Liars, page 2
I think it’s really good for me to be away from Sydney and get my head right, with someone who’s stable. I walk through the bush every day, and I want to start painting again.
I just need to get the court shit sorted out. I know everyone says ‘get it over and done with fast’, but I think my decision to delay it for 6 months by pleading not guilty was smart. I’ll plead guilty on the day (got no choice, they got me cold) and my lawyer can spin all that, ‘moved up the coast, in a solid relationship, changed woman, sorted herself out’ stuff to the judge. Even so, I’m nervous. I’ve made a shitload from the phones, but this is the third time I’ve been caught, and they won’t give me another bond. But I’ve got an idea to get the cops onside.
Gotta go, much love
Kaz
——
HOSPITAL ACCIDENT REPORT
Date: 24 August 2024
Time: 5.50 a.m.
Name: Claire Ellis
Age: 26
Preliminary Diagnosis: Patient admitted via ambulance to Emergency after car accident. External abrasions, hematoma and compound leg fracture of distal femur. Patient confused with post-traumatic amnesia.
EXTRACTS FROM NOTEBOOK OF SENIOR CONSTABLE TRISH GALLAGHER, 24 AUGUST 2024
Interview with Constable Sebastian Baxter, 26, Police Officer at Bullford Point station. He stated that around 7.30 p.m. on Friday 23 August 2024 he attended Bullford Point Bowling Club to meet friends. He met Claire Ellis, a high school teacher, who he did not previously know. He had had ‘one or two beers’ and she had ‘two or three’ gin and tonics. Around 10.30 p.m. they made a spontaneous decision to drive to her parents’ empty house at Avoca. They stayed there till approximately 4.30 a.m., then drove back. Constable Baxter stated his intention was to drop Claire Ellis at her home in Ettalong, and then return to his home in Bullford Point.
Constable Baxter was driving a VW Golf south along Empire Bay Drive at approx. 5.00 a.m. with his lights on high beam, except when approaching other vehicles. Driving conditions dry and good. The road is a secondary main road, good condition, some bends, one lane each way with occasional overtaking lanes.
South of Kincumber in a forested area, he saw headlights approaching, he thinks of a truck. The vehicle was veering from side to side of the road. When the two vehicles were close, the truck swerved toward him. To avoid an accident he swerved left and braked. His vehicle went off the road, down a steep bank, and rolled. When it stopped, upside down, he accessed his phone and called triple 0. It appears the truck did not stop.
Forensics found tyre marks consistent with heavy braking of a VW Golf, heading to the side of the road. Constable Baxter’s blood was analysed and returned a legal alcohol result of 0.02.
He had bruising and cuts, and was discharged from hospital the next day.
•••
Interview with Claire Ellis in her hospital bed. She has a badly broken leg, and cuts and bruising, including to her head. She recalls being at the bowling club, but that’s all. Dr Khoury indicates memory loss after this type of accident is common, and that she might recall more over time. Dr Khoury indicates there is ‘a very good chance her leg will make a full recovery and she will be able to run again, but it will take a few months of rehab’.
•••
CONCLUSION – If the truck driver can be located, there is sufficient evidence to charge him or her with dangerous driving occasioning grievous bodily harm. Enquiries are ongoing to locate the truck and driver, but the only description is ‘a truck’.
——
The Healing House
Certificate of Completion and Discharge
Joe Griffith
CONGRATULATIONS, JOE!
You did it! You bounced back from every setback, and worked on understanding and improving yourself every day. We are proud of you. Keep up the good work. Don’t get back into old habits, and get in touch any time you want support.
Diana Vickers, Manager, Inpatient Programs, The Healing House
——
EMAIL FROM VIV GRIFFITH TO SEB BAXTER, BARB YOUNG, DEV KERALA, GARY TURNER, 25 AUGUST 2024
Hi Everyone,
As you know, Joe is returning to live in my parents’ place. I’m hoping that having completed a full rehabilitation program, he will stay off drugs, but unfortunately the statistics are clear: most who have been addicted to hard drugs for some years relapse.
