Betty,
I ain't got much time, so I gotta be quick. Mr Neal, the bridaira, want me to 'imself, but I ain't lettin' 'im. I got a man now, a real nice one that loves me. And we gonna run away together.
Mr Neal is a warrah man, like Mr Barnes, and I know the way them type look at girls like you an' me. And I'm sorry this 'appen to ya. It ain't your fault. An' if an'one says it is, then I gonna come down there with Joe and 'is fam'ly to give 'em a piece of their own. So you look 'em in the weeowl and tell 'em it ain't your fault.
I'll write to ya if me and Joe find a good safe place, then you can come an' live with us.
I 'ope things get bette' for you and the other koolangah at the house. I be thinkin' of ya.
Love, Mary.
Language:
Boss - bridaira
Bad - warrah, warrahmut
Eyes - weeowl
Children - koolangah or yumbah
YOU ARE READING
Letters from Betty
Ficción históricaInspired by the play 'No Sugar' by Jack Davis, written during the Great Depression, in Northam, Western Australia, Moore River Native Settlement and Perth. 'Letters from Betty' describes what it is like to live from the perspective of a young Abori...
