A Home Away From Home He Kainga Atu

Te Ao Hou, September 1965, Page 8

A Home Away From Home He Kainga Atu by Katarina Mataira E noho ana a Hinerau i roto i tona kihini, e unu ti ana, e kai hikareti ana. Ngenge atu tona ahua. Katahi ano nga tamariki ka riro atu ki te kura, ko te ata hoki tenei o te Mane. E putu mai ana nga taputapu paru i runga i te tepu, ka huri hoki ona whakaaro ki nga kakahu paru e takoto mai ana i te whare horoikakahu. Me tona whare hoki—aue te paru ano! Ka pau tonu tenei ra i te whakatikatika whare. Ka whakaaro ia, ‘Koenei te mate o te nui rawa o te tangata i te whare.’ E noho tonu ana ia, ka huaki te tatau. Ko Miha e tu mai ana, kei te miri tonu i te moe ki waho o ona whatu. Katahi ano a Miha ka matiki, kua ki mai, ‘He aha te taima?’ ‘E hoa, kua riro noa atu to pahi. E kore koutou e tae ki te mahi i tenei ata. I haere mai au ki te whakaoho i a koutou, engari pai rawa te moe. Kore rawa koutou e oreore.’ ‘Tino kino te mahi pati nei. Kare koe e taringi wai ki runga i a matau.’ ‘Kare tonu koutou e oho i te wai. Hei aha maku te whakamaku moenga.’ Ka tu a Hinerau ki te mahi kai. Engari no tona haerenga atu ki te ‘fridge’ he paunu pata noa iho i reira, me te toenga miti o ta ratau kai o te po. Kua pau katoa nga heki, nga totiti, me te pekena. Ahakoa, ka timata ia ki te pira riki ki roto i te parai, ka mea atu he hinu me nga toenga kai. Hihi mai ana nga kai i runga i te to, ka puta mai ko Whai raua ko Peta. Haere atu ana enei ki te tepu. ‘Ka mutu tonu nga kai mo ta koutou parakuihi. Kia haere rawa au ki nga toa, katahi ano tatau ka whiwhi kai.’ ‘Kei te pai tena. Ka rawe tenei.’ Ko Whai e korero ana. ‘Mehemea kare koe i whangai i o hoa haurangi kua whiwhi heki tatau mo ta tatau parakuihi.’ Ko Peta e korero ana. Ka ki atu a Hinerau, ‘Hei aha. E kai.’ Ahakoa to ratau moeroa, e katakata ana a Whai raua ko Peta, e whakatoi atu ana ki a hinerau was sitting over a cup of tea and a cigarette in her kitchen. She looked very tired. It was a Monday morning and the children had just scampered off to school. Hinerau looked unhappily at the pile of dirty dishes on the table and shuddered at the thought of all those dirty clothes in the laundry which would have to be washed. As for her house—oh dear—she was going to have to work all day to put it right again. ‘This comes from having too many people in the house,’ she thought. She was still sitting at the table when the door opened. Miha stood there rubbing the sleep from his eyes, having just rolled out of bed. ‘What's the time?' he asked anxiously. ‘Your bus went long ago mate,’ replied Hinerau. ‘Not one of you will get to work this morning. I tried to wake you earlier but couldn’t get a peep out of you.' ‘It's this jolly party business. Why didn't you pour some water over us?' ‘A fat lot of use that would have been. I would have only wet the beds.’ Hinerau stood up to prepare some breakfast. There was only a pound of butter in the refrigerator and some leftovers from the meal of the night before, so she sliced an onion into the frying pan, added the leftovers and a little dripping and set the pan on the stove. Almost as soon as the food began hissing on the stove, Whai and Peta appeared and moved straight over to the table. ‘I’m afraid this is all there is for your breakfast, boys,' said Hinerau. ‘There won’t be anything else until I go to the shops.' ‘That's okay, this is good,' said Whai. ‘If you hadn’t fed all those drunken cobbers of yours yesterday,' said Peta, ‘there would have been some eggs for breakfast.’ ‘They were your cobbers too!’ argued Whai. ‘Never mind, eat,’ said Hinerau.

