Kevin was sitting down at a table inside a cozy Brazilian restaurant. The minimal lighting contrasted against the bright, naturalistic colours sported by the décor. A faint smell of fried chicken wafted across from the restaurant kitchen. Across from him, at the table for four, was his childhood best friend, Xavier. He was a Samoan man with a muscular physique, and he was dressed in a traditional button-up shirt with square, angular patterns on it. Next to Xavier was Kevin’s sister, Nina. Her blonde hair flowed over her shoulders, and she was wearing a pastel-coloured dress with frills on the edges. With Xavier’s hand around her shoulder, her attention was focused on her phone. There was an empty seat next to Kevin.
“Xave, brah,” Kevin said. “How’s the Ministry of Truth treating ya?”
“It’s aight my uso,” Xavier said. “They’re teaching us how to sweet talk people into believing things that aren’t true, it’s crazy how people can do that!”
“Far out,” Kevin said. “I’m glad all I have is a nice voice to train. I just go to the Con and sing all day.”
“The Con” was a local nickname for Queensland Conservatorium, which is a local university for musicians based in South Bank, across the river from the Brisbane CBD.
“Guys,” Nina said. “My friend just got off the bus! She’ll be here soon! I can’t wait for you to meet her!” She was giggling like a little girl.
“Nina,” Kevin said. “How many friends do you have?”
“Kevin!” Nina said. “You’re gonna like her.”
“Really?” Kevin said.
At that moment, a mysterious person sat down in the chair next to Kevin. He turned his head to see who it was. It was a girl with long, straight black hair, with a straight-cut fringe. Her doll-like face almost looked Asiatic, yet not quite, like it was halfway there. Her pale skin was shining, despite the dim lighting of the restaurant. She was dressed in a white blouse with a black skirt. There was also a faint aroma of cherry blossom in the air.
“Marina!” Nina said. She got up from her seat to hug the girl next to Kevin. “How are you?”
“I’m doing fine!” Marina said. “You picked a nice restaurant, but they probably don’t make it as nice as my mum does.”
Kevin was still checking out Marina when Marina locked eyes with him. Kevin averted his gaze.
“You must be Kevin,” Marina said. “Nina told me a bit about you.”
“She did?” Kevin said.
“Yes!” Marina said. “You study singing and you sing at the Cathedral! That’s amazing!”
“Nice, Kev!” Xavier said.
“Shut up, Xave!” Kevin said. Xavier chuckled.
“Well,” Kevin said. “I’m flattered that you know so much about me, Marina. But I don’t know much about you, so tell me about yourself.”
“Oh, me?” Marina said. “Well, my name’s Marina-”
“I already know,” Kevin said.
“Oh, okay, you already know,” Marina said. “Um, I study at UQ, Bachelor of Arts, in writing. I like writing, especially novels!”
“Novels?” Kevin said. “What do you like to read?”
“Um,” Marina said. “Uhh, I read a lot from different authors. Little Women, Wuthering Heights, Princess Bride, The Notebook,”
“Wait,” Kevin said. “Aren’t some of those movies?”
“They’re based off of novels,” Marina said.
“Wow, I didn’t think about that,” Kevin said. “Have you read other books, like Animal Farm or some Stephen King or Philip K. Dick book?
“I’ve read Animal Farm,” Marina said. “The only Stephen King book I’ve read was about writing itself, and I haven’t read any of the other author.”
“Interesting,” Kevin said.
“… so that’s what we’d like to get,” Nina said. “Kevin! Wake up! Aren’t you going to order?” Nina and Xavier had already ordered. A waitress was standing next to the table, tablet in hand.
“Oh,” Kevin said. “Um, uh, I’d …”
“He’ll get a feijão tropeiro and I’ll get a feijoada with a caipirinha,” Marina said. “Are you fine with that, Kevin?”
“Uh, sure,” Kevin said. “I wouldn’t have known what to get anyways, haha.”
“Thanks! I’ll get that to you as quickly as possible,” the waitress said.
“Sweet!” Marina said. “You look like you’d enjoy feijão tropeiro!”
“What even is it?” Kevin said.
“It’s very nice,” Marina said. “It’s got sausage, fried egg, bacon, rice, beans, and manioc!”
“And what’s manioc?” Kevin said.
“Uh, it’s a flour made from a root,” Marina said. “I think it’s called, uh, cassava here.”
“Oh, I know that,” Kevin said.
“Great,” Marina said.
Kevin and Marina began watching Nina and Xavier chatting together. They noticed Kevin and Marina watching them, and then they stopped chatting.
“I forgot to introduce myself,” Marina said to Xavier. “I’m Marina!”
“Oh, I’m Xavier,” Xavier said. “Nice to meet you.”
“You guys were chatting it up!” Xavier said.
“Told you you’d like her!” Nina said.
