Category Archives: Serial

30/06/2016

The Inklings: Chapters 58 and 59

By Anna

Chapter 58.

When there was a knock at the door John jumped. He wasn’t expecting anyone and so couldn’t help thinking that maybe the police had finally come to arrest him. He crept over to the door and looked through the peep hole. Phew! It was Fanta.

Fanta hadn’t slept much all night and when John saw her he could tell. He immediately started to worry that she might be about to break up with him and felt a bit like crying.

“Sit down, poor thing. I’ll make some tea” said John, and then he winced at how much he’d sounded like his grandmother.

As John stirred milk into the cups of tea he tinkled the teaspoons against the inside of the cups extra loudly, to cover the silence. Then he picked up the cups and turned to face Fanta. She was smiling.

“Phew!” thought John.

“Lenny has disappeared so I don’t have a job” said Fanta.

John took a little sip of tea and coughed. It was too hot.

“What do you mean ‘Lenny has disappeared’?” asked John.

“He ran away from the Police, I think.” said Fanta.

“Why?” asked John, but Fanta didn’t know. Neither of them would have been surprised if Lenny had broken the law though. He didn’t seem to care about being a good person.

“Do you want to work at the restaurant?” asked John.

Fanta laughed. She’d expected that John would say that. What worried her was that she knew waitresses didn’t earn enough to pay her mortgage.

“How could I say ‘no’ to that” answered Fanta. “But you know I would be looking for another job at the same time. I guess this might be what it takes for me to get a job related to my degree.”

“Fine” answered John. What he really wanted to ask was whether he could pay Fanta’s bills for her. But how could he word that offer without sounding condescending.

“My money is your money, you know” said John, finally.

“All of it?” asked Fanta, trying to look annoyed, but she was feeling happy.

And so John and Fanta agreed that Fanta would work at the restaurant for the weekday lunchtime shift when her sisters were back at school. Then it was time for John to set out for the restaurant. As they left the block of flats they noticed someone was putting up a giant sign out the front. It said “Expressions of Interest” and had a picture of the block of flats with the land dimensions marked.

“Looks like you might have to move” said Fanta. “Developers would love this site.”

John looked worried. He wondered how D’arby would cope with having to move while trying to finish his thesis. John would be sad to leave their little old flat.

Chapter 59.

When Syafika arrived at work at 9:05am there was a note on her desk to let her know everyone was in the meeting room. Perhaps someone had told her that every day started with a team meeting at 8:30am and she’d forgotten. Syafika could hardly remember anything that she’d been told the day before. She hadn’t slept well, probably because she’d been feeling hungry. Then when she tried to eat some toast for breakfast it had made her feel sick. Even a cup of tea hurt her stomach.

Syafika opened the meeting room door as gently as she could. All the chairs at the table were occupied so she stood at the back of the room and listened to Christine give a presentation, but she had no idea what Christine was going on about so she tried to work it out from the slides she was showing, but they were just as incomprehensible. Christine seemed to be giving them a maths lesson and Syafika couldn’t work out why. Syafika began daydreaming about Anthony coming to rescue her.

Then after the meeting Nelson rescued Syafika instead. He suggested they go for a coffee at the café in the Botanic Gardens. Syafika looked at her watch – it was only 10am – and couldn’t believe her luck.

On the way to the café Nelson asked Syafika how she was finding the job and whether she was enjoying it. Syafika admitted that Christine’s team was much more intense than her old one and that she was having trouble keeping up.

“I have an idea” said Nelson. “I am speaking at a conference on the Central Coast tomorrow. It starts in the morning and finishes on Saturday afternoon. Everyone is staying at the conference venue, which is a nice hotel near the beach. You should come too. It would give you a very good overview of our work and how it fits in with what other people are doing.”

Syafika nodded. She thought that going to a conference would be more fun than spending Friday at work but was a bit worried she’d fall even further behind if she missed out on what happened at work tomorrow. Nelson could see the indecision in her face and suggested she sit down and have a think about it while he ordered their coffees. This time they were going to be able to drink their coffees at the café – another luxury that Syafika had been missing.

When Nelson returned he was carrying a tray with two coffees (in real cups!) and two pieces of cake. Syafika decided at that moment that she would go to the conference tomorrow.

Perhaps it was because Syafika had a full tummy for the first time in days, but that afternoon at work went well for Syafika. She was able to pay attention to everything that went on. Christine even had some good news. They had been given a bigger budget and could afford to have two more people in their team. Christine emailed around the job descriptions and Syafika was excited to see that one of the positions was for a graduate and would suit Fanta perfectly.

………………….

When Syafika left work she went straight to Fanta’s place (making sure she called Rose to tell her first). Syafika had a printout of the job advertisement in her bag and was feeling excited. She imagined how nice it would be to have Fanta working with her.

As Fanta waited for Syafika to arrive she was also feeling excited. She was looking forward to working at the pizza restaurant for a while and was feeling more secure now that she knew that John would be there to help her if she needed it.

When Syafika knocked on the door of Fanta’s house she could smell something delicious cooking, probably pasta.

As Syafika and Fanta and Fanta’s sisters sat at the table enjoying a dinner of pasta, salad and a cold fruity tea they told each other about their days.

Syafika gave Fanta the job description. As Fanta read it she felt happy that Syafika and John were both looking out for her.

“You better stop telling me how hard Christine makes you work if you want me to apply for this job” said Fanta. Fanta read the job description and saw that it was something she was qualified to do, but then she read that it was full-time and realized she didn’t want a full-time job.

Syafika noticed that Fanta had started to frown.

“What’s wrong?” asked Syafika.

“Do you think I’d be able to do it part time?” asked Fanta.

“I don’t know” said Syafika. “I’ll ask Christine on Monday. But I think you should apply anyway.”

Fanta was feeling a bit slack for not wanting to work full-time. She wondered if it was lazy of her to want to be able to keep some of her time for herself and her sisters.

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03/06/2016

The Inklings: Chapter 57.

By Anna

Wednesday was a blur for Mamadou. He spent most of it in his head, walking around imaginary gardens, although he was vaguely aware of Ousman and Binta coming and going, and he remembered drinking a very nice cup of tea.

