White Lies Read online

  Silently Maraea rubs a thick, white substance over the skin of the pregnant woman, covering her nude back with the creamy, white paste that she takes from a bowl and repeatedly applies with her fingers.

  Rebecca’s hair is pulled up at the nape of her neck. The servant’s hands carefully apply the balm to every part of Rebecca’s skin, from her neck to her shoulders and to her back. No part remains uncovered. It is an odd procedure, yet one that seems like a ritual known to each woman: bitter medicine, perhaps, but tolerated.

  Rebecca seems to wear a strange white mask broken only by the emptiness of her black-ringed eyes, which fight to hold back her tears.

  Maraea stands up and goes to sit on the edge of the bath, facing Rebecca.

  Maraea rinses her hands in the bathtub water. With a gesture, seemingly all too familiar, she wipes away Rebecca’s tears with the back of her hand.

  MARAEA

  Every time you cry, I have to start again.

  Rebecca’s expression is utterly blank as she recoils from the clearly painful application. She sheds silent tears.

  Maraea, firmly but not harshly, continues the process. She covers her lady’s face with the white paste that Rebecca’s thick, silent tears wash away and leave tracks in.

  Maraea again dips her fingers into the white paste and once more covers Rebecca’s face.

  INT. STAIRCASE — DAY

  Paraiti sits halfway down the stairs.

  Maraea appears at the top of the stairs, carrying the bowl that held the mixture used to cover Rebecca’s body.

  She sees Paraiti sitting on the steps and continues down.

  Just as Maraea passes by Paraiti’s side, trying to avoid her, Paraiti tugs at Maraea’s skirt to force Maraea to sit by her side.

  Maraea gasps in surprise and resists the pull, but Paraiti tugs her even harder until she sits down.

  PARAITI

  He aha nga whakahaere o roto i te whare kaukau? He aha tena mea e pania na e koe ki runga i too wahine rangatira?

  SUBTITLE:

  What is going on in the bathroom? What is that muck that you’re applying to your mistress?

  Maraea responds in a quiet voice.

  MARAEA

  Mr Vickers likes his wife with smooth, white skin.

  Paraiti doesn’t believe her. She snatches the bowl from Maraea and holds the stained hand of the servant for a second. Paraiti looks at her, but Maraea pulls her hand away.

  Paraiti dips her fingers into the white substance in the bowl, then smells it. Feeling the white paste burn her skin, she instantly wipes her fingers off on her blouse.

  INT. HALLWAY OUTSIDE BATHROOM — DAY

  The bathroom door opens. Rebecca emerges wrapped in a velvet-like robe. She looks exhausted and somehow defeated.

  PARAITI (OFF SCREEN)

  Te mutunga atu kaare te wahine a Mr Vickers e urukehu, ka tere hemo ke ia.

  SUBTITLE:

  At this rate Mr Vickers won’t have a white wife, he’ll have a dead wife.

  Rebecca overhears the two women talking on the staircase.

  PARAITI (OFF SCREEN)

  Kaati te panipani i nga taruweku ra ki runga i a ia!

  SUBTITLE:

  Stop painting that rubbish on her!

  MARAEA

  You do what you must do and I do what I must do!

  Gathering back some strength, Rebecca tries to recover her demeanour.

  INT. STAIRCASE — DAY

  From the top of the stairs, Rebecca sees the two women. With what little poise she has left, she dismisses them both with a wave of her hand, as if she were shooing away flies.

  REBECCA

  What are you doing there? Get out! You look like vultures!

  Like a shot, Maraea heads downstairs.

  REBECCA (CONT’D)

  I don’t want to see you two gossiping again.

  From the ground floor, Maraea turns to her lady at the top of the stairs, nods submissively, then scurries into the kitchen.

  Rebecca walks towards her bedroom.

  Paraiti rises slowly and follows Rebecca.

  INT. BEDROOM — DAY

  The young woman picks up her pace as if to escape from the healer.

  Just before Rebecca can close the bedroom door tight, Paraiti shoves her crude, bare foot into the door jamb.

  Rebecca shoves harder, like a cruel little girl torturing an insect. But Paraiti has suffered worse and refuses to extract her foot.

  Giving up, Rebecca relaxes her pressure then turns to enter deeper into the bedroom.