Kevin’s face began turning red. “Haha, yeah, she’s interesting,” Kevin said. Marina was smiling.
“So how do you know my sister?” Kevin said.
“Oh, I go to your shop a lot,” Marina said. “Salisbury Warehouse.”
“What, you mean Dad’s music shop?” Kevin said. “And you met my sister while she was working the checkout?”
“Yes!” Marina said. “I work there now, too! They have a lot of very nice and very rare records that I love a lot!”
“Hmm, tell me more,” Kevin said. He leaned in towards Marina.
“Oh, so there’s a band I like from Brazil, where my parents are from,” Marina said.
“Wait,” Kevin said. “Your parents are from Brazil? I thought you were Chinese or something.”
“I kind of am,” Marina said. “My mum’s side of the family comes from Macau, near Hong Kong! My Dad’s very mixed, but my grandpa on his side comes from Poland, which is how I got my surname, Kaczynski!”
“Ok, that’s a very interesting background,” Kevin said. “I wouldn’t have thought you’re Brazilian.”
“Well, I was born here,” Marina said. “I’m not that foreign, I swear!”
“Haha, don’t worry about it!” Kevin said. “We all have some ancestry from somewhere else here to some extent.”
“What ancestry do you have, Kevin?” Marina said. She tilted her head while leaning toward Kevin.
“Um,” Kevin said. “I’d say mostly Irish, with some British mixed in at some point. There’s some Finnish and Russian mixed in as well, which is why me and Nina have quite blonde hair.”
“Amazing!” Marina said.
“Yeah,” Kevin said.
“So, as I was talking about earlier,” Marina said.
“Yeah?” Kevin said.
“This band from Brazil,” Marina said. “They are sort of underground, and I heard that Salisbury Warehouse was actually selling those records, so I went there to check it out, and I found a lot more amazing music that I didn’t expect to find there!”
Kevin’s attention drifted from Marina’s words to Marina herself. He couldn’t help but watch her as she was passionately talking about the music she liked.
“… and so there’s a lady from Serbia who writes these amazingly beautiful movie scores! It’s like there’s a layer of sadness that’s always there, even when it’s happy music, it gives me goosebumps! You should listen to her, she’s …”
Kevin kept focusing on her. She’s got a beautiful character and taste in music, he thought.
“A feijão tropeiro and a feijoada with a caipirinha?” The waitress from before said. She was standing next to Kevin and Marina. Nina and Xavier had already been served their orders.
“Oh yes,” Kevin said. “Thank you.”
“You’re welcome!” the waitress said. “I hope you enjoy yourselves!”
“Thanks!” Kevin said.
“Kevin!” Marina said. “I can’t believe you …”
“What?” Kevin said. He paused for a moment. “Ooohhh.” He turned red again. Marina was smiling nervously.
“Don’t worry about it,” Marina said. “Anyways, let’s eat!”
“Bone apple tea,” Kevin said.
Marina chuckled. “What’s that?” Marina said.
“Oh, that’s just Bon appétit, but in English,” Kevin said.
“Ah, that’s funny!” Marina said.
“Alright, now let’s try this fay-jowl-tropical thing,” Kevin said.
“Feijão tropeiro,” Marina said. “It has a significant history behind it.”
“Ah, um, my Portuguese is not very good,” Kevin said. “I hope you don’t mind me butchering it.”
“Ah, I’ll just correct you every time!” Marina said.
“Gee, thanks!” Kevin said.
Kevin scooped a portion of the aromatic Brazilian dish sitting in front of him. The combination of bacon, fried egg, spiced sausage, rice, short grain white rice, beans, fried cabbage, and manioc combined pleasantly in his nostrils. He ate it. The flavours combined nicely.
“Okay, I like this!” Kevin said.
“It’s very nice!” Marina said. She had a bowl of strong, brown stew in front of her and she was gracefully eating spoonfuls of it. A small glass of a lime-coloured drink sat next to her bowl. For such a down-to-earth dish, she was eating it in a very dignified fashion.
There was a tense, exciting silence between the two as they ate at the table. Xavier and Nina heartily laughing and chatting away together added to the atmosphere between Kevin and Marina. At some points, one of them would utter a mumbled sound, wanting to say something to the other, but holding back.
“Um,” Marina said.
“Hmm?” Kevin said.
“What music do you listen to?” Marina said.
“Uh, a lot,” Kevin said. “For my degree, I listen to a lot of singers and a lot of songs to help me with my own singing. Some not necessarily operatic. I like different singers, like Michael Crawford, and Dmitri Hvorostovsky. I don’t know if you know the second one.”
“I’ve heard of Michael Crawford,” Marina said. “He played the Phantom in Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Phantom of the Opera! He was amazing!”
“Yeah,” Kevin said. “For a comedian with a rough voice, he played that part excellently.”
“Hmm,” Marina said. “Can you play that part well?”
