07-VII-1973.
In the morning was woken up by the girls when they were leaving around four. Then drank lots of water and only then got to sleep right. My skin burned in a good measure so for the next 2-3 days I swam in that synthetic shirt which dries easily. Talked it back and forth with A and A, and when they laid out the situation, I had enough. Madam mom is a nerve case, always on the brink of a nervous breakdown or some other such event, and whenever she hears one of the daughters or protegés did something, she gets worse. Even if this is not true (I've heard them inventing already), it's badly imagined. And she does hear everything, because the niece and the other one (Anja's kid sister) rattle everything. So I gave up on them, and chatted with Cobra until after midnight. He used to be an addict for two years, has no goals, completely disturbed. I injected bits of optimism as much as I could.
So nothing for the evening.
Eighth. The girls woke me up again as they passed, then I read the Zabavnik, drank a liter of water, then slept it off like a man. Had fun with the guys most of the days, and just when I drew the plan to put on the reception so my folks can find us when they come, I run into mom. Hi hi and god knows how, within ten minutes I was let know that they expect me to come sleep with them. Along with "look at the mess you're in, they already broke your plate, can't find your fork spoon and knives, just nicely come home". We'll fight it tomorrow, when they're in better mood.
We often made rosehip tea, three liter batches, as fits that reed woven toscanello bottle. We took that to the beach, when we get thirsty - it can be drunk at any temperature and needs no sugar. Sometimes in the evening, just for kicks, people would think it was wine.
Wolfey came, same as last year, with Tina. The gang from Pančevo from last two years, in full force. In the evening I approached Ans's niece, a tad too young, and she said she liked me but she's afraid that Anja's kid sister would rattle. Talked with Nora at length in the evening about everything. In front of the varaždin tent a picture of a cross appeared, composed of corks, cigarette butts, burnt out matches and pebbles. I added "against grakula" below.
Ninth. Pulled it off with my folks, was a bit energetic and that did it. I'm staying with the guys for these two weeks. Then we helped Milivoje raise his tent. My folks tried to lure me home. Milk, extra chicken and what not, I resisted.
Had fun with the crazy dutch girls in the day. In the evening I saw it will come to nothing, so I clearly let them know that I'd like to know how far do they think to stretch this. May one of them decide, I'll come by to see which one.
At the restaurant I again convinced some girl that god isn't there, i.e. is unnecessary. Went to sleep, but Anita couldn't come so Bruno didn't feel like sleeping, kept pestering me all the time and kept me from hitting the hay.
Sneca is with some norwegian guy.
Tenth. Now a gang of dutch guys is around nearby - Nik, Ari, Arie, Hans and Keish (Cornelius... but their -s sounds closer to our kids' š...). At least two guitars. We did have the music already, Rudolf pulled 6V from the car's battery and applied that to his cassette player. The Varaždinci had a liter of vinjak with four stars, which lasted the day. Dad dropped by and got mad at me drinking so much. My eyes may look bulgy because my face is tanned and I'm not shaving. When he left, I had fun with Ita, I know she doesn't want me, so just for kicks. In the evening sat with that older sister (whose?) girl about (no) god again, then she left and kissed me as thanks. Then went back to Nisla and Ita, and there's some guy with a torchlight. Can't be a crazyman, their lamps are not so good. Nope, it's Rosanne's old man (stepfather?), looking for her. Nope, not here. So off he goes and Ita and I sneak out to warn her, but he spots us and follows. So we visit the toilets for exactly five minutes, and he gives up, as planned. Then we go off and warn her for real, and we escort her to the tent, and Ita stays with her for courage. Afterwards we heard the operation went smoothly.
The weather is turning a bit worse. Not quite raining, just drizzle at times.
Eleventh. Some guy, who told me last night, "I'm leaving, you can take over" - about The Lady. Some rookie... at least now I know her name. What kind of guy was he, I asked, if he could say something like that? The gentlemen are extinct?
Šmit had a farewell party. Rudolf's porrige was not worth a dog's dick, so I went, this one time, to eat with my folks, anything that doesn't resemble hay with flour.
Bruno's pearl for the day: "last year, or the day before".