As the sun was setting, Ousman watched his father as he walked back and forth on the footpath outside the house. Mamadou frowned as he worked out the last details of his design. Then mosquitos started biting him so he came inside and worked frantically until midnight – drawing a bird’s eye view of the garden and the doing several sketches of what it would look like to be in different parts of the garden.

Mamadou woke on Thursday morning with a sense of purpose. He had done his homework. The plans for Rose’s garden were ready. By 8:00 am he was ready to go and drop them off.

“Where are you going?” asked Binta when she saw Mamadou heading out the door.

“To give Rose these plans. She needs them today” answered Mamadou.

Mamadou noticed that Binta was ready to go somewhere also. She was wearing a brown suit and nice blue earrings.

Binta had assumed that Mamadou would be looking after Ousman while she was at work, and only just realized that they hadn’t discussed it. She wondered how she should best explain the situation.

“I have work today” said Binta. “I’d assumed you would be looking after Ousman. He doesn’t need much looking after really, but he isn’t used to waking to find nobody here. What if you wait until he wakes up and take him with you to see Rose? It is still a bit early to call on Rose anyway”.

Mamadou understood. He realized he had a lot to learn about how things worked around here. He wondered at what age children were left to fend for themselves.  Mamadou watched Binta walk off down the street, then closed the front door and sat down to wait for Ousman to wake up. At 8:15am Ousman quietly opened the door to Ousman’s bedroom and slowly walked in, watching his feet as he stepped and treading as lightly as possibly on the floor boards. Ousman was still sleeping soundly. Mamadou looked at Ousman’s face. He could see things that reminded him of himself and of Binta, but at the same time Ousman was completely different to them both. Mamadou hoped that he’d be able to let Ousman be his own person.

Mamadou was sitting at the table looking proudly at his garden plans when Ousman woke up. It was 8:30am. Ousman ate a banana for breakfast as he and his father walked to Rose’s place. They arrived just before 9am.

“I think we might be a bit early” said Ousman. “Did Aunty Rose say to come this early?”

“No, she just told me she needs to have the plans today so I thought earlier is better” said Mamadou.

“Let’s check whether she’s up and about yet before we knock on the door” suggested Ousman. He wasn’t sure when Rose got up in the morning but he imagined she wouldn’t be ready for visitors before 10am.

So Ousman crept up the front steps and peeped in through the crack between the curtain and the window frame. He could see two figures in the lounge room and from the shape and the way they moved he thought they must be Rose and Amanda. They seemed to be having an animated conversation and he could hear laughing. He took a step back, walked to the door and knocked. Ousman thought he heard someone rushing up the stairs. Then Rose opened the door.

It took Rose a couple of seconds to compose herself when she saw Ousman and Mamadou. When she noticed the roll of papers in Mamadou’s hand she realized what the visit was for.

“Come in!” said Rose enthusiastically, giving Ousman a hug.

Mamadou was feeling nervous. He hoped Rose would approve of his garden design.

Rose unrolled the drawings and gasped as she looked at them. After looking at each of them she laid them out on the table so Ousman could see.

“Magnificent!” said Rose, when she’d seen them all. Ousman looked at Mamadou proudly. Mamadou smiled, but was still feeling nervous.

Then Mamadou explained how the garden tied-in with the house. How the greywater would be cleaned as it trickled through the series of ponds and how it could then either be sent to the greenhouse or along a channel he liked to call ‘the river’, watering the fruit and nut trees, flowers, berries and veggies as it wound through the garden, all the way to the frog pond in the back corner.

Rose giggled and explained that if India was there she’d probably know some term that experts used to describe such a system. Rose gathered up the drawings and they all went out to the backyard to see how the design would fit with the topography of the yard. Luckily for Rose’s budget, the land sloped downwards to where Mamadou wanted to locate the frog pond and it looked like it would be possible to gravity feed the whole system. Mamadou wanted to get started straight away and asked Rose for a shovel. Rose laughed and told Mamadou that they couldn’t start anything until Zikpi had been to film the ‘before’ scenes.

Ousman, Mamadou and Rose spent the rest of the day alternating between caring for Festus and creating a project plan for the renovations and garden. Ousman liked the way they had to work out how each step of the various jobs would fit in with the rest. Mamadou liked the way that it looked like he was going to be very useful. Rose loved being able to be part of a team, and Festus liked the way that Rose’s plans were going ahead despite his broken leg. He looked forward to being able to help though – he was glad that, according to the project plan, his leg would be better before the project was over. He imagined that the last few scenes of Zikpi’s documentary would show him working really hard to get things finished on time.

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28/05/2016

The Inklings: Chapter 56.

By Anna

On Wednesday morning Syafika was just opening the door to leave for work when she heard Rose say “Oh no! Oh dear! Syafika!” so she went to find out what was wrong. She had the phone in her hand and was pressing buttons in a fluster.Syafika could hear the answering machine saying ‘You have no saved messages’.

“There was a message on the answering machine for you but I think I accidentally deleted it” said Rose.

“That’s probably ok” replied Syafika. “Just tell me what the message was or who called”

“A man… Anthony? The message was left last night. He asked whether you wanted to go somewhere for dinner and to call him. He said his phone number, but of course I can’t remember that!” explained Rose.

Syafika suddenly felt like crying. “I don’t have his number” she said. Syafika had a go at retrieving the message but it had definitely been deleted so she headed off for work, hoping that Anthony was going to be running in the Botanic Gardens at lunchtime.

When Syafika arrived at work she found a note stuck to her computer screen saying to call Glenda and her number. Syafika didn’t know Glenda but had heard about her and decided to have a cup of tea before calling her. As the tea was drawing Syafika turned her computer on and saw that she’d been copied in to a string of emails regarding the advice she’d given the Minister’s Office on Monday. She opened the first one and was just starting to read it when Glenda appeared.

“Why didn’t you call me?” Glenda demanded.

“I was just about to” answered Syafika. Glenda didn’t look like she believed her.

“The Minister is furious” said Glenda.

Syafika was frightened and wondered what she’d done wrong.

Glenda started explaining but Syafika didn’t understand what she was talking about. Glenda kept mentioning names and projects that only sounded vaguely familiar. Then Christine walked in and told Glenda that Joe needed to speak to her. Joe was the Executive Director that Glenda worked for.

“I’ll be back” said Glenda as she left.

