Brisbane as a city has primarily been dominated by bus as a form of public transport, with several busways going through notable secondary and tertiary centres throughout the city and its immediate surrounds. However, it also has two orbital train lines that circle around the city. The Inner Circle Line roughly follows the same route as the Great Circle Line bus route, passing through the secondary centres of Upper Mount Gravatt, Indooroopilly, Chermside and Carindale, while also following sections of existing lines like the Springfield/Rosewood Lines. The Outer Circle Line also covered the outer Local Government Areas around Brisbane City proper, which themselves contain large secondary centres like Capalaba, Loganholme, Browns Plains, Strathpine, North Lakes, and the Redcliffe Peninsula, alongside ones in Brisbane like Inala and Kenmore. Brisbane additionally has a new rail spur from Salisbury Station heading south through Acacia Ridge, Browns Plains and Park Ridge, towards Beaudesert, making use of existing standard gauge freight track.
From Sunnybank Bus Station, as distinct from Sunnybank Train Station located next to Stable Swamp Creek, Kevin travelled one stop north to MacGregor Station. From there, he caught an anticlockwise Inner Circle Line train to Cannon Hill Station, where he then transferred to a Cleveland Line train bound for Wynnum.
Kevin got off at Wynnum Central Station. Looking around, it had a more casual, relaxed vibe typical of a suburb with considerable distance from the rest of Brisbane. It has mostly maintained its characteristic appearance of small, streetside shopfronts, with a few modest towers interspersed in between. Many classic Queenslander houses still remained on a lot of the streets, but many were renovated to look more modern, and there was a sizable presence of small apartment blocks and towers, on both sides of the train tracks. The Moreton Bay breeze dominated the air with its salty flavour. It was a quintessential Bayside suburb.
From the station, Kevin walked along Florence Street through the main commercial area of Wynnum. Once he passed Bay Terrace, the street sloped down towards the bay shore. Businesses were quickly replaced with dwellings.
The Wynnum foreshore was rather green in a pleasant way. The Esplanade was long and mostly straight with a few gentle curves throughout. Car traffic was light. A modified hoon car could be heard accelerating aggressively further down the shore, towards the nearby suburb of Manly.
Kevin observed the row of quaint cafés along the foreshore. Inside one of them, he saw a familiar face looking out towards the foreshore. They made eye contact and she began waving to him.
Kevin walked over. “Hey,” Kevin said.
“Nice to see you again!” Marina said.
“It is!” Kevin said. “Hey, this is a nice place! You eat here often?”
“No, I don’t,” Marina said. “I like to cook at home, saves money.”
“Why am I not surprised?” Kevin said.
“What’s that supposed to mean?” Marina said. “Also, how come you invited me out to lunch?” She was smirking with a raised eye.
“Because I wanted to see the foreshore?” Kevin said.
“Of course!” Marina said. “You wanted to have lunch with me so you could see the foreshore!”
“Yup,” Kevin said.
“But what do you really want?” Marina said.
“I think you know what I want,” Kevin said.
Marina stopped for a few seconds. “Um, what is it?” Marina said.
“I was curious about the stories you write,” Kevin said. “I liked that story you wrote a lot, y’know, from the restaurant near my place.”
“Oh, I remember now!” Marina said. “Nina invited me over to your guys’ place once before, but you weren’t there at the time.”
“Whoa, that’s a bold admission to make,” Kevin said. “How much more do you know about me that my sister told you?”
“Hmm,” Marina said. “If you’re willing to pay for our lunch today, you might find out.”
“Wow,” Kevin said. “Smart play.”
“You were going to do it anyways, right?” Marina said.
“You got me there,” Kevin said.
A barista walked up to them. “Hello there!” she said. “What did you guys want to order?”
“Do you do Russian coffee?” Kevin asked.
“Uh, no, we don’t usually,” the barista said. “If you’re talking about Raf coffee, I know how to make it, so I can make one for you and it will cost you about the same as a latte.”
“Yeah, that’s the one,” Kevin said. “I’ll have a large one then, please, thank you!”
“Sure,” the barista said. She wrote the order in a notebook she was carrying.
“Oh, we’re getting creative!” Marina said. “I’ll have an Ipoh white coffee then!”
“Uh, I don’t know if we can do that here,” the barista said. “We don’t have margerine to further roast the beans with. I can do Vietnamese iced coffee for you instead, if that’s also fine with you!”
