No Sugar (6 page)

SAM
: Well, grab a bit of breakfast, I want you to help me cut the rest of them posts today.

JOE
eats damper and dip.
GRAN
gives him a cup of tea.

MILLY
: Cissie, come on, hurry up.

CISSIE
: [
weakly
] Mum, I feel worse.

She coughs.
DAVID
stuffs a piece of damper in his pocket and grabs his bike.

MILLY
: You wait for your sister.

DAVID
: Come on, Cissie.

GRAN
: What's wrong with you?

MILLY
: What's the matter, you
minditj
?

She feels
CISSIE
's forehead.
CISSIE
coughs and her mother rubs her back. They all gather around her with increasing concern.

God, she's burnin' up.

CISSIE
: [
holding her throat
] Hurts, Mum, here; hurts when I cough.

MILLY
: Well, no school for you today, my girl. [
To
SAM
] You ain't goin' post cuttin' today, and David, you walk to school.

DAVID
: Aw, Mum!

MILLY
: Don't, ‘Aw Mum' me. Joe, you git on that bike and go and ask Uncle Herbie for a lend of his horse and cart. We takin' her to the doctor straight away.

JOE
takes the bike from
DAVID
.

SAM
: Aw Mill, can't you and Mum take her? I only want another hundred posts and I'll have enough
boondah
to pay me fine.

GRAN
grabs
JOE
before he rides off.

GRAN
: Ask him for some
gnummarri
for me.

MILLY
: You can go this afternoon.

JOE
: Okay, Gran.

SAM
: What doctor you takin' her to?

DAVID
gets on the bike behind
JOE
and they ride off together towards the main street.

GRAN
: More better take her straight to the hospital.

SAM
: [
calling after
JOE
and
DAVID
] We'll wait down the road for you.

JOE
: Okay!

JOE
and
DAVID
exit.

MILLY
: [
to
SAM
] You better ask Skinny for a couple of dozen bags.

SAM
: He'll want me to cut an extra one hundred and fifty posts for that.

MILLY
: Well, cut 'em then, and get a lend of some bag needles and don't forget binder twine.

SAM
: Another twenty posts.

MILLY
: You an' Joe can patch up the sides, then go down the dump an' see if you can find more tin for the roof. Bloody place is colder than the North Pole. And that old baldy had better cough up with some more blankets.

SAM
: Come on girlie, I'll carry you.

SAM
picks up
CISSIE
and they all leave. The dogs bark.

The Police Station, Northam, winter's morning, 1932.
SERGEANT CARROL
walks into the station and sits down to read the local newspaper, the Northam Advertiser. Outside the Chief Protector's office,
JIMMY
waits around.
MR NEVILLE
briskly approaches his office.

JIMMY
: Mr Neville, Mr Neville! I wanna see you.

NEVILLE
: The office opens at nine o'clock.

JIMMY
: Can't wait, gotta train to catch.

NEVILLE
: The native's entrance is around the back.

JIMMY
: I'm not waitin 'round there all day.

NEVILLE
: [
affronted
] I beg your pardon?

JIMMY
: I only wanna train fare to Northam.

NEVILLE
: You can wait around the back and you'll be attended to in due course.

JIMMY
: I'm not sittin' down there all bloody day.

NEVILLE
: What's your name?

JIMMY
: Jimmy Munday.

NEVILLE
: Munday, Northam… Oh yes, I've got a good fat file of police reports on you. What are you doing in Perth?

JIMMY
: Mindin' me own bloody business.

NEVILLE
: Munday, let me give you a piece of advice: sugar catches more flies than vinegar.

NEVILLE
storms into his office, sits at his desk, and starts to read his mail as
CONSTABLE
KERR
limps into the police station.

SERGEANT
: Afternoon.

CONSTABLE
: Sorry, had to walk, got a crook leg playin' footy.

SERGEANT
: When was that?

CONSTABLE
: Sat'dy… You were there.

SERGEANT
: It's all right, I just wasn't sure whether you were on the field.

MISS DUNN
arrives at the office.

JIMMY
: Missus! Hey, Missus!

MISS DUNN
: Good morning.

JIMMY
: Missus, I wanna see Mr Neville.

MISS DUNN
: I'm not sure if he's in yet.

JIMMY
: He's in there, all right. I seen 'im, an asked 'im for a train fare.

MISS DUNN
: And what did he say?

JIMMY
: Sometin' about catchin' flies.

MISS DUNN
: All right, I'll mention it to him. There's a bench on the back verandah, if you'd like to wait there.

MISS DUNN
enters the office.

SERGEANT
: [
to the
CONSTABLE
] Oh yeah, you rated a mention in the '
Tiser
.

CONSTABLE
: I know.

MISS DUNN
: [
seating herself
] Good morning, Mr Neville.

NEVILLE
: Morning, Miss Dunn.

MISS DUNN
: There's a native outside, wants to see you about a train fare.

NEVILLE
: [
abruptly
] I know. He can wait.

NEVILLE
continues to read as
JIMMY
ambles around the back of the office and sits on the waiting bench.
MISS DUNN
opens the rest of the mail.

