Mental Page #8

- Oh, please don't make her say that.

Alright. She's sorry for not

being a very good sister. Hm?

Oh, I'm sorry too.

- You don't have to be sorry.

- Yes, I do.

- No. Shirley?

- I do. I do.

- Shirley? Shirley?

- I do.

- But I do. I really am sorry.

- Shirley?

She's right. You don't.

I haven't been a very good sister.

Oh, come on out, Shirley.

Everything's gonna be alright.

But what about Barry?

Is he still angry with me?

Shirley, as you know,

I think Doris here's a c*nt,

but she is right about one thing -

Barry's a bit of a d*ckhead.

Don't worry about what he thinks

'cause he only ever thinks of himself.

Mum!

(Chuckles) Hello!

Mum? Mum?

Mum, it's me. Mum, it's me.

(Excited chatter)

G'day, love.

- How are you feeling?

- Oh, I'm fine... fine.

Oh, sweetheart, stop...

I voted for you... so did Beverly.

Oh, thank you, love. Both of youse.

You can come out now, Mum.

The house is all clean.

And Noxious Nance went mental,

didn't she, Shaz?

High-dependency ward, Shirley.

The Quiet Room.

Donna ran off with a borderline

personality lesbian Aboriginal.

(Girls laugh)

You remember? Sandra.

- Oh, Sandra. How is Sandra?

- Married.

- To Donna.

SHAZ:
Here. They sent me a picture.

LEANNE:
They eloped to Adelaide

and Nance just went ballistic

and kidnapped Donna

out of a supermarket.

So Sandra's doctors had Nance certified.

(Girls laugh)

See Shirley, all this time

you was the normal one.

And guess what?

Oh. Oh, I'm schizophrenic. (Chuckles)

Michelle's schizophrenic

and Coral's not.

LEANNE:
Dad got a psychiatrist.

Didn't you?

Yeah, yeah. Ian Davies.

You remember Ian - he's the one that...

helped Put You.

But he gave me, um... uh, 'clozapine'.

Long as Michelle keeps taking that,

she's gonna be fine.

Oh. I don't know if things are

coming together or falling apart.

Don't cry, Mum. I'm happy.

All the girls are jealous of me,

aren't ya?

(Laughter) Come out, Shirl.

You can't be in here no more.

GIRL:
Please come home.

We miss you so much, Mum.

We made our beds

and I washed the dishes

and Kayleen dried them.

(Excited chatter)

- Come home, love.

- It's really clean.

GIRL:
Please, Mum?

- OK.

Yes!

Saturday, 7pm.

He'll be at the aquarium,

spouting his shark-hunter bullshit.

And that's when we do it.

Now the boat's booby-trapped,

so we gotta be smart.

If we want Grace, we have to have

something we can negotiate with,

something he cares about.

You know what I'm talking about,

don't you, Coral?

Find the keys,

unlock them chains on the wheels.

We tow it right outta there.

(Man singing in distance)

She doesn't know

what she does to me.

Born without

the instinct of conformity.

She ain't normal,

just different shades of mental.

The fact that we met,

it could not be accidental

Grace?

Maybe she's not the solution.

But she's the next step

in human evolution.

She's the best...

(Gasps)

(Girls squealing)

- What are you singing, mate?

- What?

Where'd you get them words?

- I made 'em up.

- 'lnstinct of conformity'?

'Next step'?

Where is she?

Where is the mad b*tch?!

Grace?

(Gun clicks) (Gasps)

Where is she? Where's your daughter?!

(Shaz and girls whispering

and chatting animatedly)

GIRL:
Shhh! There's someone coming.

Nothing to worry about, Shirl.

We're just stealing my ex's shark.

Go back to bed.

(Barks)

Shaz!

(Barking continues)

SHAZ:
That old b*tch.

DORIS:
This is a kidnapping.

Don't worry, I've been in tighter

spots than this. Come on!

No, Shaz, no...

When you wake up, Shirley, I'll be

gone and you'll have your family back.

- No...

- Mum, I've got this.

Youse check the hallway,

youse check the verandah.

Don't worry, we're not here for you -

we're here for Shaz.

She's nuts.

She attacked me with a knife.

Oh, shut up about that.

More importantly, where are my dolls?

(Girls laugh)

(Car horn sounds)

(Excited chatter, banging)

He told me about you, Shaz.

Black out your face, Coral.

- Grace drowned.

KAYLEEN:
What?

She was a drug addict.

She went swimming in the sea...

(Screaming)

You don't know the first thing

about me daughter, you hear me?!

Grace weren't on drugs

and she didn't drown.

She got took by a shark -

his shark, the one in his show.

The shark that ate Harold Holt?

It never ate Harold Holt...

that's bullshit he made up

for the punters.

He caught it five years ago,

the day after Grace went missing

'cause he knew it was

the shark that took her.

He's got a restraining order

on you, Shaz.

He says if you go near him,

he'll put you away again.

LEANNE:
Again?

You told him, didn't you?

Oh, you told him.

- He already knew!

- Don't you lie to me!

You're the liar! We're not special,

we're not the next steps either!

- No, Coral!

- Three times it's happened.

He moves to a place

and she finds losers, losers like us.

No, I'm not a loser!

She picks the stupid and the lonely,

and she flatters ya,

avenges ya, and before you know it,

you have boot-polish on your face,

helping her steal a dead shark!

No! Coral, she believes in us!

Tell 'em.

Tell them what you really think.

Oh, shut up!

Tell 'em, you lying b*tch!

You're nothin'! You're too stupid

to stand up for yourselves,

too lazy to care about anyone but you!

What else are you good for but lies?!

(Shaz breathes heavily)

Get it?

We're stupid, lazy and unpopular.

But at least we're not crazy.

You take it back.

Take it back.

You hear voices.

You hear your daughter's voice

calling you

from inside a dead shark.

Nobody can save you from that.

The spirit lives on after the body,

don't you know that?

But it can be trapped.

It screams out in pain

and there's no-one there to hear it.

A mother never stops hearing it.

Her spirit's gotta be in the ocean

where she died.

I've got to get it outta me head.

Come on.

SHAZ:
You promised me.

He knows you're coming, Shaz.

Get out of here... while you still can.

Go, Shaz!

Please.

Don't you know what it's like

to care for someone

more than you care for yourself?

Ripper. (Claps hands)

(Barking)

(Growling)

(Screaming)

(Policemen speak indistinctly)

MAN:
Stay back, love. Stay out of it.

CORAL:
Don't hull her! Please, no!

Could we have lunch this Friday?

Or afternoon tea?

(Footsteps) Dad's home!

(All talk excitedly)

G'day!

- Mrs Moochmore.

- Yes.

Trevor Blundell.

Coral's employer... former employer.

Sorry, luv, ya out of a job.

I'm closin' the shark show.

Takin' off tonight. Cheers, luv.

You all feel bad about Shaz, I know.

But ya done the right thing.

They'll let 'er out. They always do.

Then it starts again. (Laughs)

Why don't ya just give 'er the shark?

She never gets that shark.

She never gets to forget what she done.

- What did she do?

- She looked the other way!

She wants to protect Grace now!

Where was she then?

Maybe she'll die.

(Scoffs) There's a possibility.

She can't take another 12 months

searchin' for me.

It'll kill 'er. Or she'll kill 'erself.

Shaz would never do that.

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