No Sugar (3 page)

The phone rings in
NEVILLE
's office
.
MISS DUNN
picks up the receiver.

MISS DUNN
: Excuse me, Mr Neville… [
Into the receiver
] Hello, Chief Protector of Aborigines Office… Thankyou, operator. [
To
NEVILLE
] Northam.

NEVILLE
takes the call and
MISS DUNN
hangs up.

NEVILLE
: Sergeant Carrol. Neville, Aborigines.

SERGEANT
: Hello, Northam Police… Hello.

NEVILLE
: It's an awful line, Sergeant. Are you on the line?

SERGEANT
: Yes, I can hear you.

NEVILLE
: Good. We seem to have encountered a few obstacles with the new reserve. The Guilford Road site isn't acceptable to the Council. Apparently the adjoining landholders have lodged objections.

SERGEANT
: I thought they might. What grounds? Did they say?

NEVILLE
: [
looking at his letter
] A Mr Smith…

NEVILLE
: Oh, yeah.

NEVILLE
:… Claims he wouldn't be able to go out and leave his wife home alone at night.

SERGEANT
: And he's generally down the Shamrock Hotel till stumps.

GRAN
and
MILLY
approach the Police Station.

NEVILLE
: Well, the upshot of it is that the Lands Department won't be able to gazette it, so you as the local Protector of Aborigines will have to recommend an alternative site… The Council's concerned that it's well away from any residences.

GRAN
: Chergeant!… Chergeant!

NEVILLE
: What's that terrible racket?

GRAN
: Chergeant!

SERGEANT
: [
to
NEVILLE
] Ration day.

GRAN
: Chergeant.

NEVILLE
: All right, letter to follow, I'll leave you to it.

SERGEANT
: Thanks, Mr Neville.

NEVILLE
: Cheerio.

The
SERGEANT
and
NEVILLE
hang up.

SERGEANT
: Alright Gran, come in.

NEVILLE
: Where was I?

MISS DUNN
: Of eighty who went out in the domestic service last year…

NEVILLE
: Thirty returned to the settlement in pregnant condition, yours etcetera… If you could type that straight away I'll run it up to the Office myself.

The
SERGEANT
places flour, sugar and two small packages on the bench and marks them off in his ration book.

SERGEANT
: Flour, sugar, tea… And how you been keepin', Granny
?

GRAN
: I'm awright.

SERGEANT
: Been behavin' yourself?

GRAN
: Have you?

SERGEANT
: There's your butcher's order, meat and dripping.

MILLY
: [
inspecting the small packages
] You got two cream a tartar 'ere.

SERGEANT
: Right, let's change 'em.

GRAN
: Damper won't rise without no bicarbonate.

SERGEANT
: That shouldn't worry you, Granny, you should remember when you used to grind up jam and wattle seeds.

GRAN
: More better than white man's flour, no weevils in jam and wattle seeds.

SERGEANT
: Good tucker, eh?

GRAN
: When I was that high we go and get 'em and smash 'em up and get a bag full, that much!

SERGEANT
: You can still collect 'em, nothin' stoppin' you.

GRAN
: Where?
Wetjala
cut all the trees down.

MILLY
: Haven't got any soap yet.

SERGEANT
: I'm afraid that soap is no longer included as a ration item.

MILLY
: What do you mean, we got no more soap?

SERGEANT
: That's right.

MILLY
: But why? What am I gonna wash with? How can I keep my kids clean and sen 'em to school?

SERGEANT
: You could buy some.

MILLY
: What with?

GRAN
: What about
gnummarri
? You stop that too?

SERGEANT
: No, Granny, you still get your stick of nigger twist.

He gives it to her.

MILLY
: Whose idea was it to stop the soap?

SERGEANT
: The idea, as you call it, came from the Aboriginal Department in Perth.

GRAN
: Mister Neville?

MILLY
: I just can't believe it: no soap!

SERGEANT
: Your trouble, Milly, is you got three healthy men bludging off you, too lazy to work.

MILLY
: Where they gonna get work?

SERGEANT
: They're afraid to look for it in case they find it.

MILLY
: Cockies want 'em to work for nothin'.

GRAN
: They not slaves, Chergeant!

SERGEANT
: Well, they'll have to work if you want luxury items like soap.

MILLY
: Look, last week my Joe cut a hundred posts for old Skinny Martin and you know what he got? A pair of second-hand boots and a piece of stag ram so tough even the dawgs couldn't eat it; skinnier than old Martin 'imself.

GRAN
: And we couldn't eat the boots.

MILLY
: You wait till brother Jimmy hears about this no soap business. He'll make you fellas jump.

SERGEANT
: Yeah, and you tell that bush lawyer brother of yours, if he comes here arguing I'll make him jump: straight inside.

They turn to go. As they leave he raises his voice after them.

You hear me?

MILLY
: [
calling
] Yeah, I hear you. Can't help hearin' you.

They walk down the street.

GRAN
: [
calling
] You don't want to shout like that, Chergeant. You'll 'ave a fit, just like a dingo when he gets bait.

MILLY
: [
calling
] Seein' you're drinkin down the Federal every night, Sergeant, you can tell old Skinny Martin to stick his stag ram right up his skinny
kwon
!

