Summerabbacat

It was probably a bloody Cold Chisel t-shirt.

Given Shayna’s conversation with Aunt Bertha I assumed it was Uncle Buford as he is in hospital. Might this have been a red herring @Vcs. @drsawzall will not be amused.

The same one in which they keep their bibles, guns, amphetamines and sex toys.

Surely you jest @Vcs. LOL.

Another Microsoft "gremlin" I think @Vcs with "She's" becoming "Sher's". OMG I had forgotten it so badly, that I even got the acronym wrong. LOL.

Never, I will get into trouble for making political statements or naming current political persons, at least American ones.

Casey! What a CFB. And what's with the "So what, you’re going to run back to your church and your two fag dads and play happy family again? After everything? After you kissed me back?" Is Casey really such a self-hating closet case? Another Roy Cohn? Enough of the "fag dads" from this tiresome and trivial Thompson twat. And Casey's response to Levi's "hasta la vista baby" made it abundantly clear that rape was the name of the game he was playing. I seem to recall several commenters including @Ivor Slipper and @Philippe strongly suspected this; I did not. I thought humiliation of Levi, Matt and Luke was his motivation. Clearly you lads were a better judge of character than me. "I trusted you, Levi,’ Matt said, his voice quiet but firm. ‘After everything we’ve been through these past months . . . you lied to us. You stole the car. You could have been killed. You could have killed others.’" As I expected, Levi's safety was paramount to Matt and Luke, moreso than anything else I believe. "When he looked toward the gates, he noticed Matt’s black Navara parked by the edge of the road, with both his dads waiting inside." This thought of Levi's hit "hard", it had me feeling all gooey inside. Levi thinks of Matt AND Luke as his parents now, his dads. And a comment by me is almost incomplete without a musical accompaniment. On this occasion, the title of the song is something which will happen between Levi and those who love him and for whom he feels the same, Matt, Luke, Jimmy and Dan, to name but a few. I've never seen this video before, love the song, especially the blending of Cher and Chrissie Hynde's voices, but WTF was Neneh Cherry thinking with that hair?

I was very impressed with Bass in this chapter. His compassion for, patience with and recognition of Jo’s worth as a human being, set him apart from others such as skanky Shayna. Bass’ treatment of Jo enabled Jo to question him about Kidd being a “bino” without fear. Jo demonstrated that although he may be intellectually challenged, he is acutely aware of being sensitive to the challenges others face. He was very conscious of not offending Bass or Kidd for that matter, with his curiosity regarding Kidd’s albinism. I envisage Jo and Kidd will forge a very close bond. Jo's natural desire to please without being ingratiating and to protect will benefit Kidd greatly, and Kidd's love of animals and quiet nature will suit Jo well. Shayna’s referral to Jo as a “retard” was perhaps the most despicable put down she has uttered yet. Her racist comments towards Bass were highly offensive, but he was able to dismiss her comments with wit and superior intelligence, something which Jo is not likely capable of. This chapter confirmed it was Shayna’s Uncle Buford who attacked Kidd.

CFB's? I had not heard this acronym before @Vcs, and it took a little bit of digging on Google to find the meaning of it. I assumed it was not an acronym for College Football, and when I eventually found its meaning I was overjoyed; such an apt description of Shayna. I was thinking whilst reading this chapter that she was not just a salope, but a mega salope; then it occurred to me that referring to her as a MAGA salope was probably even more apt. CFB I think covers it too, and I won't forget what this acronym means given it includes one of my favourite descriptors of those whom I detest. BTW, I have already forgotten what SML stands for.

Marjorie, Lauren and Sarah ring any bells @Charles26? And that is just the female of the species known as Republican?

Dickoless is so yesterday.

That will be a sublime moment, but I doubt it is coming any time soon as Richard continues to defend the indefensible.