  Paraiti enters behind her and closes the door.

  INT. DRESSING CLOSET /

  REBECCA’S BEDROOM — DAY

  Paraiti follows Rebecca into the walkin closet.

  PARAITI

  Why are you doing all this? I know women who would die to have a baby …

  REBECCA

  You stupid woman … How could you ever understand?

  PARAITI

  Do you think your husband will throw you out if he discovers that you are pregnant with another man’s child?

  Rebecca holds back any expression that could reveal her feelings.

  PARAITI (CONT’D)

  He will forgive you. You are beautiful … Beauty can soften the heart of any man. I have seen it all before.

  Finished, Paraiti falls silent.

  Rebecca draws close to Paraiti and confides in a chilling and secretive voice:

  REBECCA

  So you think you have seen it all before? You have no idea.

  Rebecca looks exhausted, defeated, almost old. She hasn’t the energy to debate Paraiti. The tone of her reply carries none of her superiority. She is simply worn out.

  REBECCA (CONT’D)

  We all have our wounds, Scarface … Some carry them inside, like me.

  Rebecca looks at her directly. Paraiti sustains her gaze, almost intrigued.

  Before Paraiti can respond, Rebecca’s icy and authoritarian tone orders her to avoid further intimacies.

  REBECCA (CONT’D)

  You have a job to do. Just do it! That is all you are allowed. Nothing else.

  Paraiti walks towards the door, but before she leaves the room she turns back to look at Rebecca one more time.

  INT. STAIRCASE — NIGHT

  Paraiti and Maraea walk up the stairs holding a couple of long wooden sticks on which a pot of steaming sand is balanced.

  Aware that the balance of the pot depends on the coordination of their movements, both make an effort to work together and control the precarious task.

  INT. REBECCA’S BEDROOM — NIGHT

  Dressed in a beautiful long night robe, Rebecca sits on a chair, her legs apart.

  The door of the room is wide open.

  Paraiti and Maraea enter the room with the pot of steaming sand. Slowly, they approach Rebecca and they place the steaming pot with extreme care close to her feet.

  Paraiti scoops some hot sand with a bowl, as Maraea pours boiling water on it. Steam comes out of the bowl.

  Rebecca looks at the servant, who cannot hold her gaze and immediately lowers her eyes.

  Paraiti uses the folds of her skirt to hold the steaming pot by the edge, and places it in between the young woman’s legs, under her robe.

  Rebecca reacts immediately to the burning steam, but after a minute she manages to control herself.

  Paraiti checks on Rebecca to make sure she can tolerate the treatment.

  Never losing her composure, Rebecca tolerates the pain with no expression whatsoever.

  Paraiti lifts the pot a bit higher under Rebecca’s robe.

  This time Rebecca twists in pain.

  Paraiti stops and puts the bowl on the floor. Paraiti looks at Rebecca … and leaves the bowl on the floor.

  As soon as the door closes behind the healer, Rebecca lets out a deep but suffocated groan of pain and anguish.

  INT. REBECCA’S BEDROOM — DAY

  The bedroom is in shadow.

  Maraea sits to one side of Rebe
cca’s bed watching her mistress sleep. She pulls back a lock of Rebecca’s hair that has fallen across her sweat-soaked forehead. It is a close and loving gesture.

  Paraiti enters slowly.

  Sensing Paraiti’s presence, Maraea reverts to her solicitous servile demeanour. She immediately pretends to arrange the pillow where her mistress’s head rests.

  PARAITI

  Awhina mai. Tukuna iho ia ki runga i te papa. Tikina he whariki me etahi miro.

  SUBTITLE:

  We need to place her on the floor. Get some clean sheets and blankets.

  MARAEA

  The floor? The floor is no place for my mistress!

  Paraiti doesn’t show any signs of patience.

  PARAITI

  I te papa!

  SUBTITLE:

  I said, on the floor!

  Paraiti doesn’t move, watching the servant until she scampers out of the bedroom like a centipede.

  INT. REBECCA’S BEDROOM — DAY

  Rebecca rests on the floor amid throw-pillows and fine blankets. She appears very pale with enormous dark circles around her eyes. Her hair is unkempt.

