Calypso Summer (10 page)

°°°

‘I just don't get it,' I told Gary when I entered the store. ‘How does a businesswoman like Steph get sucked in by a conman like you?'

‘She wasn't sucked in mate, psychological processes just worked as they should.'

‘What you mean?' I asked laughing.

‘Well corn provides energy but it's not necessarily going to improve sexual function overnight. What probably happened is that Steph told her old man to drink the stuff, telling him that it was good for his heart or something. He drank it because you don't want to get on the wrong side of your wife, right?'

‘Happy wife, happy life is what they reckon, hey?'

‘So he drank the stuff and probably felt like it was making him feel fit. Steph probably cooked her husband a nice dinner, perhaps they shared a bottle of wine, she put on something sexy and then nature took its course mate.'

‘Ah ha,' I said laughing again.

‘The funny thing is that her old man probably wanted sex as much as she did.'

‘So why did Steph need the corn then?' I asked.

‘Because she might not have been putting out the right signs. The signs need to be strong for a man to read and if he thinks he is going to be knocked back, why bother? It all comes down to communication really and us blokes can be pretty lazy and stupid when it comes to that.'

‘Well anyway, she's telling everyone about this place,' I told Gary, handing him his change. ‘It going to be a busy week, mahn.'

I decided to walk past Cleopatra's after work hoping to catch a glimpse of Clare. She'd been on my mind all day and butterflies were cruising all around my guts. I wasn't used to having a girl mess me up so much.

Sure enough when I passed the shop Clare looked up from sweeping the floor and she smiled and waved at me. I was as cool as and just gave her a little smile and wave back but really man, I felt like I was going to trip over my feet.

When I walked away from the shop I felt high and Bob Marley's ‘Wait in Vain' drifted through my mind.

I had the biggest mobs of reasons why I didn't want to get serious with the girls I'd gone with. I'd rolled with a few and after a while they always wanted me to move in with them and buy a car
and things. Without a job I was shitting myself and thinking that I'd have to live with Mum … forever.

But with a job at least I knew that I could take a girl out on the town instead of just sitting around home smoking dope and watching movies. And I really wanted to ask Clare out, not just because she was hot as but because I had some money in the bank and I wanted to see what it was like taking a girl to flash places and things.

But I couldn't just ask Clare on a date right away because I was going back to Port Germein that weekend. I thought about just dropping into Steph's to give Clare another ice-cream, or a mango or something during the next week, to break the ice so that I could ask her out on a proper date to somewhere smooth like a restaurant or a movie. That would be deadly as.

13

I leapt out of my couch when I heard Bruce's Toyota pull up in the driveway and then I grabbed my fishing rod and crab net that I'd placed by the door. I slung my backpack and sleeping bag over my shoulder, shut the door behind me and made my way down the stairs.

‘How you going cuz?' Bruce said.

‘Yeah good, looking forward to catching a feed.'

Bruce took my bag and threw it in the back of the Toyota. He looked at the crab net and said, ‘You won't need this, mate.'

I ran back up the stairs with the net and left it by the door.

‘Hello, Calypso,' said Shae and Brea at the same time, when I jumped in the car.

‘Good week at school?' I asked.

‘It was okay,' said Brea while Shae just rolled her eyes.

‘Alright,' said Bruce, ‘Now to your mum's house, you'll have to tell me where to go.'

Bruce whistled as he drove. He had loosened his tie and the top buttons of his shirt were undone.

‘Good week at work?' I asked.

‘Not too bad, but working in Aboriginal health, it's a hard gig, cuz. Seeing your own mob sick you know, seeing people feeling sorry for them self.'

‘I guess some people have good reason to feel sorry for themselves,' I said, thinking about how I felt when I couldn't get a job.

‘True. And a lot of bad things happened to our mob. But if you don't make things better for yourself, you're letting the fellas that
did all the bad stuff get at you. You're letting yourself down and not giving the young mob much direction, ey?'

‘True cuz,' I said nodding my head and thinking about Run. ‘Just at the end of this street here, take a left and then the first right,' I directed.

‘Have we met Calypso's mum before, Dad?' Brea asked.

