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Authors: Jared Thomas

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BOOK: Calypso Summer
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‘So if I helped get something happening, my mob who help can get paid?'

Gary nodded.

‘And I'd get a bonus?'

‘That's right,' said Gary with a wink. ‘And who knows, if we're making something that sells, there might be more work for your tribesmen that comes out of it.'

I wanted to tell Gary to stop calling my mob tribesmen. He was talking about my family like we lived way back in the past. But even more I wanted Run to get on board with this thing. It seemed better than anything else coming his way. Even though I would give Run most of the bonus on offer, I knew it would take Run a lot of convincing to get involved. I thought I'd give it a go anyway. After all, he's pretty much my brother. Our mums are sisters and he's been living with us since his mum died from diabetes when he was just a little fella.

To butter up Run I bought a bag of ganja on the way home. I know it probably wasn't the best thing to do but I could have bought him a six-pack of beer or a bottle of scotch. And if a smoke and a talk made Run get on track, it wouldn't be such a bad thing, would it?

°°°

Run was sitting in front of the television watching Two and a Half Men when I stepped into the flat. I walked to the kitchen table, placed my knapsack on the table and pulled out the bag.

‘Want a smoke, Run,' I asked flashing the little bag.

‘Who recks,' said Run, ‘I've been hanging. About time you had a smoke cuz.'

I didn't want to have a smoke, in fact I was pretty nervous about it. What if I started smoking flat out again? Run went and grabbed the bong from his room. I packed him a cone. I could see him trembling with anticipation as he picked up the bong, struck
the lighter and breathed the smoke deep into his seventeen-year-old lungs like there was no tomorrow. Then he started coughing like buggery and he handed me the bong.

‘Can you put on some Bob?' I asked as I packed the bong. I didn't want Run to see my hands shaking.

Bob Marley's ‘Duppy Conqueror', started to play and I put a flame to the ganja. Before I knew it, I was as stoned as and it seemed like Marley was wailing right there in my lounge room.

‘Good shit, hey?' Run asked.

I just nodded my head, trying to get used to the sensation again. I couldn't get used to it. I felt really paranoid. I almost forgot what I wanted to tell Run and then he asked, ‘How's the slave trade?'

‘Work's deadly, Gary asked me if I could get involved with something that might bring in some more bunda.'

‘Oh yeah, what is it?'

‘He wants me to get some Aboriginal plants or medicine or things that we can put into things like bath oils that make people sleep or dream more, you know.'

‘What do you know about that kind of stuff big medicine man?' Run laughed.

‘Gary reckons he'll give me a bonus, a few thousand dollars, if we worked something out. He also reckons he could pay my
tribesmen
too if they helped me out.'

Run's face, although he was trying to act cool, showed that he was interested in Gary's offer. I guess like me he didn't believe that someone would pay so much for plants you could just grab from the bush.

‘Yeah mahn, a few thousand dollars he offered.'

‘And what did you say?'

‘I said I'd ask around but I don't know where to start.'

‘There's plenty of people we know that could put us onto something,' Run bragged.

‘Really?'

Mum had talked about bush medicines before, and she was always going on about how bush tucker is so healthy, especially her kangaroo-tail soup, so I wondered if Run was thinking about Mum too.

‘Maybe we should ask Mum,' I suggested, getting in first.

‘Mum? What for?'

‘Maybe she can help us out or knows some family that can.'

‘Whose family?'

‘Our family!'

‘I don't want anyone in our family to know that we're trying to scrounge up ganja!'

‘Ganja!? Who said anything about ganja?'

‘Isn't that what you're talking about? Gary wants some stuff to help people relax, sleep and dream better unna?'

‘Gary doesn't want ganja. He doesn't want that type of plant. He wants Aboriginal medicines, you know from plants that grow in the bush, things our old people used to make them better, cuz.'

‘While my pot plant grows up in my room, it's an Aboriginal plant, Calypso.'

‘Shhh,' I said, getting paranoid, ‘I'm not talking about ganja. I thought it might be good for us to sit down with some old people and find out about this stuff.'

