(SMOOTH ELECTRONIC MUSIC)
Mum?
I'm going to Trisha's after school.
Alright?
Love you.
WOMAN: (WHISPERS) Touch me.
I need some money.
What for?
Lunch.
There's food in the fridge.
- I wanna go out. - You're going to school.
- After school. - Where?
- I don't fuckin' know yet, do I? - MAN: Watch your mouth.
WOMAN: Daniel.
- Did you take my money? - No. I was just asking for some.
You were in my room last night.
No, I wasn't.
Don't shit me. I saw you.
I was just getting a couple of fags, that's all.
- You're lying. - I'm not, Mum. I swear.
Well, you've done it before.
Just...give me my money.
I didn't take your fucking money!
Daniel!
WOMAN: Daniel!
She swore, you know, and she's not meant to swear.
According to her, she's not meant to swear.
They all swear, adults. All of 'em. All the fuckin' teachers swear.
She said, "You're an embarrassment to me, Trisha.
"A fuckin' embarrassment."
That's bad, man.
Then she jabs me with her scissors. On purpose, right?
That's child cruelty or something.
She jabs me with her scissors!
TRISHA: On my arm, right?
And I go, "YOU'RE dangerous."
'Cause she's just jabbed me with her scissors, right?
And she goes back, "YOU'RE dangerous."
I say, "How am I dangerous?"
(THUMP! THUMP! THUMP!)
(DOG BARKS)
- Don't. - What?
Be mean.
I'm not being mean.
You're spitting at her.
- So? - It's mean.
What's the problem?
She's gonna throw herself under a train now?
- She might. - Bullshit.
She might start cutting herself, like Marina Brynner.
You don't cut yourself 'cause you're fat.
Who says?
You cut yourself 'cause you've been abused as a child.
- That's anorexics. - No, it's not.
Yeah, it is.
It's not anorexics. It's goths.
Yeah, AN D goths.
That's why all goths are anorexic.
Nah. I've seen heaps of fat goths.
Who?
I don't know. Just walking around.
There's none.
Bullshit.
You get a group of 3 goths, they're not all gonna be skinny.
There'll be one fat one.
(DIALS)
Trisha.
It's Roo.
Whose phone is that?
Mine.
Can you bring me some clothes?
Can't. I'm at school.
Where are you? Mum thinks you're dead.
(HANGS UP)
Was that your brother?
Mmm.
Why does she think he's dead?
(LEVEL CROSSING BELLS RING) I don't know.
She's mad.
Did he piss off?
Yeah. 2 weeks ago.
(GULLS SQUAWK, GIRL HUMS QUIETLY)
(HUMS)
(STOPS HUMMING)
Where's your shoes?
Where's your fuckin' shoes, Stace?
Shit.
(CAMERA CLICKS)
MAN: What are you doing?
It's just procedure, Mr. O'Manney.
When did you say you rewired?
Last year.
Have you got the paperwork?
You never said anything about that.
There should be a certificate from the electrician.
- You a sparky, are you? - No.
But we still need the certification that the job was done legally.
All the paperwork got burnt.
Can you give us the name of the electrician, then?
What's your name again?
James Parker.
Mr. Parker, you know something? I don't trust you.
MAN: James is one of our best assessors, Mr. O'Manney.
And I'll bet the blackfellas don't either.
James!
James, hold on!
JAMES: I'll finish the report this afternoon.
You shouldn't let it get to you.
In future, don't ever think you can speak on my behalf.
(INDIAN MUZAK PLAYS)
Orton?
I'm bleeding.
Where?
Does it hurt?
Nah. Lots of blood, though.
You have to go home, Stace.
You need Mum.
(OPENS CAR DOOR)
(STARTS ENGINE)
Hello.
It's Roo.
I met you at the party.
You said I should call you.
About the modelling session.
WOMAN: Jimmy?
Come into the light.
Let me see you.
I want money.
How much?
Take what you need.
How old are you?
You look about 10.
I'm fucking 15!
Oh. Excuse me.
(OPENS DRAWERS)
You're lovely.
I'm not fucking lovely! I'm robbing you!
Well, you wouldn't do it if you didn't need it.
Where's your money?
On the bedside table. The book.
Is this a joke?
Yes, son. That's what it is.
- I'll bloody hit you! - No, you won't.
You're a good boy. I can see that.
You don't even know me.
What do I need to know?
That you're bad?
I know you're trying to be bad, but I don't think you are.
Being poor is bad. Being hungry is bad.
Having no decent education is bad.
(CLOCK CHIMES)
Don't you have anyone?
There must be something I can give you.
Do you read?
Jimmy loved to read.
Who's Jimmy?
My son.
DANIEL: Doesn't he come to see you?
He's busy with his work.
But does he know you're sick?
I'm not sick.
