Neema Shaw
our front yard was always over grown and had long dry grass ….
the police man next door ..who was also the landlord and owner of the house we lived in rounded up everyone including his own kids my mum and dad and they cleaned and mowed the front yard . the grass would of been over my head it took ages for the lawn mower to cut throu …. i as usual ran out the back shit scared of the lawn mower … as many times while my dad was out the back mowing the lawn … a stone would go flying throu the air and hit me .so i leanrt fast to stay away it scared me .but they finished and the mower was turned off now everyone was just collecting the mountian of grasss . i came throu the front of the house and stood there to watch them all picking up the grass and baggin it up .i began walking around them watching and one of them said i could help. so i excitedly grab my hands in there picking up my load of grass and shoving it in the bags … .. the grass was so fine and so dry .dust particles were flying throu the air i got a little over happy and began throwing some around .. it wasnt long and i was told to stop and help properly .. i felt all grown up so i behaved and helped once more ….. i did lots and lots of handfulls but the last one didnt go so well.. they raked another big pile of grass into the centre of the yard … we all went in to clean it … i shoved my 2 hands into the middle of the big pile and felt this enormous pain shooting up into one of my hands .. i scremed as i pulled then out as fast as i could .. there on the side of my left hand was a little tiny stinger left in from a bee . it was quikly flicked of but the pain was excrusiating . it arm began to throb i cried and cried in agony as my fingers became fat n puffy … then the palm of my hand swelled aswell … then my wrist .. my hand tripled in side in a matter of minutes the throbbing was so intense my skin to shiny and tight from the swelling … i was placed in the car and mum took me straight to the drs where my hand was bandaged up tightly and i was given a sling to wear and aslo discovered that day i was obviously ellergic to bee stings .we went back home and everyone was making a fuss of me and many hugs were given .. my arm still throbbing tho at first was hard to take in the attention from the pain but the attention won over pretty fast … i stayed inside talking to an aunty while they all finished the cleaning . many times people coming in to see if i was ok dad kisses me heaps and even mum was caring n sweet to me … wow i love being injured if this is what you get love and attention this is cool … but i dont wont to get stung by a bee ever again that pain was like no other pain i had felt even in my life it was worse than the itch i had from ring worms that one time We were all pretty tough kids back then … our imune systems certianly got a work out it was back in the day when parents were in many way encouraged to spead diseases to there children from a young age .
when i was about 5 i remmeber me and my sister had ringworms from the dirty cats we had wondering around the place still never ending breedings goin on . but my body was covered in these huge massive round welts some were small aswell but my whole tiny body seemed covered in them ..and the itchyness was beyond control .. especialy this one ringworm behind my knee ..drove me crazy .. as i tryed to play my hand went constanly down there to scratch … i remember hearing my mother telling to stop scratching it all day long ..:neema stop it … neema stop scratching : but i just coudlnt …. i held my breath trying not to be tempted but it won over me …. some i itched so much they bleed … mum was always good at taking us to the drs when needed …. she never neglected me that way .. i think she was given cream for the ringworms i cant realy remember … but i do know we had calamine lotion when we got chicken pox … i was about 6 then the lady up the road who had twins all had them so mum sent us up there to play to get them …. yes back in those days the 70;s these childhood illnesses were more a pest than a deathly disease and some encouraged getting them now while you were younger to get your imunity in …. and thats what we did .. my little ssiter didnt get em but me and big sis sure as hell did ….at night when dad got home … he stripped us both bare and rubbed this white cream all over us to stop the itching… ofcoure it only helped the smallest amount . so i spent another week of my young life sick sore and contaigeous all by the time i was 6
MUTLEY THE GREAT
,we had a dog called mutley that i do remmebr dad washing him often in the back yard
…all bubbled up with dad fighting with him to stay still while he got hosed down .he wasnt very happy and after wards would roll madly all over the dirt patch out the back corner of the yard …i think i was about 4 when my dad brought home this