  Paraiti is kneeling behind Rebecca, facing her back. She is manipulating the lower back muscles with gentle and rhythmic movements.

  In short order, Rebecca becomes impatient.

  REBECCA

  Don’t waste time. You have to push it out, not pamper me!

  PARAITI

  Don’t tell me my work.

  Undisturbed, Paraiti continues working.

  PARAITI (CONT’D)

  I need to open your hips.

  From the corner of the room, Maraea looks on in anguish.

  PARAITI (CONT’D)

  Soon you will be begging me to pamper you.

  Paraiti applies forceful pressure to the woman’s hips, pushing, pulling, freely tugging and manipulating the pelvic bone structure in all directions.

  Suddenly, Rebecca cries out in pain.

  Maraea hurries over to take her mistress’s hand in hers.

  Rebecca turns to Maraea. Her look is desperate, almost supplicating. Maraea’s face turns steely. She pulls her hands back from Rebecca’s and returns to her corner of the room.

  The lady and the servant remain looking at each other, as if having a secret and murky dialogue. It’s only a few seconds before Rebecca returns to that place of intense pain.

  Exhausted, Paraiti drops back and sits on the floor.

  PARAITI (CONT’D)

  More tomorrow. This is too much.

  Maraea dares not speak to Rebecca and directs her comment to Paraiti.

  MARAEA

  There is little time to lose. My mistress will need time to recover …

  It takes a long moment for Rebecca to fully register the meaning of Maraea’s remark. She looks her in the eye, contemptuously.

  REBECCA

  Get out of here.

  Maraea obeys.

  Once the servant has closed the door behind her, Rebecca orders Paraiti.

  REBECCA (CONT’D)

  Keep on working!

  Exhausted, Paraiti sits beside Rebecca.

  PARAITI

  Tomorrow, I said!

  Slowly and with great difficulty, Paraiti stands up and leaves the room.

  Rebecca stays there, alone and broken, like an abandoned rag doll.

  EXT. BACK GARDEN — NIGHT

  Paraiti is sitting by the fire. She holds her head with both hands. Oti is by her side, looking at her.

  Paraiti looks at her dog and is about to start talking, but can’t. She covers her mouth with the palm of her hand and moves her head, unable to articulate one word.

  Oti keeps looking at Paraiti and whines, as if she is trying to express what her mistress cannot say.

  Paraiti extends her hand and silently calls her dog closer to her. She caresses it with gratitude and love. Both mistress and dog share, in silence, the darkness of the moment.

  INT. REBECCA’S BEDROOM — AFTERNOON

  The door of the bedroom is blocked from the inside with a chair.

  Rebecca is still stretched out on the floor, asleep. She appears very pale, her hair is messy and unkempt. Her beautiful face has become twisted, greyish and dry.

  Paraiti is kneeling at her side. She, too, appears terribly worn out, spent.

  Paraiti closes her eyes and quietly whispers a prayer.

  After a moment she begins to massage Rebecca’s belly with precise movements.

  All of a sudden, Paraiti sees a movement in Rebecca’s womb. She closes her eyes and, taking her time, follows the movements coming from inside the swollen belly with soft and gentle hands.

  A smile of joy comes to Paraiti’s face. She cannot take her eyes off the hypnotic movements inside Rebecca’s womb.

  After a moment, delicately, she places Rebecca’s hands on her own pregnant belly.

  Paraiti waits.

  Nothing happens.

  Paraiti places her hands over Rebecca’s hands like she did in the past with Aroha, as if she will guide them.

  No movement in the belly.

  Paraiti places Rebecca’s hands at the sides of her body and observes. There is no more movement coming from the womb.

  Paraiti puts her own hands back on Rebecca’s belly, and she feels a clear jump.

  Rebecca continues to sleep. Her enormous belly moves.

  For the first time, we see Paraiti totally happy, relieved.

  Always following the movements coming from Rebecca’s womb, in a perfect pas de deux, Paraiti’s hands move softly.

  She sings a peaceful, quiet, sacred lullaby.

  FADE OUT.

  FADE IN:

  INT. HALLWAY OUTSIDE

  REBECCA’S BEDROOM — NIGHT

  Maraea carries her mistress’s dinner tray in her hands. She tries to open the door to the room, but she can’t.

  She pushes the door with her hips with no success.