“Sure!” Marina said.
“I did not expect to be doing custom orders today!” the barista said.
“I like to ask for exotic coffees when I go out,” Kevin said. “There’s a lot of interesting ones people don’t have.”
“Well you’re lucky you came here!” the barista said. “I’ll make those two for you! Did you want to pay cash or card?” She pulled out a card machine, anticipating Kevin would use a card to pay for the coffees.
Kevin pulled out his wallet and took out his card to swipe on the card reader.
“I’ll be with you shortly!” the barista said. She walked away.
“Thank you!” Marina said.
“I didn’t know you were into Vietnamese coffee,” Kevin said. “Aren’t you Chinese?”
“I’m Brazilian!” Marina said. “Well, we’re here now, so if you’re calling me that, then you’re Russian then.”
“Wow,” Kevin said. “We truly are a multicultural nation.”
“Haters gonna hate,” Marina said. “Anyways, where were we?”
“Oh yes,” Kevin said. “The foreshore.”
Marina giggled. “Wow, Kevin!” Marina said.
“Yes,” Kevin said. “Anyways, since I paid for you too, how much do you actually know about me that I don’t know about?”
“Um,” Marina said. She shifted in her seat a little. “Not a lot, pretty much most of what you heard the other day, and anything else would be to do with Nina!”
“Guess you’re not such a secret admirer after all,” Kevin said.
“Are you sure about that?” Marina said. She tilted her head in a faux cutesy manner.
“Ooh, guess I’m in danger then!” Kevin said. He slouched back a little in his seat.
“Haha, don’t worry about it,” Marina said. “I’m not a stalker! I just asked Nina a few things.”
“I didn’t think you were,” Kevin said. “Not from the way you write.”
“That’s good to hear,” Marina said. “I didn’t want to come across the wrong way.”
“Didn’t think you did,” Kevin said. “What inspires your writing, aside from knowing a lot about someone you’ve just met?”
“Gee,” Marina said. “It’s not that much! I just get a lot of inspiration from my life and what I know and people and things around me, and I just make something out of that!”
“With how chill and upbeat you are,” Kevin said. “You were able to write such a sad story that I almost shed a tear.”
“Well,” Marina said. “I get sad too. If anything, sad stories fascinate me a little.”
“That sounds sad,” Kevin said. “I’d prefer something with at least a good ending.”
”Not everything in life has the ending you want,” Marina said. “Many stories have seemingly bad endings, but there is usually something good that comes out of it.”
“Such as?” Kevin said.
“Kevin Barry,” Marina said.
“Hang on, that’s almost my name,” Kevin said.
“Almost. This guy was an Irish freedom fighter who was ultimately hanged for the cause of Irish independence from England,” Marina said.
“Ouch,” Kevin said. He gently caressed his own neck.
“He was only 18 years old,” Marina said. Someone wrote a story about him many, many years after his death.”
“So a biography then?” Kevin said.
“You can put it that way,” Marina said. “I think it’s dramatised in that book, though.”
“As it would be,” Kevin said.
“Hmm,” Marina said.
They spent a few moments in silence. It was quickly broken by the barista arriving with their coffess.
“Here you go!” the barista said.
“Thank you!” Kevin said. He took both coffees from the barista and gave the iced coffee to Marina.
“Enjoy your coffee!” the barista said. She walked away.
“Time to see how this coffee is,” Kevin said.
“It should be good!” Marina said.
Kevin took a sip of his coffee. The cream and foaminess created a thick yet light texture throughout the coffee. The sweet vanilla essence was like the cherry on top, adding the extra necessary flavours to complement the bitterness and creaminess of the coffee.
“Ahh,” Marina said. She had almost finished half her coffee. “I love coffee! Sometimes they do coffee at church after Mass, but it’s usually generic coffee, and I like the coffee here better!”
“You’re also a coffee enthusiast too?” Kevin said.
“Yes! Brazil is very well known for coffee,” Marina said. “We’re bound to love it sooner or later!”
“Interesting,” Kevin said. “I know here, ever since the country split, all the baristas from further south came up here and took their trade with them, so as a result, we now have amazing coffee here in Queensland!”
“It’s a miracle the country came back together not too long ago,” Marina said. “It would be very different if it was still split.”
“Yeah,” Kevin said. “It’s amazing. Shame the federal government had to go back to Canberra. Toowoomba was a better location for it.”