I'm just old.
Start with that.
Might give you some ideas.
When you've read it,
you could come back and take something else.
Doesn't he love you?
Course he loves me.
I'm his mother.
(KNOCK AT DOOR)
- What is it? - Shh.
Go. Your mother will be worried.
No, she won't. She's a bitch.
But she loves you.
(SCOFFS) Yeah, right.
No. I'm telling you-- she loves you.
She doesn't have a choice.
She has a funny way of showing it.
It's hard for mothers when their sons reach a certain age.
They're not sure how to love them anymore.
You love her, don't you?
You should tell her.
Just say, "I love you, Mum."
Or are you too old for that now?
Go on.
What?
Say it.
(MUMBLES) Love you, Mum.
What? I couldn't hear.
I said it.
Say it again.
I love you, Mum.
I know, son.
You chose me.
(CRACK!)
(GASPS)
You can still see where she stabbed me.
Can you do this up?
- Look, it's still bleeding. - Trisha!
- Breathe in. - I think it's too small.
No. Breathe in. Breathe in.
- It's too small. I need a 10. - Got it.
Fuck! Undo it!
It looks really good.
Does it?
10 will be too big.
I can't breathe. I can't breathe. Get it off me.
Get it off. Trisha! Trisha.
I can't... (LAUGHS)
Hurry up! God.
My God!
WOMAN: (KNOCKS) How you going in there?
Er...we haven't finished choosing yet.
WOMAN: Alright. Well, let me know if you need any help.
- WOMAN: Emergency. - There's a woman. She's hurt.
What's the address?
Er, Glove...Glover Street.
It's the old house.
And you gotta fuckin' hurry, alright?
Can I have your name?
What school do we go to, again?
I don't know. On your pocket.
They don't wear fuckin' evening gloves.
Shh!
Your mum's gonna kill us.
(SHOPPERS CHAT QUIETLY)
(WHISPERS) Trisha!
(ALARM WAILS)
ROO: I'd love to fuck Eminem.
Yeah. Someone tough, you know?
Someone who knows what he wants.
Not some fucking faggot.
MAN: Go on.
(BIRDS FLUTTER ABOVE)
What else do you want me to say?
MAN: Tell me about fucking Eminem.
Tell me what you'd like to do with him.
I feel stupid.
MAN: It's just us.
I won't laugh.
I'd kiss him.
MAN: And?
I'd pretend that I... I find him and he's asleep...
like he's under this spell.
He's got no clothes on.
And I kiss him...
..and I save him from the spell and he wakes up
and he's looking at me...
..smiling.
Like he's really grateful.
MAN: Tell me about the first time you ever had sex.
How old were you?
13.
MAN: Who was he?
He worked with me old man.
He was a brickie.
MAN: Yeah. That's good.
Tell us like that, like it's a story.
His name was Con.
He came down from the country
so my old man puts him up till he finds another place.
He was staying in my room.
He'd be up late, drinking with Dad.
He'd come in to go to bed and he'd just watch me.
MAN: Go on.
And then he sucked me off.
MAN: Take off your T-shirt.
And your pants.
MAN: Do it slowly. (UNZIPS)
MAN: That's right.
MAN: Now play with yourself.
Just look at the camera and play with yourself till you come.
But don't do it without telling me, alright?
Just say it out loud-- "I'm gonna come."
And always look at the camera.
Look at the fucking camera!
Look at it!
Look at the fucking camera, you little cunt!
Look at the camera!
LOOK AT IT! LOOK AT IT!
That's it. Look at it.
MAN: That's it.
(WEEPS)
I'm gonna come.
Here.
They're for the bleeding.
What do you do with them?
Stick 'em on.
Does it hurt?
Well, I dunno.
Shit, Stace. I asked in the shop, alright?
What's it say?
You stick 'em on.
I'm not using 'em.
They cost money, you know?
Can we go home?
Shouldn't have come looking for me.
Found you, though. Told Mum I would.
She just wants you to come home, Orton.
I'm not coming home, Stace. You can tell her that.
Never wanna see that bitch again.
You shut up 'cause she's not a bitch, alright?
You take it back.
ORTON: You're stupid, you know?
- I can't look after you. - Don't have to.
Bullshit! Look at you. You got blood all over you.
Stacey!
(PHONE RINGS)
James Parker.
Yeah. Can you tell me how she died?
(BREATHES HEAVILY)
(SMOOTH ELECTRONIC MUSIC)
Just tell me your names and addresses and then you can go home.
Deborah.
Deborah what?
Dogydog.
- Deborah Dogydog? - Yeah.
- How do you spell it? - D-O-G-Y-D-O-G.
What about you? What's your name?
I don't have to tell you anything.
You're not even meant to be asking us questions
without our parents here.
Well, tell me who your parents are, then.