Syafika looked at Christine. She remembered what Nelson had said about Christine and expected to be yelled at, but instead Christine was calm and friendly.

“Joe gets Glenda to be his attack dog” said Christine. “She doesn’t always know what she’s talking about. Neither does Joe. None of this is your fault but you have been blamed for it.”

Christine explained what had happened. Syafika’s advice had been fine but it wasn’t the information the Minister needed because she’d been asked the wrong questions. She’d been asked the wrong questions because Joe hadn’t bothered clarifying with one of the other Executive Directors before passing them on. And so the Minister had been made to look like a fool in a press conference, and someone had to be blamed.

“So you are going to have to leave this branch and come and work for me” concluded Christine. She told Syafika to pack up her stuff and come down to her office on level 2.

As Syafika packed her teapot, cups, diary and pot plant into an empty printer paper box she contemplated going home instead of down to level 2 but then Syafika remembered what had happened last night and that it was now her responsibility to earn money to support her family. As she walked down the stairs to level 2 she still wasn’t sure what was going on. If she had been she’d have been crying with rage.

Nelson was in Christine’s office when Syafika arrived. Christine was on the phone. Nelson led Syafika to her new desk and introduced her to the rest of the team. Then everyone went to the meeting room to discuss their current project. It was lunchtime when they emerged but Syafika wasn’t hungry. Her head was foggy though and her hands were shaking. She looked around and saw everyone else settling down to eat lunch at their desks and felt like she should copy them but didn’t want to. Fortunately Nelson gave her an opportunity to get out of the office by asking whether anyone could go and get him a coffee if they were going to buy lunch.

“I have to go and get something” said Syafika, wording the sentence carefully to only make it sound like she didn’t have her lunch because she had a generous packed lunch in her bag.

“Great”said Nelson and handed Syafika a coffee cup.

Syafika was just about to ask Nelson what kind of coffee he wanted when he changed his mind and decided to come too. Syafika tried to not show her disappointment. She’d been hoping to do a quick walk around the Botanic Gardens, but how could she do that if Nelson came too? Then she had a brilliant idea. Syafika picked up her cup and as she and Nelson walked out of the office Syafika told him that her favourite coffee place was the café in the Botanic Gardens.

“There are plenty of good coffee places closer than that. The coffee there must be good if you walk all that way” commented Nelson.

“Maybe it is the walk that makes the coffee taste so nice” answered Syafika, carefully. She’d never actually had a coffee from the café in the Botanic Gardens.

As Syafika and Nelson walked through the gardens Syafika looked around as much as she could without making it too noticeable. Nelson was telling her lots of things about the work she would be doing but Syafika wasn’t paying much attention. She was waiting for an opportunity to ask about Christine because Syafika hadn’t found her to be a bully at all and couldn’t believe she would be corrupt either.

As they waited for their coffee orders, Nelson finally stopped talking long enough for Syafika to speak.

“Christine doesn’t seem to be the way you told me she was” said Syafika

“Maybe she isn’t” answered Nelson. “I don’t think you know her well enough to judge yet. Also, sometimes people say things to see how you respond, not because they are necessarily true.” As Nelson said this he put his hand on Syafika’s shoulder. Syafika glanced over Nelson’s shoulder as she tried to think of a response and saw that Anthony was sitting at an outside table and looking at them. Syafika smiled at Anthony before being distracted by Nelson, who was handing her her coffee.

When Syafika turned to look at Anthony again he was gone.

……

When Syafika and Nelson got back to the office everyone had finished their lunch and had started another meeting and so Syafika’s packed lunch went un-eaten. She didn’t have time to feel hungry though. The afternoon flew by, as the time was eaten up by one meeting after another. Syafika took lots of notes as she tried to make sense of what was going on. After the last meeting Syafika walked home as fast as she could. She wanted to call Fanta. There was so much to talk about!

“Where have you been!” said Rose as Syafika walked in the front door at home.

Syafika was confused until she realized the time. She was two hours later than usual and hadn’t called to say she’d be late. Then Syafika saw that Fanta and her sisters were sitting at the kitchen table.

“I tried to call you at work lots of times” said Fanta “but you didn’t answer”.

“Sorry” replied Syafika. “I had to move offices” and she realized she hadn’t asked whether she’d be keeping her old phone number, nor had she sat at her new desk all day.

“We were worried” said Rose.

“Sorry” said Syafika. “I had such a big day that I forgot about all the normal things”

“I had a big day too” said Fanta. “When I went back to work today I discovered the shop was closed and I don’t know where Lenny is”.

“On holiday?” suggested Syafika. Syafika was impatient to tell her stories so wanted to hurry Fanta up.

“No, the police were looking for him too. He’s officially a missing person” said Fanta. “And without Lenny, I don’t have a job”

Syafika was interested now. “What are you going to do?” she asked.

“I don’t know” answered Fanta. “Look for a new job I suppose. But I don’t know when or if Lenny will turn up again. And I’m not going to be popular with other agencies because nobody likes Lenny.”

Syafika didn’t like the sound of this. She could see that Fanta might end up with a job that made her less available. This made Syafika feel depressed and she no longer had the energy to explain her day. Fortunately Ruby was tired and asked Fanta if they could go home. Fanta explained that they’d been there for two hours and had already had dinner. Syafika and Fanta organized to meet for dinner the following night. Then Fanta and her sisters walked home.

Syafika watched Rose tuck Festus into his temporary bed on the sofa. The stairs were too hard to climb while his leg was still so sore. Syafika decided not to bother her parents with her work troubles that night. She said ‘Goodnight’ and went to have a shower.

Rose watched Syafika go and then told Festus that Syafika hadn’t shown any interest in dinner and hoped she was ok.

“So do I” said Festus, because he was feeling so powerless that all he could do was hope.

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21/05/2016

The Inklings: Chapter 55

By Anna

Mamadou felt anxious. Not long after he and Ousman returned from the gallery Rose called Binta and asked them to come over urgently.

“Relax” explained Binta “Rose probably just wants me to cook dinner”

But it was worse than that. When they arrived, Rose was crying.

“What is wrong?” asked Binta.

Rose pointed to the lounge where Festus was lying asleep with his leg in a plastic cast. He had scratches on his face and bruises on his arms.

