Crazy of the Week - Drug Adrian

OK, he wasn’t really crazy, but I spent all day with him. And he made me laugh.

I was busking in the small town of Baddeck near Whycocomagh. Adrian came up to me and asked where I was from. He said he was from New Zealand - didn’t sound like it. He said he was 18 - didn’t look like it. He asked if he could watch me play for a while, he was a busker himself apparently.

“Do you smoke weed?” he asked when I’d finished a song
“ Ummmm…”
“Do you want to go smoke with me?”
“No thanks”
“OK, I’ll be back in 5 minutes”
“OK.”

5 minutes later

“That was quick eh?” he said grinning
“ummmm, yeah…”
“I just smoked 2 grams of weed”. More grinning.

He continued watching me. I wasn’t impressed, he was cramping my style. I was relieved when he finally left.

A little later I went to grab some lunch at a nearby café. He found me. He sat down at my table and waved his friend over.

“Yo, so my Mum is bringing my guitar so we can jam later”
“Cool.” I wasn’t in the mood.

“I’m totally baked” Adrian drawled
“Yeah.” The friend snickered.
“Imagine if you had a million dollars”
“Yeah, even half a million would be sweet”
“Yeah, I mean, I’d be down for $1000”
“If I had $1000, I’d just go and buy everyone a two-four and a pound of weed”
“Yeah. Sweet.”
“Dude, why is my Mum taking so long?”

2 minutes later his Mum arrived with his guitar.

“Lets jam eh?”
“I’m not very good at jamming” I admitted
“Aw don’t worry, I’m like, the jamming master”

We sat down on a bench, ready to play.
“Do you know any Pink Floyd?” he asked
“No, I mainly play jazz”
“Oh, Ok. Ummmm, how about Metallica?
“No”
“How about Led Zeppelin? Can you play any Zeppelin?”
“Nope. Sorry”
“What can you play then?”
“Gershwin.”
“Oh. Ummmm how about we just jam then?”
I sighed. I’m not a huge fan of jamming, mainly because I suck at it.
“Do you know C?” he asked
“Ummmm yes?”
“How about A minor?”
I looked at him sideways. “You know I can’t play chords right?”
“Can you play F?”
“The note?”
“Yeah”
“Yeah, I can play all the notes”
“Cool. So can you play, like C, A minor, E minor and F, and I’ll solo over the top?”

This was not going well. It was time for me to bail.
“I think I’m going to try play outside the supermarket” I told him
“Oh OK. Will you be back?”
“Maybe. Nice to meet you.”

The supermarket kicked me out within 5 minutes of me setting up. Adrian was already walking towards me.

“I think I’m going to try the waterfront” I said
“Do you mind if I come?”
Yes.
“No”

“I ditched my friends to hang out with you” he confessed
“Cool”

I set up at the waterfront while he sat on a bench behind me. He looked down the wharf.
“I think that’s my girlfriend”
He looked again.
“Nah she looks way too young” he said and leant back on the bench.
I played a song. He looked down the wharf again.
“Actually that is my girlfriend” he wasn’t moving.
“Oh”
I played another song. He still hadn’t moved.

A group of 12 year old girls came over to us.
“Sup?” Adrian asked one of them
“Nothin’”
“Hey, meet my new friend, she’s from Australia”
The girl turned back to her friends. Adrian tapped her gently with his foot.
“Hey, I’m talkin’ to you. This is Maya”
The girl looked at me, then silently turned back to her friends. I don’t think she liked me. I got up to leave.

“So yeah, like, if you ever need a place to stay or anything… Like, seriously, here’s my number. Like, even if it’s at 3am. My Mum probably wouldn’t mind”