GRAN
: [
calling
] Yeah, an' the boots too.

They exit, laughing and hooting Nyoongah fashion. The
SERGEANT
returns to the police station, puts the ration book away and settles down to reading the newspaper.
MISS DUNN
finishes typing the letter. She hands it to
NEVILLE
, who reads it quickly.

NEVILLE
: [
signing it
] Thankyou, Miss Dunn. We'd better get a thankyou note off to Mr Neal.

MISS DUNN
: I can do it straight away for you.

NEVILLE
: All right; Mr N.S. Neal, Superintendent, Moore River Native Settlement, etcetera.

Dear Mr Neal, just a short note to thank you for your… thank you and Matron for your hospitality on our recent visit to the Settlement. The Settlement is looking splendid, considering, obviously a credit to you both. The conduct of the ceremony was a tribute to your military precision, and the afternoon tea, especially Matron's homemade lemonade, was splendid on such a hot day. As I mentioned, I was a little concerned to see so many dirty little noses amongst the children. I'm a great believer that if you provide the native the basic accoutrements of civilisation you're half way to civilising him. I'd like to see each child issued with a handkerchief and instructed on its use. Funds as always are short so I've taken the liberty of ordering several bolts of cloth from Government stores. I'm sure the girls in the sewing room could run up the handkerchiefs. I take your point about losing them and suggest attaching them to their sleeves by way of a tape. Likewise, as discussed, the stores branch will henceforth be supplying limited supplies of toilet paper for use in the dormitory lavatories. I think some practical training from yourself and Matron in its correct usage would be appropriate. If you can successfully inculcate such basic but essential details of civilised living you will have helped them along the road to taking their place in Australian society. Again, many thanks to Matron and yourself. Australia Day at the settlement is something I'll always look forward to.

Yours, etcetera.

I'd better get this off to the Minister. I'll be back after lunch.

Government Well, dusk. Magpies are carolling.
CISSIE
is preparing a damper.
JOE
and
DAVID
play two-up with bottle tops.
DAVID
has the headers.

DAVID
: Come on, set me up. Not beer tops, wine tops.

CISSIE
: [
calling
] Joe! Make a place for the damper for me.

JOE
: [
laughing, to
DAVID
] Don't make no difference.

DAVID
: It does.

JOE
: Why?

DAVID
: Wine cost more than beer.

CISSIE
: Joe! Joe, come on.

JOE
: Okay. Okay.

CISSIE
calls impatiently. The dough is beginning to fall apart.

CISSIE
: Joe, hurry up!

JOE
: Awright.

CISSIE
: Joe, come on!

CISSIE
stands by the fire holding the dough.
JOE
uses his doak to make an impression in the ashes.
CISSIE
puts the damper in and covers it with ashes.

DAVID
: [
spinning
]
Woolah!
Heads!

JOE
: Let's have a look.

DAVID
:
Moorditj, unna
?

The dogs bark.

CISSIE
: David, git me some more wood. [
DAVID
spins
.] David!

DAVID
: Wait till I've finished spinnin'.

CISSIE
:
Shoo-i
, tail them.

DAVID
spins them high.

DAVID
: Have a look at them, Ciss.

He looks. They're tails.

See what you made me do.

He goes for the wood.

CISSIE
: Joe, better chop some more wood up.

JOE
: Yeah, okay.

He spins.

Bastard.

He picks up the axe and goes to the woodpile.
DAVID
returns with a load of wood. He puts it down and begins to count his bottle tops.

DAVID
: Boy, look at my
boondah
.

JIMMY
enters.

JIMMY
: Wait till I see him tomorrow. I'll give him no soap.

SAM
and
FRANK
follows
JIMMY
. The men are slightly drunk. Finally,
GRAN
and
MILLY
enter.

CISSIE
: About time.

DAVID
: Took youse long enough, got any boiled lollies?

GRAN
: No. No lollies.

MILLY
: Ain't even got no soap.

JOE
: [
indicating
FRANK
]
Gneean baal
?

JIMMY
: He's our friend.

SAM
: Ay! Mate! That's me eldest boy Joe, and that's Cissie and that's the youngest, David.

FRANK
: Hello.

The children don't reply.

CISSIE
: Ay, Mum? Why isn't there any soap? I wanna wash my hair tomorrow.

GRAN
: What you got in the camp oven?

She looks.

MILLY
: Don't git soap in the rations no more.

GRAN
: [
Peering into the camp oven
] No onions or taters.

CISSIE
: Why? What for?

She feels her hair.

MILLY
: Just what I said, darlin', Sergeant ain't giving no soap any more.

GRAN
: Don't worry, we can use
tjeerung
bush. I know where some growin'.

JIMMY
: Don't worry about Sergeant, I'll give him a piece of my mind.

GRAN
: You know what he'll give you? Six months.

JIMMY
takes a drink.

JIMMY
: Six months.

He laughs.

Mother, I can do that standing on my head.

He passes the bottle to
FRANK
.

Here, mate.

DAVID
: Ay, Dad, fixed my bike today. Wanna see it?

SAM
: Yeah.

DAVID
runs off, followed by
CISSIE
.

DAVID
: It's goin' real good.

GRAN
puts onions and potatoes in the camp oven.
JIMMY
produces turnips from his pocket.