“Festus broke his leg and its my fault. I asked him to get up on the garage roof to check the condition because sometimes the roof leaks and I wanted to know whether we should replace the roof when we convert the garage into the new bathroom and laundry. But then Festus trod on a rotten patch and fell through.” said Rose

“And it isn’t just that. He won’t be able to work for two months. So we won’t have any income until he is better nor will he be able to work on the renovations. And in case you thought it couldn’t get any worse, this morning India came over to tell me that her producer friend Zikpi, who is making a TV show about ambitious renovations, wants to make an episode about my project – filming it from start to finish. Just before Festus got up on the garage roof I spoke to Zikpi on the phone and agreed to meet on Friday to explain my renovation plans. This is despite me not knowing what I’m doing. I just didn’t want to show India that.” Rose added, before flopping down on a comfy chair and looking at the ceiling.

Mamadou offered to help and asked to look at the plans. Rose told him where they were – she didn’t feel like getting up yet. Mamadou spread the plans out on the kitchen table and his eyes soon lit up at the prospect.

“Can we do the garden too?” he sang out to Rose.

“I can’t cope with the house, let alone the garden” replied Rose

“Sorry” replied Mamadou “I just had an idea for a beautiful garden to go with the beautiful house. I’ll do the work. I need a project”

Rose’s eyes lit up. She got up and went to the kitchen. Binta followed. Rose looked at Mamadou. He was skinny but probably strong. Rose imagined Festus sitting on a chair instructing Mamadou.

“If you help Festus with the house, you can do the garden” said Rose.

Binta didn’t think that was very fair, and was about to tell Rose when she noticed how happy Mamadou looked.

“I’ll draw my plan and bring it to show you” said Mamadou

“I need it by Thursday” answered Rose

……………….

When Syafika got home she found her parents sitting in the lounge room while Binta prepared dinner, and Mamadou and Ousman drew pictures of gardens.

“You’ll have to cancel the renovations” said Syafika

“I can’t” replied Rose “Zikpi is going to film it all and put it on TV for everyone to see. I’m sure they’ll enjoy the bit about Festus having a broken leg and him having to instruct Mamadou on how to install a greywater system.”

“I don’t think he can do that. We’ll have to get a plumber in – have to do it properly if it is going to be on TV.” said Festus. But then he thought a bit more and added “Or he could become my new apprentice!”

“But if Dad isn’t working how are you going to pay an apprentice or pay for anything?” asked Syafika.

“Just as well you are still working!” answered Rose. “You’ll be the breadwinner while Festus gets better”

“So I’m going to be paying for the stinking renovations that I don’t want?” asked Syafika. But she was really only pretending to be angry. She wanted to support the family because it would make her feel important. It was the best convincing Rose had done so far – Syafika was no longer against the renovations. She sat down next to Mamadou to look at the plans.

The phone rang but nobody could be bothered getting up to answer it.

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15/05/2016

The Inklings: Chapter 54

By Anna

Tuesday at work was much quieter for Syafika. Nobody emailed her, and nobody called her. She could only assume that the Ministers Office had been happy with the information she’d supplied the night before. After the excitement of the day before, Syafika actually felt a bit bored. At lunchtime she decided to go for a walk in the nearby Botanic Gardens and enjoy not having to keep an eye on the time (if she was late nobody would be there to care and she’d already finished everything on her list of things to do that day).

Syafika wandered along the paths enjoying the smell of damp leaves and some strange fluffy white flowers. She was humming to herself and not paying attention to where she was going when around the corner came a runner and they collided. Syafika nearly lost her balance but he quickly put his arm out to support her. She looked up, not sure whether to be angry or apologetic and saw that it was Anthony. Instead of taking a step back to reclaim her personal space, Syafika stayed where she was and took a deep breath.

“You ok?” asked Anthony

“Yep” answered Syafika and tried to think of something else to say to keep the conversation going.

“I didn’t know you came here” said Anthony.

“I didn’t know you came here either” said Syafika

“Or you wouldn’t have come here?” suggested Anthony.

“No! I mean….” said Syafika. Then she was too embarrassed to say anything else.

“How’s Vincent?” asked Anthony.

“We broke up. I guess he’s fine” replied Syafika.

“Again?” asked Anthony.

“For the last time. We neither care for each other anymore” said Syafika.

Anthony smiled then said “I need to finish my run and get back to work. I’ll call you”. Then he ran off.

Syafika sat down on the first seat she could find. She felt shaky – she had that Anthony-induced feeling again. It was unsettling and made her feel a bit anxious but it was also delicious – warm and happy. Syafika remembered what it felt like in those seconds she was standing close to Anthony and didn’t want to move. She thought about following him to see where he went, but it was too late – she didn’t know which way he’d gone.

Instead Syafika went back to her desk and was engrossed in reading an article Fanta had emailed her when she realized that someone was standing behind her.

“Ah, so this is why you have to stay so late to finish your work” said the man from the lift. He introduced himself as Nelson and explained that he was hiding from his Executive Director Christine – the lady Syafika had seen him coming out of the lift with the night before.

“I can’t believe you are really hiding” said Syafika.

“I am” Nelson replied. “Christine is a bully”

Syafika was unsure what to do or say so she wheeled a chair to the empty desk next to her and said “Sit down if you like”

Nelson sat down and didn’t say anything. After a few minutes Syafika couldn’t stand the awkwardness anymore and started laughing nervously.

“Do you want some paper and pens so you can do a drawing?” she tried to joke.

Nelson looked Syafika in the eye while he took a breath.

“Can I tell you something?” asked Nelson.

“Ok” answered Syafika, sounding a bit worried.

“Sorry, but I need to tell someone. Christine is doing something really bad and I don’t understand why” said Nelson

“What is she doing?” asked Syafika.

“I think she is helping the Minister steal money” said Nelson.

“You should report it then” said Syafika.

“Yeah, that’s easier said than done” answered Nelson. “She’s had me organize the dodgy modelling and sign-off on all the paperwork so it looks like I’m the one who’s doing the wrong thing.

Syafika didn’t know what to say. She felt scared because she didn’t know whether it was Nelson or Christine who was the bad one and she wished Nelson hadn’t told her anything.

Luckily for Syafika, her phone rang and as she answered it Nelson got up and left.

