No Sugar (14 page)

MILLY
: You scared to tell him. You scared to tell him.

SAM
puts his hands on her shoulders and tries to steer her to the door.
MILLY
struggles against him.

You're scared' to tell him. You're scared at what he'll do when he gets out. You're
wayarniny
.
Wayarniny bridaira
, you're
wayarniny
.

SAM
: Come on, Milly, we get Cissie to write to him. Come on, Milly. Come on, come on now.

MILLY
: I'll tell him all about it when he gits out, you hear me? You hear me?

SAM
: Come on, Mil,
dubakieny
.

MILLY
: An' Matron, you don't forget put him in a proper coffin box, Matron. Matron, coo-cooo, cooh.

They exit.

NEAL
: [
to
MATRON
] A classic case of emotion comes in through the door and reason goes out the window.

MATRON
: [
exiting
] I couldn't agree more. Seems to be happening frequently in this office lately.

Long Pool Camp, Moore River, night. The campfire is blazing.
DAVID
is asleep.
MARY
,
GRAN
and
MILLY
are silhouetted inside the tent.
MARY
suffers a contraction.

MARY
: Help, help! Joe! I want Joe!

The contraction continues.

Don't let them take Baby. Don't let them take Baby.

She cries in panic.

GRAN
: Nobody's goin' to take Baby, darlin'. Nobody. You'll be all right, darling, Matron comin' to see you directly.

MARY
: I don't want her to come here. Granny, tell her to go away. Please, I don't want to see her.

GRAN
: You shut up, now. What will Joe say if anythin' happens to you and Baby, eh? We gotta look after youse.

MARY
: I wish Joe was here.

Another contraction starts and she yells.

GRAN
: [
to
MILLY
] Gawd, I think it's comin'. [
To
MARY
] Come on darlin', push down. Come on, breathe deep.

The contraction continues.

[
To
MILLY
] Git the water and the rags. [
To
MARY
] Come on darlin', you doin' good. Joe'd be real
tjeuri piny
for you. Breathe deep, eh?

[
To
MILLY
] Git me clean ashes, make sure there's no lumps.

MARY
cries out while
MILLY
collects ashes on a sugar bag, picking out the pieces of charcoal. She takes the ashes, water and rags back to the tent.

Come on, darlin', breathe deep. Push down, keep pushin', keep pushin'. Hurry up, Milly, come on. [
To
MARY
] Come on, darlin', you doin' good.

MARY
yells and sighs.

Firestick! Firestick, live one, quick!

MILLY
races to the fire and takes a burning stick back into the tent.

I got you a little Nyoongah. Now I cut your cord and tie it, make a real pretty belly button for you, just like your daddy's. Now cover you in ashes. More better than Johnson's Baby Powder, eh?

The baby cries.

You got a great big handsome Nyoongah boy. Come on, darlin', one more push, come on…

MARY
pushes.

Keep pushin', eh? Good, it's all over.

DAVID
wakes.

GRAN
: There you are, darlin'. He's yours for life.

DAVID
: Hey? What's goin' on?

MILLY
: You're an uncle now.

DAVID
: What? Dinkum?

DAVID
rushes to the tent and looks in.

Geez, look at him. Why don't he open his
meeowl
?

MILLY
: 'Coz he's just been born, son. He's only five minutes old.

SAM
appears, breathless.

Where's Matron?

SAM
: They comin'.

DAVID
: We don't need her, everything's all right.

SAM
: Dinkum?

GRAN
: That's what David said.

SAM
: Here's Matron comin' now.

MATRON
appears with a hurricane lamp and a satchel followed by
CISSIE
and
TOPSY
.

MATRON
: Hello, Granny. Hello everybody.

MARY
: No! Don't let Matron see Baby. Granny, go and hide him. Please, please, don't let Matron take him away.

The three approach the tent.

MATRON
: Well, well. How is she? Hello, Mary.

GRAN
: Baby boy.

CISSIE
: Oh, he's beautiful.

MATRON
: Come on, Mary, don't be a silly girl. I just want to check him over.

MARY
: No, don't touch him! You're not havin' my baby, leave him alone!

MATRON
: But Mary, it's for your own good and the baby's and I only want to help.

MARY
: No, don't take him to hospital. The trackers will get him and kill him.

MATRON
: What on earth is she talking—

MARY
: [
interrupting
]… And bury him in the pine plantation.

MATRON
: I think she's delirious.

MARY
: Like Lillian's baby. Mr Neal tell them to do it, to kill Baby.

MATRON
: She's delirious.

SAM
: No she ain't.

MARY
: Gran, Gran, don't let 'em take him.

GRAN
: [
soothingly
] No one's takin' Baby, darlin'. You're all right, you're all right. [
To
MATRON
] She's all right. Better go.

MATRON
: Gran evidently seems to have done a good job.

GRAN
: I brought plenty of babies into this world, Matron.

MATRON
: [
reaching into her satchel
] Well, here's plenty of clean cotton wool and baby powder and Lysol soap.

GRAN
: Don't need powder, use me own.

