Just Like Yesterday (part 2)

The seniors were crowding into the van. Sean and Dana were busy putting seat belts around people and loading wheelchairs with the hydraulic lift. 'Running low on petrol’ - Sean, checking the gauge. ‘Ok’ - Dana saunters towards the office. This isn’t one of those chain rest homes; it’s a small operation. Dana takes some petty cash from the kitty. The air is crisp and sweet from the garage door; she pauses, then takes some extra cash for herself. A girl’s gotta eat… She makes her way back to Sean, who is all set to go in the driver’s seat. ‘See, there’s always money in the banana stand.’ She stands to attention with a faux-salute. ‘Don’t forget to ride your cousin!’ - Sean. The seniors are dismayed. ‘It’s from a TV show.’ ‘Well, we didn’t talk like that in my day’ - an old biddy.

- Sean drops the seniors off, then takes a turn up a hilly road. He parks halfway up and scans the scene… a young Asian woman walks down some steps, then notices the van. She waves. ‘How much are you after?’ - Sean, as she enters the van. ‘Gimme a Q’ - the woman. Sean reaches for his stash; she grabs some cash from her purse. The deal is done. ‘Can I smoke in here?’ ‘Out the window.’ She nods, then loads up her vape. ‘Could you set me up next week?’ ‘Sure, the senior bowls tournament keeps bringing me into town.’ - Tim teaches a guitar lesson. A clean, bright room in civil servant suburbia.

‘Do you still practise?’ - someone’s spoiled brat. ‘Most of the time.’ ‘Must get boring.’ ‘You’re boring.’ - This isn’t one of Tim’s more gifted pupils. The kid’s fingers wander aimlessly around the neck of the guitar. Tim thinks this could be a teachable moment. ‘Picture the strings making the wood vibrate’ - Tim. ‘What?’ ‘Sound waves make the wood come to life. Isn’t that neat?’ The kid stares blankly. -

Later on. Sunset. Tim and Sean are hanging out at Raumati Beach; chilling and toking. ‘When you're having sex -- men, women, whatever... do it like you're playing your guitar. That's what you love, man.’ ‘I don't usually fantasise about people -- makes me feel like a perv. Sometimes it seems like a parade of Faceless Goddesses.' Tim strums some chords listlessly. Sean takes another puff. ‘I hear ya. My first crush wasn't on a real person: it happened during my anime phase.’ ‘What about this girl from work, then?’ ‘She’s real, alright. Too real.’ ‘Didn’t take your shit?’ ‘Nah.’ Tim stops strumming and smokes another cone. Then she starts again with a classic. ‘Asian Cigarettes … be my bareskin baby. Be mine, be mine tonight.’ - Everyone is going about their day. The asian girl is jogging around the waterfront. She stops at a naked statue: Solace in the Wind. The diver has a distinctive pose; she mimics it. She sees that tacky new Wellington sign that the Council added during Covid: that’s for tourists, she thinks… I’m a local.

- She strides down a hall. She's wearing classy threads: casual with a hint of job interview.

A knock. A tomboyish woman opens the door. ‘Caliope! How delightful to see you.’ She smoothly embraces Caliope and draws her into the office. Caliope takes a seat. ‘You seem more comfortable. That’s why I wanted you to go to San Diego.’ ‘Yeah, I felt I could be the real me over there.’ 'Are you still living with your parents?’ She puts her hand in Caliope’s. They’re very close. ‘Yes. I think my Dad would have a fit if I left.’ That sits there: Sally’s not going to touch that. 'Ok. So, how is your proposal going?’ ‘Meh.’ ‘What’s it going to be about?’ ‘Well... something like: 'we all live in the same city, but we don't live in it the same way'.’ ‘So, ethnography of the streets, then?’ ‘Hells yes!’ -

Tim and a bohemian friend at a taco stand. Tim wears shiny hot pants and stockings. ‘Order for Zack.’ A bro gets up. One of his mates calls after him. ‘Zack, I've still got your name as ball sack in my phone!' All the customers have a laugh, including Tim and her friend. ‘Gotta roll with the changes, Tina.’ - the friend, mocking her. The two of them head off to a quiet, sheltered corner. Two babes rolling up a joint. ‘It’s nice that you’re always supplied.’ ‘I flat with this bro. We’ve been mates since forever.’ ‘Sweet.’ The joint is ready to go. The friend takes her turn first, then Tina. ‘What are you up to, Allie?’ ‘Writing a few songs, mostly teaching.’ ‘Getting sick of the grind?’ ‘Always.’ ‘Don't you ever feel like we're just accessories to the bougie lifestyle? Like our hourly rate is a form of virtue-signalling?’ ‘Taking yourself too seriously again, honey. After all, each lesson = a bag of weed!’ - Sean is serving lunch. Dana sets tables.

He's looking at her. Intensely. She notices, and plays with her hair. - Tina browses alone at the farmer’s market She gravitates towards the fashion stalls. Wolf-whistle from a passing skateboarder. 'Sup, baby girl.’ ‘Bro, that's a guy!’ Tina watches them skate by. No visible reaction. She knows that makes it worse, though it takes a lot of discipline to control that desire to tackle them off their boards and rub their smug heads into the concrete.

Wellington’s trans history is long and colourful, stretching back to the 1960’s. There’s a millieu of transness in the city, and Tina often wondered how she would have fared back in those pioneering days. Back in the day, trannies had to fight. One or two of the big girls were so good that they could protect an entire community. Marginalised as prostitutes or menial workers (what’s changed, lol), they became part of the entertainment that our national capital offers to the rich and powerful who frequent our shores. One of Tina’s mentors had told her in the early going that most locals wouldn’t be into her and that the gay culture is essentially ‘for the tourists’ - something that got up her nose and deeply upset her. Still, the glamour of those days was unsurpassed. Today, trans fashion is tacky and sexualised (thanks, online porn...), but in those bad old days they had style. Carmen’s coffee lounge hadn’t survived, but that impulse was still nurtured by those who had come after the extraterrestrial from Taumarunui.

Tina hated being a walking tourist trap, and that’s because she felt like her voice was being marginalised. Wellington loved to watch her various antics, sure, but that didn’t result in a seat at the table. So she kept up her protests, futile though they might be. The old-timers had a lot of choice words about the modern gay scene. Those americanised youths who stepped out of fashion magazines and spoke in their Gen Z slang about things that weren’t considered polite discussion in those days. Back then, when gay sex was illegal for men, there was a whole way of doing things. Carmen had her coffee cups, and the entire scene had a bunch of unspoken rules that people either figured out or fucked off. - It’s not fair that someone could wound her the way that skater had without her getting her retribution. Carmen was into voodoo, and lots of trannies are into black magic; Tina wasn’t quite that intense, she’d read up on some white magic, but she was mouthy and got fired up when people were mistreated. She’d figure out her revenge one day, but today she felt like she might cry for a while. Thanks a lot, dickhead! (end of part 2)