Sunburnt Speculations

The Task: Describe places where you have worked …Describe how the people handle their tools and machines. Objective: To concentrate on the details and energy of a workplace. Workplaces make perfect story setups because they make it easy for you to integrate the place and the character. People shape the place, the places shape the people.

Novakovich, Josip. Fiction Writer’s Workshop (p. 41). Penguin Publishing Group. Kindle Edition.

The year Christy and Benny finished school, they went looking for work at the public abs. Many of the young blokes did – mostly those without family connections in local business.

Arriving in the grey light of civil dawn – a cool breeze blowing up from the river, heavy with mangrove and mud – you’d take your place, leaning against the chain wire fence and trying to look like it didn’t matter if you got put on or not.

Some of the men smoked – the bitter, tarry smell of Drum tobacco mixing with the tannery stink of meat, blood, smoke and piss. A few sat nervously on a bare wooden bench to be close to the gate house – the better to jump up quickly if they got a call.

A lot had knives – some stored safety in gladstone bags, others wrapped tight in aprons against the damp. A few men had heavy coats draped over their shoulders, freezer gear that marked them out for the cold work. One or two of the older hands had brought rusty thermoses and sipped sweet black tea from the lids, while the rest shifted their weight and kept an ear tuned for a call up.

You didn’t speak much at the gate house. You’d nod to each other as if to say,” G’day. Good luck. Yeah,” And that would be enough. You were all waiting for Mr Kaiser. Mister – as though the title added even more to the power of the imperial name.

Away in the yards you might hear cattle being shoved into a race. There’d be shouting and bellowing and heavy bodies knocking against metal railings. It would go on for a few minutes. The gate would clang shut behind them once they were in and you’d make a mental note. There’d be a kill shift that day. And that’d be all right.

From outside, you could sometimes hear a valve hiss or a pipe groan, the machines shaking themselves awake for the day’s industry.

As the light broadened, the regulars would arrive, walking up from the station and entering through a side gate. They’d mostly be in the cellar or packing. Work was more regular there. But if you weren’t regular, you had to wait at the gatehouse for Mister Kaiser to give you your start.

At length, he’d arrive. The first you’d see would be the light come on. Then the door would open, and he’d step out, wooden clipboard of authority in his hands. He’d glance at his papers, survey the waiting men and boys, and bark out his first orders.

“Four starts for a boner with a ticket.”

It was strictly no-ticket-no-start for the trade classifications in those days. Immediately, half a dozen men would jump up. A few more would shuffle – unsure whether their union dues were paid up. The first in the door would usually be the ones to get put on.

And so it went on down the classifications till it got to the labourers. You didn’t have to have a ticket if you were only after labouring work. It wouldn’t matter. They’d take your dues out of your wages.

Christy and Benny were there for the labouring work. Most of the young men were. At last, it would come, “Couple of labourers for the freezer.”

It was a rule not spoken among the labourers – you didn’t put yourself ahead of anyone there before you. And if you didn’t have freezer gear, then there’d be no point in it anyway. Christy and Benny didn’t move. There might be another call. But there wasn’t.

A few of the men drifted away. Some of the more hopeful stayed on. Christy and Benny stayed. At length, Mister Kaiser would stick his head out of the window.

“That’s it for today. Come back tomorrow.”

When there was no work, Christy and Benny would walk back along the railway line to New Wynn. They’d pump yabbies on the flats and go fishing in the afternoon. A few bream or whiting were always good for a cheap tea.