Breadfruit

by Célestine Vaite

  The last person who got shoved through the door didn’t really get shoved through the door. He got a serious warning and the employee shoved himself through the door.

  But Pito likes his job. It pays reasonably good money. He’s been working with the company for so many years he can’t imagine himself doing anything else but cutting wood. He’s used to cutting wood and he’s used to the people with whom he works. His colleagues, his mates.

  And his uncle got him the job, thanks to his connection with the boss. Not the boss now—the boss before. And if Uncle was alive today, he wouldn’t be too happy about Pito getting shoved through the door, because when you use your connections to get a relative a job, that relative has to stay with the job until the retirement. That’s the price to pay when you can’t get a job without a relative having to use his connections.

  Pito is nervous now, he wipes the sweat off his forehead. Another time he had a sickie, the one before when he went fishing with Ati, Pito went for a drink in town—with Ati.

  Pito knocks. Two knocks.

  “Come in!”

  Pito opens the door and puts his head in the office. “Boss, you want to see me?”

  “Sit down.” The boss is signing some papers.

  Pito walks into the office and sits in the chair facing the boss. Pito looks at his boss in the eyes. You should always look at your boss in the eyes. When you don’t look at your boss in the eyes, it means you’re hiding something.

  “Do you like to work here?” The boss takes his glasses off.

  “Oui, boss,” Pito replies.

  He wants to tell his boss that if he didn’t like to work here, he would have got himself another job—he’s got connections, he’s got lots of cousins everywhere. But Pito says nothing, he just makes sure to look at his boss in the eyes.

  The boss smiles, he says, “Ah, ha.” He coughs, then he becomes silent and Pito expects to hear the words “It is with regret . . .”

  But the boss begins, “It is with joy . . .”

  The boss tells Pito that he’s been nominated Employee of the Month, and Pito is so happy he shakes the hand of his boss. The boss goes on about how he’s always watching his employees. Nothing—absolutely nothing—escapes his eyes and his ears. He knows everything there is for him to know. He looks into Pito’s eyes and repeats the word—everything. Pito nods and for a split second his eyes wander to the ceiling, the glasses, the thick eyebrows of the boss, then back to the eyes of his boss.

  The sickie he took before he went with Ati to the pub, Pito went for a drink at the bar at the airport—with Ati.

  Next time he’s going to take a day off—he’s going to stay inside the house, that’s for certain. It’s too risky being outside when you’re supposed to be inside the house, in bed—resting. Did the boss see him at the bar at the airport?

  Next time he takes a sickie, he’s going to make sure that he is sick.

  “Anyway,” the boss says as he puts his glasses back on, “congratulations.”

  He hopes Pito won’t make him regret his decision to have him nominated employee of this month.

  “Okay, boss—thank you, boss.”

  Pito tells his colleagues about the Employee of the Month nomination and they say, “Good for you, Pito.” It isn’t a cause for a celebration at the bar. The nomination doesn’t come with a bonus check, Pito isn’t going to buy beers all round.

  Pito goes back to the machine and works twice as fast.

  And before leaving work, he goes to the front office to check his nomination form. The Employee of the Month nomination form is displayed in the front office on a notice board. The words EMPLOYEE OF THE MONTH are typed in capital letters. His name is handwritten underneath—Pito Tehana.

  And Pito thinks about that nomination form in the truck on his way home. The Employee of the Month nomination system was introduced three months ago, soon after the boss came back from a seminar. The boss held a special meeting in the canteen. He talked about how they should all put their efforts together to ensure the company’s growth, because if the company does well—so will they. The employees cheered, but when the boss announced that there would be no bonus check with the nomination, the employees stopped cheering and shut their ears. What’s the use of an Employee of the Month nomination if there’s no francs to shout your colleagues a few drinks at the bar?

  Still, Pito is very happy about that nomination. It’s better than getting shoved through the door.

  It is the end of Pito’s story and Pito looks at Materena, waiting for her reaction to the announcement.

