The Needle Whisperer

Gunpowder green tea pellets, mum’s favourite. She would have bought these in Chinatown, Melbourne. Mum visits the city once or twice a year. She piggybacks on dad’s trips to watch the Collingwood Magpies play football. Mum manages to buy herself a few treats, green tea, and Hague’s chocolate frogs.

Steam billows from the kettle. It’s a Smeg kettle. Mum has always wanted ‘at least one Smeg thing’ in her kitchen. She is making a pot of green tea for her sister Greta, her niece Kala, her oldest daughter Liz, and myself.

Rosebud is the town of her birth, education, and occupation. Two of which are Rosebud Hospital. Mum is a nurse. Nowadays, she works in the dialysis ward. Nearing sixty, dialysis offers a gentler environment to her. Most of her colleagues are middle aged and approaching retirement. They call mum the ‘Needle Whisperer.’ She can find and jab anyone’s vein on the first attempt. On her days off, mum is often called into the ward to hook-up a patient with a particularly dicky vein.

Steam rustles Mum’s Dorris Day bob cut. One-by-one and two-by-two the pellets clang into the metallic tea pot. She fills the pot full of Smeg water and pops the lid on. The finishing touch is a hand knitted pineapple tea cosy. Her mother knitted the cosy for the Country Women’s Association’s Boneo Farmers Market stall.

“Be very careful. It’s hot,” says mum.

She sets the tea pot down in the centre of a splintered wooden table positioned in the middle of her splintered wooden deck. The morning sun breaks through wattle bushes, illuminates mum cats prowling around her begonias and evaporates the dew from her deck. Mum has come prepared wearing jet-black speed-dealer sunnies.

“Thanks love,” says Greta grabbing her mug with callus shelled hands. Kala inspects her mug with thick rimmed glasses then scrunches up her face.

“We don’t worry about making sure everything matches here,” says mum.

“So, Liz how’s Jack? Is he still working at Blue Scope or is he striking again?” asks Kala.

“Yeah, good thanks. He’s sleeping-in this morning. Last night he was on a twelve-hour PM shift. So, I’m running a few errands around town this morning. That way the house is nice and quiet,” says Liz.

“And you’re still at the petrol station?” asks Kala.

“Yeah,” Liz smiles and pours herself some tea.

“Busy busy,” says Greta.

“I'm busy too," says Kala. "Oh yeah, flat out. I just finished my teaching degree with a high distinction average. Obviously, I’ve been applying for jobs, and I’ve had some interviews, fingers crossed. Mainly in local schools like Rosebud and Dromana. Actually, I’ve got Benny Stills as one of my references.”

“Awww, that’s fantastic,” says mum. “Benny will give you a glowing recommendation. Well done.”

Everyone in Rosebud reveries Benny. He taught at Rosebud Secondary College for thirty years eventually ascending to Principal. Benny is also President of Rosebud Football Club and a stalwart of Boneo Cricket Club. Mum knows if you want a job on the Mornington Peninsula Benny Stills is the referee.

“Oh, and what’s Tom doing now?” asks Kala

“He’s working as a plumber’s labourer,” says mum. “Just plodding along.”

“In a bit of a rut,” says Kala under her breath.

“Yep,” says mum taking the bait. “It’s such a shame. I thought he was gonna go to uni and get a skill. Cause you’ve got to have a skill nowadays. It’s not like when I left school. Back then, I could support myself. It’s crucial to have a skill now.” Mum slumps back and resigns herself to her tea.

“Anyway, how’s things up in the city Devin?” asks Greta. Mum and Greta confuse the suburbs with the city.

“Yeah, pretty busy with uni. Lots of projects to do. I’m working two days a week in a registry at the Alfred Hospital. I’m glad to get down to Rosebud for a few days though.”

“Do you reckon you’ll stay on at the hospital when ya finish uni?” asks Greta

“They’ll keep me on but it’s only casual work. So, I’ve been keeping my eyes peeled and have applied for a couple of research positions. I got an authorship on a research publication recently. So, things are looking good on that front. Recently, I’ve replaced Benny on my CV with a research supervisor.”

“Sounds good,” says Greta. “What are you studying again?”

“So, it’s a double degree. One part is chemical engineering. The other degree is science, in which I’ve finished my two majors of chemistry and applied maths.”

“What job does that mean you’ll do?”

“I don’t really wanna be an engineer. I’m mainly interested in research science. So, you know like a working in a lab, writing reports and maybe a little bit of teaching if I stay in academia.”

Kala chimes in, “So how many jobs are there like that?”

“It sort of depends on available funding and the research topics. I’ve had a publication now, so I’m on the right track. We’ll see how things pan out.”

“You just need make sure you finish up your degree, unlike Tom”

“That’s it. Just one more year of focus.”

After an hour of chit chat the others leave.

Mum is reclining in a weathered brown couch she keeps on her deck and drinking the dregs of the tea pot. She clicks and makes kissing sounds in a vain attempted to lure one the cats, Bobby. The snow white cat is sniffing mum’s tomato pot plant at the far end of her deck.

“Oh well, Bobby is too busy,” says mum “Dev, I'm really worried about your brother and sister. They don’t have good jobs and they’re in their late twenties.”

“Not everyone gets a so-called ‘good job.’ Maybe Tom and Liz aren’t gonna do that. Big deal, some people just do normal jobs.”

“What happens going forwards for them though? This is why I had to go back and get my nursing diploma. You and Tom were still toddlers at the time. I only realised how important it was after I dropped out of school. But your brother and sister had every opportunity.”

“To be fair, Liz has a master’s degree in history. That’s a skill. Tom well yes, he didn’t finish his degree. He’s twenty-six and therefore has heaps of time. Our generation won’t be retiring until we’re at least sixty-five. So, there’s no rush.”

“But they’ll have to do everything later. Marriage, kids, buying a house, traveling and so on. I see girls Liz went to school with on Facebook all time, they're all getting married and buying houses.”

“I mean that’s sort of my point; we have more time than you did at our age.”

“I don’t know about that. Look at Kala. She is doing so well. Why can’t be Tom and Liz do that? So lazy.”

Bobby leaps onto mum’s lap.

“Hello Bobby,” she says in a baby voice. Mum gives Bobby therapeutic pats. Running her needle whispering fingers through his fur head to tail.

“To answer your question about Kala, I don’t why you’re letting her get to you. She lives for this comparison bullshit. Things in our family are fine. Plus, Kala isn’t doing anything remarkable.. Remember how she dropped out of law and dates that loser who dropped out of the army? She never turns up to birthday parties or Easter at Grandma’s. At least Tom and Liz are reliable family members. I wish I could be here half as often as they are.”

“Watch your tone with me, Devin.”

“Excuse me, I get one week off a year. I come down to Rosebud to visit you. So far, we haven’t gone for a walk and all you’ve done is bag out my siblings. Mum, you’ve let Kala (of all people) upset you. Then I’m left to pick up the pieces. Sorry I have to be blunt, but Tom and Liz are fine.”

“Kala is right though. Tom and Liz had it good here. Three meals a day, free rent, space to study and they could even work on the weekends.”

“Maybe that life just isn’t for Tom. You didn’t do anything wrong. Like I’m doin’ OK with the opportunities you and dad gave me.”

“I just worry them all the time, Dev," she looks up. "When I talk to people about my kids, I can only talk about you.”

“Well, I am sorry you feel that way.”

Her weekend has unravelled with the gunpowder green tea pellets in Smeg water.