raua, ki a Hinerau hoki. Ko Miha anake e maharahara ana. Kei te haere te taima ki te iwa karaka, ka patai atu a Hinerau, ‘Ka pehea ta koutou mahi? Akuni koutou ka panaia.’ Ka nohopuku nga tama nei. Ko Peta ka ki, ‘Hei aha, kua ngenge noa iho au i tera mahi. E haere ana au ki te rapu mahi atu.’ ‘Me au. Pehea koe e Miha?’ Ko Whai e korero ana. ‘Aua, kare au e mohio me pehea. I haere mai au ki Poneke ki te mahi moni, kare hoki he mahi i te kainga. Engari e rua nga tau inaianei e mahi ana i konei engari kare tonu aku moni.’ ‘Ha ha, me pehea koe ka whiwhi moni? He pai rawa nga “sheilas” ki a koe.' Ka whakaoti atu a Peta, ‘Me te hoko pia. Ha ha.’ Ka ruru te mahuna o Miha. ‘Pai ke atu taku hoki ki te kainga, ki te awhina i taku koroua. Kare he painga ki konei.’ ‘E hoa. Maroke rawa te kainga inaianei. Pai ke atu a konei. Kore rawa au mo te hoki.’ ‘Ka pehea ta tatau mahi?’ ‘Hei aha. Ka nui nga mahi atu.’ Ka ki atu a Whai, ‘Ae, ka nui nga mahi i te “wharf”.' ‘E hoa he mahi taumaha rawa tena. Ka whati to tuara.’ Ko Peta e korero ana. Ka ki atu a Whai, ‘Kare, kei reira a Henare e mahi ana. I ki a ia, kia uaua mai, ka noho ratau kia mutu rawa te marangai.’ ‘Kati me haere tatau ki reira.’ Ka ki atu a Miha, ‘E haere korua; kare au mo te haere, e noho ana au ki konei.' ‘Mahi atu. Haere mai e Whai, me haere taua.’ Kare tonu e roa kua puta atu nga tokorua nei, kua haere atu ki te hopu i te pahi. Kua timata a Hinerau ki te horoi i nga taputapu. E noho tonu ana a Miha. Nawai ra, ka ki ia, ‘He aha o whakaaro e Hine, me pehea au?’ Kare a Hinerau e korero. E pai ana ki a ia ona whanaunga, engari ko Miha te tino tangata. Na tona tuakana tenei. Ko Whai raua ko Peta he whangai na tona tungane. He taitama pai ratau katoa, he tino hoa ki tana tane, he pai ki a raua tamariki. Engari kua ngenge noa iho ia ki o ratau mahi porangi. E toru nga Hatarei inaianei kua hoki mai ratau ko o ratau hoa me ta ratau kaho pia. He unu pia, he waiata te mahi, po atu, po mai, a, tae noa ki te Ratapu. Kare raua ko tana tane e pirangi korero atu, no te mea kei te pirangi raua ma ratau tonu ratau e whakatikatika. Although they had slept in and missed their bus to work, Whai and Peta were in high spirits, teasing each other and Hinerau. Only Miha seemed concerned. It was approaching nine o'clock when Hinerau asked, ‘What are you going to do about your jobs? You’ll probably get the sack.' The boys said nothing for a while, then Peta said, ‘What the heck, I’m sick of that job anyway. I think I'll go and find something else.' ‘Yeah, me too,’ said Whai. ‘What about you Miha?’ ‘I don’t know,' replied Miha. ‘I came to Wellington to work because there was no work at home, and I thought I was going to make a lot of money, but heck I’ve been here two years now and I still have no money.' ‘Ha ha, how can you expect to have any money. You like the sheilas too much,’ teased Peta. ‘And the beer,’ added Whai laughing. But Miha shook his head and said, ‘Maybe I should go home to give the old man a hand. I’m not much good here.' ‘Gwan man. It's pretty dead at home now. It's great here. I'll not go back home for anything,' said Peta. ‘But what about our jobs?’ emphasised Miha. ‘What about it,’ said Peta. ‘There's lot's of other jobs.' ‘There are plenty of jobs at the wharf,’ added Whai. ‘Those jobs are too heavy,’ said Peta. ‘You will break your back there.’ ‘No fear,’ argued Whai. ‘Henare works there, and he reckons that they sit down and do nothing when it just drizzles, and don’t start to work again until the rain stops.' ‘Eh, well okay then, let's go there,' said Peta. ‘You two can go there,’ said Miha. ‘I’m staying here.' ‘Please yourself,’ said Peta. ‘Come on Whai, let's go.' Shortly afterwards they disappeared down the road to catch a bus into town. Hinerau had started to wash the dishes, but Miha continued to sit where he was, wondering what he should do. Presently he asked, ‘What do you reckon. Hine? What do you think I should do?’ Hinerau did not reply immediately. She was fond of the boys, but Miha was her favourite. He seemed to be more responsible.

Ma Miha pea e whakatika? Ka ki atu ia ki a Miha, ‘E Miha, ehara koe i te tangata ngoikore. Pai tonu tahau mahi, tahau noho. No te taenga mai o Peta raua ko Whai, katahi ano koe ka porangi haere. Kei a koe tonu te tikanga. ‘He aha to tino pirangi? Ma te hoki ki te kainga ka aha? Kei konei nga mahi, kei konei te moni, engari kei a koe te tikanga.’ Kua riro atu i a Miha te tauera, e whakamaroke taputapu ana. Kare raua e korero ano. Ka mutu nga taputapu, ka haere atu a Hinerau ki te horoi kakahu. Ka noho ano a Miha. Nawai ra, kua tu atu ia ki te whakapaipai whare, e tari ana ki waho nga pounamu pia, e whakatika ana i nga moenga. Haere ana te pakete wai me te parahe, e horoi mai ana i te kihini. E whakawhata ana a Hinerau i nga kakahu, kua karanga mai a Miha, ‘Haere mai ki te kai ti.’ No te haerenga atu o Hinerau ki ro whare, tumeke ana ia, katahi ano a Miha ka mahi penei. Ka ki atu ia, ‘Aue, e Miha! Kei a koe hoki. Katahi ano ka penei rawa te pai o taku whare. Katahi ano au ka noho ki te kai ti ehara naku i mahi.’ Kei te ahua whakama a Miha engari kei te rekareka a ia, e kata ana. ‘E tika ana kia pukuriri noa atu koe ki a matau. Koenei anake te mahi e oti ana i konei, he kai, he moe, he porangi haere. Kare koe e kohete i a matau. Ko nga tokorua kua haere atu nei, maku o raua whero e kiki atu.’ Kare a Hinerau e korero, ka kata mai noa iho. No taua ahiahi ka haere atu a Miha ki tetahi ‘billiard room’ i Poneke. I reira a Peta raua ko Whai. Ka karanga mai a Peta, ‘Hei Miha! Haere mai ki te purei. Kei te patua au.’ ‘Naku tenei miti.’ Ko Whai e korero ana.