  “Employee of the Month!” Materena has been meaning to shout these words for the last five minutes. She gets Pito another beer.

  “I tell you, Materena,” Pito says, “when my colleague said to me, ‘The boss wants to see you—immediately,’ I thought the boss was going to tell me, ‘It is with regret . . .’”

  “So, when there’s the word immediately, there’s it’s with regret after?”

  “Ah oui,” Pito says. “But the boss said to me, ‘It is with joy . . .’”

  “That’s very good your boss said to you, ‘It is with joy,’ and not, ‘It is with regret.’” Materena resumes the chopping of the onions.

  “Yes, that’s good,” Pito agrees.

  “It’s a good job you’ve got, Pito,” Materena continues.

  “I’m used to that job.”

  “It’s like me with my job. The house of my boss is like my house. I’m used to cleaning her house. I know where everything is.”

  Materena lights the stove and puts the pot on the flame. She waits for the pot to get hot and she thinks about her man’s Employee of the Month nomination. He’s a good employee when he’s at the machine—he must be. Yes, he’s a good employee when he’s in the mood to work. And when you get a nomination—usually you get a promotion later on, non? There’s no reason why Pito can’t get to be a boss one day. Not the big boss with the big office, but the boss beneath that boss. The second-in-charge boss. It’s good to have a nomination like that for the future. If Pito ever gets shoved through the door, he can show the Employee of the Month nomination paper at his job interviews.

  “And when the month is finished,” Materena asks, “what happens to your Employee of the Month nomination form? You get it?”

  “Non, it goes in the company files.”

  “You can’t get a copy?”

  “There’s only one copy, and that copy goes in the company files.”

  Materena puts oil in the pot, then she throws the onions in the pot. It’s silly Pito can’t get a copy of his nomination. What if he wants to show it off to his family, what if he wants to put it in the family album?

  An idea comes into Materena’s mind.

  She’s going to photograph that nomination form.

  It will be the proof.

  The next day, on her way home, Materena stops by Pito’s work. It’s nice in the office, with the air-conditioning. The office girl, Josephine, who answers the telephone, smiles when she sees Materena. “Eh, hello, Materena.”

  “Eh, hello, Josephine.”

  “How’s the kids?”

  “Good. And, your Patrice, he’s still running like the wind?”

  Patrice is Josephine’s son and Josephine mentioned to Materena two weeks ago that he had won the school running competition.

  “That kid, he loves running, I tell you.” Josephine is all smiles.

  “There’s other fast runners in your family?” asks Materena.

  “Not in my family. But the father of my man, he was a bit of a runner in his days when he was a postman. In his days, postmen didn’t ride Vespas, they ran.”

  “Eh, Patrice got his running gift from his grandfather.”

  “You think you can inherit things like this?”

  “Ah oui.” Materena sounds very convincing. “It’s got to do with the shape of the legs. My cousin Lily, she used to be a champion runner, and she got her speed from her father, who also used to be a champ
ion runner.”

  Josephine widens her eyes. “Now, that you’re talking. My man, he was a bit of a runner too.”

  “Ah oui?”

  “Oui, he’s got a few school medals.”

  “Eh, you see? And, Patrice, he wants to be a professional runner?”

  “He never told me.”

  “You better ask him.”

  “Oui, I’m going to ask him. But, you know, last Saturday, there was a competition between the schools of Tahiti at the Stade Pater and Patrice won.”

  “Ah non!”

  “Ah oui,” says Josephine.

  “What race?”

  “The eight hundred meters.”

  “What a champion!”

  Josephine is smiling so much now that you can see all her teeth. And Materena knows that it is only a matter of seconds before Josephine shows her yet another photograph of Patrice.

  “Eh, Materena,” says Josephine, “I’m not the kind to show off, but—you know, my son, he’s in the paper. Did you see him? In Les Nouvelles.”

  “I get Le Journal.”

  “Well, wait a bit.” Josephine hurries to grab her pandanus bag and gets Les Nouvelles out. She flicks the pages. “Here—look.”