What school do you go to?
Mena Civas.
- What? - Mena Civas School.
How do you spell that?
M-E-N-A...
..C-I-V-I-S
S-C-H...
I know how to spell 'school'.
I'm afraid my parents are out of town at the moment.
I could give you their names and stuff but they're OS.
And where exactly are they?
America, actually, at the moment.
Sometimes they take me with them.
But no, not this time. No way.
It's too dangerous.
There's too much violence. Too many gangsters.
So they thought it'd be better if I stayed here
with...with my nanny.
You've got a nanny?
Yeah, I got a nanny.
Your folks are obviously pretty well off, then.
Yeah.
So what were you doing stealing, Deborah?
Nanny's been really sick.
She had a nervous breakdown.
She shakes, you know?
She drinks. She's disgusting.
She won't even get out of bed to go to the bank
so I haven't had any of the money that my parents have left for me.
I think she might've gambled it all away.
Well, it's given me a real insight into how the other half lives.
I've been really selfish in my life, you know?
Very sheltered.
I was gonna be a lawyer.
And my parents have lots of lawyer friends to get me a good job.
But now I've completely changed my mind.
What are you gonna be now?
Probably a social worker, I reckon. Or a prison warder.
(BREATHES HEAVILY)
Mum?
(TEARFULLY) Mum?
(CRIES)
(SOBS)
I can't look after her, Mum.
WOMAN: Are you alright, love? Did Stacey find you?
She's bleeding. I don't know what to do.
You're her mother.
Orton.
I'll take her to Frank's café. (HANGS UP)
(SINGS) * Step on the crack
* Break your mother's back...
We'll need you to formally identify your mother's body
and then sign the necessary papers.
Is this the body of your mother?
No.
MAN: The...records say you're her next of kin.
The records are wrong.
She's not my mother.
(SIRENS WAIL)
(BREATHES HEAVILY)
(CAR HORNS BLARE)
(ROO DIALS)
It's Trisha. Don't leave a message 'cause I've got no credit.
Text me.
(DROPS PHONE)
- Hi. - Hi.
How you going?
STACEY: In the car,
what do they do?
Stuff.
And they give 'em money?
That's like Nathan.
But he doesn't give me any money.
What do you mean?
Does Mum know?
It's when she said I had to sleep in your room.
You didn't want to share.
But it was Phil
when you come into my room, not Nathan.
Phil was before Nathan.
Was he better than Nathan?
Same.
There was someone who was good.
Ted. He was before Phil.
He's Mickey's dad.
- Who? - Mickey.
Our brother.
Where's Mickey?
Foster care.
So was it Nathan doing it to you, or Phil?
It was Phil first, then Nathan.
MAN: You haven't got much, have you?
What do you mean? Money, you mean?
- Do you get envious? - Nuh.
- Do you get angry? - Nuh.
When you see the girls who've got everything?
- Can we go now? - Afraid not.
Can't you just charge us for the shoplifting and let us go?
It's a bit more serious than that, now, isn't it?
(PHONE RINGS IN OTHER ROOM)
(SIGHS)
Life isn't a big fancy-dress party.
You can't just pretend to be something you're not.
Everybody has to look like what they are.
And what are you girls?
- Trash. - You can't say that.
Where'd you get the uniforms?
- You can't say that! - We found 'em.
- Where? - In a charity bin.
What were you doing in a charity bin?
We weren't in it.
They were sitting next to it, folded up in a box.
Why would someone just leave them?
I don't know, do I?
They were just there.
Some girls probably finished school.
Or left school, or moved to another school. I don't know.
Maybe they died.
Died.
TRISHA: Maybe.
How'd the blood get on the sleeve?
My mother jabbed me with a pair of scissors.
- Are you a junkie? - Nuh.
- Show me your arm. - No! Fuck off!
Get off me! Fuck off!
Look, we found them in a charity bin, the gloves and everything.
I don't know whose they were.
Where'd you meet these girls?
We didn't meet them. We don't know 'em.
But you watched them. What do they look like?
There aren't any girls. They don't exist.
And if they did, they'd be identical twins, wouldn't they?
Big, fat identical twins.
I don't think so.
- I want to go home now. - That's not possible, I'm afraid.
We're going to keep you here until we find out
what you did to these 2 girls.
What do you think?
We killed someone?
Is that what you think?
Why would we kill anybody?
Why would we fucking kill anybody?
I'd watch my language if I was you.
- Fuck off! - You're a foul-mouthed...
Wait. Wait, listen.
Those uniforms, her mum makes 'em.
You know, for a living.
You look. Go on. There's no names on the collar.
There's nothing. It's 'cause they're brand-new.
My name is Katrina Boyd.
I live at 11 Derrick Street, Westmeadows.
