No Sugar (4 page)

JIMMY
: Here, Mum, chuck them in.

MILLY
: Ay! Where d'you git them from?

JOE
: He never growed 'em and I bet he never bought 'em.

MILLY
takes them, prepares them and adds them to the rabbit stew.
JIMMY
produces a mouth organ.

MILLY
: You lookin' for gaol awright!

JIMMY
: [
to
FRANK
] You been inside?

FRANK
: Inside? Inside where?

JIMMY
: Gaol. You been in Freeo?

FRANK
: No.

GRAN
: You'll be in gaol if Chergeant catch you here.

SAM
: Ne'mine 'bout Sergeant, Mother-In-Law; give him a feed.

MILLY
: Won't be long; stew ain't proper cooked yet.

JIMMY
takes a drink.

JIMMY
: Ay
wetjala
. You know how many time I been in gaol? [
Holding up four fingers
] That many times.

FRANK
: [
shyly
] What for?

JIMMY
: Aw, drinkin', fightin' and snowdroppin'.

SAM
: You know what snowdroppin' is?

MILLY
: Pinchin' things off other people's clothes lines.

JIMMY
: Hey,
wetjala
, mate, you know when I was a little fella, 'bout twelve, thirteen years old…

JOE
: Aw, here we go…

JIMMY
Shut up, you. [
To
FRANK
] You know what I was?

FRANK
: Ah, no.

JIMMY
: Choir boy. I tell you I was the leadin' choir boy at New Norcia Mission; wasn't I, Mother?

SAM
: Didn't do you much good.

MILLY
: He used to sing ‘Ave Maria' solo, real good.

JIMMY
: Yeah! [
To
SAM
] 'Ow do you know? You wasn't even there.

SAM
: 'Course I was there. [
To
FRANK
] That's where I met her,
unna
Mill?

FRANK
: Did you get married at New Norcia?

SAM
: Too right.

GRAN
: In the church too.

JIMMY
: An' engaged under a Government blanket.

MILLY
: Shut up!
Dawarra
,
nitja wetjala
.

GRAN
: [
clicking her tongue
]
Choo
,
kienya
.

JIMMY
: I'm only jokin'. Anyways, who wants to 'ear a song?

JIMMY
produces a mouth organ and plays ‘Springtime in the Rockies'.
MILLY
begins to remove the damper from the ashes and dust it off.

MILLY
: Cissie! David! Mum, see if the stew's cooked… Cissie! David!

GRAN
checks the stew.

GRAN
: Yeah, it's cooked.

CISSIE
and
DAVID
return with the bike.
JOE
spreads a wogga on the ground.

Cissie, plates, plates. David, put the billy on.

DAVID
: Me bike's
moorditj
; we went right down the rubbish dump.

CISSIE
: Yeah, an' I had to push you back through the sand.

DAVID
lays the bike on its side and they sit and serve the food.
SAM
breaks up the damper.

SAM
: [
to
FRANK
] You eat this before?

FRANK
: Damper? Plenty a' times.

SAM
: Cooked in the ashes?

FRANK
: No.

JOE
: You eat underground mutton before?

MILLY
gives him a plate of stew.

FRANK
: What? Oh, thanks, missus.

JIMMY
: Underground mutton!

JOE
: Rabbit.

JIMMY
: You try that, dip the damper,
moorditj
!

FRANK
: Yeah, we used to live on 'em when we was on the farm.

GRAN
: James, you come an' get your supper.

JIMMY
: No, leave it, I'll get it dreckly.

He takes a long drink of wine as the others eat.

[
To
GRAN
and
MILLY
, indicating
FRANK
] You see that fella there, Mum, Mill? He had his own farm once. You wouldn't believe it, eh?

JOE
: [
to
FRANK
] Yeah? Where?

FRANK
: Out Lake Yealering.

JOE
: What happened?

FRANK
: Aw, between the rabbits and a couple of bad seasons and the bank, the bloody bank, I lost it; the lot, even the crop in the ground.

JIMMY
: [
drunker
] Yeah, fuckin' gubmet. Fucks everybody up; everybody, eh? Eh? You allowed to walk down the street after sundown? Eh?

FRANK
: Yeah, don't see why not.

JIMMY
: Well I'm not. None of us are; you know we're not allowed in town, not allowed to go down the soak, not allowed to march…?

He mimes handcuffs and gaol by first putting his wrists together and then placing a hand downwards over his forehead with the fingers spread over his eyes.

Manatj
grab us like that. Bastards…

FRANK
: Who?

GRAN
: Politjmans.

JIMMY
: They can shoot our dawgs, anytime they want to. Bastards. They shot Streak. [
To
SAM
and
MILLY
] Eh, you 'member Streak. Kill and show dawg, used to catch meat for every blackfella in Northam and they shot him. [
Miming
] Just like that. [
Maudlin, almost in tears
] Ay, Mill, he's married; got three kids and a wife.

MILLY
: [
sympathetically
]
Nyorn
,
winyarn
.

GRAN
: [
to
FRANK
] Where they now?

FRANK
: When we walked off I sent 'em to Perth, stayin' with her parents.