  There’s the head of Josephine’s son—Materena recognizes him from the photos Josephine has shown her before. This photo in the paper must have been taken after the race—Patrice looks all puffed out. Materena looks for about half a minute. You can’t just glance at a photograph a mother is showing you. You have to look for about half a minute, all the while smiling.

  Well, now that’s enough. Materena slowly shuts the newspaper, one more look at the photograph and one more smile—the newspaper is closed now.

  Josephine puts the newspaper back in her bag. “And what are you doing here today?”

  Usually, Materena only comes to Pito’s work on Fridays, to pick up Pito’s pay envelope.

  “You know Pito got nominated Employee of the Month.” Now it is Materena who is all smiles.

  But Josephine is not sharing Materena’s smile. “Yes… and?”

  Materena looks into Josephine’s eyes. “Josephine, do you know what I’m talking about? The Employee of the Month!”

  “Ah oui, it’s good, eh.” Josephine forces a smile.

  “Are you okay?” Materena asks, perplexed.

  Josephine looks pale now. “I just don’t feel well all of a sudden. I’ll be all right soon. It’s the air-conditioning. I’m fine now.”

  “Do you think I can take a photo of that nomination?” Materena asks.

  Josephine quickly looks over her shoulder and nods to Materena.

  “But don’t tell Pito I was here today, okay?” Materena says. “I don’t want him to think that I didn’t believe him about his nomination and I had to come check it with my own eyes.”

  And, whispering, Materena adds, “It’s good to have a photo… in case Pito gets shoved through the door one day.”

  “Ah oui.” Josephine is also whispering. “Well, you take the photo. I’ll go back to my work.”

  Pito’s nomination form is half-hidden behind a sale notice that says: Suzuki motorbike for sale—good condition, price negotiable. Materena rearranges the form so that you can see it better. She takes two steps back, gets her camera out of her pandanus bag, and immortalizes Pito’s nomination form three times.

  Materena thanks Josephine and leaves the office. But, once outside the office, Materena realizes that she can take two more photos and finish the roll of film. And so she’s back in the office for more photographing, just in case the other photos don’t turn out clear.

  There’s nobody in the front office, and Materena thinks Josephine is in the bathroom. Materena is about to shoot when she hears Josephine in conversation with somebody. And Materena is very interested in the conversation, since she hears her name.

  “. . . Pito’s wife, Materena, she just came in the office to photograph his Employee of the Month nomination and I couldn’t tell her no, because, Materena, she’s really nice.”

  “Josephine!” Materena recognizes the annoying nasal voice of the secretary of the boss, who sounds like she can’t believe Josephine let Materena take a photo of the Employee of the Month nomination.

  The secretary of the boss goes on about how the Employee of the Month nomination means nothing. That the boss only started it because at the latest seminar he went to, they said not to give slack employees warnings, because that’s a negative approach. Instead, they advised, give them an Employee of the Month nomination, because that’s a positive approach. The secretary of the boss says that the Employee of the Month nomination is only supposed to make the slack employee feel special, so that they perform better. She says, the really exemplary employees, they get a pay raise.

  “I know all this.” Josephine sounds a bit annoyed. “But I couldn’t tell Materena that the Employee of the Month nomination meant nothing.”

  The secretary of the boss says that in future the Employee of the Month nomination cannot be photographed. Also, that they have to be destroyed when the month is over because the boss doesn’t want evidence that they’ve existed.

  Materena hurries to take two more photographs of Pito’s Employee of the Month nomination, then she’s out the door in a flash.

  The photographs all turn out clear, you can see the words EMPLOYEE OF THE MONTH, and Pito’s name right underneath it.

  Materena chooses the best one and files it in the latest family album.

  The Radio

  There is no this is Materena’s, this is Pito’s rule around their house.

  Their things aren’t divided into Pito’s sofa, Pito’s TV, Materena’s land, Materena’s house, Materena’s fridge, and so on.

  But the radio is special to Materena just as the ukulele is special to Pito.

