The spat started early in the morning when David was stoking the fire. As he did so, he flicked two burning logs out of the grate and onto the forest floor. Brian leapt up and put them in a bucket. “No that’s fire and fire’s dangerous” he reprimanded.
David didn’t seem to get Brian’s point and said “throw it over the back”, making the situation worse in Brian’s eyes.
He explained in the Bush Telegraph “I was messing around and flicked some firewood for no particular reason just because I was bored and being boisterous but Brian seemed to really . . . I seemed to really bug him. I really got under his skin.”
Later Brian and Eric talked. “Why? Not one but two. What did you (he) do that? So out of order. Do you think he thought it was just a laugh?” said Brian incredulously. Eric agreed with Brian. “F*cking stupid. He only got away with that because of who he is. I don’t know mate.”
Brian continued. “But you’re right. If it had gone further. You were lucky that it landed where it was. “It’s as dry as sh*t over there” said Eric.
Brian said later “I don’t know what made him do it. It was very much out of character. We made our views perfectly clear at the time but I worry that he may have thought it was boyish banter.”
Later, Brian confronted David and said “I had a slight concern about logs on the fire”
Again, David didn’t seem to grasp Brian’s tone. “You don’t think that would be funny? A bush fire might spice things up” joked the boxer.
Brian went off to be on his own. As he sat on a rock he muttered “Bastard” and started to weep.
Colin explained in the Bush Telegraph. “Brian tried to tackle him about it. David being David was unrepentant. He is very beguiling and funny but he is a force of nature and the end result was that Brian went off upset.”
“Brian went off on his own and I followed him and there’s not many talents I have in here but calming down upset people I hope is one of them. And I told him I’d be upset too and he’d be alright.”
Colin caught up with Brian and hugged him. “You haven’t got a chance. None of us have against that force of nature. The more you tell him not to, the more he’ll do it.”
Having composed himself, Brian returned to camp carrying an enormous log and put it down in camp to break the ice. He approached David shaking his hand and said “My hand is my heart. I had a go at you and I got upset.”
“I missed that one. I thought you were joking “ replied David as he tried to diffuse the situation.
“At least we cry” said Brian about himself and Hugo. “We’re men. Real men cry.”
Is David A New Man?
The day’s events were a new experience for David who as a boxer wasn’t used to people showing their emotions around him.
He said “Brian was next to me and I could see he was upset and he’s a big grown man and that’s quite unfamiliar. I’m in a very masculine sport. Very grr sport. So people that are around a lot of the time don’t show their emotions. What do you do? It’s a new situation for me. “
So maybe I’ve got to be a bit more sensitive, a bit more careful about what I say around him And then try to pick up his spirit somehow and not do anything that unsettles him and upsets him.”