“Yeah!” Marina said. “I mean, it’s Toowoomba, but it’s nicer than Canberra!”
“We got frequent trains to Toowoomba straight from Roma Street,” Kevin said. “The high speed rail through Canberra is still being rebuilt.”
“Great for their flower carnival!” Marina said.
“Oh yeah,” Kevin said. “The flowers there are very pretty.”
“Have you been there before?” Marina asked.
Kevin paused. “I think I went there once for the carnival when I was younger,” Kevin said. “I didn’t really pay much attention to the flowers, though. I wanted to go to my grandparents’ place to check out their guns.”
“Guns?” Marina said.
“Yeah,” Kevin said. “My great-grandfather came here from Vyborg and sold guns for a living. I think I may have gotten my liking of guns from him.”
“I didn’t pick you as someone who liked guns,” Marina said.
“You just assume everyone’s got a gun here,” Kevin said. “What you got?”
“You want me to show where I keep it in public?” Marina said. “You’re very bold, Kevin!”
“Oh yeah, you have a point!” Kevin said. “We’re in a café! Well, at least it’s not a pub.”
“It’s great that it’s not a pub,” Marina said.
“Well, as long as it’s a Korsakov, that’s fine with me,” Kevin said.
“Uh, yeah, it Is, how did you figure it out?” Marina said.
“My great-grandfather founded the company. His name was Tuomas Korsakov,” Kevin said. “Tuomas is just Finnish for Thomas.”
Marina stared at Kevin blank-faced for a few seconds. “That makes sense now!” Marina said.
“The more you know,” Kevin said. He took a sip of his coffee and noticed the cup was empty. He looked across at Marina’s cup and noticed hers was empty, too.
“Hey, Kevin,” Marina said. “Did you want to go for a walk along the foreshore?”
Kevin paused. “Sure,” Kevin said. Marina giggled.
“Why did I expect you to say that?” Marina said.
“Yes,” Kevin said. Marina giggled more. “Alright, let’s get up.”
They both stood up, leaving their cups behind as they walked out of the cafe.
“Thank you!” Kevin said.
“Oh, thank you very much!” Marina said.
The sun illuminated the waters of Moreton Bay in a manner reminiscent of the glint of diamonds. The gap between Moreton and North Stradbroke Islands showed a little glimpse of the open ocean beyond the bay. The cranes at the nearby Port of Brisbane on Fisherman Island broke up the horizon with their jagged, angular edges. The mangroves along the foreshore’s edge provided shelter for the small aquatic life in the bay.
“Not a cloud in the sky,” Kevin said. “What a perfect day!”
“What makes no clouds perfect?” Marina said. “I like clouds when they bring rain!”
“I just like the bright blue colour of the sky,” Kevin said. “It’s especially nice in winter.”
“I don’t mind a bit of clouds,” Marina said. “But you do make a point about winter, a cloudy winter looks very sad!”
“Exactly, that’s why we don’t live in Melbourne!” Kevin said.
“So true!” Marina said.
A small public outdoor gym appeared in the distance. Kevin gazed at it, then he caught Marina gazing at him, with a look egging him on to impress her.
“Race you there,” Marina said.
“Easy,” Kevin said.
They took off. Marina was a rather fast runner, keeping pace with Kevin, who was also running rather fast. They both made it to the outdoor gym at roughly the same time. Both of them were panting.
“Well, did you want to go first?” Marina said. “You were eyeing it off.”
“No, no, no,” Kevin said. “Ladies first.” He gestured to the pull up bar.
Marina stepped up and launched herself up to the bar, holding it steadily. She then did ten clean pull ups at a calm pace. She then let go of the bar and touched the ground gracefully. She looked at Kevin, whose mouth hung open. “Your turn,” Marina said.
Kevin took a second to register her words, then he closed his gaping mouth and then walked up to the bar. He stood below the imposing bar, seemingly out of reach. A touch of adrenaline kicked in, keeping him firmly planted to the ground. He looked back at Marina, who was smiling at him. Not sure if it was a smile of admiration or a teasing smile, he jumped up and gripped the bar.
One.
Two.
Three.
Fatigue began to creep into his upper body.
Four.
He began to struggle with pulling his body up, like it was a deadweight.
Five.
His body began shaking, and he felt an urge to raise his legs up to create momentum to carry him through. He felt his arms begin to give, and then he let go and returned to the ground.