  Materena can practice on the ukulele anytime she feels like it. She doesn’t have to ask Pito for his permission. But it’s very rare she practices on the ukulele, she much prefers to listen to the music on the radio—love songs, in particular.

  And, with Materena’s radio, Pito can take it outside anytime he feels like listening to it, he doesn’t need to ask Materena for her permission. Pito uses the radio a lot. He likes to listen to music when he’s drinking by himself outside, next to the breadfruit tree. Sometimes Materena calls out to Pito to put the radio back on top of the fridge because she’s in the mood to listen to music while she’s cooking. But she’s more likely just to ask Pito to turn up the volume and change the channel. When Pito has had enough of listening to the music on the radio (when there’s no more beer to drink), he puts the radio back where it belongs, on top of the fridge.

  Tonight, Pito wants to take Materena’s radio to his meeting. The radio of his mate who usually supplies the radio at the meetings is broken and Pito said to his mates that he’d bring the radio to the next meeting—which is tonight.

  “Ah, we don’t even ask for permission.” Materena is a bit annoyed with Pito telling her that he’s taking her radio without even consulting her first. She might have had plans to listen to the radio tonight.

  “What, now we need to ask for permission? I never asked for permission to take the radio before.”

  “Oui, that’s because you only took the radio outside, into the backyard, and not to your meeting place.”

  “So I can’t take the radio, is that what you’re telling me?”

  Materena tells Pito that there is a special program on the radio tonight, and she promised Mamie to listen to that program. It’s about religion.

  “Ah, now that I need the radio, there’s a program about religion on the radio you have to listen to.” Pito gives Materena a suspicious look.

  Materena repeats that she promised Mamie to listen to that religious program. But Materena is feeling bad and a bit sorry for Pito. He looks disappointed.

  She feels compelled to give him permission to take the radio . . .

  Loana bought Materena that radio for her eighteenth birthday.
Loana said, “Every woman should have a radio. It’s good to listen to music when you’re cleaning. It’s good to listen, to listen to music, full stop.” Loana expects that radio to be in perfect condition for another thirty years, at least. Apparently it wasn’t cheap. She bought it from the hi-fi store and not the secondhand store.

  Materena is in a real dilemma.

  But she knows well what happens at the “meetings.” There’s lots of wind talk, there’s lots of drinking, and there’s a high possibility of one of Pito’s mates spilling beer on her radio, or smashing the radio on the concrete because he got contradicted once too often, or . . .

  Anything could happen to her expensive radio.

  “Come on, eh, Pito?” Materena pleads with Pito to understand her situation.

  “You can keep your heap-of-rust, heap-of-shit radio,” Pito says.

  In fact, he continues, he’d be embarrassed to take that ancient thing to the meeting, his friends would laugh, for certain. In fact, as of now, Pito doesn’t want anything to do with that heap-of-rust, heap-of-shit radio and he warns Materena if he ever gets his hi-fi system—when he gets his hi-fi system—she better never ever touch it.

  “Fine with me, Pito,” Materena says.

  Pito stomps out of the kitchen.

  He’s gone.

  And Materena thinks, Ah, he’s got a nerve.

  Materena goes to have a shower. She’s a bit upset because she doesn’t like to fight with Pito, but, still, he’s got a nerve, calling her radio a heap of rust.

  She hears Pito come back, he must have forgotten something. She calls out, “Pito! You forgot something?” There’s no answer. “Pito!” Then, just like that, the suspicion that Pito came back to take her radio crosses her mind.

  Materena rushes out of the bathroom hanging on to the towel and with soap foam in her hair. There’s no radio on top of the fridge. She rushes outside in time to catch Pito running away with her radio on his shoulder.

  “Pito, my radio!”

  He laughs, and disappears around a corner.

  Now Materena is in a bad mood. Pito is going to get it. Yes, she’s going to blast his ears when he comes back. Her radio is not a heap of rust. He wants to show it off to his mates. And he’s going to tell his mates that the radio is his. Materena goes back to her shower.