JIMMY
drags a wallet out of
FRANK
's pocket.

JIMMY
: Show 'em that photo. Go on, mate, show 'em.

JIMMY
gives
FRANK
the wallet and stands.

[
Wandering off
] Go on, show 'em.

SAM
: Where you goin'?

JIMMY
: I'm gonna strain the spuds.

FRANK
takes out the photo and passes it around.

MILLY
: All girls, eh?

GRAN
:
Nyorn
,
winyarn
, pretty
koolangah
too.

SAM
: Nice lookin'
yorgah
.

CISSIE
: She come from Lake Yealering?

FRANK
: No, met her at a dancin' contest; Charleston, at the Lux, in Perth.

SAM
: How long since you seen your kids?

FRANK
: Six months; haven't even sent 'em any money.

JIMMY
returns and falls over the bike in the dark.

JIMMY
: Oh, Jesus, me bloody leg! Fuck that bike!

JIMMY
kicks at the bike savagely.

DAVID
: Oh, Uncle Jimmy, don't do that; I just fixed it up.

JOE
: [
jumping up
] Eh,
kongi
, David's been workin' on it all day.
Kienya
.

He runs to rescue the bike, but collects an accidental blow from
JIMMY
.

Ow! Me nose!

SAM
jumps up, runs to
JIMMY
and pushes him.

SAM
: You cut that out, you hear me?

JIMMY
: You git!

He swings an ineffectual punch at
SAM
.

SAM
: Just stop it, awright?

JIMMY
attacks and they engage in a ragged brawl. After a moment they separate and circle one another.
JIMMY
takes his coat off.

JIMMY
: Awright, come on, come on.

SAM
: Stop it, you hear me? And none of your bitin'.

FRANK
: I'd better go, Mrs Millimurra.

MILLY
: Yeah, awright.

FRANK
stands.

FRANK
: And thanks for the really nice meal.

MILLY
: That's all right. Eh! Cut it out, you two.

FRANK
: Tooroo!

FRANK
leaves.
JIMMY
and
SAM
are locked together, cursing each other.
CISSIE
and
DAVID
rescue the bike from under their feet.
JOE
blows his nose and looks for blood on his sleeve.

GRAN
: Don't you hit him,
SAM
.

SAM
: I will if he bites me.

GRAN
: I'll stop you two fellas.

She charges at them, grabbing both by the hair and pulling viciously. They separate and she falls on her backside.
MILLY
laughs.

MILLY
: Aw, Mum, you're cruel.

JOE
goes and tries to pick her up.
SAM
seizes his chance and sits on
JIMMY
,
who thrashes about helplessly.

JOE
: Granny, git up, you're getting dirt all over you.

GRAN
gets up with help from
JOE
.

JIMMY
: Who do you think you are, fuckin' Jack Johnston?

SAM
: You think you're fuckin' Jack Dempsey.

GRAN
: I'll stop youse, I'll stop youse.

She takes her wahna stick and gives them both a solid poke in the ribs. They separate and get up, reluctantly.

[
To
SAM
] Now git off him. You know he's
weern koort minditj
.

SAM
: He ain't sick in the chest, he's sick in the bloody head.

JIMMY
crawls for his coat, then for the bottle.
MILLY
beats him to it.

MILLY
: This is real fightin' stuff, eh? Real fightin' stuff.

She pours it onto the ground.
JIMMY
sits, head between his knees, and groans.

The Police Station and lock-up, Northam, night. Two separate cells imprison
JIMMY
and
SAM
.
The
SERGEANT
and
CONSTABLE
put possessions into drawstring bags and record their contents. Beside them stands a bottle of port, nearly empty.

SERGEANT
: Munday, James Emmanuel.

CONSTABLE
: One mouth organ, one length of binder twine; tobacco tin, Wild Woodbine; one book,
Lasseter's Last Ride
, eightpence halfpenny.

SERGEANT
: [
inspecting the bottle
] Port. Who got it for 'em?

CONSTABLE
: [
laughing
] They're not sayin'.

JIMMY
takes out a mouth organ and plays ‘Home, Sweet Home'.

SERGEANT
: Be that bloke camped down the goods yard. I'll check with publicans and pick him up in the morning…

[
Nodding at
JIMMY
] Thought you took that thing off him.

CONSTABLE
: [
picking up a bag
] I did, it's here.

SERGEANT
: Musta had two of 'em. Get it off him.

The
CONSTABLE
walks down to
JIMMY
's cell

CONSTABLE
: Give me that instrument.

JIMMY
: This ain't a hinstrument, it's a mouth organ.

CONSTABLE
: Hand it over.

JIMMY
: You already got one.

CONSTABLE
: Give it here.

JIMMY
: I gave you me other one.

CONSTABLE
: Just bloody-well hand it over.

SAM
: Give it to him,
gnoolya
,
baal nooniny barminy
.

JIMMY
relents and pokes it through the door. The
CONSTABLE
returns and puts it in the bag.

JIMMY
: Bastard.

CONSTABLE
: Two mouth organs. Wish I knew how to play one of these.

JIMMY
picks up the toilet bucket.

JIMMY
: [
calling
] Eh, Sergeant! Sergeant!