.when i was sad or upset i would tell him all about it ..id come outside sobbing or angry and id sit next to him in the back of the yard when noone could find me id hug my arms around his skinny belly and smell the musky dusty smell he had but it brought me comfort i knew he was my only real friend i could talk to at home his head would wobble side to side as i looked him directly in hsi borwn eyes and told him of my feelings and anger at my family how i hated them all for not giving me what i wanted . mutley seemed to understand on sunny days outside i would .ly down next to him on the grass and feel a sence of calm and security ..he was often with me on my wonderings i remember often telling him to go home as i shooed him away with my small hands go home mutley he sometimes followed me too much and annoyed the shit out of my . he became a good guard dog and barked at anyone who came over so we alwasy knew if there was someone about, but he wasnt to last to long with us
.he was about 2 years old and one day as i was visitng mrs price and mrs bishop we heard the loud screatching of tyres …and brakes ..the sounds of a dog yellping ..the noice was thunderous ..we all went running out to the front to see a huge 8 wheeled truck stopped in the middle of the rd right infront of mrs price and mrs bishops house we alll ran out the gate and imediatly my eyes were covered by mrs prices hand ….but it was too late ……i saw a glimps of my beat friend in the whole world mutley liying there under the wheels of the truck ..DEAD already ..it was a quik death thankfully……….. i remmebr screaming no mutly no ..dont go as tears flowed from my eyes …my heart racing a million miles an hour ..my stomach feelng as if i woneted to vomit ……..i was hugged so very tightly by mrs price and mrs bishop ……..the truck driver himself in absolute tears himself ..shocked at what had just happened ..i was so sure that mutly had come over to wait for me to go home again and thats why he was crossing the road ..he was looking for me ……
.a hole was dug for mutley in the back corner by the armond tree his limp body placed into it ..and covered over with dirt …..the truck driver had a bunch of flowers he was going to give to his wife ..but instead shared them ontop of mutleys grave ……i just stood there looking at the dirt crying …i couldt stop crying the hurt was so strong the pain so hard …………this was my first real experiance with death ..and it became a beautiful thing….for many months after i would still sit there and have my litle chats with him ..and i always walked away with a I LOVE YOU MUTLY. he had an impact of everyone in the family that eventualy we did get another dog which we too called mutley .. then the next dog and the next we had about 4 or 5 mutlys there just didnt seem to be any other name you could call a family dog …
half german shepherd ..and half mungrel dog about 6 mnths old so he wasnt small from the beggining . he was pretty much full of short black fur with a few brown splodges over his body . black floppy ears he had the most gorgoeus deep brown eyes and he often tilted his head to the side when you spoke to him. we soon became great mates .everywhere i went he would follow me . up the street or down the street on my daily wonderings he followed me everywhere ..he was my best mate ..BERNIE THE PLAYGROUND DEMON
just down the street there was a play ground i use to walk to some times alone sometimes with my 2 sisters ….there was a man silver hair middle aged that would hang around the park ..he would sometimes approach the kids and talk to them ..i always had a funny feeling about him …spending alot of times in pubs seeing men fight or getting drunk you learn to pick up on a few vibes about men and feeling safe with some and not with others ..and bernie gave my stomach that sick feeling often when he showed up ……..there was an old steam train engine at the park all the kids loved it .I was in there playing when that man started walking up to me he just had this look on his face that just wasnt right he looked like he was going to grab out at me he came closer and closer not speaking a word but walking like he ment it ..so i ran home fast …..everytime we would tell my grandma about him she would say ….OH THATS JUST BERNIE HE IS HARMLESS ……..
so i wondered why one day i went to the park and i saw him standing under a tree where he had tied the boy who lived across the road upside down in the tree .the boy was crying to be let down as bernie laughed ..i was shitting myslef i hid behind the train watching as the boy got more upset crying to be let down my heart sank i was so scared i didnt know what to do but ……i ran home as fast as i could yelling at my mum he has this child in a tree …my mum did nothing …she didnt beleive me and told me to just stay away
……….it was probably less than year later i went to the park alone again ..the same boy who was hung upside down had a twin sister …there was a tennis court at the playground with a gate on either side of the fence as it was all fenced in ..i saw bernie and a fat frind of his guarding each door ..i thought that wsa bit strange …untill i saw this freightened girl about 8years old trapped inside the courts ..the men were getting closer to her the big man was so big n scary..again i shit myslef coudnt stay n watch as they got closer to grabbing her …..i had no idea what they were going to do with her but i knew it wasnt good because she was scared …….once again i ran home but this time i didnt tell my mum ..i didnt see the point ……..but i leanr to play and keep one eye open for bernie and ran home as soon as i saw him from that time on