(from left: Rudolf, Jožek, Bruno, Franc... and yes, we drank all that; later some krejzimen told us that if anything hits the fence all these bottles would fall and shatter and we'd have shards everywhere, so we took them down and arranged them into a peace sign)
In the evening finally got to the disco, we didn't since long. Wild dance. Some dutch guy who pretended to be canadian crapped so much I had to undercut him a few times, as long as my voice held. The whole bunch of the dutch girls was there, even my flakes. Anja couldn't think of disco before, now afer this she went often, in case I was there. Um... you know where to find me.
Before leaving for disco we opened a twoliter of wine and left it by the tent, for before sleep. When they returned (I stayed longer), Rudolf raises the bottle, says "this is water". Bruno is sitting on the car roof, thinks he's shitting about wine being weak (but it's always he same Zadar, still white, wine), says gimme that bottle, takes a long swig, and then spits it all over the car: "this is waaaater!". When I arrived, the guys from Varaždin were already going through the suspects, can't be Gara and the Sarajevo gang, nope... it was our neigbbor the Belgian, a prankster with a sweet wifey and a 15 year old son (and a younger one too), we kept borrowing flatware from them until the Varaždinci supplied enough from the restaurant. He took the wine, and substituted one of our empty bottles. Says he can't stand white wine, he drinks only red. We remembered that - not the prank, but downgrading our drink.
Twelfth. Took two sandolinas (canoe like boat), Ari and I, and two four-seaters with oars. Choppy sea so I had to get into the shallows often to bail. Got right dead tired, and spine hurt later, leaned on the wrong spot most of the time. Went for a walk, and there go two good chicks in jeans and white t-shirts, laughing out loud. I check how I look and, seeing nothing wrong, approach them seriously and (all in english)
- excuse me, girls, what's so funny
- oh nothing
- well why do you laugh then?
- why not?
- excellent answer, you would be good members of the hat club
- what's the hat club? Is it a band?
- well the friends put me in charge of advertising it... if I may show you who and where and what is the hat club...
Turns out they're from Ljubljana. They liked it and promised to come in the evening. The blonde (Marta) said she has some guy, a bit good for nothing, a bit heavy and she can't stand him and he doesn't notice it, some flemish Belgian.
As soon as they left, there comes Džesi, Beštara with S. (PE professor's son, recently mentioned) on his bike. Left his shades with us, so he can stop forgetting them at toilets. Said he went to Kragujevac to see his medical waitress, and will now go to Sutomore to see her there.
Dinner thin and wine aplenty, my stomach was a bit queasy. We settle for Franc going for the older sister, Urška. They appear in the evening, Urška next to me and Žon, the Flemish, next to Marta. Marta kicked his ass verbally and he understood (or noticed) nothing. Then the sisters escorted Žon to his tent and promised to return. Only Bruno was more drunk than he, and bothered us (Franc and me, while we waited for them) for a while. Miraculously, they returned, and it all went like we said, Marta with me. Squeezed my hand and clung to me, and the 20 m escort to their tent lasted half an hour. Promised to come.
Thirteenth. Mom woke me up, invited us all for fish for lunch.
After dinner, Marta got the honors to wash the dishes. She never did. Your chance to learn - Rosanne showed her, Bruno and I carried the stuff. Too bad, didn't remember to take a shot. Then we kind of lied on the hood of the mercedes, but it dented under us with a loud bang, then another bang when it righted itself. Then the belgian neighbor pours beer down my back. Then Rudolf passes by and shouts "boo!" into my ear. Then Bruno passes by and accidentally honks. Close to unbearable. Then they went off to the beach and we lay a blanket over a nylon foil and just lie there and kiss and chitter. They all appear, just crouch around us and keep silent. Then Rudolf taps my shoulder and says "niks figi figi, Grakula!". The unspoken part is "on a public place" so okay, I take the orange tent. Knife properly stabbed into the ground in front of it, the sign to not disturb (if you cherish your life). Then from outside they ask if we wanted wine. I extend a hand out, and get a bottle of water first. Wine next, after a good laugh. She drinks like a smuk (a kind of snake here, the one depicted on pharmacies), which we then manage to get across in a mix of serbian slovenian and english. I got stabbed on her staples, she wrote her name on the front of her jeans in just staples, and now they're partly bent and sticking out. The fruit juice she left at the watering hole has probably cooled down already, two hours is kind of long cooling, the excuse is wearing thin, they had to leave. See you in the evening.