Nicholas is a bigger arsehole than what many readers, myself included, thought. He shows up for coffee with Richard 30 minutes late, is hungover, admonishes Richard for wearing a shirt he deems "too gay" because it is "purple", talks about himself constantly and what he did the night before to cause him to get drunk, and asked Richard one question only, that being if he is going to the school dance. He also criticised Vicky for having a backbone and principles and told Richard she is "not doing him any favours". I would have told Nicholas to fuck off and go home, but Richard is so desperate for Nicholas' attention that he excused him for everything. Harriet who barely knows Nicholas recognised his poor behaviour immediately, and suggested to Richard he not let Nicholas treat him like a doormat. Richard repeatedly defended Nicholas, once again accepting the blame for not telling Nicholas about his parents separating so Nicholas could have supported him. I suspect Richard's mother at least may believe he is gay. She seemed very surprised a girl was calling him at home when Harriet telephoned. If she does know she does not appear to be bothered by it, which leads me to speculate that she and Richard's father may have separated because he, Richard's father, is gay.

Perhaps your diet is lacking in those brain-boosting chemicals which are only found in champagne and dark chocolate. I would suggest Rick needs to pay you a visit heavily laden with Krug and dark chocolate Tim Tams. And if you are expending too much time and effort on domestic chores, perhaps he could bring Butch with him.

Nothing wrong with your memory @Paladin. It probably helps that you are the author. LOL.

The pigs I remember, but not Hamish. I had also forgotten Maria calls Shane and Lisa (?) Mum and Dad.

Thank you @Paladin. I do recall this now that you have refreshed my memory. Perhaps I am lacking in champagne.

Love it, love it, love it. My beloved Zelda used to do this when she was alive, and her sister Frida, has kept up the "family tradition", albeit without the same degree of elegance, finesse and insistence as her sister. She, Frida, is also just as likely to sneeze on me as "tap" me gently. LOL.

Is that why his hair is orange? He is full of shit, literally.

It appears the church leader is either not very bright, completely delusional, or is incredibly arrogant and narcissistic and believes the law does not apply to him because he is a "man of God". If he continues his campaign of harassment and besmirchment I hope he finds himself in Yatala Labour Prison, where he will soon learn not all sodomites are gay men. Squeal little bitch squeal. I cannot for the life of me remember who Hamish is @Paladin. If he is Shane's son that would make him Lachlan's brother. If this is the case why would he refer to Martin as Uncle Martin? I am also a little confused by Nathan's response to the questions of one of the students "As I said in my talk, what really happened was that while I was stopping him from attacking Mrs Dixon other people were helping by calling the police and ambulance and alerting the mall security. Also, as I pushed him against one of the pigs two other men grabbed and held him for the police." At first I thought Nathan was disrespectfully referring to the police as pigs. I cannot remember there being any pigs present at the scene, but my memory has failed me on a number of occasions recently, so there well may have been pigs in Rundle Mall. A very exciting chapter with the conferences in the "war room" achieving immediate positive results. Rick once again showed himself to be reliable, considerate and pro-active, with champagne at hand to celebrate. I wish I could clone him.

What a hilarious chapter @Richie Tennyson. Harriet's parents have an eclectic group of friends, all of whom apart from Kevin, appear to like to imbibe to excess. Harriet's snippet of information about each of the friends was most amusing, particularly her anecdote about Carlos having to catch a taxi home in a bright green ballgown. And what of Harriet herself, she is soooooo not what I imagined she would be; she drinks red wine and likes the music of a group who were members of the riot grrrl movement. I had heard of them, but never heard any of their music. Benny and Penny; what imaginative parents they have. I suppose it could have been worse; they could have been named Leslie and Lesley, or Terry and Terri, or Kerry and Kerrie.

So long as she is flatulent-free whilst in company. Perhaps she could use one of those locking butt plugs described by @Vcs in the latest chapter of In The Barb. It appears most of we readers are unconvinced by Nicholas' overtures of renewed friendship.

Except when she farts in bed, and it's not even her own bed.

I think, or at least hope @centexhairysub, that by responding to Casey with a "No! Fuck you", Levi has realised Casey has used him. If Levi has realised this, I believe it will strengthen his resolve to do the right thing; he will confess to having taken Matt's Commodore for a joyride and crashing it, and he will sever all future contact with Casey. I think the latter would be sufficient to restore his friendship with Jimmy and Dan, but perhaps not Brooke. I must confess I did not care much for Brooke; I thought she was a little pushy and demanding, dare I say a teenage girlfriend.