‘All I know is that people get stoned when they harvest big crops, Calypso, just from the ganja getting through their skin.
Why wouldn't the same thing happen if you mixed ganja with massage oils and bath water?'

I realised that Run had a point. It was just how I thought the Aboriginal plants would work, spreading through the water and bath oil to mellow people out. Still, I didn't want Run to get stuck on the argument so I tried arguing with him from another angle.

‘Run, you've heard Mum talk about how good bush tucker is for you, hey?'

‘All the time.'

‘And how plants and things were used by our old people for medicine?'

‘Yeah, but people did that ages ago.'

‘But the plants gotta be there still. It would be cool if we could find out about these things, and sell them through the store.'

‘It would take us ages to learn about that stuff, I don't even know any. Dreamtime stories bruz.' I could tell Run was ashamed when he said this because it was how I felt too.

‘We could learn,' I said.

‘We could,' said Run. And I got excited until Run added, ‘but I'm going to just take your boss some ganja, rage him out and see what he thinks.' And then he pissed himself laughing.

I was really pissed off and felt like throwing something at Run. Instead I said, ‘You're proof that ganja just makes you fucked in the head.'

‘You're just stressing out from wearing those fucked-up pants to work every day. Fuck having a flash job and all if you have to look like a wanker.'

‘I'll show you Run! I'm going to find these plants and someone is going to be making some money and it won't be you. But you
better start getting some money from somewhere or else your black arse will be out on the street.'

‘Like I give a fuck,' Run said grabbing the ganja and bong and walking into his room to smoke up.

I don't know if Run cared about me saying I'd kick him out. I just got up and fell into my lounge chair getting paranoid with visions of him coming in to see Gary with bags of ganja. I fell asleep spinning out.

7

I went to Mum's house the next day. She was sitting on the veranda, drinking a long glass of chilled water on her little table like she did every afternoon. People always passed by and asked, ‘How you going Aunty Audrey?' Everyone called her Aunty Audrey, even the postman. She reckons she started having ice-cold water with a slice of lemon from a long glass every afternoon to calm her nerves when she started finding my ganja among her tomato plants.

She got up to hug me when I walked through the gate. I hadn't seen her in a couple of weeks. The house was really quiet.

‘Where's Evelyn and the kids?'

‘She's at the doctor's, bub. Coming down with something she reckons.'

Evelyn always teased me about being Mum's favourite but Mum spoils us all. When I got my first pay I stocked every cupboard in Mum's house with food. Not just any food but all of her favourite things. I made sure I bought some crabs, she loves 'em, used to get them all the time when she was a kid. I even bought a side of lamb and some bags of chocolate and chips for the kids. ‘This is even a bigger feed than we have at Christmas,' Mum said and Evelyn reckoned, ‘True Calypso, you put Christmas to shame big time.'

‘Where did you get all the money to buy these things?' Mum asked. That's when I told them about the job. Mum thought it was the deadliest thing ever.

When I sat down Mum poured me a glass of water.

‘A nice day at work?' Mum asked with a smile.

‘Pretty good,' I said, keen to ask her what had been on my mind all day. As she poured me a drink I just came out with it.

‘Mum, I want to learn more about bush medicines and things.'

‘Good stuff those bush medicines. I don't know how those old people know all that stuff you know, how to make things from an animal or plant to fix a cold and things. I guess they had plenty of time to work it out though.'

‘What do you know about it Mum?'

‘Obviously not much if your sister is off to see the doctor. I was only a little girl you know when Aunty Elsie and I was brought to the city.'

‘Well what can you remember, Mum?'

‘Just little things.'

‘Like what?'

‘Well you know I'm always telling you that kangaroo is the best meat on Earth, hardly no fat, and the biggest mobs of protein and iron. Witchetty grubs, they're full of protein. Give you a protein overdose if you're not used to them.'

‘Yeah, I know that, but what about plants and things?'

‘Well, eucalyptus oil, that's proper blackfella stuff of course. Thousands of generations of blackfellas have been using it. But there are other things … wattle flowers that can take away headaches, plants for stings and leaves that keep insects away. They reckon people used to heat up water and put plants in with old fellas to take away their arthritis.'