SERGEANT
: [
reading
] ‘Towards the end of the first quarter, Kerr marked in front of goal… but kicked out of bounds. Towns eight: twenty-two; seventy points to Federals ten: twelve; seventy-two points.'

CONSTABLE
: I know the score.

SERGEANT
CARROL
continues reading and chuckles to himself.
NEVILLE
lays an open letter on the desk in front of him.

NEVILLE
: Miss Dunn, would you mind getting Sergeant Carrol in Northam on the line?

MISS DUNN
picks up the phone and dials.

SERGEANT
: [
to the
CONSTABLE
] And you got another mention.

MISS DUNN
: [
into the receiver
] Hello, operator; Northam nine please…Thankyou.

SERGEANT
: [
reading
] ‘In front of goal, Gillet put Kerr in possession who… kicked out of bounds…' Sea breeze in, was it?

JIMMY
ventures into
MISS DUNN
's part of the office.

JIMMY
: S'cuse me, Missus.

CONSTABLE
: [
to the
SERGEANT
] I kicked a couple of goals.

JIMMY
: [
to
MISS DUNN
] I wanna see him.

MISS DUNN
: All right, what's your name?

JIMMY
: Jimmy Munday. I wanna train fare; mixed goods leaves at eleven o'clock.

MISS DUNN
: All right, I'll ask him…

She goes to
NEVILLE
's desk.

That native, Jimmy Munday, is waiting to see you. He wants a train fare.

NEVILLE
: Well, he'll just have to wait.

MISS DUNN
: [
returning to her desk
] I'm afraid he's very busy at the moment.

The phone rings in Northam.

He'll see you later on.

The
CONSTABLE
answers the phone.

CONSTABLE:
[
together
] Hello, Northam Police… Yes.

JIMMY:
[
together
] [
to
MISS DUNN
] Look, Missus. I just got outa goal an' I wanna train fare back home.

The phone rings in the Chief Protector's Office.

CONSTABLE
: [
to the
SERGEANT
] Niggers' Department.

The
SERGEANT
takes the phone.

MISS DUNN
: [
to
NEVILLE
] He says he's just been released from gaol.

[
Into the receiver
] Hello, Aborigines Department.

NEVILLE
: Then he should have the price of a train fare.

MISS DUNN
: [
into the receiver
] Yes, hold the line please. [
To
NEVILLE
] Northam.

SERGEANT
: Hello.

NEVILLE
: [
to
MISS DUNN
] Oh, he can have a travel voucher if he comes back after two.

He picks up the phone.
MISS DUNN
hangs up and relays
NEVILLE
'
s message to
JIMMY
.

SERGEANT
: Hello.

NEVILLE
: Sergeant Carrol… Neville. Sergeant, we seem to be running into problems again. I've received correspondence from the Town Clerk to the effect that they are opposing the gazetting of the Guilford Road site as a native reserve. They consider it unsuitable.

SERGEANT
: It's got a water supply and a couple acres of grazing land.

MILLY
and
GRAN
approach the police station.

NEVILLE
: Apparently the Council has plans to develop it.

SERGEANT
: What as?

NEVILLE
: [
reading
] As a ‘recreation park, for boy scouts and picnic parties'.

SERGEANT
: Pretty recent plans.

GRAN
: [
shouting
] Chergeant! Chergeant!

SERGEANT
: [
to the
CONSTABLE
] For Christ's sake, see who that is.

NEVILLE
: Sorry, Sergeant.

SERGEANT
: Between you and me and the gatepost, the Council'd prefer it if you sent 'em to Moore River or somewhere.

GRAN
: Chergeant!

The
CONSTABLE
goes to the door.

NEVILLE
: Most councils would prefer that, Sergeant, but the place is bursting at the seams.

GRAN
: [
to the
CONSTABLE
] I wanna see him.

CONSTABLE
: He's on the phone.

NEVILLE
: You can only do your best, but I'm afraid you'll have to come up with another alternative.

CONSTABLE
: [
to
GRAN
] You'll have to come back later on.

GRAN
: You ain't the boss… Chergeant!

NEVILLE
: I'll be in touch soon.

SERGEANT
: 'Bye, Mr Neville.

CONSTABLE
: [
to
GRAN
] I don't want any lip from you.

NEVILLE
: Better leave you to it.

NEVILLE
and the
SERGEANT
hang up.

GRAN
: [
to the
CONSTABLE
] And I don't want any from you. [
To the
SERGEANT
,
shouting
] Hey, Chergeant, your man gettin' cheeky out 'ere.

SERGEANT
: [
to the
CONSTABLE
] For God's sake, let 'em in.

MILLY
:
Choo
,
choo
. Mum, don't shout.

SERGEANT
: They can be heard all the way down the bloody street…

They enter.
JIMMY
barges into the Chief Protector's Office.

JIMMY
: Mr Neville.

NEVILLE
: I thought you were told to wait outside.

JIMMY
: I only want a train fare.

NEVILLE
: I distinctly heard Miss Dunn tell you to come back after two.

JIMMY
: Too late, mixed goods leaves at eleven.

NEVILLE
: You can catch the Kalgoorlie train at five.