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- 96 pages
- English
- ePUB (mobile friendly)
- Available on iOS & Android
eBook - ePub
Elephant
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About This Book
Vira hasn't seen her sister Deesh for years. Deesh's kids, Amy and Bill, want to know why but nobody's telling them anything. When Deesh invites her sister to Amy's flashy party, Vira reckons it's time to come home and move on. Time to stop watching the telly, get out of her council flat, stick on a glitzy sari and embrace her nearest and dearest. But is it possible to forgive and forget? And when a family is built on lies, will it be destroyed by the truth?
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Yes, you can access Elephant by Gurpreet Kaur Bhatti in PDF and/or ePUB format, as well as other popular books in Literature & Drama. We have over one million books available in our catalogue for you to explore.
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Characters
MUM/DEESH â late 40s
DAD/BARRY â early 50s
DAUGHTER/AMY â mid 20s
SON/BILL â early 20s
VIRA â late 30s, Deeshâs sister
Location:
A suburb
ONE
Friday early evening. Odd bits of furniture, a sparse look. BILL, gentle, troubled, sits, filling out a large diary. DEESH, unkempt and restless, wearing cheap jeans and a holey jumper, brings on a tired mattress, pillows, covers etc. Starts putting a sheet on. AMY, groomed, assertive, paints her nails, watches.
AMY: What are you doing?
DEESH: She has to sleep somewhere.
AMY: Stick her in the spare room.
DEESH: Itâs pristine in there! The duvet coverâs brand new and I donât want it disturbed. No, sheâll be alright down here. Iâll keep her company.
AMY: You?
DEESH: Best to keep an eye on her.
AMY: Is she a thief?
DEESH: Shut up, idiot!
DEESH hits a pillow with unusual force.
DEESH: Give these a decent whack and they come right back to life.
AMY: Tell me you bought a new shalwar kameez.
DEESH: I found one on a sale rack up the Broadway.
AMY: Why not just go to Oxfam and ruin my life?
DEESH: Itâs not like youâre getting married. If you were getting married Iâd buy five new suits and a couple of saris, change my earrings every hour and get my face contoured.
AMY: Youâd better sort that hair. And your moustache.
DEESH: Weâll put on a good show like always.
AMY: Mum, it has to be better than good!
DEESH: Have me and your dad ever let you down?
AMY: Why do you have to keep an eye on her?
DEESH: She doesnât know her way around the house.
AMY: Donât you trust her?
DEESH: Course I trust her. Sheâs my flesh and blood.
AMY: Right, Iâm locking my room.
DEESH: Stop being an idiot! Viraâs not an ogre. (To BILL.) What are you doing babes?
BILL: Putting Dadâs jobs in the diary.
AMY: Use the calendar on his phone.
BILL: I told him but he says he wants them written down.
AMY: Nobody writes things down any more. What is wrong with this family?
DEESH: You be quiet, if thatâs how he wants it, leave him! (Peers over BILL.) Ah, what a lovely picture.
BILL: Just a stupid doodle Mum.
DEESH: Looks like the painting in the Chinese takeaway.
BILL: Itâs a famous image, everyone knows it.
DEESH: Well your oneâs really really good.
BILL moves it away from her.
DEESH: (Checks watch.) Not long now. She wonât be late. Her headâs sensitive to others. Same as yours, Bill.
AMY: Did you ask her to bring a shalwar kameez?
DEESH: She wonât turn up naked. Iâm sure she wonât. She can always borrow one of mine.
AMY: Is she fatter than you?
DEESH: I dunno.
AMY: If sheâs fatter than you, your ones wonât fit.
DEESH: She can breathe in.
AMY: Letâs hope sheâs not as embarrassing as you.
DEESH: Shut up! Vira is the sweetest thing. When she was born our mum let me push her around in my Tiny Tearsâ pram. My first baby, before you lot. I was eleven years old when I held her in my arms. My little elephant. And now, sheâs coming home to me. You remember her, Amy.
AMY: Vaguely. She used to bring cuddly toys and haribos.
DEESH: Not just haribos, boxes of chocolates, family size biscuit tins. She arrived at that door, laden!
AMY: I think she made faces, made me laugh.
DEESH: And she made a commitment to you lot. From when you were tiny.
AMY: (Sardonic.) Five pounds a month?
DEESH: Donât you dare laugh! Thatâs years of effort for some. Viraâs...very nice.
BILL: If sheâs so nice why did Nani call her filth?
DEESH: I canât remember that...
BILL: She said she was a kuthi, haramjadee [bitch, bastard].
DEESH: Did she?
AMY: You know she did.
BILL: Mum, she told us that Auntie Vira was cursed, not to let her in if she knocked on the door.
DEESH: Your Nani was quite hard on people and Vira...always had spirit.
AMY: Good for her.
BILL: At least she sounds interesting.
DEESH: That...now that...is exactly the word. She loved her books. Enid Blyton, William Shakespeare.
AMY: Yeah we know, top dog in English, you told us....
Table of contents
- Front Cover
- Title Page
- Copyright Page
- Contents
- Characters
- Epilogue