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08/05/2016

The Inklings: Chapter 53

By Anna

Mamadou woke with a fright on Monday morning. His bed was so soft that he’d been dreaming that he was floating down a river. He looked at the ceiling, unable to remember where he was until he noticed the familiar smell of vanilla and roses. Then he remembered he was in Binta’s spare room. Mamadou sat up and accidentally knocked a book off the bedside table. It made a loud slapping sound as it hit the wooden floor. Ousman must have heard it because he was soon peeping in the door.

“Can I come in?” asked Ousman.

“Come in” answered Mamadou.

“What would you like to do today?” asked Ousman

“What?” said Mamadou. He wasn’t used to the luxury of being able to choose something nice to do.

“What about the big art gallery?” suggested Ousman

……….

The art gallery was familiar to Mamadou. He’d enjoyed going there when he was younger and still hopeful of finding success as an artist. Now it just made him feel depressed. As he and Ousman wandered around looking at the exhibits Mamadou realized this world was not for him. He didn’t understand the works, nor did he want to create anything that was like them, but at the same time he longed to hang his paintings in this gallery and it was the knowing that he’d never be admitted to the club of successful artists that made him depressed. He saw an older man in a white cap that seemed to be feeling the same way. He was looking despairingly at finalists in the portrait prize. Mamadou cautiously approached. His English was returning to him but he still needed to form his sentences in advance in order for them to come out right.

“You not enjoying the exhibition?” asked Mamadou

“It is shit! Total shit!” said the man in the white cap.

Mamadou smiled and so did Ousman, although for different reasons.

“I know!” said Mamadou. “You paint?”

“Not like this” replied the man.

The nearby security guard took a couple of steps closer. The man in the white cap noticed and was offended. He shook his head and walked out of the exhibition.

“Good” said Mamadou, feeling better. “It is not just me”

“What do you mean?” asked Ousman.

“I’ll explain while we walk home” answered Mamadou, looking at the security guard.

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26/03/2016

The Inklings: Chapter 52

By Anna

It was 10am on Monday and Syafika was at work, although hardly anyone else was – there was nobody at any of the other desks in her room that day. It was the time of year that people were encouraged to take their annual leave. Syafika had hardly eased her way back into the work routine when her phone rang. She put down her cup of tea and answered. It was an urgent request from the Minister’s office for statistics to be used in a press release and they needed them before tomorrow. Syafika hadn’t before been directly asked for anything like this but because the management people in her area were all still away on holiday she was the only one to call. She hadn’t expected anything like this to happen – at this time of year nothing usually happened. Syafika took careful notes about the request and tried to remain calm but as soon as she hung up the phone she felt sweat dripping down her back.

“What am I going to do?” said Syafika, but there was nobody else around to hear her. So she called Fanta.

“Stay calm” said Fanta. “Do you understand what the request is for?”

“Yes” said Syafika “But I don’t know if I can get an answer, let alone get one today”

“Spend a bit of time thinking it through” said Fanta “Up to an hour. Write down what you know and what you don’t know and possible ways to find the information you don’t have. Then if you don’t know what to do, call me back.”

Syaf worked hard all day – no lunch break. Fanta called her at 6pm to see when she would be leaving. John and D’arby were at Fanta’s place and were waiting for Syafika to come for dinner and their Monday meeting. Syafika was really upset that she couldn’t make it. She still had at least another hour’s worth of work to do before she could leave.

It was dark when Syafika finally sent off the email with the advice, after having read it through to Fanta on the phone. Fanta reported that the meeting with John and D’arby had been quiet without her and she hadn’t missed anything important.

Usually Syafika took the stairs but it was too scary when the building was mostly dark.  She took the lift and was surprised when it stopped at the floor below. A strange man got in the lift. He looked tired too. Syafika tried to smile at him but his unfriendly expression made her give up half-way.

When the lift stopped at the ground floor Syafika hurried to the exit, but when she got to the door she realized she didn’t have her swipe card in her hand. She was so tired that she couldn’t remember where it was. She started looking in her bag. The man from the lift didn’t seem to have his swipe card either. He patted his pockets and then started looking in his bag too.

Syafika was getting angry. Why couldn’t she just get out of the stupid building after such a long day!

The man shook his head. “What are the odds of both of us having lost our cards? I must have left mine on my desk” he said, and he walked back to the lift. Syafika realized that she might also have left her card on her desk, but didn’t want to go in the lift with the man again so she kept looking through her bag instead. She eventually found the card – she’d put it in the side pocket. Syafika felt she should wait in case the man couldn’t find his card. She imagined how awful it would be to be locked into the building overnight and wondered whether there was an emergency way out.

Syafika tapped her foot impatiently for five minutes before the lift arrived again. This time there was a woman in the lift with the man. Syafika recognized the woman – she was one of the Executive Directors. She seemed cross with the man – she hurried out in front of him, turning to say “I need it done by 10am tomorrow”.

When Syafika got home it was bedtime. She was so tired she didn’t have any dinner.

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11/03/2016

Chapter 51.

By Anna

“Wake up!” D’arby shouted to John.

John felt cranky at being woken. He’d been having a nice dream but now that he was awake he couldn’t remember anything about it except that he’d been enjoying it.

“What do I have to wake up for?” asked John.

“We have to finish the Vincent job, remember?” answered D’arby.

…………………….

Rose had just put away her renovation plans and set the table for lunch when the doorbell rang. It was John and D’arby.

“We need you and Syafika to come with us” said John to Fanta.

“Why?” asked Syafika. “We were just about to have lunch”

“You can have lunch at the café” answered John

As they walked to the café that John was talking about D’arby and John gave Fanta and Syafika instructions, but refused to explain the full plan.

Syafika sat down and ordered some lunch. Her job was to sit in the window and keep eating until someone came and told her otherwise. “Easy peasy” thought Syafika.

Fanta’s job was more complicated.

…………….

Vincent was enjoying his last day of holidays. He was sitting at home and reading a book, while listening to some music and drinking coffee that he’d made with some complicated equipment his parents had given him for Christmas. Then he heard someone outside scream. He looked out the front window but couldn’t see anything unusual. Then he heard it again – a screech, followed by “Help!”. Vincent opened the front door and looked up the street. He saw someone disappear around the corner so he checked his keys were in his pocket and then followed. Vincent got around the corner just in time to see the figure dash into a narrow laneway. Vincent followed. He couldn’t see anyone, but at the other end there was a bearded man with a guitar. He had the guitar case open on the ground and was sitting on a milk crate. Vincent thought the busker might have seen the person he was following so he walked over. The busker looked up as Vincent approached and switched his tune mid-song. “I would have given you all of my heart” began the busker, strumming his guitar awkwardly.