I hope you will support Joe and I am asking two things:
If you notice any signs of relapse or impending relapse, let me know. Things like if he seems stressed, distracted, doesn’t look his best physically, agitated, hyper, tells lies, asks for money, steals things.
Do not under any circumstances give or ‘lend’ him money. If he says he needs money for a short-term loan or to pay a bill or because his wages are late or anything like that, do not give it to him. Tell him to talk to me. Drug addicts can be incredibly manipulative. It took our family a long time to work out that whenever Joe asked for money, we had to say ‘no’. Joe knows he can talk to me if he has any genuine financial issues. If you pay him for work, do it by bank transfer. No cash.
Thanks,
Viv
——
ANONYMOUS LETTER LEFT AT JOE GRIFFITH’S FRONT DOOR, ON OR AROUND 30 AUGUST 2024
YOU ARSEHOLE JUNKIE. WE DON’T WANT YOU HERE. YOU’VE DONE ENOUGH DAMAGE. GO SOMEWHERE ELSE.
——
LETTER FROM BARB YOUNG TO DENNIS YOUNG, 4 SEPTEMBER 2024
Dear Dennis,
Strange to be writing a letter to you after all this time, but probably easier than talking in some ways.
I understand you wanting to divide things up and move on, I suppose. I mean, I don’t, but I accept it. Can I just ask that we leave it a few weeks? You must have had a long time to think about leaving. You probably planned it all out in your organised way. For me, it’s still a bit of a shock. I still wake up and think, ‘Where is he?’
I’m not going to be obstructionist, but let’s just give it a month and see where we are then. Is that okay?
Are you missing Bullford Point? I know you’re just fifteen minutes away, but I expect you haven’t been here much the last two months. You might think nothing has changed. How wrong you’d be. Sue’s shop ran out of Vegemite, the Davidsons pruned their hedge and I bought a new hammer! And that was just last week!
And we have two new residents, one who you know and one who you don’t. There, you’re intrigued now, aren’t you? Slightly?
Joe is back. All those years in Sydney doing goodness knows what – drugs, break-ins, jail and the rest, causing so much worry to his poor mother. It might have contributed to her early death. Can worry cause lung cancer? I expect smoking was the main cause, but it might have made it worse.
He did six months in rehabilitation, and he’s living in Emily’s house, which is now his and Viv’s, although mainly Joe’s apparently. I saw him at the shops and he said he wants to ‘start again’. He looks healthy, but with a huskier voice and tattoos. I don’t even like those tribal ones, but his are a mess. Words, pictures and symbols crossing over each other on his arms, even the back of his hands. Looks like he did them himself. In the dark.
Sue’s not happy about his return, of course. Still blames Joe for ‘making’ Leanne take drugs, which I understand, but it’s very hard to make anyone do anything. Joe was, no doubt, a bad influence on Leanne, but surely she decided for herself. The poor girl is still in Sydney in that life, so of course Sue feels angry when she sees Joe cleaned up.
It does make you wonder. Joe was a lovely boy. Clever, energetic, difficult at times, as Emily told me more than once, but full of spirit. He was brought up the right way, as far as I can tell. It’s such a shame what happened, but he’s got himself into a position where he has a second chance. I want to try to help, so I’ve offered him work. Only part-time, I don’t have enough for a full-time helper, but with some jobs I could use an extra pair of hands.
I know what you’re thinking. That I remember Joe as an innocent kid, but since then he’s broken into people’s homes and all that – is he really a good person to work with? Well, I won’t put up with him being unreliable. If he is, I’ll show him the door of whoever’s house we’re working in. And I won’t let him near money. I’ll give him a chance, then it’s up to him.
The other new resident is Tom Malone’s new girlfriend, Karen. Good for Tom, he’s a nice fellow. Not the sharpest nail, but he has a good heart.
I’ve seen Karen a few times at the shop and jetty and she seems very Sydney. What do they call that hair that’s dark at the top and light at the bottom? Not that you’d know. A couple of tattoos herself (although a higher grade than Joe’s), and it might be the first nose ring to have made its home in Bullford Point. They seem very happy, by which I mean all over each other, but of course that will fade sooner or later, and then they’ll find out what else there is. As we did. Until you changed your mind.