“I wouldn’t know,” Kevin said. “I study opera, but Phantom of the Opera is a musical.”
“How ironic!” Marina said.
“Yeah!” Kevin said. “It should be called Musical of the Opera!”
“Right?” Marina said.
“Do you like to watch theatre stuff a lot?” Kevin said.
“Yes!” Marina said. “I watch some on occasion. Otherwise, tickets are a bit expensive and I can’t always find a good discount, which makes me sad!”
“That is indeed very sad,” Kevin said.
“Yeah, I’ve always thought about writing for the theatre,” Marina said. “But I don’t know if I’m good enough!”
“I think you can do it!” Kevin said. “I’d like to see some of your writings, though! You seem like you’d write interesting stories.”
“I actually have a manuscript with me right now,” Marina said. “I can take it out right now if you wanted to read it.”
“I’d be glad to,” Kevin said.
Marina reached into her bag and pulled out some loose leafs of paper held together with a single paperclip. The text was single-spaced and horizontally justified. Marina handed it to Kevin. “Lamentations for a Homeland Lost” was written across the top of the first page in a larger font. Kevin dug into reading the story.
…
Once he was finished, he closed the manuscript and was on the verge of tears.
“I guess you liked it?” Marina said. She was slowly sipping her drink while watching Kevin reading her own manuscript. She was trying to hide her embarrassment.
“It’s amazing,” Kevin said. “I think you can adapt this for the theatre, it’s so sad yet so amazing. I almost shed a tear.”
“You should have shed a tear!” Marina said. “Next time I write a tear-jerker, I’ll make you shed a tear!”
“Good luck,” Kevin said. I’ll have to invite you to a concert I’m doing soon at the Con! It’s Verdi and some other stuff, so it should be good!”
“I’ll have to come!” Marina said. “When is it?”
“Get your phone out,” Kevin said. “I’ll put it into your calendar.”
Marina obeyed his command. She unlocked her phone and handed it to Kevin to do as he liked. He opened her calendar and added his concert to it.
“Um,” Kevin said. “Did you want me to put my number in as well?”
“Oh, um, yeah, sure!” Marina said.
Kevin tapped his phone number into Marina’s phone, then called himself so that Marina’s phone number would be in his own phone. He then handed the phone back to Marina. “Here you go,” Kevin said.
“Thank you, Kevin!” Marina said. She took her phone and put it away in her pocket.
Kevin looked back at Xavier and Nina, who had both finished their meals and were still chatting away like the lovebirds they were. Empty crockery sat in front of Kevin too.
“Well,” Marina said. “Thanks for inviting me Nina! Unfortunately I’ve got things to do for the rest of the day, so I’ll have to go now!”
“Oh you’re welcome sweetie!” Nina said. They both got up and hugged each other.
“Guess we’re going then,” Xavier said. Kevin nodded. They both got up.
After they all paid for their meals, they walked out of the restaurant, onto the streets of Sunnybank.
Sunnybank was a well-positioned suburb in Brisbane with a long history of multiculturalism and cultural evolution. It straddled the Oxley Creek catchment to the west and the Bulimba Creek catchment to the east. To the north was Mount Gravatt, a tall, imposing mountain that stood over the flat plains of the general Sunnybank area. The intersection of Mains Road and McCullough Streets was the heart of Sunnybank. Tall towers and large building complexes clustered around the meeting of those two roads. An elevated busway ran along the length of Mains Road, with Sunnybank Bus Station positioned north of the intersection, along Mains Road. It was designed in the style of a Chinese gate, with painted concrete supports holding up elaborate, curved rooves. Other pedestrian bridges crossed over the remaining roads around the intersection. Photogenic native trees lined the main roads, contributing to the graceful Asian aesthetic of the area.
“Let’s walk you to the station!” Nina said.
“Sure,” Marina said. “Thank you very much for this! I have to transfer 3 times to get back to Wynnum, so I appreciate you accompanying me!”
“You’re welcome!” Kevin said.
They walked up the stairs to the elevated bus station. The timing was almost perfect, as a bus just pulled up to the northbound platform.
“Bye!” Marina said. “God bless! It was great to meet you Kevin! You too Xavier!”
“See you later!” Kevin, Nina and Xavier said, almost in unison.
Marina stepped onto the bus. She sat down on the platform-facing side and waved. The three waved back. The bus drove off.
Standing in the dust of the bus, they walked off, heading towards the street.
…
Kevin and Nina’s home was a short walk from Sunnybank Bus Station. It was a brick double-storey house typical of the area. The interior was spacious and the furnishings modest. Nina and Xavier were on the couch, playing video games in front of the television. Kevin was also on the same couch. He pulled out his phone to see a message from Marina.
I’m glad I met you today, the message said. You’re cool.
Kevin smiled. He typed a message into his phone.
Want to meet up again sometime next week?