by Jada Roberts
Beat.
JARROD: After your tea, we’ll go.
On the sidewalk under the street lamp, RUBEN has finished the chorus of his song, as well as his last drink. He searches around but his cans are empty. He talks to the old house.
RUBEN: Forgot to save you some, brus. Bring you a sixer tomorrow.
RUBEN exits singing to himself.
ADELE: We should pick up some flowers on the way there. The ones they sell at that poxy hospital shop are sterile.
JARROD: What, just from the servo?
ADELE looks at him through the back of her head. He knows she’s making a face.
What? Everywhere else is gonna be closed now, it’s Tuesday, not even a bottle-o open at this hour let alone a drive-through flower shop.
ADELE: Yeh, alright. [Beat.] Guess I’m not thinkin straight.
JARROD: You right, bub, you don’t have to, I’m ’ere.
The kettle boils. JARROD gets a cup and makes ADELE and himself a tea.
I’ll get some from that flower shop at Nightcliff in the morning.
Beat.
ADELE: Flower shop?
JARROD: Yeah.
ADELE: Flower shop.
JARROD: Yeah, there’s one at Nightcliff.
ADELE: [smiling] The florist…
JARROD: Yeah. At Nightcliff.
ADELE: So say it.
JARROD: Ah, Night-cliff.
ADELE: Say ‘florist’.
JARROD: [laughing] What? Why?
ADELE: Say it, bad boy, say the word ‘florist’. Say, ‘I’ll get some from the florist at Nightcliff in the morning’.
JARROD: [laughing] No, why? I’m too hardcore to say that word. Flower shop means the same thing, don’t it?
ADELE: [laughing] Say it because that’s what it’s friggin called, it’s a florist. A spade is a spade, a florist is a florist, a florist is not a flower shop. Say ‘florist’, ya big shit, you’re not a little boy.
JARROD: Yeah, I know. [Beat.] Fine. I’ll pick up some flowers from the florist in the morning.
They laugh. JARROD puts the tea down for ADELE.
ADELE: You’re a fuckin crack-up, boy.
JARROD: Hey, I’m a man, only mans can say words like florist. I ain’t afraid of no florist.
JARROD sits next to ADELE at the table. He puts his arm around her shoulders.
ADELE: I love you.
JARROD: I love you too, bub.
Pause.
ADELE: She’s gonna die, isn’t she?
Beat.
JARROD: Yeah.
Beat.
ADELE: Tumour the size of a football, she’s not even 50. It’s too soon… I haven’t even, she’s not even a grandmother. [Beat.] Now I’m regretting not having a kid at 15 like the rest of Darwin. [Beat.] If you leave me, ever, I’ll kill you, I swear to God.
JARROD: Yeah, I know.
ADELE: You don’t walk out the door without comin back in, Jarrod, I’ll kill you so good you’ll wish you were dead.
JARROD: Not goin nowhere.
ADELE wipes her eyes. They sit holding each other.
Now, say my name again, I love it when you say my name.
ADELE: Shuddup, idiot—
JARROD: We can go make that grandkid now if you want?
ADELE pushes him.
There’s a knock at the door.
I got it. I’m a man. Only mans can open doors.
JARROD goes to the door, opens it. PETRA enters, wet with rain, carrying her handbag and wheeling a suitcase. In her hand she also holds some letters she’s fished out of the letterbox.
PETRA: Dry season, my arse!
JARROD: You were gonna call me, I was gonna pick you up!
PETRA hugs JARROD. ADELE stands to greet PETRA.
PETRA: I didn’t fly. I drove, baby, I drove the whole damn way. You lookin solid, boy, more and more like your father every time. Help me with this bastard on wheels, would you, it won’t listen to me.
JARROD helps PETRA with her bag.
ADELE: Aunty.
PETRA: Baby girl, come here, my sweets. Oh, darlin.
They hold each other.
It’s alright. It’s okay. You’re mum’s an ox. You hear me? Strongest bloody women I’ve ever met. Everything will be right.
She holds ADELE’s face, looks at her.
[Cheerily] You’ve put on weight, Del Del.
ADELE: Have I? [Sarcastically] Great.
PETRA: Here look, mail.
PETRA puts the mail on the table.
ADELE: Flick that kettle again, Jay.
PETRA: Nah, leave it, boy, it’s right. Had so much caffeine on the road, I’ll be up all bloody night. What about we hit the good stuff. There’s a carton in the car, Jarrod, be a love and grab it, ay.
JARROD: Rum?