The other news is that Devina Kerala wants to build apartments and shops at the jetty. Sounds awful, but apparently she’s already got options on two houses on Bayview Drive. Joe’s house is apparently the vital one, because it’s next to the jetty, so I suspect Dev will be batting her very long eyelashes at him in the very near future. Sue is furious and leading a campaign to stop it.
Anyway, there seem to be a lot less chores to do now that you’re gone, which means more spare time. By the way, did you finish watching Broadchurch? We were up to season two episode three when you left. I tried to keep going, but I think it lost its way a little and I gave up. Besides, it wasn’t the same.
Bye for now,
Barb
——
LETTER FROM KAREN KEMP TO NAOMI TRAN, 13 SEPTEMBER 2024
Hey Nom,
Still here. Another quiet day. I’m only working at the shop a couple of times a week, so I have A LOT of free time. Quiet is a good thing, right? Except for the birds squawking all the time, which was nice at first but is now fucking irritating.
Everyone is friendly enough, but it’s obvious I’m different. They look me up and down, all judgey, especially when I wear something low cut and a bit of makeup, just cos I don’t dress dowdy like them. It’s not exactly fashion central here, unless you’re a fan of T-shirts with band names from last century.
Tom is a nice guy, but is that enough? Our Fiji sex fest has morphed into, ‘Hi honey, how was your day unblocking people’s toilets? I’ve made chops.’ All he wants is to live here and be a plumber his whole life. His idea of a big adventure is drinking Carlton instead of VB. I’m sure he wants me to start pumping out babies, but he’s too scared to ask.
He gets uncomfortable when I talk about moving somewhere new, or seeing the world, and we’ve had a couple of arguments about stupid shit. I say arguments, but he doesn’t fire up at all. You know what I’m like, I say what’s on my mind. When I do he just looks hurt and sulks, which is soooo sexy, NOT. Stand up for yourself! Nothing makes you lose the horn for a tough tradie quicker than whining.
The other night I was saying we should go to Sydney for the weekend – stay in a nice hotel, get the spark back, you know – and he goes, ‘I don’t really like big cities.’ Fuck’s sake. Why do men change? Hot AF and sweet when you meet them, then they get weak, pathetic and needy. Be much easier if I liked girls like you do!
A month ago I was head over heels, now I’m going for walks after dinner to get away from him. I mean, Justin was a dick, and I’m glad I dumped him, but at least going out with a dude in a crime gang was exciting.
Okay, here we go, secrets time. There’s another guy I’ve been seeing. Joe. He comes into the shop, and I’ve bumped into him walking round the bay. He just came out of rehab, so that’s more interesting than fixing dunnies.
One day we saw each other, walked around a bit, ended up outside his place (waterfront!!), he asked me in for a cuppa, and BOOM! The sex is amazing. Always is with affairs cos you know you’re doing something wrong. But if it gets out, this place is so small and gossipy I’ll instantly become ‘that slut’.
Anyway, it’s time to break up with Tom and move on. It was fun, but now it’s over. Usual story. But I don’t want to go back to Sydney. Maybe up the coast? Byron? I rushed into this, and I can rush right out again. I might just wait until the sex with Joe starts to taper (it already has with Tom, in case you hadn’t guessed) and I get court out of the way.
Speaking of good news, I’m talking to a big wheel at the cops next week about some info I have that might get them to go easy on me. Turns out my relationship with Justin wasn’t a complete waste of time after all.
Luv ya babe,
Kaz
——
EMAIL FROM GARY TURNER TO VIV GRIFFITH, JOE GRIFFITH, SEB BAXTER, DEV KERALA, 16 SEPTEMBER 2024
Hi Guys, just letting you know my new game show debuts tomorrow night at 5.30 p.m. I know you’re all crossing your fingers for me. I’m confident it’s a winner and hope you enjoy! I know we were all going to be stars together all those years ago with our band, and whenever I’m on TV I think of that experience and how I’m carrying the torch for all our dreams!
Here’s a SMH article from today, in case you missed it. Got another radio interview in five mins. Hectic! Missing the quiet life already!