‘Don't think so. I was only a young fella last time I saw Aunty Audrey. She looks a bit like Nanna though.'

When we got to Mum's I jumped the front gate and shot through her screen door as I called out to her. I thought Mum would be all set to go but she was just sitting at her kitchen table, wearing her slippers and dressing gown and doing a crossword.

‘Mum … why aren't you ready?'

‘I can't go Calypso,' she said quietly.

‘Why not? Bruce is waiting for us.'

Mum sat silently looking at the crossword, her reading glasses balanced on the tip of her nose and her pen resting lightly on the page.

‘Mum, what's wrong?'

‘I can't go Calypso.'

‘Why Mum?'

‘Because it's been too long since I've seen that mob. They'll be wild with me.'

‘Mum, Aunty Janet called me only yesterday to check that you're coming. Her and Uncle Ray are real excited.'

‘True?'

‘True as god, Mum. So you can't sit here all weekend. Things will be good when you see them I promise.'

‘But I don't know Calypso.'

‘Come on Mum. How do you reckon it was for me just rocking up on their doorstep? The only way you can find out how things will be is by coming.'

‘Well, you can go.'

‘Yeah Mum but we want you to come, all of us.'

Mum sighed, put her pen down and placed her reading glasses in their case. ‘If it makes you happy I'll come,' she said. ‘Alright then, I'll just throw something on.'

‘Well, be quick then. You got anything packed?'

‘There's a bag in my bedroom there. Can you grab it?'

I raced into Mum's room hearing Bruce's car rev. ‘Jingies Mum,' I said when I saw her old leather suitcase loaded up with a strap wrapped around it to hold everything in. ‘We're only going for the weekend.'

‘Never you mind Calypso … and be careful with that thing.'

There was no way I was going to be anything but careful with that suitcase because if it dropped on my feet it would break them. When I walked back through Mum's lounge room I noticed that all of her photos were missing. Then I realised they were in the suitcase, probably along with all her photo albums. I laughed to myself as I struggled to lift the heavy bulk out to the car. Bruce took the suitcase from me and lifted it into the back of the vehicle.

‘Bloody hell,' he said, ‘what's in here?'

‘Photos,' I said, shaking my head.

‘Guess Aunty Audrey and Mum got a lot of catching up to do?'

When Mum stepped out of the house she was wearing her good dress and shoes and stockings. I couldn't remember the last time I had seen her dressed up like that.

Mum was happy when she saw Bruce and walked towards him with open arms. She hugged him and said, ‘Oh bub, you're a real big man now. Last time I saw you were just a young fella. You remember?'

‘Course Aunty,' he said, his face all lit up. ‘Been long time, but really good to see you Aunty.' He moved around to open the door, but when he tried to help her in she said, ‘Never mind, I'm a fit old bugger, I could still outrun this car you know.'

Bruce laughed as he closed the passenger door, and so did Shae and Brea. Mum held out her hand to them as she introduced herself. ‘Which one of you is Shae and which one's Brea?' she asked. ‘You big girls now.'

°°°

The trip to Aunty Janet's seemed to take no time at all with all of the chatter going on. Mum was asking Bruce all kinds of questions like is Aunty Janet still making quandong pies, does Uncle Ray still play the guitar and what buildings are still on the properties. I could tell that Mum had a lot of knowledge about the place that she hadn't let on.

We arrived at Aunty Janet's place at dusk. Mosquitoes swarmed around the porch light. When the Toyota pulled up Aunty Janet and Uncle Ray came out from the house, Aunty Janet squealed as soon as she saw Mum. Everything was quiet. There were no squawking crows, no chirping crickets, no wind, as I watched Aunty Audrey and Uncle Ray give Mum a big warm hug.

‘Oh sis, so good to see you,' said Aunty Janet as she and Mum wiped away their tears with handkerchiefs.

‘Welcome home,' said Uncle Ray, leading Mum into Aunty Janet's house.

I went to the back of the Toyota, grabbed Mum's heavy load and by the time I plonked it near the front door Mum and Uncle Ray were already sitting at the kitchen table jabbering away and Aunty Janet was making tea.

‘Would you fellas like some tea?' she asked.