PETRA: Don’t go skeemin’, just grab it.
JARROD exits to get the carton from the car.
ADELE: I can’t believe you drove.
PETRA: Was right, baby, don’t you go worryin about me. Your uncle Ally didn’t think I could do it, but here I am. And where’s your brother now?
ADELE: I dunno, we been waiting for him for the last hour.
PETRA: Ay?
ADELE: Done this the last few times, says he’s comin in with us, we’re stuck here waitin and he doesn’t come. End up leaving without him. [Beat.] He hasn’t seen Mum since she went in, made every excuse. Still can’t mention Joe’s name around him. Every other night he’s drunk in front of the old house, just drinks away his payments.
PETRA: Balnba Road?
ADELE: Just disappears, ends up there.
Beat.
PETRA: Goodness. [Beat.] He’s not as strong as you two, Del. Youse two, you got each other. [Beat.] We’ll sort it, he’ll be right. We knew early on he was gonna have it tough, no surprises there… S’pose he’s always felt like a bit of a wreck, crawling out of one the way he did. [Beat.] You’re probably too young to remember what happened on the Stuart—
ADELE: I remember.
Beat.
PETRA: But I drove, baby, I drove! [Beat.] Enough time’s passed and you start to think, ‘I’ve got a handle on this, I know what to do with this’, but it’s been 15 years and still… Grief’s a slippery little sucker with a mind of its own.
PETRA sits.
ADELE: Probably worse for you and Mum.
PETRA: I don’t think so, bub. We all have a share in it. [Beat.] But I finally drove. Your mother’s gonna be so damn proud of me. [Beat.] There’s no way to avoid it, that stretch of highway. Sometimes in life you get to hide from things you don’t wanna see, but there’s no hidin from that accident. Even when I fly over I know exactly when I’m passin that place, can feel it in my bones. Doesn’t matter if I’m asleep or nothin, I’ll wake up to feel that feeling. [Beat.] So I called your mother this time, ‘Isabel, I’m driving this time, no more planes! I’m driving’. [Beat.] I took the most beautiful flowers I could find in all of Alice Springs, natives of course, ’cause they last longer, and I laid them to rest right there at your aunty’s cross beside that solid tree.
JARROD returns with a carton of rum.
Was a funeral we was drivin from… Funeral, funeral, who was it now? [Beat.] Ah, my uncle, your nanna’s eldest brother, my second pop, beautiful man your Uncle Errol. [To JARROD] Well, pull ’em out, bub, no use just lookin at ’em. God, all these funerals, ay, stand like signposts, don’t they?… Along the way. [Beat.] We was travellin in convoy, us three sisters, coming back from funeral in Alice.
JARROD takes three cans out and distributes them. He takes a seat at the table.
Your Aunty Lou wanted to get back quick ’cause your brother had been accepted to start school early. She thought Ruben was the smartest kid on the block. Had such high hopes, bless her… See, your brother was always tellin us these weird things. He loved science, planets and that. ‘The universe, Aunty, is the biggest thing ever! Even bigger then Darwin!’ Lou swore black and blue that kid would be the first blackfella in spac
e. Hah! True God.
Beat.
Skies shoulda been clear but that year the wet broke so early we coulda swam home. Three cars, your Aunty Lou in front with Ruben. We’d stopped in Daly Waters for a feed, musta been about nine, piled all you kids back in the car, thought we’d push on another few hundred clicks—everyone seemed clear. Good.
Just before midnight it happened. Thought we’d cleared the rain but a storm front hit us hard south of Katherine. Road took us right into the belly of it. And what a belly it was. [Beat.] Me and Alley were number two in the convoy, and we seen something strange up ahead, a blurry little blemish between the blades of the busted wipers. And there he was, this drenched little boy, tossed about in the storm.
Beat.
I dream of him out there still, the world closing in on him. He was so terrifyingly small. High beams hit him and I thought I was dreamin. Alley lays on the brakes and sure enough, it’s him, out there, in the middle of the black road. [Beat.] Your brother looked like a ghost, Del, if it wasn’t for the blood, I would’ve sworn he was a ghost. [Beat.] We stopped. I grabbed him. Stripped him down to his gundies to check him, didn’t have more then a scratch. Put him in the back seat. Your Uncle Alley followed the tracks goin off the road and Louise, my dear Lou. She wasn’t wearing her belt. [Beat.] In my dreams it’s the most peaceful thing.
Pause.
I hope she didn’t wake up from that sleep. I hope that tree came and took her while she flew. That’s how I like to think of it, anyway. Took her up, took her back, took her to that next place. [Beat.] Doesn’t take much, does it. For the universe to tip on its head?
