Page 59 of Sisters Under The Rising Sun
As January turns to February, a contingent of Japanese soldiers returns. Miachi calls one of his meetings to address the women. This time, they crowd together in front of the administration building, their feet squelching the wet dirt. Miachi appears with Ah Fat. Behind them stands a line of unfamiliar soldiers. Standing on his crate, Miachi barks out his message. The look of exasperation and fatigue on Ah Fat’s face, as he tries to outshout the captain, makes it difficult for the women in the front rows, the only ones who can see him, to keep a straight face.
‘These soldiers will train the locals who have let you get away with being lazy, untidy and not dressing properly.Tenkowill be called every day and anyone who is late to line up will be punished. The orders of the Japanese High Command will be obeyed. Go back to your houses.Tenko! Tenko!’
The women all race back to their homes and line up. The new Japanese soldiers begin their inspection from the top of the camp. Betty quickly counts the nurses in their house. Across the street, Nesta watches Margaret counting the women in her house.
Slowly, the soldiers make their way towards them. Opposite her, she sees a soldier, about her height, but as wide as a barrel. He is yelling at the women in Japanese, pushing and shoving them as he attempts to do his own count.
‘That one we’ll call Grumpy,’ Betty whispers to her.
Nesta suppresses a grin as she watches the soldier at the house next door. She is startled when he raises his hand and slaps one of the women across the face, screaming in broken English, ‘No lipstick! No lipstick!’
She tries to look at her nurses, some of whom appear to be wearing pale lipstick. And then he is standing in front of her.
‘How many?’ he yells.
‘Sixteen!’ yells Nesta.
The soldier wanders over to Jean’s house, coming to a stop in front of one of the youngest nurses. Nesta glances at her, sees she is not wearing lipstick, and breathes a sigh of relief. She doesn’t see his hand come up and slap the nurse across the face. ‘More clothes, more clothes,’ he spits.
Nesta moves out of line as the soldier strides off. She rubs the woman’s back, comforting her in the only way she can right now. And then she heads off after the abusive soldier. One of the local guards steps in front of her in an attempt to stop her. She brushes him aside and gets up behind the soldier. He is looking intently at another woman now, she sees his hand come up and nimbly steps in front of him, taking the full force of the slap. Nesta goes down, but quickly gets up and meets the soldier’s eyes. He moves off, ignoring her entirely.
‘Nesta, what are you doing?’ Jean calls to her.
‘We’re going to have to watch this one,’ is all she says.
They watch him castigate another woman for wearing lipstick. Everyone holds their breath. ‘No lipstick!’ he yells in her face. But there is no slap this time and he walks on.
WithTenkoover, the women go back indoors. The nurses gather around Nesta and the other nurse who was assaulted. Wet cloths are produced and held on red, swollen cheeks.
‘I think we are returning to the good old days of abuse and punishment,’ Vivian says.
‘Bloody Lipstick Larry!’ Betty exclaims to snorts of laughter from the nurses, but they all agree a code name is a good idea for when he’s out and about. ‘What else do you think they will do?’
Smiles fade from their faces as all heads turn to the four nurses who have already sacrificed so much.
‘No! That will not happen again!’ Nesta vehemently insists.
‘She’s right. We won’t let it. Dr McDowell will intervene in any case,’ Jean says. ‘We stay strong together on this, right, girls?’
Vivian opens her mouth and begins to sing ‘Waltzing Matilda’and in no time the house is buzzing with their voices.
The women outside hear the glorious singing. Standing on their front lawn, Margaret, Norah, Ena, Sister Catherina and dozens more quickly gather, and soon this vocal tribute to unity and solidarity fills the street.
‘I have some news,’ Nesta announces as she walks into the house. She has just been called to Miachi’s office while the nurses awaited her return. ‘Does anyone know the Japanese word for nurse?’ Nesta asks them with a big grin.
A chorus ofno.
‘Well, the soldier kept calling uskangofu; I wasn’t sure if that meant nurse or he was referring to us as kangaroos,’ Nesta says. ‘He wants a full list of our names to send home, can you believe it? Our families haven’t heard from us for a year, and he is offering to get them a message. Of course, I gave him what he needed, including the names of those no longer with us. Bully, I didn’t tell him how I knew some of them were dead, so no worry on that score. Thankfully, he didn’t ask. The others we can only hope have been rescued or captured and are somewhere safe. He also said we can write a letter home and he will give us some pens and paper soon.’
‘Did you believe him?’ Jean asks.
‘He was pleasant enough, but I don’t know. I can only tell you what he said. I guess we’ll just have to wait to see if the pens and paper turn up.’
‘Even if it does, how do we know the letters will be sent home?’ a nurse asks.
‘We don’t,’ comes Nesta’s retort.
She knows it’s a generous offer, but she has no idea whether the Australian authorities will ever be told of their existence.