Marina clapped. “That’s amazing!” Marina said.
Kevin was out of breath. “I can normally do more than that,” Kevin said. “Guess I haven’t warmed up properly today.”
“Hey, don’t beat yourself up!” Marina said. “I live here, so I come here quite regularly. Plus, I’m probably lighter than you, which makes it easier for my body. You’re free to join me!”
“Uh,” Kevin said. “You know what, if I can join you for coffee here, I can join you for gym too.”
“Yay!” Marina said. “Now I can save up more money!”
“So it’s for the money then?” Kevin said. “Guess I’m not important then…”
“No, no, no!” Marina said. “Of course you are important! I can always make you coffee if you really need coffee.”
“So I am important after all!” Kevin said. “Thank you Marina!”
“Of course, Kevin!” Marina said. “Do you really drink that Russian coffee all the time? I don’t even know what it is.”
“No, I don’t, actually,” Kevin said. “I like to get a different exotic coffee every time, keeps things interesting.”
“Well,” Marina said. “Do you like cold brew?”
“Yes,” Kevin said. “I quite like cold brew. I know it’s like the equivalent of a girly alcoholic drink, but it tastes very nice to me and it extracts more caffeine from the beans.”
“No one said it was girly, Kevin,” Marina said. She paused for a bit as her cheeks began to redden a bit. “I think you’re quite manly, regardless of what you drink, Kevin.”
“Oh,” Kevin said. He noticed Marina blushing and felt the urge to blush himself. “Thank you, Marina.”
“No problem,” Marina said.
She slowly caressed her arm with her opposite hand, while facing down towards the ground and averting her gaze from Kevin. She looked back up at him, her eyes exposing a nascent vulnerability. Kevin had his hands in his pockets, looking down slightly, trying to hide his emotions. He looked at her. They maintained that sustained eye contact for some number of seconds. A smile crept on both of their faces.
“Let’s k-keep walking, shall we?” Kevin said.
“Um, yeah, sure, l-let’s do that!” Marina said.
They began walking away from the gym. There was a bubbling tension between them. The attraction was undeniable, and they both wanted more, but they were nervous and unsure how to proceed.
“You want to know something?” Marina said.
“Sure, what is it?” Kevin said.
“You’re not the only one with a prominent family business here,” Marina said.
“Oh?” Kevin said. “Wait, don’t tell me…”
“Hmm?” Marina said. She had a cheeky grin on her face. “What is it?”
“Your family owns that Brazilian restaurant we were just at the other day, right?” Kevin said.
“Bingo!” Marina said. “You got it!”
“Not even Nina realised,” Kevin said.
“Well, she never asked,” Marina said. “My parents are from Tucuruvi, in the north zone of São Paulo, so because of that, the restaurant is called Little Tucuruvi.”
“The state or the city?” Kevin said.
Marina gasped. “The city!” Marina said. “I’m surprised you asked that, most people would assume the city!”
“Interesting, tell me more about Brazil,” Kevin said.
“Well, I’ve only gone there during the holidays,” Marina said. “So I can pretty much just tell you about those.”
“That’s fine with me,” Kevin said.
As they walked along the Wynnum foreshore, Marina told Kevin all about Brazil, her extended family there, the vibrant culture there, the wonderful churches, the everpresent crime problems, other parts outside of São Paulo, her favourite dishes and drinks, and the trains around São Paulo itself, including the new high-speed rail to the port city of Santos.
“Colour me impressed,” Kevin said. “You’re making me want to go to Brazil now, and that’s aside from the crime problems you mentioned.”
“Yeah, Brazil does that to people,” Marina said. “I was planning to go there during the holidays.”
“Wow,” Kevin said. “Maybe I should book tickets to Ireland or Russia. Problem is, I don’t know any family that still lives in either country.”
“Oh,” Marina said. “That is just my Brazilian side. I still have my Chinese and Polish sides to talk about!”
“Wow, even more!” Kevin said. “How much more is there about you that I don’t know?”
Kevin kept Marina company as she told him about her Chinese and Polish ancestry, a topic that fascinated her deeply. He, however, was more fascinated by her.
“…so that’s how my surname stuck,” Marina said.
“Wow,” Kevin said. “Now I feel like I should give you a dossier on my background.”
“More than what Nina told me?” Marina said.