Gary
SYDNEY MORNING HERALD TV REVIEW, 15 SEPTEMBER 2024
‘It’s good to be back on the telly,’ says twenty-eight-year-old comedian Gary Turner as he sits, relaxed in T-shirt, sunglasses and chinos looking out over the water, on the balcony of his Central Coast home, the exact location of which I have sworn not to reveal.
Gary, who sprang to fame via comedy panel show Time To Shine, is excited about his return to television as host of Channel Nine’s new game show Which Duck? When I ask him to explain it, his enthusiasm is infectious.
‘There’s ten ducks in a pen wearing jewellery. Necklaces, mainly, not rings obviously because ducks don’t have fingers, but, here’s the twist, only some of the jewellery is real. Contestants have to pick a duck they think has real jewellery, then get the jewellery from that duck in thirty seconds. They get to keep what they get. It’s an absolute riot.’
I gently enquire about duck welfare. ‘The RSPCA are all over it. They’ve approved it and there’s an animal welfare officer on set. Here’s the other twist. Every week it’s a different animal. Dogs, horses, goats.’
‘Crocodiles?’ I ask.
‘Saving them for the final,’ he retorts, before quickly adding, ‘that’s a joke. You’ll make it clear that’s a joke?’
I assure him I will, then ask why, if there are lots of different animals, the show is called Which Duck?
‘It just grabs you. “Which Duck?!” See? It’s just a funny name. It tested great. And the ducks are great. They seem to really get TV. We’ll probably use them the most.’
Gary tells me he developed the show with a production company. ‘It’s high stakes, but I’m confident.’
He says he used his recent time out of the media spotlight for reflection and personal growth. ‘I got out of Sydney, moved back here where I grew up, and it’s been wonderful to reconnect with my roots, and nature. Bushwalking, the beach, going out on the boat. Plus I’m still close enough to Sydney to do comedy shows there. It’s perfect!’
——
EMAIL FROM DOM LOOM, FACE ACHE PRODUCTIONS TO GARY TURNER, 16 SEPTEMBER 2024
Hi Gary,
Great to hear you spruiking the show. We’re all really excited about it. Just one small point. You mentioned you developed the show with us, or at least that’s what the story said. Perhaps the journalist misunderstood or misquoted you? Anyway, it’s definitely no biggie, but as I’m sure you recall we came to you with the idea. Of course your experience and influence have been invaluable, but perhaps next time you could make it clear that it’s a copyrighted concept of Face Ache Productions? Thanks, buddy. Looking forward to the next record on Friday.
Dom
——
EMAIL FROM DEV KERALA TO JOE GRIFFITH, 16 SEPTEMBER 2024
Hi Joe,
Sooo great to talk today and to hear you’re potentially interested in selling. I hope the fact that we’re old friends will make it easier for you, as you know the person turning your house into a block of tasteful apartments is someone you can trust.
Understand you need some thinking time, but we do want to move forward soon. As you know, we have secured options to the two houses to your left as you look into the bay, so either way we will be proceeding.
We’re really excited about this development, which is why we’re prepared to pay you a price well above market value. As discussed, we will demolish nos 24 and 26 Bayside Ave, and hopefully your place too, and then build an apartment and retail hub adjoining the town square, jetty and beach.
If you decide not to sell, 24 and 26 sit to your north, which means the development (proposed at three stories) would unfortunately affect your light, and again unfortunately possibly the resale value of your home. Construction will take around 18 months and you would experience some noise in that period. But you don’t have to worry about any of that if you sell to us!
Joe, please get back to me soon, and hopefully we can do a great deal for everyone and help revitalise Bullford Point, the place we all love so much. See below extract of our submission to council.
Dev xx
EXTRACT FROM SUBMISSION TO CENTRAL COAST COUNCIL FROM INSPIRE PROPERTY, 3 AUGUST 2024
Bullford Point is often described as ‘sleepy’. That sounds nice to some, but is ‘sleepy’ a sustainable economic strategy? Bullford Point has the opportunity to become one of the shining jewels in the Central Coast Local Government area, with a thriving, robust economy, driven by tourism.
