Free Calypso Summer by Jared Thomas

really sell things that the chemist sells. We sell things that people wouldn’t think of trying to make you better, or as my boss Gary says, things that people have forgotten about that make you better.’
    â€˜What type of things? Aunty Janet asked.
    â€˜A lot of herbs and things.’
    â€˜And do they work, these things?’
    â€˜Well … people keep coming back for more so maybe they do.’
    â€˜So how can I help?’
    â€˜Well Mum was always telling me about how bush tucker and stuff is really good for you and I want to know if there’s some Aboriginal things that we could sell … the money we make would be shared of course. Mum said that you might know how I could go about it.’
    Aunty Janet laid down her cards and looked at me real seriously over the top of her glasses. I was shitting myself, I thought she was going to growl me big time.
    â€˜Yes, we’ve got medicine, proper good medicine, but there’s medicine you can know about and medicine you can’t know about.’ I nodded as Aunty Janet continued. ‘And you can’t just learn about these things without knowing about where you’re from. And that might take time ’cause you’ve been living in the city all that time.’
    I was a bit disappointed but knew it was fair enough what Aunty Janet was saying so I just asked, ‘Is there anything you can tell me at all?’
    Aunty Janet picked up her cards again and said, ‘It’s best that you speak with your uncles about these things first. Maybe later I can tell you something.’
    At least I had a starting point, at least Aunty Janet had told me that some type of medicines exist.
    â€˜Thanks Aunty Janet,’ I said before finishing my drink and walking back outside hoping to make a few more runs and maybe speak with my cousins about bush medicines.

11
    For dinner we ate the leftovers from lunch and a bit later all of the children and women went inside to sleep and I sat around the fire with Will, Vic, Bruce and Uncle Ray. Uncle Ray belted out tunes on his guitar. He’s an old rocker Uncle Ray. He played some Elvis, Beatles, and Rolling Stones songs. For an old cowboy-looking-fella he didn’t play much country music apart from a bit of Johnny Cash.
    Will and Vic drank beer but Bruce, despite his big guts, doesn’t drink at all, same as Uncle Ray. Bruce can yarn but. He told us stories about fights he and Vic had had, with each other and the kids they grew up with. He also talked about playing footy and fishing and some of the freaky things that had happened when they’d been camping. Will didn’t say too much sitting there looking into the fire but he laughed when Bruce and Vic told me about some of the funny shit that had happened to family.
    I was starting to relax as I looked at all of the stars. I’d never seen them so bright, some real huge and the Milky Way spread across the sky like spilt sugar. It was deadly hearing Uncle Ray belt out a few songs and Vic seemed to be loosening up too, boogieing a bit when he got up to grab a beer from the esky.
    Later in the night, when Uncle Ray had stopped playing and there was a bit of quiet Bruce asked, ‘Why you come to visit us after all these years anyway, Calypso?’
    â€˜Why you reckon?’ Vic growled.
    Uncle Ray lent his guitar next to his seat and said, ‘Let the fella speak.’ Vic sat back into his chair and looked into the fire.
    â€˜It’s alright,’ said Uncle Ray.
    â€˜Mum tells me yarns about growing up here and she told me to come visit.’
    â€˜Why?’ Vic asked.
    I was nervous about telling them my reason but I told them anyway, ‘Because I work in this health food store and my boss, this fella called Gary, reckons it might be a good idea to find out about Aboriginal medicines or plants and things that we might be able to put in lotions and oils, that you can add to baths that help people relax. He