Vincent’s face started to burn as blood rushed to his cheeks and tears to his eyes, but he pulled himself together enough to ask the busker if he’d seen anyone run down the alley.

“Yeah, there was a lady. She looked distressed but didn’t want to talk to me” answered the busker. “She went that way”

Vincent looked in the direction that the busker had pointed. It was along a street with some shops and cafes.

As Vincent walked past the hairdresser he could hear music playing “Morning has broken” sang Cat Stevens. Vincent stopped and was about to turn around and go home when he saw a woman run out of the newsagent and up the street. She was wailing.

Vincent ran after her but she was fast. She disappeared around the corner. When Vincent turned the corner a large woman on a bike was blocking his way. She was puffing. “Sorry, just having a rest dear” she said in a funny voice. She was wearing sunglasses and her hair was messy. Vincent squeezed past but couldn’t see the lady he’d been following. He turned back to the woman with the bike.

“Did you see where she went?” asked Vincent

“Did you make her cry? Why were you chasing her?” asked the woman on the bike.

Vincent was cross. He also wondered what he was doing, chasing that lady all over the place, but he didn’t want to give up so he ran to the end of the block and looked both ways along the intersecting street. He spotted her along the street to the left. She was leaning against a tree but when she saw Vincent she ran off again. He followed. He’d gotten so far into this chase that he was determined to get to the bottom of the mystery. The lady turned left and back towards the street with the shops. He followed her around the corner but his way was blocked by a moustached man in a yellow fluorescent vest who was pushing a trolley full of boxes into a cafe. Vincent stopped suddenly. He could hear Cat Stevens singing again “Sitting on my own not by myself, everybody’s here with me”. He turned his head to the right and looked into the café window. There was Syafika, sitting by herself and eating lunch. Vincent followed the moustached man as he took his trolley of boxes into the café. He walked up to Syafika’s table with his arms crossed and asked “What is going on!”

Syafika looked up in surprise and Vincent could tell immediately that Syafika didn’t know what he was talking about.

“Have a seat” said a moustached waiter man to Vincent, so Vincent sat down opposite Syafika. Then the waiter brought over a tray with a plate of French toast and a black coffee for Vincent and a pot of tea for Syafika.

Syafika realized that she and Vincent had been tricked by John and D’arby.

“This is the second time today that I’ve been tricked” Syafika said to Vincent.

“What do you mean?” asked Vincent

Before Syafika answered she took a sip of her tea, and in doing so she was falling for a third trick that day, because before D’arby (who was wearing a fake moustache) had discreetly left the café he’d added his special pills to Syafika’s tea and Vincent’s coffee.

…………………

An hour later, Syafika and Vincent left the café and went their separate ways. After a bit of an awkward start, they’d been able to amicably agree that their relationship would never be worth the effort.

Syafika was walking home when she heard what sounded like a cackle of hyenas approaching rapidly from behind. John, D’arby and Fanta soon caught up with her but they were still laughing too much to be able to talk.

“I was going to ask whether you were pleased with yourselves, but there’s no need to ask” said Syafika. She was trying to sound grumpy but was actually feeling pretty good. She felt free.

“Did you and Vincent make-up?” asked Fanta

“No, we decided to split” answered Syafika, “but that’s good”.

John slowed his walk upon hearing Syafika’s answer.

“So you mean that we did all that for nothing?” asked John

“No” answered Syafika. “It was good to have a final discussion and agree to not see each other anymore.”

D’arby was quiet. He had a frown on his face. He opened his mouth as if he was about to speak but then changed his mind and stayed quiet.

“I don’t suppose you’ll be able to get Vincent’s belt for me then?” asked John.

“Why would you want Vincent’s belt?” asked Syafika.

“It has a little transmitter in it” answered John.

“What?” asked Syafika.

Fanta covered her ears and said “Stop talking about Vincent’s belt. I don’t want to hear about you having done illegal stuff.”

“It wasn’t that bad” said John. “Tell her D’arby”

But D’arby didn’t feel like talking. He was too busy thinking.

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30/01/2016

The Inklings: Chapter 50

By Anna

To read the story from the beginning go here.

Mamadou was crying as he walked around looking for things to put in the bag he’d just been given. He was incredibly happy and incredibly sad at the same time. He folded his clothes and put them in the bag, then added a pile of letters and papers. There was still plenty of room for his drawings.

Saidou and Howa tried to smile as Mamadou walked away with his mostly-empty bag. They were happy for him, despite his leaving making their own situation feel more desperate, and they were going to miss him. Mamadou didn’t think it was fair that only he was being given a new place to live. He imagined that Howa and her baby or Saidou would be much more valuable to Australia than he would be.

As he plodded towards the car waiting for him outside the gates, Mamadou tried to imagine what it was going to be like when Ousman met him at the airport.

…….

Fanta was feeling a bit guilty as she rushed into Syafika’s house with a suitcase and a sweaty face. Rose, Binta, Syafika, Ousman and Festus all looked up from the kitchen table in surprise.

Fanta knew that Binta and Ousman were going to be at Syafika’s place that morning because Syafika had rung her yesterday to complain about how they were all having a meeting to go through Rose’s renovation plans. Fanta had explained that she couldn’t come to the meeting because she was going away on a short holiday and made sure to mention she was going to need to go to the airport.

“Can someone please drive me to the airport” Puffed Fanta. “I ordered a taxi but it didn’t arrive.”

“I’ll take you” said Festus and he got up.

That was what Fanta had hoped wouldn’t happen, but fortunately India had unintentionally helped with Fanta’s plan by parking her car across Festus’ driveway.

In the end, it turned out just as Fanta had hoped and she, Binta, Ousman and Syafika were soon on their way to the airport in Binta’s car.

Fanta lead the others on a twisting and turning walking tour of the airport as she pretended to be working out where to go to check her bag in. Then she stopped near a roped-off area and took some folded-up papers out of her pocket and started looking at them.

