Mum and Dad got a bit of a telling-off from the fire chief guy for leaving the kids unsupervised with hot dripping. Lenny started to argue with Mr. Fire Chief but Dad told him to leave it. Lenny was right though—Mum and Dad left us in charge but we didn’t know the stupid boys would do that. I wonder if all little brothers are as dumb as mine.
Dad said they could’ve burnt the house down or, even worse, killed us, so we shut up after that. Mum had to wash the kitchen curtains and made the boys scrub the pot, but I think it’ll have to be thrown out—it’s very burnt.
At least we didn’t have to take anyone to the hospital this time, thank goodness.
I think I’ve found out when the protest is going to be, coz I heard Lenny ask if he could have next Friday off the milk run. I asked him why, but he pretended not to hear and when the truck slowed down, he jumped off the back and got in the cab.
I’ m a bit worried about all of this.
SUNDAY, 5 September
* * *
I was up early so did the ironing this morning. Mum washed some sheets and put them on the line and when I looked out the window, Ethan and Tavita had opened out the sheets and were leaning into the pocket of them. They call it their upside-down tent. They keep their feet on the ground and run in circles around the clothesline. When they’re going fast enough they lift their feet and it’s like flying.
I remembered doing that when I was younger too, so I went out to have a look and ended up having a go. It was great fun but I was too heavy and the pegs kept popping off the line. I should’ve known this was a bad sign, because, next thing I knew, the clothesline was on a real lean and my scumbag brothers were inside telling on me.
Mum came out and said, “Sofia, you should know better.”
Fortunately, Dad and Lenny managed to fix the clothesline. Mum was right—I should know better … better than to trust those boys! Telltale-tits.
WEDNESDAY, 8 September
* * *
Lily and I caught the bus to Porirua shopping centre today. Mum gave me the lay-by card and I put another $4 on the boots. Only $5.97 to go, yippee!
We looked at heaps of clothes and I tried on some jeans and some bib overalls. Lily tried on a poncho, it was cool. We didn’t have enough money to buy them so we thought we could ask Mum to do another lay-by for us. Mum said to me, “One lay-by at a time is enough.” She said Lily could do one for her poncho, but that she should think about it for a week or so to decide if she really wants it.
Afterwards, I told Lily I think Mum’s wrong and she shouldn’t wait, coz that’s how I nearly missed out on my boots. Lily said she thought Mum had a fair point, which made me wonder if Lily does really want the poncho, after all.
SUNDAY, 12 September
* * *
WOWEEEE, it’s been full on around here.
So … Lenny had the day off the milk run on Friday for the protest … but then he had Saturday off too, because he got arrested and taken to the police cells! Dad had to go get him. It sounds really bad, which it was for a bit, but it ended up good coz Mr. Morrison and Mr. Parker were arrested too (that’s not the good part). They ended up coming to see Dad last night to explain what was going on. I thought Dad would be angry with them, but I know he likes them both and when they explained, he was really good about it all.
Charlotte was right, the protest was about a TV ad from last year. Mr. Muldoon (who wanted to be Prime Minister) got Hanna-Barbera (who make Scooby-Doo and stuff like that) to make a cartoon for his election campaign. The ad showed a person with an Afro and brown skin fighting with a Pākehā person and the cartoon was saying that people are coming in from other places and now there aren’t enough jobs to go around.
Mr. Morrison and Mr. Parker told Dad this is just one example of racism in New Zealand, where the government is targeting Pacific Islanders. They said it’s true that there are lots of overstayers, but only a third of them are from the Pacific Islands—which means two-thirds are not. Dad asked where the others were from, and they said places like Australia and countries in Europe.
That’s when Dad finally got it. “So Mr. Muldoon’s TV ad is blaming Pacific Islanders for the problem?”