MATRON
: All right, see you tomorrow when she's calmed down. [
To
MARY
] Bye, dear. You have a good sleep now.

MARY
: Yes, Matron.

MATRON
and
TOPSY
leave the tent and vanish into the darkness with the hurricane lamp.

Long Pool Camp, Moore River, day.
GRAN
seems to have aged suddenly. She sits and stares into the smouldering fire, quietly grumbling and singing.
CISSIE
and
DAVID
play knucklebones.
MILLY
and
SAM
play cards.
MARY
watches over the baby who sleeps in a kerosene tin. A loud whistle is heard in the distance.

SAM
: Who the hell is that?

DAVID
: Boys whistling at girls, I bet.

MARY
: No.

The whistle is heard again.

I know that whistle, that's Joe. It's Joe, it's Joe!

CISSIE
and
DAVID
start to run.

MILLY
: Come back, you two! Come back!

DAVID
: It's Joe, Mum. It's Joe.

The kids run off
.

JOE
: [
off
] Hey! Where are all you blackfellas?

JOE
enters carrying a sugar bag and with
DAVID
on his back. They are followed by
CISSIE
.
He sees
MARY
and they embrace. He swings her around and around.
DAVID
falls off, laughing and yelling.
JOE
wears a yellow shirt and black pants.

How's everybody? Gawd, it's good to be back.

SAM
: Yeah, son, we wasn't expectin' you for another two weeks.

DAVID
: [
yelling, pointing to the tin
] Your baby in there! [
Quietly
] Sleepin'.

JOE
: How are you, Gran?

GRAN
: Bit crook. [
Rubbing her leg
] Me leg git tired, little bit, this one.

MARY
: Come and see baby.

They walk to where the baby sleeps.

JOE
: Gawd.

Pause.

Can he sit up?

MARY
: Give him time. He's only ten weeks old.

JOE
: What did you call him?

SAM
: We call him
koolbardi
, Nyoongah name.

GRAN
: Magpie.

MARY
: We waited for you to come home to give him a
wetjala
name.

Silence.

JOE
: I wanna call him Jimmy.

Silence.

MARY
: Yeah.

GRAN
begins to wail and cry.

JOE
: Eh, Gran, got somethin' here for you.

[
He dives his hand into the sugar bag and produces a wooden pipe and a tin of tobacco.
]

Here y'are, Gran, real pipe and real
gnummarri
, not nigger twist.

GRAN
:
Woolah
,
kwobiduk
,
cooo-ooh
.

JOE
: [
pulling out coloured ribbons
] Here y'are, Cissie, ribbons for your hair.

CISSIE
: Oh thanks, brother, they're
moorditj
.

She ties yellow and red ribbons in her hair.

JOE
: Here y'are,
gnoon
.

He gives
DAVID
a pocket knife.

Here y'are, Mum.

He produces a needle and cotton.

And Dad.

He produces tobacco and papers.

SAM
: Hey, real papers. Rizlas. Good on ya, son.

MILLY
: Didn't you git nothin' for Mary?

JOE
: Course I did, Mum.

He pulls out a larger parcel and gives it to her.

Go on, open it.

She tears the paper off: it's a red dress.

MILLY
: Go and try it on, dear.

SAM
: Hey, son, where did you git the
boondah
?

JOE
: Wages. Earned a few bob and they give it to me when I got out. Not like this place.

He takes out a packet of cigarettes.

Had enough left for a packet of Luxor!

They share them.
MARY
returns with the dress on, unbuttoned down the back. She goes to
JOE
to do it up.

Geez, what happened to your back?

MILLY
: Neal belted her.

DAVID
: With the cat-'o-nine-tails. Tracker held her down over the flour bags.

CISSIE
: And she was seven months
bootjari
.

JOE
: Dinkum?

GRAN
:
Kunarn
,
kunarn
!

JOE
: Bloody stinkin' walrus-faced bastard. I'm gunna kick his teeth down his fuckin' throat.

He starts to run off, but
MARY
stops him.

MARY
: Joe, please, please, please, don't go near him. Please think of Baby and me. He'll put you in gaol again.

JOE
: But why did he have to belt you?

MARY
: 'Cause I told him to go to hell.

JOE
: Dinkum?

MARY
: Yeah.

They embrace and laugh.

He got wild 'coz I wouldn't knuckle under to him. Don't go, Joe, not now. Go on Monday and ask him if we can leave the Settlement.
Koodjie
'll be there, an' he's scared a' her.

JOE
: Who?

MARY
:
Koodjie
. Matron. He's frightened a' her. Come an' see Uncle Herbie before Baby wakes; he's cruel hungry and he's got a cruel loud voice.

They exit.

Superintendent's Office, Moore River, day.
TOPSY
brings
NEAL
a cup of tea on a tray in exact repetition of Scene Five.
JOE
wails outside as
NEAL
rummages through drawers until he finds a piece of paper. He reads it, adds a few words, and places it on his desk.

NEAL
: [
yelling
] Millimurra!

JOE
walks in, stands and stares at him in silence.