Set it Sraight
EFORE I HEADED OUT TO THE AIRPORT,
Bmy girlfriend and I had our last lunch together
enjoying some famous Philly cheesesteaks. It was
February 4th as Sheri drove me to Philadelphia
International to ship me away for a month and a
half, so we thought. We exchanged our final kisses
and said our last face-to-face spoken words, then
off I went.
With a stopover in San Francisco I prepared myself
for a hell of a plane ride by stocking up on some bat-
teries and magazines. I figured I would wait until
after SF to digest my sleeping pills to ease the stiff-
ness of the flight. For the first time ever I had been
seated next to two girls in my age group. With good
conversations ensuing, we all had our first beers
shortly after take off from SF. After consuming eight
beers, a few meals, and watching a couple movies, we
prepared ourselves for descent into Sydney
International. The flight went smoothly as ever even
though my pills had no effect on my body. As we
approached the runway, my mind pondered the day's
upcoming events, skating the Bondi mini while peer-
ing out into the Pacific, topless beauties covering the
white sand of the beach-ah what a sight to behold.
First photo taken back in Philly, tailslide transfer on
12th Street at 12 midnight, my birthday.
Photo: Andrej Tur.
Ricky Oyola's Story
The screeching sound of the wheels touching down
for the first time in 14 hours suddenly knocked me
back into the cabin of the plane, still knowing I would
be on the beach within two hours. It was 9:30 in the
morning on February 6th as we all went through
customs. The weather in Sydney was beautiful; the
sky was clear and blue and the sun was shining bright.
Not wasting any money on a cab, I spent $6 on the
airport shuttle to take me down to Bondi. It was a
Friday morning and people were out and about soak-
ing up the nice weather. It felt good to be back in
Bondi after two years.
Sport had told me earlier how to get to his new
home so I lugged my bags up to 10-32 Roscoe St. I
had a feeling I would be waking them all up that
morning. To my surprise, Dion Kovac answered the
door. Within minutes, Sport (Anthony Fitzgerald).
Nigel Evans, and Zane Kovac all had awakened and
given me a proper Australian greeting. Sleep should
have been on my mind but after being reunited with
my friends, my adrenaline was too high for sleep. I
decided to take a shower and shave to wake me up
a bit. Before too long, Wade Burkitt arrived and
psyched us up for a swim. We all headed down to
the beach and soaked up some rays before we dove
into the ocean.
Wade, Sport, and I decided to eat lunch at the Red
Kite Café after our swim. On the way back to the
house we got some beers to celebrate my arrival.
We spent most of midday just catching up on old
times and such. We all went to Lemon Grass for an
early dinner and again got some more beers. That
time I opted for some Cooper's, a stronger beer. By
that time I was feeling good from a combination of
jet lag and beers.
Later on in the evening, Sport and I went to visit
the Lamrock ladies, Bec, Holly, and Mel, but only
Holly still lived there. We got some more beers on the
way over to Lamrock St. I got to see most of the girls
and Christian West and Chris Keeffe showed up. After
a few more beers we all decided to go to the Beach
Road hotel (Regis) for some socializing. Upon arrival
I saw Mike Hernandez and Keith Hufnagel, to my
jubilation. I was in good company with my American
friends. After even more catching up I placed my coin
on the table at which I thought the best player was
playing. Upon arrival to the bar I bought two beers
for myself. Now it was time for my turn on the table.
I asked the man to play singles and he agreed, to his drunken part-
ner's dismay. As I racked the balls, the drunken partner was badg-
ering me to get a partner for a game of doubles. After too much per-
sistence I told the drunkard to beat it and backed him off with my
hand. Because of that episode the three guys in the corner heard my
accent and asked me where I was from. I said, "Philadelphia." One
of the guys then asked me my name. I said, "Ricky." He said, "Ricky
is short for Richard and that Richard shortens to Dick; since you are
in Australia your name is Dick." I smiled and said, "My name is Ricky."
The man I was playing broke and sunk nothing; I had choice. I sunk
one ball and missed my next shot. The guy who previously said my
name was Dick called out upon my missing. "Nice shot Dick." I
shrugged it off and awaited my next shot. On my next turn I did the
same thing, make one miss one; "Nice shot Dick" he says again, but
louder. I walked up to the guy and asked him to knock it off and he
said, "You're not asking me, you're telling me." I the repeated my
request, adding a please. He agreed and shook my hand.
I had
After my next missed shot the guy cupped his mouth and screamed,
"Nice shot Dick!" At that point I was infuriated and I couldn't look at
the guy anymore. The man I was playing made an incredible shot to
win the game; I shook his hand and walked away mad as hell at the
guy who was taunting me, not the man I was playing against. Next
thing I knew I swung a pool cue at his head, hitting him in the face,
dropping him immediately. After hitting him I remember going after
the original drunkard to punch him. If the drunkard would have
never bothered me I wouldn't have spoken to the three guys. 1
the drunkard in my hands and was about to hit him when a couple of
people jumped on me. (Thanks to Mike and Sport.) I then remember
running through the crowd until a bouncer snagged me and detained
me until the police arrived. Everybody in the bar had to leave at this
point. I remember sitting there watching everybody file down the
stairs looking at me and Mike and Zane coming to see if I needed any
help. The bouncer had told me to tell the police I used my fist instead
of the pool cue, which I did. At the police station I was cooperative
but refused to make a statement because of the severity of the
charge. The police initially said I would be allowed to go home to
Sport's that night, but he then rescinded and locked me up.
"Next thing I knew. Lswung
Facts:
a pool cue at his head
I was charged with maliciously wounding with intent to do
grievous bodily harm, assault occasioning actual bodily harm, and
two counts of common assault.
I spent two nights in Surry Hills holding cell, where I tried to get
bail both days but was refused both times.
I spent a month in Silverwater Remand Center.
I received bail on March 9th with the help from my solicitor.
• Surrendering my passport, airline ticket, residence at 10-32
Roscoe St, $1000, and report to N. Bondi police station once a day
between 8 AM and 8 PM were my conditions of bail.
I spent four and a half months on bail.
On May 25th I was sentenced to eight months of jail.
On June 29th I was released on my appeal to the district court.
On July 23rd I was picked up by Sheri at the airport in Philly.
I skated the whole time I was out on bail.
The guy I hit suffered a broken nose, fractured cheek bone, and
a laceration to his face.
New Deal skateboards and Kastel shoes showed honor and
respect by sticking by my side through my ordeal.
Thank yous go to Sport, Nigel, Katie, Owen, Cam, Dave, Currie,
Adair, Optimum, McGinley, Mike H, and Fin. Extra-special thank
yous go to Steve Douglas, Andrew McKenzie, Leslie Young, Michael
Shaw, Andrew Currie, Robert from Mom's, Jim Thiebaud, Brian
Schaeffer, JR Cronheim, Skip Millard, Sheri Wade, and everybody
who prayed for my return.
Out on bail, backside flight on the Bondi mini.
Photo: Dave Adair.
72 THRASHER