Read Online Brown Skin Blue by Belinda Jeffrey - Free Book Online

river. Albert, Elvis, Scoop. Especially Mavis. She’d have his gloves off and his arse in a deadlock roll quicker than he could wipe the smile off his face. Apart from fear, humans have a fascination for big things. You know. The Big Banana, The Big Pineapple, The Big Crab, The Big Tomato. We want to lure people in with whatever we have. Food, beasts, crustaceans. I wonder how many tourists actually see ‘The Big Thing’ and think, ‘Wow, that big thing looks so good, we should stick around and see the small ones.’ Tourists have photos taken with ‘The Big Things’. Some people probably have a whole photo album of them. You go to Coffs Harbour to see The Big Banana, not the farms of little ones. What’s interesting about the real thing?
    â€˜Here, you want to read the paper, love?’ Bessy’s beside me with a folded-up newspaper. ‘Another bloke left it here.’
    I look up. ‘Thanks.’
    I’m not much for reading the paper but it’s something to do while I wait for my breakfast. I open it up and lay it flat on the table. There’s a brochure for Top End Game Fishing and Fogg Dam. I move them out of the way and there on page one is his name. McNabm Blue. I scan the article. There’s pictures. Some of the same words leap out at me. Inquest. Inquiry. Children still not safe. Where are they now? Cycle of abuse repeats itself through a new generation. I rush from the table and run to my room where I vomit in the toilet again. I lay there on the tiled floor and suddenly the thought of what happened with Sally and what happened with Blue – the good thing and the bad thing – are all in a mess together.
    I’m at the back of the van, crying. Mum clouted me with the wooden spoon so hard my bum hurts and I’m that bloody annoyed I’m crying. It wasn’t my fault I saw Mrs Dickers in her knickers. I was lookin’ through the window to her van to see if Jonny was there. Mum caught me, saw Mrs Dickers inside with her knickers down at her knees, and slapped me across the back of the head. Then she dragged me back inside our own van and went at me with the wooden spoon. She took off then. For making her go and lose her temper like that and get stuck into me like she promised herself she’d never do.
    â€˜I reckon you could use a sweet or two. Whaddya reckon?’
    I turn around and Blue is there with another small white paper packet. I wipe at my face. I don’t want anyone to see me with tears and red eyes. I’m not a baby.
    â€˜No shame in crying, Barry. Here, take ’em.’
    I take the bag and put two lollies straight in my mouth.
    He sits down on the ground. He’s smiling. He’s nice. I don’t sit because my bum hurts.
    â€˜You get a beating?’
    I nod.
    â€˜Yeah. Happens when you’re a kid. You’re doin’ me another favour, you know. By eatin’ those sweets. They’d only rot my teeth and make me get older quicker. It’s lucky there’s good kids like you to help an old bloke out.’
    I smile at him because I feel better with the aniseed and sugar in my mouth.
    â€˜If you want, I could have a look at your bum for you. If it’s real red, I’ve got cream that could help.’
    He’s real nice. My bum hurts and I don’t know how to make it any better and my mum’s gone and she’s the one who hurt me. I turn around and let him look.
    I’m hungry now that my stomach’s empty. But the rest of me is filled with everything that happened back then. I don’t want to have to explain myself to anyone, especially Bessy, and I don’t want to have to find somewhere else to have my meals to avoid her forever, so I go back into the dining room. I fold the paper without lookin’ and wait for my breakfast.
    She’s there straightaway with a plate of steaming food. Bacon, crisp and burnt. Fried eggs with sauce. Chunks of butter on thick toast