Keri Hulme - The Bone People

Piri and Lynn are staring tipsily into each other's eyes.

Pi and Polly are intent on their game, cardplayers' eyes flickering like lizard tongues. The old lady drinks and smokes and stares, chuckling to herself over jokes only she knows about.

She and Joe drink in companionable silence. Shreds of conversation drift by her. The poolplayers give the game up in disgust, "… bloody cue's flawed, not to mention the table," and troop down to the other end of the bar where the dartboard is. An old old man to her left is saying, "… and the nurse said, Hold my hand then, ever so nicely."

He's dotted with age freckles, bald but with a thin layer of side hair combed up and across in a vain attempt to hide the baldness; he sits stiffly upright like a poker's rammed up him."… and after my operation on the other side, she said, My, Mr Kissenger, for a man old enough to be my grandfather you certainly know some," she turns her ears away.

A group of men, all dressed in jeans and grey pullovers, discuss fish and boats. One yells, "Hey John! Go get your guitar and we'll have a bit of a song eh?"

"Do, John," she murmurs to herself, and starts as Joe taps her arm.

"You're miles away."

"I was just thinking… something the matter?"

"No, Pi's got some sandwiches for us."

"The old lady makes them and keeps them in her bag every time we come here now," says Pi.

"We got caught by the greasy hamburgers they make down the road a couple of times, and as for the pies here-"

"Help yourself," urges the old lady.

"Is it okay? There's enough?"

"Man, she got tons in the bag there. She always makes enough for the whole damn family in case they turn up," Polly growls. She lost the last game.

The old lady passes over a gory-looking sandwich.

"Have some proper kai," she says firmly, "not like that filthy pie and stuff."

"Looks interesting," opening it, and wishing she hadn't.

A lot of little baby cockles with their siphons erect like tiny penises, arranged on a bed of lettuce leaf and soaked with tomato sauce.

Keck… and I had a greasy hamburger and filthy stuff half an hour ago,

but she takes a mouthful grimly, and is surprised to feel spurts of saliva.

"You know what?" she says after a moment. "I'm really hungry."

Joe grunts, tearing into another sandwich.

Solid chewing all round for the next five minutes.

"Oowe," says Joe, standing suddenly. "Scuse, time for mimi." He clutches at the table, wavering. "Wow, that beer and whisky… won't be a minute you fellas."

He pushes away through the crowd.

Pi says,

"Simon okay now?"

She thinks he is asking Piri, but Piri is leaning towards her.

Pi looks at her steadily.

"Joe treated him all right on this holiday of yours?"

So everybody knew but me… and nobody said or did a damn thing.

"There was no trouble," she says, cool and hard as a rock.

Lynn winces, her eyes filling with tears.

"You know Kere, the number of times we have, Piri has, fixed up poor Himi… he used to come round with terrible weals on him, didn't he Piri? Terrible cuts, and we couldn't say anything to Ma, because she'd get too upset. And we couldn't do anything, because you feel sorry for Joe being alone and all… but that poor kid! God, sometimes he could hardly walk… I'd never treat one of mine that way, though I suppose it's different him not really being Joe's and all, but sometimes I got so wild, didn't I Piri? Sometimes I could have scratched that bastard's eyes out," she ends viciously.

Piri blinks. He's been nodding pacifically along with all Lynn's been saying, eyes half-closed, face slack.

"Simmer down, Lynnie… Kerewin, I thought you might do something as soon as you found out about it, and Joe says you have eh? He didn't say what though."

Meaning, Tell us.

She is silent.

Piri pours the last of the beer out, first in her glass, then in Lynn's; Pi shakes his head and covers his glass, while Polly drains hers and holds it out; some in Polly's, some in Missus' genteel 5 ounce, and winds up giving a half-hearted scowl at the drop left in the bottom.

"Aue… well, my shout anyway." He holds the tray limply, leaning his head back. He says quietly.

"Me and Joe had a big fight about a year ago, over the way he treats his kid. I went in punching, but he's bigger than me so in the end I picked up a bottle, and smashed it on him. It skidded all down his shoulder and ribs… I was lucky I didn't gut him, the way the glass broke eh?"

He sighs heavily, head still back. "Pa woodened me… and said he was going to call the cops. Never did though… don' think it's a good thing to bring fuzz into family affairs, do you?" his eyes flick open suddenly, the drink drowsiness gone.

"I don't. Provided the family can cope."

"We tried," says Piri very softly. "We did try. Joe's had his troubles though, and you can't kick a man who's down all the time, nei?"

"I'm not civilised like that." She speaks as softly as Piri, aware of the rapt attention, everyone straining to hear. "I said to Joe if he thrashes Sim the way he has in the past, I'll kick him silly." She drains her glass. "I like Joe helluva lot, and I like Himi too, but aside from the damage this business has done to the child, it's warping a good man."

"Exactly," says Piri, no slur at all.

She puts the glass down, and smiles round at them all. "It wasn't an idle threat. I could take on any or all of you right now, and have a neat time, stomping you to mush."

Great, Holmes! An old lady, a tiny woman, a wee man, and a good fat fellow, placid as the day is long… kick 'em all to death eh? O mighty work, hero stuff that!

The old lady looks at her keenly, and spits to one side. Pi raises his eyebrows, and Polly grins like a dog. She'd obviously like Kerewin to have a go… Lynn just swallows.

"Judo or something?" The glaze is coming back into Piri's eyes.

"Or something. But good."

"Joe's found out?"

"By experience, yep."

"Whooo," Piri shakes his head blurrily. "Kinoath…" he starts collecting glasses, avoiding her eyes again.

She laughs. "Hey it wasn't much of fight, you fellas… we just decided that if Himi ever needs a hiding again, Joe will wait till I agree to it. I'm not muscling into Joe's business or anything… it's just we figured that the bashings happened because Joe was by himself, under pressure, and he lashed out on the spur of the moment eh? Sooo," she shrugs, comfortable in her power, "now he's not alone any more, he's got a promise to stand by and reason to keep his temper, and that should prevent Himi from getting damaged again."

Lynn closes her mouth. She looks at Kerewin, her brown eyes gone from birdbright to look strangely like a spaniel's, watery, inane, devoted.

"Well, I'm glad you stopped it because it wasn't nice… when you said though, about Joe not being alone now and that, did you mean you and Joe're getting married soon?"

Unholy, what the hell has Joe been saying?

She goes from boast to being coldly angry in a second. She says, "Emphatically not."

Silence again.

"Play up," Pi in a low voice to Polly.

"Hold your horse, fuckwit." She picks up her cards deliberately, ears cocked for the next bit.

"O, I thought…" Lynn is pleating the edge of her cardigan nervously, seemingly not aware of doing it. "You know, I thought… well, you know and all." Piri sighs behind her. "You know," she says again, "I just thought."

Her anger dies as abruptly as it roused.

Poor little twerp. Sounds like putting her foot in it is a regular occupation… and-she

was only trying to be polite to what must seem to her to be the ultimate in butch strangers, strange butchers.

She grins at her wordplay, grins kindly to Lynn. "My fault, I put it the wrong way. But whatever it looks like, we're just good friends…"