‘Two’s plenty. I can manage,’ said Gumbo. ‘Cracker of a night all round.’

Gumbo’s ute was parked on the road, and as he fumbled for the key he dropped one of the bottles clutched in his other hand. It smashed on the concrete kerb. ‘Jesus, Gumbo, steady on,’ said Pearly.

‘It just slipped.’ No interior light came on when the door was opened, and Gumbo put the remaining bottle in the darkness of the passenger side. ‘A bloody good do,’ he said. ‘And good on you, Pearly, for winning again. Everybody’s chuffed. Good on you, I say.’ Pearly knew he meant it, and it wasn’t the drink talking. The adult Gumbo never got drunk; didn’t seem to need an excess of alcohol to find pleasure enough in a very ordinary life. Because of his friend’s sincere congratulations, Pearly forgot his annoyance at the broken bottle.

‘Thanks,’ he said. ‘There was someone, though, who obviously wasn’t happy at all. Some bozo rang and got stuck into me in a big way.’

‘Who was it?’

‘No name of course, but plenty of foul-mouthed abuse.’

‘Take no notice, Pearly. Just some bugger who’s useless himself and jealous of anyone who achieves something.’ Gumbo climbed into the front seat of the ute and sat in the darkness, searching for the ignition with his key.

‘How are you getting on with the repertory theatre folk?’ Pearly asked.

‘Yeah, good.’

‘You said you do a fair amount of backstage stuff.’

‘I’m assistant stage manager now, and I’ve had walk-on parts as well. Walk-on parts are—’

‘Yeah, I know what they are,’ Pearly said. ‘Have you made any friends? Any women friends?’

‘They’re pleasant, most of the women there. I get on with them okay.’

‘Good on you. You never know, you could meet someone really nice there.’

‘I’m not desperate, you know,’ said Gumbo.

‘I’m just saying.’

‘If it happens, it happens. Actually, I’ve got a few lines in The Seagull. You and Helen should come along.’

‘Wouldn’t miss it,’ said Pearly.

‘One woman there, Chrissie, she invited me for dinner because I jump-started her Nissan. She talked a lot about living on her own and things going wrong. A nice person, but I’m not used to listening for so long to personal stuff. What can you say about other people’s troubles?’

‘Take her out to a movie or something.’

‘She’s got this habit of showing her teeth when she’s unhappy.’

‘Make her feel better, then,’ said Pearly. ‘Do her garden for her, or fix the taps.’

‘She can cook all right, and she’s not fat at all.’

‘There you are then,’ said Pearly.