  INT. REBECCA’S BEDROOM — NIGHT

  Paraiti has fallen asleep by Rebecca’s side. Her hands are still in contact with Rebecca’s belly.

  The noise of the door being pushed wakes her up.

  She goes to the door and drags the chair away and opens the door.

  INT. HALLWAY OUTSIDE

  REBECCA’S BEDROOM — NIGHT

  Maraea tries to get inside the bedroom, but Paraiti closes the door and stands in front of her, blocking her way in.

  MARAEA

  What are you doing? If I were you I would be very careful, Paraiti. Let’s be very clear about this!

  Paraiti is calm and peaceful. Somehow she knows she doesn’t have any more need to confront Maraea.

  PARAITI

  You want to be clear about this? You want it in English? Fine, let’s be clear once and for all. What I am doing and what I will keep on doing is everything in my power to bring this child to life! That is what I have always been doing in that room!

  Maraea is paralysed.

  PARAITI

  Whether your mistress survives is no concern of mine, but whether the child comes dead or alive, either way, I keep it. Now you know the price of my work!

  With that, Paraiti leaves the room.

  Maraea cannot contain her surprise. She goes inside the bedroom, and closes the door silently.

  FADE OUT.

  FADE IN:

  INT. BATHROOM — DAY

  Rebecca, pale and exhausted, is stretched out in the tub. She can hardly hold the position of her body.

  The bath water is milky white except for a tiny red cloud floating above her pubic area.

  She hears the rushing footsteps of Maraea and Paraiti.

  MARAEA (OFF SCREEN)

  She is in the bathroom … The labour pains have started!

  Paraiti rushes inside, followed by the servant, who stands in the doorway.

  With the little strength that is left in her, Rebecca casts a sharp, hateful look at Paraiti.

  REBECCA

  Who do you think you are, you old witch? You
have no right to demand anything!

  Ignoring her, Paraiti approaches the bath, kneels beside it and places her hand on Rebecca’s wet crotch.

  PARAITI

  You are the one who is in no position to demand … Its life, or yours … I decide!

  REBECCA

  I don’t care much for my life if this creature lives! It will haunt me forever!

  Maraea comes over, sits by the edge of the bath tub at Rebecca’s side, then takes the young woman’s head in her hands to kiss her forehead.

  MARAEA

  You can’t give up now! I told you. Let her have the child if that is what she wants!

  Rebecca shuts up, but refuses, shaking her head ‘no’. Tears roll down her face.

  MARAEA (CONT’D)

  Think how far you have come … Think about what you have endured to have a life of dignity.

  Rebecca looks down at her pregnant body covered with white paste, submerged in the water. With a bitter smile, she turns to face Maraea.

  REBECCA

  Dignity? What do you see here in me that reminds you of anything like dignity, Mother?

  Holding Rebecca’s belly, Paraiti is in shock. She cannot move.

  PARAITI

  I pehea mai koe?

  SUBTITLE:

  What did you just say?

  Although Rebecca is talking to Paraiti, her eyes are locked right into Maraea’s eyes.

  REBECCA

  She has bleached me! Since I can remember she has bleached my skin …

  Paraiti is appalled. She can hardly react to what she is hearing.

  REBECCA (CONT’D)

  She said that it would be better if I was white …

  Paraiti can hardly believe what she is hearing. She looks at Maraea, who immediately lowers her eyes.

  PARAITI

  (To MARAEA)

  Tenei tamaiti he mokopuna nau …?!

  SUBTITLE:

  The baby is your grandchild …!?

  Paraiti hastens towards the bathroom door.

  Maraea runs after and blocks her exit, stopping her.

  MARAEA

  You cannot run away now! It’s too late … You are part of it now!

  Paraiti gathers all the equanimity she is capable of.

  PARAITI

  I am not going anywhere! Listen to me carefully.

  Rebecca’s contractions begin and she cries in pain.

  Paraiti states with unquestionable authority:

  PARAITI (CONT’D)

  Ka whakawhanau too tamaahine pena i a koe i te wa i whakawhanau ai koe. Hoatu koe whakaritea nga ahua moona pena tonu i te whakarite a too whaea mou, to kuia me nga wahine katoa o to taha ukaipo mai rano!