No – it was too much to expect.

No – he’d have absolutely no one to blame but himself if he woke up to find his money and passport gone. Or worse – if he didn’t wake up at all!

Mate…

Don’t be so pathetic…

You know that will never happen.

No. Sleeping out – first up like this, before he got to know the culture or anything – was just not on. After all, he was still a contracted league footballer – still subject to all the latest moral and behavioural restraints. It may be considered “unruly behavior” – or “setting a bad example”. Perhaps they’d see it as “bringing the club into disrepute”?

Mate…

Does that matter?

Of course it mattered! It was madness to even think of sleeping out on the street like a poor man – it was laughable. Wasn’t it?

Do it.

What if someone he knew saw him? What if someone recognized him and took a photograph of him lying here on the slab? What if the papers got hold of it? What if they put that together with all the old drug stuff and… he’d never hear the end of it! He’d be a laughing stock!

Do it.

But then again – the slab was a great spot – right in the middle of all the action. And there was his new life to think of – the writer’s life.

Wouldn’t a real writer take the opportunity to sleep out in the open like this, just for the experience? Just to have something other than the run of the mill crap to write about?

Of course he would!

A decent writer would have a crack at anything. Just on the off-chance that it may lead to something worth writing about. That’s what a writer does!

Already sick of the debate, Max felt the surge of lethargy that always accompanies confusion. He was exhausted. Frankly, at this stage, he could have slept anywhere.

“Can I sleep here now?”

“Small sleep now – one hour, maybe two – no problem.”

“Two hours?”

Max laughed.

“Mate, I need a bit more than that!”

“No problem – slowly catching up – little bit now, little bit later.”

“You think?”

“Two or three days, small sleep taking, you feeling much better – back to old self no problem – you wait – you see.”

By this time they had attracted a small crowd of onlookers.

“No problem,” one said.

“No problem – short time sleeping,” said another.

Suddenly it was a free for all –

“Nobody minding you sleeping here!”