‘Who reckons?'

‘Why you so interested anyway?'

‘It's just that at the store people are always buying natural things for their problems and I want to know about the things that our people used.'

‘Is that so?' Mum asked, raising an eyebrow.

‘Yeah.'

‘Well, I've got no more to tell you right now, my memory is pretty buggered these days. I was only a little girl when I came to the city you know.'

‘Anyone you know who could tell me about these things?'

‘Maybe your Aunty Janet knows something. She and her mob are still living on country there.'

‘Aunty who?'

Aunty Janet, your grandfather's sister's daughter … my sister, your aunty.'

‘Nah, don't know her.'

‘When you were a little fella she used to bounce you on her knee. We used to visit her with Dad when we headed over to the west coast on his fishing trips. We haven't seen them in years.'

‘Why not?'

‘Why you reckon, Calypso? Your Dad was swept to his damn death off them rocks fishing for salmon … and we haven't had a car since,' she said angrily like I was an idiot. And besides, they don't visit us, do they?'

‘What you reckon about me visiting Aunty Janet and finding out about these plants and things?'

Mum took a long sip of water. ‘You could try.'

I tried prising more information out of Mum about bush medicine. I knew she knew more, she'd tried to tell me stuff plenty of times but I hadn't listened. I didn't know what was distracting
her, maybe Evelyn was really crook. Mum stood from her seat, grabbed the jug and poured the last of the water on a pot plant.

I left Mum's place with Aunty Janet's number scribbled on a piece of paper.

8

I was dialling Aunty when Run's friend Robbie burst into the flat, went straight to the fridge, poured himself a glass of milk and sat on the lounge. I looked at the little fat fuck in disbelief. He just kept sculling that milk, thinking himself real deadly with his hair all teased up, his guts hanging out his t-shirt and wearing canvas slip-on shoes with white socks. He even put his feet up on the table like he owned the place.

‘Run,' he called out from his spot right beneath the air-conditioner. Run came out of his room pulling on a t-shirt. Run and Robbie tapped their fists together and then Run just came straight out with it, ‘We're going to be loaded bruz … Calypso's boss is going to give us three grand if we get him some ganja to put in his bath oils and things.'

‘No way. Three thousand bucks! That's just crazy!'

‘He's talking shit Robbie.'

‘Bullshit, don't listen to him, he's just being a greedy fella, doesn't want you in on it. You know what he's like. Three grand unna Calypso?'

‘Gary isn't after ganja Robbie, he wants something else. Run's just fucking dreaming.'

‘He wants ganja Calypso.'

I felt like jumping up from my chair and flogging Run. But he can fight 'ey and I didn't want anything in my place getting wrecked. So I took a deep breath and said, ‘Run, I told you about this thing with Gary because I want you to help me.'

‘Well I'm going to call up your boss and tell him I will help him out … my way.'

Robbie got up and took his empty glass to the kitchen, probably to get out of the way of the punches that were about to be thrown between Run and me.

‘You're a fuckhead Run.'

‘You're the one that's going to kick me out if I don't start paying rent Calypso, I can make some money with this.'

‘I won't have to kick you out … you'll end up in jail if you keep going the way you are.'

Run shot me a dirty look and then started laughing crazily. My adrenalin was pumping but I started to shit myself, thinking Run was about to cut sick.

Run turned to look at Robbie who was watching the two of us closely. ‘Let's go have a smoke 'ey? Might have to make it our last for a while if we're going to give Calypso's boss a mother lode.' Then Run walked into his room with Robbie towing behind him.

‘Grab your shit Run, and then fuck off,' I called out after him. But Run just shut the door and put on some gansta music flat out. So I got up and walked out.

°°°

By the time I'd walked to the local park, I'd calmed down a bit. I sat down for a while, caught my breath and then called Aunty Janet. Just when I thought the phone was going to ring out, someone picked it up.

BOOK: Calypso Summer
8.81Mb size Format: txt, pdf, ePub
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