The trouble was not that I kept pace with her drinking - which wasn't hard, she may be Slovenian but I'm older and bigger - it's that I kept on while she was away, so by evening time I was a bit fuzzy.
On the dock this Žon appeared again, lots more drunk than I, so I sent him off quickly. Then we went for a pee and lost each other on the way back. He reappeared, and just when I was thinking of a new subtle trick to get rid of the drunken fool, he did it himself: "oh how drunken I am... this girl is not good for me, you need to find me a better one...". "Okay, I'll go find one for you, but if I'm not back in thirty minutes, give it up, we didn't have luck this evening" - and took her with me without him realizing anything. Franc already left with Urška.
No unbuttoning below belt, she politely refused, that would be too fast, okay, I accept that. Urška was older, for her a night visit to a tent was okay already. Franc and I escorted them to their tent, and by that time I was drunk enough to have to write the location down before I forget it, so I got to the car... and last thing I saw was Rudolf and Bruno moving our little table to the belgian neighbor's, and taking his table. Then I fiddled with the seat, trying to fold it down, but fell asleep.
While I slept, they returned our table and took his table on the next tree, 4 m high. His son looks and keeps mum, just sniggers. When it was done, he pretends he woke at four, and wakes up the family - the table is gone! They see it on the tree, will deal with it in the day. They go back to sleep. Half an hour later, when Rosanne went to sleep, Rudolf takes the table down from the tree, and collapses it behind their car. Then goes to sleep.
When they woke up, the guy wrung his neck every way, but no table on a tree. Wrong tree? Was it a dream? Did I see well?
That's for despising our drink.
Fourteenth. Everyone leaves. The Varaždin gang. At six in the morning, I see Marta at the watering hole. I'm shivering, should have closed the car window for the night, I stand barefoot in a puddle, but at least we bade each other a farewell the right way, took us whole hour. Though she kept starting, not to be seen by her folks, who might come by, to check how her goings to the watering hole take so long two days in a row. She and Urška are stowaways, so they don't leave by reception, rather the side entrance through the hotel parking. I escort them all the way to the supermarket.
B. and her friend also left, Beštara and S., and so should have Ari (caught Veca!) , Arie and Hans. We drove them to the station, but the only train they could get was Kvarner ekspres, for which there was a substantial surcharge over their interrail passes, and they wouldn't be allowed on a business train on account of being so dirty. Rudolf and I step away immediately, we are not travelling, only these three guys. The official stuck to Ari's jeans as an excuse... to make god cry. Never mind, they'll do it the next day. I like this country, they won't let me leave. Besides, it's raining in Denmark. But I came wearing these jeans and it was okay. Yes but you exceded the legal limit, only one kilo of dust per jeans allowed to take as souvenir.
In the camp they said they came back because it's raining in Kopenhagen.
There were too many bottles on the fence, I toppled two (not twoliters!) when I was showing Marta how each was labeled with the name of whose treat it was. We laid them in a peace sign shape next to the dark tent. Some doctor from Subotica took the place of Varaždinecs. Š. from Subotica, Nora's new frajer, says the doc's a good guy. Okaay...
In the disco, that evening, some Dori, a 14 year old kid stuck with me. Looked a tad stupid but eager. Everything set itself right but I didn't have the will... she annoyed me, claptrap won't stop. Trying the old shutup routine, I brush my head against hers and she responds like a ready rifle, and in two seconds we're kissing like mad. But somehow that was empty, I didn't even escort her all the way, left her halfway and went back. This is a no go, you're not the one, I'm not the one.
Back at the disco, Anja next to me again. That's better. Danced, but mindful of relatives. I have always liked you but sister...
Mentions: Ariejan Verschoor (Arie), Bruno Kessler, frajer, Geraldine van Grijven (The Lady), Milivoje Stojanović, Milovan Sebešćen (Beštara), Rosanne, Rudolf Ochsner, Slanislav Dunjić (Nisla), Snežana Stojanović (Sneca), Vera Stojanović (Veca), vinjak, Zadar, in serbian