No Sugar by Jack Davis Page A

how many dogs have you got in the camp?
    They look at each other in silence, then :
    SAM : A couple of kangaroo dogs, and Granny’s dog.
    MATRON strides off, followed by BILLY , who stops her some distance away.
    BILLY : They got that many, missus.
    He holds up seven fingers.
    JOE , DAVID and CISSIE : Wahrdung , wahrdung , black crow!
    MATRON exits. BILLY glares at the children.
SCENE FOUR
    Moore River Native settlement, a clearing in the pine plantation, night. JOE creeps on and lets out a mopoke call. Pause. He calls again, and the call is returned. MARY approaches, carrying a crumpled parcel.
    JOE : You got here all right.
    MARY : I brought you a present.
    She hands him the crumpled parcel and they sit on a log.
    JOE : What is it?
    MARY : Damper, oven cooked, mixed with emu fat and they’re real raisins, not weevils.
    They giggle and eat.
    JOE : You comfortable? Sit closer. How long you been here?
    MARY : About five minutes.
    JOE : I know that, I mean how long you been here at the settlement?
    MARY : This was my third Christmas… I wish I was back home. I hate this place, I hate everything in it.
    JOE : Even me?
    MARY : No, I don’t hate you.
    JOE : Them wetjalas treat you all right?
    MARY : Gudeeahs ? Matron and Sister Eileen are all right. They try to be nice, but I don’t like Mr Neal. He scares me.
    JOE : He don’t scare me.
    MARY : I don’t like the way he looks at me.
    JOE : Well, you got me now, for what I’m worth.
    He laughs.
    MARY : He’s always hangin’ around where the girls are workin’; in the cookhouse, in the sewin’ room. And he’s always carryin’ that cat-o’-nine tails and he’ll use it, too.
    JOE : Bastard, better not use it on you or any of my lot.
    MARY : He reckoned he was gunna belt me once.
    JOE : What for?
    MARY : ’Coz I said I wasn’t gunna go and work for guddeeah on a farm.
    JOE : Why not? Be better than this place.
    MARY : No! [ With shame ] Some of them guddeeahs real bad. My friend went last Christmas and then she came back boodjarri . She reckons the boss’s sons used to belt her up and, you know, force her. Then they kicked her out. And when she had that baby them trackers choked it dead and buried it in the pine plantation.
    JOE : What? You dinkum?
    MARY : That’s true.
    JOE : [ stunned ] The bastards. The fuckin’ bastards.
    MARY starts to cry.
    Come on, Mary, stop that. You know somethin’?
    MARY : What?
    JOE : I don’t like you.
    She draws away.
    I love you.
    They embrace.
    MARY : I have to go back, Matron will find out.
    JOE : Stay a bit longer.
    She kisses him.
    MARY : I have to go now, or she won’t let me out again.
    JOE : When will I see you again?
    MARY : Tomorrow.
    JOE : Same time?
    MARY : Yeah.
    JOE : Same log?
    MARY : Yeah. Joe, I don’t like you either.
    They laugh and embrace. MARY runs away. JOE watches after her.
SCENE FIVE
    The Moore River Settlement, a hot morning. JIMMY ambles about outside the Superintendent’s office. MR NEAL approaches. He has a hangover.
    NEAL : Hey, you, you’re with the Northam lot, aren’t you? What are you doing here?
    JIMMY : What’s it look like I’m doing?
    NEAL : You’re supposed to be up in the quarantine camp.
    JIMMY : Quarantine camp, me arse.
    NEAL : You’re out of bounds and you know it.
    JIMMY : Come off it, you know that quarantine camp is a load of bullshit, so don’t try and tip it over me.
    NEAL : I’ll attend to you later.
    He heads for his office.
    JIMMY : You know, if fertiliser was in short supply you’d make a bloody fortune.
    He sniggers.
    NEAL : [ mumbling ] Another bloody troublemaker.
    He sits at his desk. MARY brings him tea on a tray. He leers at her body. MATRON enters, almost catching him.
    MATRON : Where did you get to yesterday?
    NEAL : You know very well I had to go to Moora to see about—
    MATRON : [ interrupting ] To spend the day in the hotel drinking. Don’t imagine