‘No Mum,' said Bruce, ‘We've got to set up camp, before it gets too dark. Plus, you fellas got a lot to catch up on, hey?' he said as he started backing out the front door.

‘No worries, well bring us back a feed when you come back then,' she ordered.

‘I'll see you later then, Mum?' I called out.

I don't think that Mum heard me but Uncle Ray walked over, shook my hand and said, ‘Howdy neph.'

‘Howdy Uncle.'

‘He's solid fella this one,' Uncle Ray said looking at Mum.

‘We'll catch up tomorrow, hey mate?'

‘No worries,' I said and then I dashed off after Bruce and the girls.

I was happy that Mum was already yarning flat out with Aunty Janet and Uncle Ray.

°°°

Bruce pulled the Toyota up onto high sandy ground close to an estuary overlooking the Spencer Gulf. The girls jumped out and began unpacking things from the rear of the car. Soon an esky, some buckets, a bag, three swags and a box full of food and cooking utensils were placed on the ground. Then they started
to grab things from their knapsacks. Brea pulled on a faded maroon hoody and Shae a flannelette shirt. Then they kicked off their school shoes and leant against the car to pull on well-worn sneakers. Bruce was also getting changed, out of his work shirt, slacks and shoes and into some old jeans, t-shirt and jacket. The girls looked like completely different kids once they got changed. They went from cute kids wearing their neat school uniforms to rough bush kids in a flash.

When the girls finished getting their things I gathered my bag, fishing rod and sleeping bag and the girls started setting up camp. I looked up at the stars in awe after I closed the back of the four-wheel drive. They were amazing. The Milky Way was so bright and clear that I could just reach out and touch it.

The girls rolled out three swags and then made their way into the bush with their flashlights to gather firewood. They didn't muck around, they were like proper bush women.

‘We'll just get this fire going a bit before we do anything cuz. See if the girls want to eat first or fish or whatever,' Bruce said as he dug a fire pit with a small fold-up spade.

‘No worries, I'm easy,' I replied, taking in the sound of the sea and the smell of the air.

As I threw my sleeping bag down on soft ground Bruce scrunched newspaper into balls and threw it in the fire pit and shuffled around picking up kindling. Seconds after the girls returned with bigger pieces of wood the fire was lit, throwing light across the area that was our place for the night.

‘Calypso, you're not just sleeping in that are you?' Shae asked pointing to my sleeping bag that I reckon is pretty deadly.

‘Yeah, what's wrong with it? It's not going to rain or nothing.'

‘The outside of our swags will be wet when we wake up, even on a really hot night. You will be soaked,' said Brea.

‘Yeah mate you always get a bit of dew around here, even when it's forty degrees,' said Bruce. It's even worse in the desert. Old fellas had it all worked out with their animal skin cloaks inny?'

‘They be waterproof too 'ey?' I asked.

‘Yeah, that's right.'

‘You know what a shelter tree is?' Brea asked me. I shook my head, not having a clue.

‘Well, you tell him Brea,' Bruce advised. ‘And while you're at it, can you grab Calypso a tarp out of the back of the car bub, to wrap around that thing there?' he said, pointing to my sleeping bag with his chin.

‘Well up in the hills there Calypso,' Brea continued, looking to the east, ‘there's the biggest mobs of shelter trees. They're huge gum trees that the old fellas cut out, hey Dad?'

‘Cut and burnt out,' said Shae, returning with tarp in hand that she spread on the ground before tucking my sleeping bag inside.

‘So when you stand in them, there's heaps of space, you throw roo skins and that down for blankets and you don't get wet. It's like a little house or a teepee,' Brea explained proudly.

‘That's real solid,' I said.

‘You know what's even more solid?' Bruce asked.

‘What?' Brea and I asked.

‘The inside of a tree is round.'

‘What's so special about that?' asked Brea.

‘What's so special about it?' Bruce repeated.

‘Well, like you're not going to tell us anyway Dad,' said Shae.

Mucking around, Bruce looked at Shae like he was pissed off and then he said, ‘The earth, the moon and the stars are round and time goes round in a circle. Our past, present and future are all connected to each other. What we did yesterday affects today, and what we do today affects tomorrow.'