DETECTIVE: Thank you, Katrina.
And what about you?
Her name is Trisha Chrisakis.
She lives at 44 Hover Road,
West Footscray.
What are you gonna do with your life?
Not gonna be a cop, that's for sure.
You've got nothing.
We haven't got nothing.
You can go now.
We haven't got nothing!
We're fucking smart.
We're fucking smart, so don't you tell us
we've got nothing, you fucking prick.
('NO SECRETS' BY THE ANGELS PLAYS)
(KNOCK AT DOOR)
WOMAN: Orton!
Wait!
STACEY: Oh, check this.
ORTON: Take it if you want.
STACEY: Nah.
Find something for Mum, though, eh?
What about this?
It'll look good on her.
What do you see, Orton?
It's our mum.
Just play, alright? It's our mum, isn't it?
What's she doing?
Is she dancing?
And what's she wearing?
- Her good dress. - The blue one.
- She's at the pub. - No.
She's somewhere better.
Somewhere special.
Is she wearing her earrings?
Has she got her earrings on, Orton?
Yeah.
We'll wait up for her.
- She'll be late. - Doesn't matter.
Some bastard will come home with her.
It doesn't matter.
She's dancing.
Somewhere special.
And we're waiting up for her.
And when she comes home, we'll make her a cup of tea,
we'll hop into her bed
and she'll tell us about
all the people she met
and about how she danced
and had just the best time.
Don't you love her anymore, Orton?
Don't you?
I'm cold.
Are you still bleeding?
A bit.
What's our brother's name?
STACEY: Mickey?
Don't forget.
I love you, Orton.
I love you so much.
(GENTLE ELECTRONIC MUSIC)
(DOOR CREAKS)
KATRINA: Mum.
I'm going to Trisha's after school.
Alright?
Love you.
(FOOTSTEPS RECEDE)
(OUTER DOOR CLOSES)
You getting up or what?
(KNOCKS)
Daniel?
Trisha?
WOMAN: (ON RADIO)..has been charged with attempted murder
after a shooting in Richmond.
(CALLS) Are you up?
called to a home earlier today, after reports a man had been shot.
The victim remains in a serious condition in hospital.
The body of a male youth was found
floating in the Yarra River this morning.
Police are yet to identify the victim
but are playing down media claims of a spate of teenage suicides
sweeping the city.
Government statistics, however,
point to an increase in the incidence of male youth suicide.
(RADIO PROGRAM PLAYS)
I need 50 bucks.
We're short 100 bucks on the mortgage.
Ask your mother.
We still haven't paid her back from last time.
I know what you're thinking.
- All I mean is... - I'm useless. That's what you mean.
Listen, there's a way out of this.
Oh, here we go.
If we sell it,
then we don't have to face it every month.
And then what, we pay rent?
- It'd be cheaper. - No, it won't.
And it won't be mine.
But we can't afford it.
I find it. I always do.
What, I'm not contributing anything?
No. Not much.
(CHUCKLES) Bullshit.
Half of it's mine.
This house is mine.
- Half yours. - All mine.
Not by law.
I pay the payments.
By law, half of it's mine.
You don't give a damn about this house.
I wanted it. It was my deposit. I pay the mortgage.
If I left, I'd get half. By law, I'd get half.
- Then we're stuck with each other. - Oh, is that it?
Yeah, that's it.
I think so.
You know, you never touch me.
What?
You...
..don't want me to touch you.
Touch me, then.
(WHISPERS) Touch me.
(DOOR OPENS)
- I need some money. - What for?
- Lunch. - There's food in the fridge.
I want to go out.
You're going to school.
- After school. - Where?
- I don't fuckin' know yet, do I? - Watch your mouth.
- Who took my money? - I thought you had none.
It was for the mortgage. Where is it?
Ask Daniel.
(DOOR OPENS AND CLOSES)
Daniel...
did you take my money?
DANIEL: No. I was just asking for some.
MOTHER: You were in my room last night.
- No, I wasn't. - Don't shit me. I saw you.
DANIEL: I was just getting a couple of fags, that's all.
- You're lying. - I'm not, Mum, I swear.
MOTHER: Well, you've done it before. Give me my money.
DANIEL: I didn't take your fucking money!
MOTHER: Daniel!
(DOOR CLOSES)
- He says he didn't take it. - Well, he's done it before.
- It was 700 bucks. - $700?
Yeah.
You had $700 and you couldn't give me $50?
(GROANS)
- Where'd you get that kind of money? - Work.
You don't get paid that kind of money.
- I borrowed some. - Who from?
- From... - Bullshit.
What does it matter? It was for the mortgage.
What are you doing to get that kind of money?
What do you think I'm doing?
(SHOUTS) What do you think I'm doing?
It's too short.
That's how they like them.
It's for the rowing team.