“Exactly, Sid, that’ s what makes it racist because they’re only targeting Pacific Islanders as the problem, when in fact there are a lot of different nationalities that make up overstayers.” Mr. Morrison went on to tell Dad a bit about the Polynesian Panthers and how they’ve helped Pacific Islanders to know their rights.
Mr. Parker said to Dad, “I’m not telling you what to think, Siaosi, but I would be proud to have a son like Lenny who is prepared to stand up for the rights of others.”
Dad thanked them both for coming over and said it has given him a lot to think about. I liked that Mr. Parker used Dad’s real name.
Lily and I sat on Lenny’s bed and he told us what happened at the protest. There were about 20 people, and some of them chained themselves to pillars on the steps of Parliament and used a megaphone to chant their messages about stopping the dawn raids and racist government ads. When the police came and asked them to leave, the protesters said things like, “We have the right to protest peacefully, we have the right to have our say.”
The police had to use bolt cutters for the chains, which was when a fight broke out between them and the protesters. That was why the boys got taken to the police cells—because of the fight. Lenny said they were provoked because the police used batons on them and pushed their faces into the ground when they weren’t even fighting. I asked Lenny how it felt to be a protester. He said he felt really excited when they set up the protest, but scared when it was actually happening. He was worried about getting arrested, mostly because of how Dad would react. It was great that Mr. Morrison and Mr. Parker were with him as they told him they’d come and talk with Dad, which they did.
MONDAY, 13 September
* * *
Lenny was on the news tonight! There was just a quick shot showing him with the protesters and the police taking him away. The news report made it sound like they were just a bunch of deadbeat, long-haired troublemakers. Lenny was angry because they never showed the part where Rawiri was interviewed. He said Rawiri had said some great stuff about what they were protesting, but the news reporters didn’t show any of it.
“You see, Dad,” Lenny said, “the Muldoon government has been convincing the public that Pacific Islanders are the problem. The government’s been trying to keep the dawn raids quiet, and sometimes the newsmakers help them. In Auckland, the cops did a blitz on the streets looking for overstayers—they stopped more than a thousand Polynesian-looking people—men, women, anyone with brown skin. Out of that thousand, they caught just twenty overstayers.”
Dad just made a tutting sound and shook his head. Then he asked some more questions about it and Lenny said the news media are supporting this all over the country.
One newspaper, The Southland Times in Invercargill, reported that “if you support these illegal immigrants, you could be keeping New Zealanders out of jobs.” Lenny said the problem is that all the media attention only shows Polynesian people as the overstayers, so the general public naturally think that’s the problem.
“Yeah, I’ve heard a few guys at work making remarks like that about Polynesians,” Dad said.
“So ask them which job they applied for that a Polynesian got instead,” Lenny told Dad.
Wow, Lenny and Dad talking like this is very cool. Both on the same side for a change.
Only 4 weeks till we go to Auckland!
TUESDAY, 14 September
* * *
We had a coaching session for the speech competition today. We have to come up with possible topics by next week. Mr. Carter said it doesn’t matter what the topic is, it’ s about how you make people feel connected to the idea. He gave us some tips about how to do that with things like helping people get a picture in their head. That sounded a bit weird to me, but when Mr. Carter read us a couple of pieces of writing, I could s
ee what he meant. He’s a good teacher.
When he asked if anyone already had an idea for their speech, I mentioned Martin Luther King Jr. Mr. Carter asked why I chose him, which put me off a bit.
“I thought you might know why,” I replied.
“I may well do—but I want you to explain it to me, and try to convince us both that it’s a good topic.” Man, he’s clever at getting people to think.
The bad thing from today is that Charlotte told me Mr. Morrison might be in trouble with the school education board (I think that’s what it’s called) because of getting arrested on the protest. I hope not. When I told Lenny, he got really angry about it.
Payday today. I’ll put another $3 on my lay-by and start saving the rest for when we go to Auckland.