She stands, kisses ADELE’s cheek and takes her can of rum towards the kitchen.
It’s so good to see you, my darlings, I’ve missed you. [Beat.] It’ll be okay.
In the kitchen she opens the pantry cupboard, looks about.
Gotta make sure he’s talking, you know? Not shrivelling up. Hopefully that counselling’s doing some good.
She goes to the fridge and opens it, looks about.
Jarrod, you got credit there? Call Ruben for us, would ya? Try get this boy organised
JARROD: No worries.
JARROD makes the call on his mobile, stepping out of the room.
PETRA: Any salty plums, Del? [To JARROD] Tell him I’m here please, son.
ADELE: That tin by the kettle.
PETRA closes the fridge and finds the salty plum tin which she brings back to the kitchen table. ADELE takes one too.
The rain outside falls heavier.
PETRA: Christ on a bike, ay, this rain! Big old low sitting right on top of us, they’re sayin. Unprecedented falls… You seen it this bad before?
ADELE: No, not since—
PETRA: What?
ADELE: I said no, not since I was young!
Beat.
PETRA: First time I’ve done that drive by myself you know, your mum’s gonna be so proud of me!
ADELE: Ay? I can’t hear you!
PETRA: I said! First time I’ve done that drive…
PETRA and ADELE yell to each other over the noise of the rain and then stop, knowing it’s useless. They burst out laughing.
They sit laughing, eating salty plums together, as the heavy rain slowly starts to subside.
It turns to light rain and JARROD re-enters.
ADELE: Now, what’d you say?
PETRA cracks up laughing again.
PETRA: Oh, my niece. Stop now, I busted my guts.
Beat.
JARROD: His phone’s off, I sent him a text.
PETRA: Thank you, my boy, you’re so very thorough.
ADELE: We could go past Balnba, he’s probably there. [Beat.] Did you tell him to hurry up?
JARROD: Nah, I told him to take the long road home.
ADELE: Don’t you start.
JARROD: [cheekily] What?
ADELE: Let’s just go, ay? Stuff waitin around.
Through the screen door, RUBEN appears.
RUBEN: Hey, I’m here.
Beat.
JARROD: You comin in?
RUBEN: Yeah… I’ve got a smoke here.
ADELE: Aunty Pep’s here, Rue, you’re bein rude.
RUBEN: Oh shit. Aunty. Sorry.
PETRA: [teasing] Hurry up, boy, before I flog you.
RUBEN enters taking one last drag on his cigarette before he closes the door. He flicks his cigarette. He’s drunk.
RUBEN: Hey Aunty.
He gives PETRA a hug, trying to act as sober as possible.
PETRA: Ruben Thomas Kelly, you’ve lost weight, ya bag of bones.
Where’ve you been?
RUBEN: Just at Beach Front.
PETRA: You stink of grog, boy. You gonna go visit your mother like this?
RUBEN: My mother’s dead.
Beat.
PETRA: What did you say? [Beat.] Don’t tell me you just said what I think you said. You wanna watch your mouth, boy, you hear me? Who do you think you’re talkin to? [Beat.] You’d be dead too if it wasn’t for my sister layin up there in that hospital. Now you have some respect and think about what you’re sayin before you say it, you hear me? Don’t think I’m gonna put up with your bullshit, boy. [Beat.] Get in the shower and wash yourself off. I don’t care who you are, you’re not goin to see my sister like that.
RUBEN starts to exit.
Wait there.
RUBEN stops.
Del, we’ll go, ay. Jarrod, you can drive? You mob jump in the car.
ADELE: Grab that bag there. Jarrod.
JARROD grabs the bag of supplies.
ADELE and JARROD exit. PETRA sits.
PETRA: You think it’s right to mess your sister round like this, you know she’s been waitin for you. Not too important for you to get to the hospital, is it? Wanna piss-fart around down the pub instead? Is that even where you were? These mob aren’t stupid, you know, don’t think you can pull the rug. [Pause.] You need to take a good hard look at yourself, boy.
Who took your sorry arse in after we lost your mum. When your father took off, who took care of you then? Treated you no different then, Del, worked her arse off to put food on the table, a roof over your head, sounds like a friggin cliché, don’t it, boy?—but that’s what she gave you. Free a’ charge.
And here we are, one time in your 21 years of livin when she needs you and you can’t even stand up straight.
She waits for RUBEN to respond. He doesn’t.