“What are you doing?” asked Syafika. She noticed that a stream of people had started coming out of an arrivals gate and they were standing in their way.

Fanta held up a piece of paper facing towards the stream of people. Syafika realized it must have been a sign but couldn’t see what was on it. Then a man walked over to them from the arrivals gate, but he seemed more interested in Binta and Ousman than Fanta or her sign. That’s when Syafika realized she’d been tricked.

Binta thought she was going to faint when she saw Mamadou. Ousman took the longest to work out what was going on and when he did he gave his father a hug and tried to understand what his father was saying but didn’t say much back. Ousman was too worried about how his Mum was feeling to be able to come up with conversation.

The car trip back from the airport was very awkward. Fanta felt like she should have been explaining things, but at the same time she didn’t want to interrupt anyone’s thoughts so there was silence for most of the way until Binta realized she didn’t know where she was supposed to be going. Where was Mamadou going to be staying?

“I have room at my place”, said Fanta, “But…” Fanta was going to add that Mamadou probably wanted to stay with Ousman, but she couldn’t work out how to phrase it – she didn’t know what Binta was thinking and didn’t want her to feel pressured to make room for Mamadou at her place.

“Dad is staying at our place” said Ousman.

“Ok” said Binta.

“And Mum will be really angry if we don’t get back to inspecting her renovation plans” added Syafika.

So they all went back to Rose and Festus and after a bit of explaining they were soon all sitting around the kitchen table drinking tea and looking at Rose’s drawings. As Mamadou sipped his tea he was hit by a wave of tiredness and relief. The conversation around him was peacefully incomprehensible. After he swallowed the last sip of tea his head fell forward onto the table and he started to snore softly, like a purring cat.

If Syafika hadn’t been so concerned about the changes Rose wanted to make to their house she probably would have started laughing when Mamadou fell asleep on the table, but she was too distressed by the thought of having to use a composting toilet to have any sense of humour.

Ousman got a small cushion and put it under Mamadou’s forehead and put a blanket over his shoulders.

“Won’t the composting toilet stink and attract flies?” asked Syafika. “And what will our visitors think when they have to use it?”

Rose proudly opened a brochure on composting toilets and read out loud how the model she’d selected had features that prevented odour and insects.

“But why do we have to move the bathroom and laundry to the garage?” asked Syafika.

Festus explained that it would be easier to build the new bathroom and laundry where the garage was and then demolish the old ones because otherwise they’d be without a bathroom or laundry while the changes were made.

Then the doorbell rang. It was India, who had come to apologise to Festus for parking her car across the driveway that morning. Before India could launch into her excuses, Rose delightedly led her over to inspect the renovation plans. Soon Rose was busy pointing to various features and explaining how they were going to install a urine-separating composting toilet, plus a greywater treatment system, rainwater tank, solar panels and solar hot water system. But Rose saved the best bit for last. Where the old bathroom and laundry were, they were going to create a greenhouse with an aquaponics system.

When India left she was in a bit of a daze. Rose started telling Festus that if he did a good job, he’d probably get lots more work from other people in the street. Syafika tried again to convince Rose that the new bathroom was not a good idea.

“But Mum, how are you going to pay for all this?” asked Syafika.

“I’m going to sell the car” answered Rose. “We hardly use it anyway. Your Dad can use his van to do any shopping that we can’t carry home.” explained Rose.

“And we can put up a car port in the driveway and rent it out to India” suggested Festus. “Then I can park my van across the driveway”.

“Yes, but we have to put a green roof on the car port” said Rose.

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27/06/2015

The Inklings: Chapter 49

By Anna

To read the story from the beginning go here.

John and D’arby were on bikes and trying to beat the storm to Jinabu’s place when the chain came off D’arby’s bike and he crashed into a shrub.

The brakes on John’s bike squeaked as he stopped. He dismounted inelegantly, nearly tripping over the back wheel as he tried to get to D’arby as quickly as possible.

D’arby was bleeding from some scratches on his arms but otherwise ok.

“Sorry” said John. He felt he was to blame because he’d bought the bikes. They were secondhand and had been ‘reconditioned’, but perhaps not very well.

“Don’t worry” said D’arby. He started to laugh. “I don’t think it is fair to blame a bike for my lack of coordination. I should have practiced riding before we decided to take a trip this far.”

John bent down and was looking at D’arby’s bike. The chain went back on easily but seemed a bit loose.

“Maybe we can tighten the chain at Jinabu’s place so it is safe for the ride home.” suggested John. “Is it far? Can we walk the bikes?”

D’arby pulled a map out of his back pocket and unfolded it. “It’s only about one kilometre more so we may as well walk” he said. “That would be safer. I don’t think we should ride home tonight though.” said D’arby as he looked up. “See – there are hardly any street lights around here so it will be pretty dark and we don’t have lights on our bikes.”

“So much for the carefree life I was imagining when I bought the bikes!” said John. “How are we going to get home instead then? We can’t take the bikes on a bus and there’s no train station near here.”

“I’ll see if we can stay at Jinabu’s instead.” answered D’arby.

John didn’t like the sound of that. He hadn’t brought a change of clothes or his deodorant, but before he could say anything it started to rain. The rain was so heavy that it took John’s breath away.

When John and D’arby arrived at Jinabu’s house a little while later they were soaking wet but feeling exhilarated.

Jinabu answered the door, which D’arby thought was just as well. They were so un-presentable that D’arby expected Andrew would want to shoo them away. Jinabu just laughed when she saw them though. They left the bikes on the front verandah and came inside, leaving wet footprints as they went.

Andrew then appeared. He had the baby asleep in a carrier on his front and a drink in each hand. He hurriedly handed John and D’arby a glass each before hurrying off.

“That’s iced tea” explained Jinabu and she hurried after Andrew. Jinabu and Andrew soon came back with towels and some of Andrew’s clothes.

“I’ve made two beds in the spare room” announced Andrew. “You can go and get changed there.” And he pointed down the hallway.

“Are we staying the night?” John whispered to D’arby but D’arby didn’t answer because he’d just noticed that one of his scratches was bleeding and blood had dripped onto the carpet. Unfortunately Andrew had also seen the blood.

“Quick Jinabu” said Andrew. D’arby needs a bandage. I’ll clean the carpet.