WEDNESDAY, 15 September
* * *
Charlotte said Rawiri phoned Tigi and the Panthers to talk about the protests and getting arrested. The Panthers are talking with this young lawyer guy called David Lange, who might help to get the charges dropped against him, Lenny, Mr. Morrison, and Mr. Parker. This is great news. I hope he’s a good lawyer. Charlotte said he’s the man who helped the Panthers make legal aid booklets to give out to the Islanders.
THURSDAY, 16 September
* * *
Lenny got called into Mr. Arbuckle’s office today to explain why he was involved in the protest. Mr. Arbuckle must’ve seen the news too. He asked Lenny lots of questions about his involvement—and about Mr. Morrison’s too. Lenny told Mr. Arbuckle he should ask Mr. Morrison himself, which Mr. Arbuckle didn’t much like.
Lenny didn’t tell him much and Mr. Arbuckle said he didn’t like his obstructive attitude and he would be talking with his parents. Sure enough, Mum got a phone call this afternoon. She and Dad have to go to see the principal on Monday. (Maybe they’ll get a detention—hahahaha, just kidding.) Lenny doesn’t think Mr. Arbuckle knows about the arrest, so I wonder what he’ll do if he finds out about that.
MONDAY, 20 September
* * *
I don’t know how, but Mr. Arbuckle does know about the arrest. He’s talking about getting Lenny expelled from school. Mum and Dad were not pleased. More than anything, they want him to finish school and pass his University Entrance exams. Lenny told them about the Panthers’ lawyer, so Dad went to Rawiri’s to get a phone number to call them. Dad was amazing. He phoned the Panther headquarters and told them what was happening and they’re looking into what can be done.
FRIDAY, 24 September
* * *
Everyone was so busy with Lenny’s school problems that we never went to the shopping centre to pick up my lay-by.
The Panthers’ lawyer, David Lange, told Dad to give his phone number to the principal, and when Dad did, he said it made Mr. Arbuckle do an about-face.
“Mr. Savea, there’s no need to involve lawyers.”
“Mr. Arbuckle, this is my son’s education and his future depends on it so I will do whatever it takes to protect that.”
Mr. Arbuckle mumbled some stuff about what a good student Lenny has been over the years and what promise he shows, and finally said he’ll let him off—this time.
David Lange told Dad that the arrest charges will probably be dropped against all the protesters, because there are lots of reports from the public about the police provoking the protesters to get a reaction so they could arrest them.
Gee whiz, that guy David Lange seems to be a pretty good lawyer. Maybe they should make him Prime Minister instead of Mr. Muldoon.
Me and Lenny asked for time off work today for our trip to Auckland. That means Charlotte will get heaps of work while we’re away.
SUNDAY, 26 September
* * *
We have to make toast on the stove with the cake cooler rack now because someone left the toaster cord lying across the element, not realising that Mum had turned the element on while she was getting the porridge ready. The cord burnt through and blew the toaster off the bench, as well as blowing all the fuses in the house.
It made such a loud explosion that everyone came running to see what had happened. Minty and Jaffa were asleep in the lounge and they got such a fright they took off, and Minty ran straight into the glass on the front door. Funny!
Ethan was crying and saying it wasn’t him, and surprise, surprise, it turns out it wasn’t this time—it was Lenny who did it. There you go—even big boys are stupid. Anyway, it’s a real pain because you have to stand and wait for the toast to cook then turn it over and watch it so it doesn’t burn. We don’t want the fire engines here again.
TUESDAY, 28 September
* * *
Working with Mr. Carter today, we had to share our possible topics. I freaked out coz I haven’t done anything since last week. I thought about pretending I’ d been sick, but in the end I just said, “Sorry, Mr. Carter, we’ve had a lot going on at home and I haven’t thought about the speech.”
I thought he’d be really cross, but instead he said, “Is there anything going on there that you could use as your topic?” which made me think that Mr. Carter must know all about what’s been happening with Lenny, and that he agrees with it, otherwise he wouldn’ t have suggested that. I felt like a bit of a dummy. All I said was, “Ah, dunno.” Mr. Carter told me to keep thinking about it and try to nut something out for next week.
