Waiting for the cops to evict the squat. They came on Monday to say they were evicting today and came back yesterday to remind everyone. We woke up early to a dreary, windy, drizzling day and thought that hopefully the cops have enough heart not to throw people out into the street in such miserable weather. Still, everyone spent time packing up the important stuff just in case it really happened.
The tension was thick all morning, guesses were made as to if and when the cops would show up. There was a rumor that the property owner might show up and find the squatters were better to have around than the local hooligan kids who regularly trashed the space before the punks moved in.
Nobody wanted to leave and miss the actual eviction. Of course, we all had our fingers crossed that it wouldn't actualy happen.
Every knocking sound led to people jumping up and anxiously hustling to the door, more often than not inky to find someone had been tapping on something in the kitchen. The house was cleaned up a bit and incense lit, an effort to put the best foot forward.
We sat around in the common room listening to loud music and playing games, waiting for the action. There was talk that if they hadn't come by 5 they wouldn't come at all. After a particularly long, slow day, this deadline came and went; no cops.
We breathed a sign of relief.
At 5:30 people saw cops out back. Someone near a window heard them talking on their radios. The word went through the house - gametime.
People gathered their last possesions that had been left out, iPods and phone chargers mostly. With the iPods gone, and everyone anticipating the Knock, the whole house fell silent. A dozen punks in various stages of sobriety, just minutes ago rowdy and wrestling on the floor were now eerily quiet.
We waited for a few minutes. I went in the backroom, the only one with a door to the outside world to see what I could see out the peephole. Nothing.
Someone walked downstairs "I think theyr'e gone" maybe they weren't here for us..."
I took a breath. Life went back to normal.
By 7 they still hadn't come, so I got my stuff loaded into a friends car in case the eviction happened while I was away and caught a tram to the Melo: Down Under event.
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