31-XII-1969.

My dad got elected into the school board, which meant he'd go to a few meetings now and then, and he and mom would have a reservation for the doček at the school. Which meant I had the empty crate (i.e. apartment, flat, place). Granma was in my room with the TV, while I had the living room and my parents' room to host the gang. We decorated a day or two in advance, and in the evening took out the pieces of furniture which were in the way. At around 20:00, the bunch of girls appeared together, and nine of them crammed into our little bathroom to fix their makeups. Eyeliner, the LaBello tint for the lashes, and whatnot was en vogue at the time.

Who was present? Mmmm... Patak, Eči, Gradivoj, Zvojko for sure, the M. twins (i.e. Sarča and sister), the guitar guy from the dance, probably few more guys; of the girls, Dragana, Tejka, Đica, Oli Boj, Rencika... altogether about twenty people.

The first team (Tejka and three guys) came around 16:00. The decoration was in place, the furniture moved, so we could start making sandwiches. Five kilos of bread, 750g margarine, 1,5 kg of salama, 0,5 kg kačkavalj (caccio cavale cheese), pickles. All done by 17:00. Then they left to get ready themselves, while one guy and I went two blocks away to get D.K. (with whom we had to negotiate a bit to let her go). When she came, she did my mom's hair. My mom left a pack of "Filter Jugoslavija" in case the gang runs out of cigarettess. Said to one of the guys "I saw you brought brandy - the shot glasses are over here". Though it wasn't brandy, it was the local "Milion" champagne. I told Gradivoj not to open it inside, lest we break something or make a mess, so we did that in the yard. Well, almost, the cork popped at the anteroom door. He tried to gather the foam in his mouth, but the pressure was too much, so he turned his face away and sprayed at least half of the people. Before you could say "champagne", the bottle was empty.

Around 20:00 my parents were at Zmaj and everyone already arrived here. The music was on. Everyone brought an extra pair of shoes, to dance in, so I'd say we had about fifty pairs in the house. The girls rushed into the bathroom to fix their hairs and makeup - the weather got rough, košava was blowing icy rain - which was an unforgettable scene, the bathroom is sooo small. They barely saw each other, at some point Đica opens the door to ask whether Oli Boj already left the bathroom. She just couldn't check by her own eyes. She later said there were nine of them inside.

Someone brought the records, all singles of course. Some Stones (Jumping jack flash was the hit of the night), inevitable Boba Stefanović and his sentimental stuff for the slow parts, Kićo Slabinac, Mišo Kovač, perhaps some Indeksi. "Rain and tears" was popular, "Moni moni" was the hit to get everyone shouting, and "Majko, majko" by Meho Puzić - a new narodnjaci thing (turbo was not invented yet), which all sang together.

There was no snow outside, and a lot of smoke inside. Drinks... were there for some of the older guys, but not much and most of us didn't drink at all. Sandwiches etc... The music was coming from my Iskra gramophone, amplified through the old Tesla radio, which was at least a dozen years old then, but could still make good noise.

At 22:00 we received a threatening letter, in a fake gangter style, someting mentioning arson. Came with a broken window (thankfully, only the outer frame - the dark green shade that's between the frames saved the inner glass). It was the few guys from my class who weren't invited, simply because they were partly bullies and we weren't on best of terms anyway. Also two or three guys, seventh graders, whom I knew from obdanište, living on the other side of the park, also not my friends, never were. But one of them had an ex who was with us, and that could have been the trigger. Too bad that Gradivoj tore the note into pieces, I would have kept it. The gang came twice and negotiated with Gradivoj, Zvojko and one more guy, who all wanted to have a fight, but we managed to talk them out of it, we want to keep a good image so we can make parties like this more times in the future.

Nothing came of it, but I never really got to be friends with any of them.

Around 23:40 Patak said "I'm off to shit". "Go on, it's your last chance to crap the thing this year". "Hey, that's a good one". The girls were a bit groggy already, mostly laid back on the couches. There was some dispute over when exactly it is midnight - I shouted it was, the TV in my room (granma was watching it) was already showing everyone kissing everyone else, and someone said there will be a power out at midnight, just wait for it. Why not, I went to the gate and unscrewed one of the main fuses. It removed just the light in the dining room, but the corner light in the main stayed - with three phase system, I removed just one.

I asked someone to turn off the light so I can congratulate D.K., then Rencika asked that it be on, then someone else wanted it off, then another one shouted "ON!" - which altogether spoiled the new year's kiss. The kiss in the dark is a bulgarian custom, but hey, even a blind hen finds a grain. So I kissed her chin, not mouth... not bad, but not the right thing. I mostly gave up on trying with the others. Then they started with firecracks and a round from an engee gun (no real bullets, just noise). Later I heard we woke up someone five houses away. We opened a bottle of "Fruškogorski biser", another sparkly, and Gradivoj and three other guys started a game of poker. He was losing first, but then got the idea to hold the money in my granddad's hat (which was supposed to be passed down to me - see hats) and then he made three monkeys (IIRC, monkey was a 1000 dinars banknote, called so because it easily jumps from hand to hand; also called som - catfish).

At 00:20 some gang came by, the expelled guys with them. One was pretending to be drunk as a cunt, but the act was obvious. So we applied the alcotest - there was a part of the flooring visible in the big room, with plank edges straight, so we checked a few guys as to who can walk it straight. Gradivoj barely made it. Come to think of it, I had no drinks, no smokes.

Patak had a tough time. Someone poured the remainders from every bottle - three kinds of wine, lemonade, mineral water - into the bottle with sweet wine, and he drank that. I took a whiff at the bottle, it smelled like puke. The cocktail got him straight into the head. Suddenly, he rushes into the bathroom - open up! - but two girls are inside, fixing up their makeup. Out then. He puked. Bit later he went to pee and fell asleep on the toilet seat.

Sarča got enamored with D.K. and Tejka was jealous for a bit, but got over it and eventually said "they are so sweet". While the gang was dropping by she got shit scared, her arm was trembling at the elbow. She tried to make coffee and broke a cup. I shouted some, pro forma - I broke five myself and knocked off the handle of three more (not today). She took it seriously and started crying, and Dragana made her company. She had a coffee and calmed down.

Split at 3:45. Total of one glass, one cup, one bottle broken. And the only ornament on the fir tree. Left me a bunch of empty wine bottles, one bullet for the engee, one "Dijamant" cigarette, some of the witches' cocktail, a full plate of sandwiches and the rest of the food. And the singles remained in my custody for a few days, so I could enjoy the music I wouldn't otherwise get to hear. I went to bed at 4:05 and my parents returned five minutes later.

The gang cleared most of the mess before leaving, no broken glass anywhere - nothing much was broken anyway - and the overall smell of tobacco was aired until we nearly froze, anyway. Nice party.

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Mentions: Dragana Vitas (Dragana), Đurđica Oraški (Đica), Eči, Emerencija Nerdelji (Rencika), Gradivoj Čović, Gradivoj Sarčević (Sarča), hats, košava, narodnjaci, obdanište, Olivera Stojanović (Oli Boj), Patak, Slavica Tejin (Tejka), Zmaj, Zvonko Darišić (Zvojko), in serbian