Brothers & Sisters - Charlotte Wood [0]
& SISTERS
BROTHERS
& SISTERS
Edited by Charlotte Wood
Some of the stories in this collection use real events as their settings,
but they are stories, and the characters and all their actions are works of fiction.
First published in 2009
Introduction and selection copyright © Charlotte Wood 2009
Copyright in individual contributions © retained by authors
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording or by any information storage and retrieval system, without prior permission in writing from the publisher. The Australian Copyright Act 1968 (the Act) allows a maximum of one chapter or 10 per cent of this book, whichever is the greater, to be photocopied by any educational institution for its educational purposes provided that the educational institution (or body that administers it) has given a remuneration notice to Copyright Agency Limited (CAL) under the Act.
Allen & Unwin
83 Alexander Street
Crows Nest NSW 2065
Australia
Phone: (61 2) 8425 0100
Fax: (61 2) 9906 2218
Email: info@allenandunwin.com
Web: www.allenandunwin.com
Cataloguing-in-Publication details are available from the National Library of Australia www.librariesaustralia.nla.gov.au
ISBN 978 1 74175 822 1
Set in 12/16 pt Filosophia by Bookhouse, Sydney Printed and bound in Australia by Griffin Press
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
CONTENTS
INTRODUCTION
ABOUT THE OTHERS * Virginia Peters
PALEFACE AND THE PANTHER * Robert Drewe
BEADS AND SHELLS AND TEETH * Cate Kennedy
LIKE MY FATHER, MY BROTHER * Michael Sala
THE CRICKET PALACE * Charlotte Wood
FAMILY RADIO * Roger McDonald
TROUBLE * Tegan Bennett Daylight
THE SINGULAR ANIMAL: ON BEING AND HAVING * Ashley Hay
THE YARRA * Nam Le
ONE GOOD THING * Paddy O’Reilly
BLOOD * Tony Birch
THE DISCO AT THE END OF COMMUNISM * Christos Tsiolkas
BIOGRAPHIES
INTRODUCTION
Your brother or sister, it might be said, is your other self—your grander, sadder, braver, shrewder, uglier, slenderer self.
Your sibling is your most severe judge, and your fiercest defender. You must always rescue them. They always abandon you. They abandoned you only once, and you will never forget it. They are a pain in the arse. They save you. They will not be conquered. They never leave you alone. They always leave you to pick up the pieces. They won’t grow up, won’t let you grow up. They are a gang, and you its weary leader, its exhausted captive. They still get off scot-free. They protect you from evil, from yourself. They are the stone in your shoe, the thorn in your side, the one who remembers things you won’t. They are the special one, your ugly mirror. They will not be fooled by your nonsense. They are the only one who makes you wake and worry in the stark, dark night. They make you laugh more and cry harder than anyone ever has, or will. They withhold things: little, silly things; bad secrets. They will never stop banging on about the past. They don’t care about you. They see through your bullshit. They are an unfillable well of need. They give you everything, and you take it all. They are still angry; you wish they would let it go. They are always telling you to let it go. A certain piece of music makes you lock eyes. You hate what they do to your parents. Your parents love them, not you, and always have. You have not touched each other since you were children. You can destroy their precious, hard-won idea with one glance. When calamity befalls you, they are first through the door. In a crisis they disappear. You only notice them when they’re gone. They will never be gone. They steal your clothes, it doesn’t matter; you own each other. Your friends think they are weird; they don’t understand. Your friends think they are great; they don’t understand. Your sibling is the only person who has ever hit you. You have never really hurt anyone but them. They are the loop, the circle of your life, and you can never break free. They have spent their life trying to break free from you,