sense or bad shirt selections. Many men looked at Mila but she didn’t even notice their ogling.
Four hours and a piece of overpriced pizza later and the girls moseyed over to the taxi rank.
“Where do you live again Mate?” Kylie asked Mila.
“Hermit Crab.”
“I think you mean Hermit Park?”
Mila burst out laughing with a full bite of pizza in her mouth. It was the first time Kylie found her unattractive.
“You are so smashed. Do you actually know your address?”
“Um.....” Mila stopped chewing for a moment and looked like she was trying to stand still and focus but she was still swaying and her right index finger floated in the air as her alcohol-soaked brain searched for an answer. “I don’t remember. I think, oh yeah, I’m at um, Queens Street. Or maybe I live in the Ross River or The Tarters Chowers Road?”
“You’re unbelievable. Come home with me, I have a spare bed and I promise I won’t take pictures of you while you’re sleeping. I don’t feel like taxiing around for hours with you to find your house. I can give you a lift home tomorrow.”
“Oh really? That’d be really great. Coz I have no idea where I am hey. But wherever it is, I wish it would stop spinning coz it’s making me feel crook!”
The girls climbed in the next cab and Kylie wound down the window and got some fresh air into Mila. It was a quick drive to Kylie’s apartment and they were up the stairs in no time. Kylie got a bucket, a towel, some spare jim jams, a spare tooth brush and a large bottle of water ready for Mila so that she was comfortable. After a quick tour of the flat so Mila knew where the toilet and shower was, Kylie turned the lights out on the only and best night she had had in twelve long weeks.
Before heading off to bed herself, Kylie left a note near the front door for Mila, letting her know that she was at Kylie’s house and telling her to make herself comfortable and to wake Kylie when she got up. Mila had shown no signs of knowing what was going on when they arrived at her apartment and she didn’t want her to freak out if she woke up alone in a strange place.
It was early afternoon before Kylie and Mila dragged themselves from their beds the next day. They both freshened up and Kylie went and bought takeaway to assist with their hangovers. They spent the rest of the afternoon talking and watching movies from Kylie’s movie collection and just before dark Kylie dropped Mila home. Before getting out of the car, Mila turned to Kylie and thanked her for a great weekend and said she would really like to try Outrigging the next time they trained during the week. It was great news for Kylie and for the beginner’s team of girls she was paddling with. They now had a team that they could rely on each week. Kylie didn’t have Shooters’ phone number so she advised her at Sunday training that a new girl would be joining them on Monday.
Mila and Kylie met at the Strand on Monday afternoon and were greeted by Jenna and Jess. Kylie saw Shooters and said, “I’ve got another paddler for our team.”
Shooters yelled to Ella, “Ella, you’re off the hook. You’re back in Team 1. I’ll take it from here.”
“Woohoo! I mean, see ya later ladies!” Ella yelled.
Shooters smiled at Mila and asked, “What’s your name mate?”
“Mila.”
“What a lovely name. I’m Shooters, I’m the coach of the team you’ll be paddling in. You can sit in the forth seat from the front of the canoe which we call Number Four. Everyone else, move a seat up from where you normally are. Jess, you are calling the Huts from now on.”
Mila asked Kylie, “What number are you?”
“Five,” Kylie answered. “But don’t worry, hang out with me long enough and I’ll give you the number twos!”
“I don’t doubt it,” Mila replied.
There was little more time for banter before warm up stretches started and then they were following behind the others and lifting that ridiculously heavy canoe twenty metres down the beach into the shallows.
“Rocks! Rocks!” Mila and Kylie chanted trying to run away from what was underneath them.
Shooters yelled, “You need some of these!” lifting up her pull-on slipper shoes made from wet suit material.
“Oh that’s attractive,” Kylie yelled, holding Shooters’ foot in her hand.
“Do you want pretty looking or pretty feet?” Shooters asked. “They sell them at Woolies. Do yourselves a favour, you can wear them all the way into the water then into the canoe, unlike those thongs and reefs you left up at the beach.”
Everyone climbed into the canoe and the instructions began as Shooters pushed off the beach.
“Okay, lightly paddling ladies, give it ten easy sets of eight strokes. Jess you’re calling them. Mila take note of what stroke Jenna is doing in Number Two. You need to put your paddle in the water at the same time as hers so that the canoe glides in the water and doesn’t drag!”
Mila was under the pump, her eyes moved busily from left to right as she tried to keep tabs on Jenna’s paddle. It completely threw her when the Hut was called by Jess and they swapped sides but it was funny for Kylie to watch.
At the end of the ten sets, Shooters said, “Paddles up.” The girls withdrew their paddles from the water and took a moment to relax. “Everyone, it looks like Mila is the final instalment in our team, say hello to Mila.”
“Oh, I thought I was just trying it out to see if I liked it,” Mila said.
“Nope, we need you, and you need us. Besides you’ll love it. It’s win win. Everybody, get a look at your new team, positions may change but at this stage I’m happy with how they are.”
“Do we have a team name?” Mila asked.
“Ahhhh, nup, but you do get to be part of the club and pay registration and order a uniform, and paddle under my direction,” Shooters said.
“Shooters Team?” Kylie offered.
“Oh, well technically, I guess it is. I am the Captain of this rig,” Shooters said not wanting any naming rights.
“Oh ladies, we could put our paddles up like we’re taking aim at the water when we’re getting ready to start, like this?” Kylie was portraying a visual joke and needed all eyes on her for them to get it.
Everyone turned around to their right and leant on the right hand side of the canoe to see what Kylie was up to in seat number five. This created a shift in the balance of the canoe and it took less than five seconds for the armor to come up and tip everybody out.
“Arghhhhhhhhh!” was the last audible word from Shooters.
Squeals came from everybody else. They weren’t in very deep water but they couldn’t touch the bottom.
“Bailers, grab the bailers girls,” Shooters said as everyone’s head popped up from the water. The ten litre bailers were made from old water cooler bottles and they were heavy before water was in them due to the reinforced
