| Sue: |
What’s your name? |
| Benny: |
Benny Boy. |
|
Mum called me Benny. |
| Sue: |
Nice to meet you, Benny Boy, my name’s Sue. |
| Benny: |
Yep. |
| Sue: |
So, what’s your story, Benny Boy? |
| Benny: |
Dunno … got no story. |
| Sue: |
Everyone’s got a story. |
|
I was told you love fishing? |
| Benny: |
Love fish, love flatheads they’re good fightin’ fish and good to look at. Love snapper they’re good to look at. But I don’t catch ’em, only if I’m real hungry. I just like lookin’ at them swimmin’ and … |
|
I love cookin’ and eatin’ with my nan. |
| Sue: |
Is that who you live with? |
| Benny: |
I live with Nan. |
|
And Ramsi and … Narri Bird. |
| Sue: |
Who’s Ramsi? |
| Benny: |
Our dog. He’s got three legs and one and a half ears. |
|
And a crooked bark. |
| Sue: |
A crooked bark. What do you mean? |
| Benny: |
You know … like, he doesn’t know if he’s a pup or a grown-up dog. Nan says it’s not strong or straight-up like a normal bark … |
|
It’s crooked. |
| Sue: |
How about Narri Bird? |
| Benny: |
Narri Bird faints all the time. |
|
He’ll be swingin’ and talkin’ up real neat one minute. Next, his toes are in the air. |
|
Five minutes later … he’s back on the swing again. |
|
He’s narri. |
| Sue: |
He’s got a few problems then. Poor old Narri Bird. |
|
Tell me about Nan. |
| Benny: |
She’s pissed off. I ripped me new shirt for school, now she’s got the you-know-whats. |
| Sue: |
What’s she like? Is she funny? |
| Benny: |
She’s fat. |
| Sue: |
You mean chubby? |
| Benny: |
Nah, she’s fat. |
| Sue: |
Okay. |
| Benny: |
She’s white. |
|
She tells deadly jokes. She learns me to read books and to be a good cook. |
|
She likes to sing with the radio. And … she loves good manners, and Kylie Kwong’s cookin’ and hot chips with brown vinegar. |
|
She don’t like wearin’ shoes … only when we go shopping. |
|
She fills me Coke bottle up with cordigal or juice. I’m not allowed to have Coke. It rots ya teeth and ya insides. |
|
I like me insides. |
|
And she has a beer every afternoon at four-thirty. |
|
Her nose holes always go wide when there’s a storm or new rain comin’. It’s the brontide. |
| Sue: |
What is? |
| Benny: |
That thunder you hear miles away, that’s the brontide. |
| Sue: |
I didn’t know that. |
| Benny: |
And she likes smellin’ the rain, says it clears the shite away. |
| Sue: |
Shite … ? |
| Benny: |
Yep. That’s how me nan says it. |
| Sue: |
She sounds real cool, your nan. |
| Benny: |
Yep. |
| Sue: |
What do you like about living here, Benny? |
| Benny: |
Dunno. |
|
|
|
I’m good at being friends, I like fish and drawin’ and feedin’ the ducks. Better at drawin’ than talkin’. |
| Sue: |
Maybe you can draw your story? What do you like drawing? |
| Benny: |
Fishes. |
| Sue: |
So, tell me … who are your friends? |
| Benny: |
Well, there’s … |
|
Pen with an N |
|
Nan with an N |
|
Narri Bird with a B |
|
and … |
|
R |
|
A |
|
M |
|
S |
|
I |
|
Ramsi. |