Suit yourself then, boy. You can stand there lookin at your belly button all night… better that I suppose, then come to the hospital and get on my friggin nerves. [Beat.] You hear what I said?
RUBEN: Yeah.
PETRA: You know why? You wanna take a guess? [Beat.] Izzy’d take one look at you and it’d break her heart. [Pause.] You know that, don’t you? [Beat.] We’ll be back in the morning. Have a shower, sleep it off.
She grabs her bag and heads for the door.
RUBEN: Aunty?
He unzips his backpack. He pulls out a bunch of frangipani stems, pulled off a tree—they’re inside a plastic bag. He hasn’t done it quite right but he’s tried. It’s beautiful.
Mum’s favourite.
PETRA takes them. She feels a little as though she’s been too harsh on him. She takes the stems from the bag and wraps them in an old newspaper that’s on the table.
PETRA: Flowers, and a crossword.
She nods and smiles at her nephew.
I love you, Rue. I wouldn’t say nuthin if I didn’t. I’ll see you tomorrow.
She exits.
As she leaves, RUBEN notices a letter on the table. He takes it, shoves it in his backpack.
SCENE EIGHT
DAVID is in his office, writing at his desk. There’s a knock at the door.
DAVID: Come in.
ADELE enters. She stands at the door.
ADELE: Hi, Mr Wills?
Beat.
DAVID: Hi. Sorry, you surprised me, no-one’s called me that in a while.
ADELE: Sorr
y.
DAVID: No no, it’s fine.
ADELE: You never taught me, we never met, I just, know of you. I was in Year Eight when you left. I’m a Kelly. ADELE. I’m Ruben’s sister.
DAVID: Oh, hi. Of course, please, take a seat.
ADELE: Ah nah, it’s okay, I’ll stand.
DAVID: You sure?
ADELE: Yeah.
DAVID: Okay. [Beat.] So, Ruben.
ADELE: Yeah.
DAVID: He’s okay, isn’t he?
ADELE: Yeah, well. Yeah, just the usual. It’s funny, I came here to ask you the same thing, but, um… [Beat.] So you work here now?
DAVID: Yeah. Been here for the last couple years.
ADELE: Didn’t wanna teach anymore? [Beat.] Sorry… sorry, too personal. [Beat.] Guess we all have that in common, hey.
DAVID: What’s that?
Beat.
ADELE: Never mind. [Beat.] Sorry… I don’t really know why I’m even here, I just thought you might… [Beat.] Maybe, help me.
DAVID: Sure, whatever I / can.
ADELE: Does it ever go away?
DAVID: I’m sorry?
ADELE: Does it ever go away, the picture in your head? [Beat.] I don’t mean to be rude but, I know what happened, the whole school was talking about it. I mean, when you found him in the bathroom. The picture of him in your head, is it… is he always there? I’m prying, I know, I’m sorry, I know you’re s’pose to talk about other people’s problems, not your own. I know the last thing you probably need is some random askin you personal shit, but I just thought it might, help… is all. ’Cause that picture, for me, it plays over and over in this sick kind of slow motion and it’s quiet but screaming all at once and I can’t… I just can’t get it to go. [Beat.] It’s always with me, everywhere I go.
DAVID steps closer to ADELE. She objects.
No, it’s okay, it’s okay. I’m okay.
Pause.
DAVID: Maybe it never does. Go, I mean. I think it changes, I think. Somehow it becomes, bearable. [Beat.] He was a student of mine. For a long time I felt like I should have somehow known. I guess I’ve found a way to live with that, that helplessness, to live with what he left.
Beat.
ADELE: There’s this spot the boys used to fish at. Jarrod, Joe and Rue. Couple of years back they rescued this tinny from the dump. It sat on the front lawn busted and full of holes so long, they nicknamed it the Front Yard Challenge. Eventually they patched the holes. Joey found an old motor. They’d fish all the time, the three of them. All night and all day if they could. They found this spot on the harbour with three sunken ships all in a clump. Brothers Wreck they named it, best spot on the harbour. Place is teaming with fish, get the salmon schools coming in on a high, couple of barra if you’re lucky. [Beat.] Since Joey’s gone it’s like… I can’t help but think we’ll all end up down there, sunk. At the bottom of the ocean, clumped together. [Pause.] Maybe you can’t talk about it, patient confidentiality or whatever, that’s okay, I just… I just want to know if he’s moving, not sinking, you know, I’m his big sister, it’s weird for me to talk to him about this stuff. I mean I try but… I just want to know… if he’s gonna be okay, I guess.