|
|
|
The Radio Man.
GRUNTER, A MAORI, came from Taupo. Born with inward-pointing feet, he walked with a rotary movement, one foot over the other. At speed, his footwork simulated a Mississippi sternwheeler. But when it came to moving a reel of cable, and he dug those feet in and pushed, only the Caterpillar tractor beat Grunter.
Grunter's had been a traditional communal family. It was said that the first one up in the mornings got to wear the best pair of pants. The tradition carried over into the Hydroelectric Department's Bruntwood Camp, No. 3, where unguarded clothes, plates, spoons, or firewood, migrated to the hut Grunter shared with the dog Kuri.
The dog Kuri came from nowhere. One day he was there. Recognizing a kindred spirit, he moved on to the spare cot in Grunter's hut.
During the evenings, Grunter celebrated the day's events with quantities of Waitemata, or whatever booze he could get hold of. At Christmas he celebrated in extra ways. Besides getting drunker than usual, he bought a pair each of boots and pants, both of which, because of his deformity, tended to wear out early. Then he bathed and shaved and had his hair cut. A once-in-a-while basin of water to hands and face sufficed for the rest of the year, unless there was a female prospect in the offing.
Back
|
e
|