“Gee, just how much time have you and Nina spent?” Kevin said. “I’m kinda jealous.”
Marina started to show an especially cheeky grin on her face. It was almost as cheeky as Nina’s expressions. The big difference was that Marina was also simultaneously shy.
“Jealous?” Marina said. “Jealous of what?”
“That she got to spend more time with you,” Kevin said.
Marina dropped the cheeky grin to reveal that she was actually quite happy yet also rather embarrassed. “I-is that so?” Marina said. She tilted her face down while looking up at Kevin.
“Yes,” Kevin said. He had become more comfortable with himself and was enjoying seeing Marina being shy.
“So, d-do you want to spend more time w-with me, then?” Marina said.
Kevin paused. “Y-yes,” he said.
Marina smiled. Her face was very red now.
“A-ama-zing,” Marina said. “Shall we continue our walk?”
“I don’t mind,” Kevin said.
They walked a little more in silence. As the path turned direction to the right, the next suburb of Manly came into view. It was much hillier than Wynnum, and had more prominent terraced rows of white-painted Queenslander houses stacked on top of each other. On the water was a large yacht marina, with brilliant white sails standing in the open air.
“Speaking of Manly,” Marina said. “Welcome to the suburb of Manly.”
“Huh, but we didn’t mention…” Kevin said. After a second of thinking, he realised her joke. “Oh.”
“Yeah,” Marina said. Her cheeky grin returned. She gently elbowed Kevin.
“I didn’t realise how nice this area is!” Kevin said. “It’s fairly easy to get here, yet it’s out of the way and there’s a lot of beauty here!”
“Oh, t-thank you for saying that!” Marina said. “I really appreciate it!” She wore that cheeky yet shy grin again.
“Wait, what?” Kevin said. He caught her expression and realised her joke. He began to laugh quite heartily. He patted her shoulder.
“That’s a great one, Marina!” Kevin said. He was still giggling.
“You know it!” Marina said.
For the rest of the day, Kevin and Marina explored around Manly, before walking on to the next suburb of Lota. It was much more of a hidden gem than the previous two suburbs, flanked by bushland and sheltered from the bay by mangroves. Before they knew it, the sun was beginning to set.
“Oh, the sun is setting,” Kevin said. “Did that much time really pass by that quickly?”
“Wow,” Marina said. “We’d better get you back home!”
“Sure,” Kevin said. “But I’d like to walk you home first.”
“Oh,” Marina said. “I can make my own way home from here!”
“No,” Kevin said. He paused for some number of seconds before he stretched his hand out. “I insist,” he said.
Marina was speechless. “Sure,” she said. She followed his lead, accepting his hand with her own.
The walk back to Wynnum was mostly silent. The sensation of each other’s hand in their grasp was a source of comfort for them both as they strolled along the foreshore once again.
“Kevin,” Marina said. “Why are we doing this?”
Kevin spent a moment thinking as they walked. “I have no idea,” he said. “But I like it.”
“Me too,” Marina said. She smiled.
They kept walking. They had walked the same path before, but somehow, the walk back felt different. There was a greater certainty, a greater sense of longing, a greater yearning for something more. Something they wanted to reach out for.
“Marina,” Kevin said. “I feel a bit nervous saying this, but today has been an amazing day. I want to see you again sometime soon.”
“Really?” Marina said. “That’s great! I also thought today was amazing, and I want to see you again too!”
As they walked, Marina pointed out a street leading away from the foreshore and they walked down it, stopping in front of her house. They let go of each other’s grip. The cold sunset air brought a chilling shock to them as their warm, sweaty palms separated from each other.
“Thanks for walking me back home, Kevin!” Marina said. “Do you know how to get to the station from here?”
“Yeah, I just go up to Tingal Road, right? The train line runs next to it,” Kevin said.
“Yes!” Marina said. She began opening the front gate.
“Marina,” Kevin said. “Thank you for today.”
Marina blushed, then she smiled. “Thank you for today too, Kevin!” she said. She then hugged Kevin. They held the hug for at least ten secnods. She pulled back. “May God bless you on your journey!”
“May God bless you too, Marina,” Kevin said.
Marina walked inside the gate with a bounce to her step. As Kevin began to walk away, Marina began waving to him. Kevin waved back. Once he turned away, she kept looking at him for a little longer before she, too, turned away and went inside her home. The faint sound of Transa by Caetano Veloso could be heard from inside the house.