Payday today. I haven’t spent anything for the last two weeks. I’m so rich now, but I still need to pick up my boots.
SATURDAY, 2 October
* * *
Tried to work on my speech today but it didn’t go very well. I thought about what Mr. Carter said and came up with these ideas:
What are the dawn raids?
Who are overstayers?
Who are the Polynesian Panthers and what do they do? (I thought this was the best one but I didn’t manage to write anything down about them.)
I don’t think I’ll be in the speech competition after all.
SUNDAY, 3 October
* * *
The Disney movie tonight was called Old Yeller. It was s-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o sad, I can’t stop thinking about it. I wish I hadn’t watched it now.
Dad made boiled chicken and rice risotto for tea. Yum. I could eat the whole pot of risotto on my own.
Only 7 days until we go to Auckland! Super-duper exciting!! It’s good we’re not leaving till Sunday morning because me and Lenny can do the milk run on Saturday.
MONDAY, 4 October
* * *
(From now on this will be known as the day of the big secret!)
Charlotte asked if I would take a present to Auckland for her mum. “It’s not very big,” she said, so I said okay. She told me, “The easiest place to take it is the Panthers’ headquarters, right in town.”
I said I’d need to check with Mum and Dad first to see if we can go there.
Charlotte said, “It’ll be good for Mum to have a nice gift because it’s a year since my dad left.”
I didn’t know what to say at first. I thought for a moment, then I said, “I’m really sorry your dad died.”
Charlotte looked at me oddly and said, “He hasn’ t died.”
I was so confused and said, “Yes he did. You told Mr. Arbuckle he was dead the day we had the fight.”
She looked me straight in the eye and said, “Well, I lied.”
I REALLY didn’t know what to say then, I opened my mouth a few times but nothing came out. Charlotte looked at me and said, “Stop it, you look like a goldfish, opening and closing your mouth like that.”
When I got myself together, I blurted out, “Why on earth would you lie to Mr. Arbuckle like that?”
What she told me next shocked me again. “My dad’s in Tonga. He was an overstayer. He got deported a year ago.”
I think I was doing the goldfish again because Charlotte paused and looked at me with her eyebrow raised. I just said, “Oh!”
“We were all living in Auckland but had to leave suddenly because Immigration were looking for Dad.
So we came here to Porirua to stay with Mum’s sister. They tracked us down here, and Dad had to go to jail for a few days. Then he was allowed to come home, but had to report to the police station every day. A month later, he was deported back to Tonga.”
So many things were going through my head:
Charlotte’s part Tongan! And there she was being mean to me about being Samoan?
Now I know why her mum is with the Panthers.
What will happen with her dad?
How did her dad come to be an overstayer?
I knew the dawn raids were real, but this confirms they’re really real–and people do get taken away!
I should have asked about her dad but my mind was all over the show. Instead I blurted, “Craig doesn’t sound like a Tongan surname.” Geez I can be dumb sometimes. Like that mattered!
Charlotte didn’t seem bothered. “Craig isn’t Tongan. My dad’s surname is Nuku. When we left Auckland we started using Mum’s mother’s name so the immigration people couldn’t find us. My real name is Charlotte Nuku.” She went on to explain, “I’m Tongan on dad’s side and Māori and Pākehā on my mum’s side. Rawiri’s mum and my mum are sisters.”
Wow, this is becoming like a real-life spy story. “Will you see your dad again?”
Charlotte said she didn’t know. Her dad had come to New Zealand in 1960 on a work permit thingy. He was supposed to go back when it expired, but he met her mum, had a family, and never went back. She said they’d heard that her dad’s auntie dobbed him in so the police would leave her alone. What a cow! I didn’t say that though. Charlotte’s dad got a warning that something was up and they took off to Wellington to try and get the paperwork sorted, but it was too late.
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