So John went to the spare room and got changed. He contemplated climbing out the window, sneaking around the front and escaping on his bike, but he wasn’t sure he’d be able to find his way home so instead John dried his hair and put on Andrew’s old tracksuit. At least it was comfortable, thought John.

The rest of the evening went more smoothly. D’arby and John were on their best behavior. The baby cried for about an hour just as they were about to sit down for dinner but otherwise it was pleasant. D’arby thought it was suspiciously pleasant.

Andrew was a different person – almost. He was still Andrew but seemed to have more confidence, as if he’d finally stopped worrying what other people think. Jinabu seemed happy and that made D’arby happy.

Still, D’arby was happy when it was finally bedtime.

“There are towels in the bathroom. Will you be ok?” asked Jinabu as she headed to bed. Andrew had gone ahead to check on the baby.

“Yeah, don’t worry about me!” said D’arby.

The house was so quiet that when John and D’arby got to the spare room they were almost too scared to say anything in case Jinabu or Andrew could hear them.

“I thought you said Andrew was awful” whispered John, cautiously.

“He used to be” answered D’arby and then he couldn’t’ help adding “But then I gave him some of my special pills.” John smiled thoughtfully for a couple of minutes then said “I wish I could clean my teeth.”

“That’s what I was thinking” said D’arby. “Let’s see what Jinabu has in the garden” said D’arby and he opened the window and climbed out. John followed, but he wasn’t hopeful of finding a toothbrush plant in the garden.

“What are we looking for?” whispered John

“Not sure” replied D’arby. “A veggie patch with celery hopefully. Or a eucalypt.”

The neighbours still had their lights on so the garden wasn’t very dark. There were snails about though and John trod on one. The crunch under his bare foot made shivers run down his spine but he stayed quiet. He wiped his foot on the lawn while D’arby bent over the veggie patch. After a bit of rustling around D’arby straightened up with two celery sticks in his hand. Then D’arby snapped two twigs off a small tree and they headed back to the spare room on tip toe. As they passed the window to Jinabu and Andrew’s room they could hear snoring.

When they got back inside John sighed with relief, but he was still unsure how he was going to clean his teeth so D’arby demonstrated by rubbing the celery all over his teeth as he ate it and then chewing on the twig to make the end brush-like before rubbing it all over his teeth. John wasn’t impressed but gave it a try and was pleasantly surprised because afterwards his mouth felt quite clean. “Now all I need is a shower and some deodorant and I’ll be able to sleep” said John.

While John was having a shower, D’arby went to the kitchen and tried to quietly look through the kitchen cupboards. When John emerged from the bathroom in some of Andrew’s old pyjamas D’arby handed him a bowl of white powder.

“What’s that?” asked John, sounding a bit worried. “I made you some deodorant” answered D’arby.

…………….
The first thing John did in the morning was sniff his armpits and then he smiled. As he and D’arby cycled home John discreetly sniffed his armpits every time he wiped sweat from his forehead. D’arby noticed but didn’t say anything.

As they rode through the park near home, John and D’arby noticed a crowd of people so they rode over to have a look. In the centre of the crowd was Guitar Man. He was standing on a milk crate and preaching to the crowd. John looked around and saw that although a few people were giggling quietly, most people were listening eagerly and nodding occasionally.

“Who really needs the most money? Is it the most charming person who can get people to do whatever they want without paying anyone? Is it the most competent person who can do things for themselves? Is it the person who enjoys hard work? Or is it the lazy incompetent who nobody wants to do favours for?”

A few people cheered. Guitar Man paused for a moment before continuing.

“Think about who most feels the need to drive an expensive car or have a flashy house. Who worries the most about what they look like? Is it the person who knows that deep down they are a good and worthwhile person? Or is it the person who is forever insecure and no matter how much they manage to accumulate, still worries that someone will one day expose them as a fraud?”

The crowd was quiet this time. The people who’d had their teeth whitened deliberately kept their mouths closed. A few people looked down at their shoes uncomfortably.

“Have another look at the world with fresh eyes. That CEO earning millions of dollars a year – if they aren’t happy unless they earn more than everyone else, what does that say about them and their inner strength? If you can choose your own salary and you choose to make it higher and higher what does it really mean? That you are worth more and more? Or that you need more and more in order to feel as adequate as the person who manages to get by on below average wages? Who is more genuine?”

“The brain plays a funny trick on you when you get more than other people – you start to think you deserve it because you are somehow better. That’s what needy people really crave – this feeling – to make up for the way they naturally feel inferior.

“But I’m not here to make you hate these needy people. I want to help them, and I want to help you so you never become them.”

“Yes, people will judge you by what you’ve done in the past but in reality we live our life one day at a time. It is what we do right now that matters right now. You could build up the perfect life being the perfect person and then ruin it all by doing something really dreadful. We can’t guarantee anything. If we think we can build up something now and then enjoy taking it easy later we are wrong. Our bodies and minds need to be used or they fade. To really feel pleasure we need to sometimes feel pain. Starving yourself when you are young doesn’t mean you can be a glutton in middle age and not get fat. Of course we need to do what is going to be best in the future, but we also need to do what is best today. No, it isn’t easy to do both. It requires thinking and effort and not doing the first thing that jumps into your mind. Easy things don’t make you happy!”

“What you can build up are memories. You remember when you do something awful. You remember when you made someone happy. If you lift yourself up by bringing others down that becomes part of you. You remember how much effort went into your achievements. And in your subconscious you keep a running total of good minus bad, of effort minus luck, of treating people well minus using them to get what you want, of giving minus taking. It is when things go really wrong in your life that you become aware of this running total. Imagine how the greedy, needy billionaire who, by living a life of luxury has not only deprived millions of a dignified life but has set the consumption bar so high that billions of other people who have all they need are left feeling like they’ve missed out – imagine how you’d feel to be hit by that negative running total as you lay on your death bed. To realize that you’d had the power to really change the world and you’d squandered it and to know that there was no time left to do anything about it.”

“Because NOT becoming a billionaire is how you become something genuinely great. If you give more than you get you can’t end up with lots of money. You’ll never know whether you could have been a billionaire, just like you’ll never know so many things, but not needing to know is where you show your strength.”

John was so mesmerized that D’arby had to jab him in the ribs to get him to notice that he was whispering “I’ve had enough. Let’s go home”.

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