl was waiting for me and I sighed as I sat in the chair.

"What's the big occasion?"

"I need to look like a lady."

"Hmm," she tugged at my hair.

I've got mouse-brown hair but it's always been kind of thin, it was just past my shoulderblades at the time.

"How bad do you want her?"

"Huh?" I stared at her in the mirror.

"You want to look like a lady means you're trying to impress a lady."

"Something like that."

"Let me see," she picked up a book of hair styles, "how about this?"

The model she'd picked out had shoulder length hair that was swept forward in a bob, she definitely looked more glamorous than me.

"Your face is thin and angular shaped, and you've got a good figure so yeah, it'll suit but it is a radical departure," she flicked through a few more pages and while I liked some I eventually decided on the one she'd shown me first.

"Go radical and put a blonde rinse through it."

"No worries," she put the book down, "so, do I know her?"

"Probably not and to be honest I don't know if I should tell you her name, I'm taking her for a ride on Sunday."

"But you like her."

The end result actually shocked me. It wasn't exactly like the model in the magazine but even so it was pretty impressive work. My hair was just past my shoulders and cut into a bob style, the blonde rinse added a finishing touch and when I stepped into the house a couple of hours later with a bag of clothes my grandmother's face lit up.

"My God, it's a new woman. She'll be running her hands through your hair."

"You'd make a terrible Christian, nanna."

"It's just as well I'm an atheist then."

That next day I spent an hour that morning checking and washing the bike and then showered and got changed into a floral shirt and jeans. I kissed my grandmother goodbye and started the bike and as I poured on the power I felt the thrill of anticipation. I love the feel of the bike between my legs, no pun intended! I knew the road by instinct, every bend and curve beckoned like a lover but as to where this was all going in the grand scheme of things was still a mystery.

To be continued...