Community Library Notes: Shuggie Bain by Douglas Stuart
“Shuggie Bain” by Douglas Stuart is the story of Shug and his son Shuggie. Shug is a taxi driver, and one of his passengers leaves a miserly tip. An old lady flags him down and pushes a pound tip into his hand. She’s poor but won it that night and insists he keeps it for luck. Those with less give more, he thinks.
His new girlfriend Ann Marie calls for his taxi, and he picks her up, says to hurry, and takes off her knickers. He only has five minutes. Later he stops at a pub and eats fish and chips. Then he drives to Joanie’s and waits for her. Agnes is almost forty and has three children. Shuggie bathes in the tub with her, and she tells him to dance. He does and laughs with her until the front door opens. She hides the lager cans. Agnes and Shug remain on the bed, and she pulls him to her. A fire starts, and big Shug throws burning plastic out the window. Big Shug brings wet towels to the room and flicks them out the window.
Catherine leaves her office as the Orange Day parade goes by. Shug is her stepfather, and she studies the newspaper photos of dead girls raped and murdered in the city with drug problems they had to feed. She hurries down an alleyway, and men grab her with a fishing knife in hand to her mouth. They recognize her as Leeks’ sister. She gets away and climbs the stacked pallets. They are formed into a cozy den with furniture, rugs, and pictures of girls. Catherine sits with Leek on the homemade sofa as Leek makes drawings of women and fantastic buildings.
Willie, Agnes’ father, apologizes for being too soft on her but says because there were fourteen of them, he wanted her never to know what the way he had. Willie beats her with his belt buckle as he holds her over his knee. Agnes says she’s moving to a new home with her front door.
The houses they are arriving at all have gardens, and Shug carries on about the benefits of schools and jobs nearby. Shug drives the taxi onward. Soon the houses are four in a block, the plainest and unhappiest houses Agnes has ever seen. She drinks the lager hidden in her bag. They park, and all get out in front of one house. Neighbors gawk at them. Shug says he can’t live in this “shithole” he’s had it with her dinners, her wanting, her drinking. He leaves in the taxi for several days but first bangs her head on the floor.
When he comes back from Joan’s in clean clothes, he takes Agnes on the living room sofa in the night when the children are asleep. He leaves again, and Agnes waits every day for him. The neighborhood women come and give Agne3s a cup of Vodka and say how they understand her need to drink. She should go to the mine office and get on the dole. Bridie gives her Valium and says she’ll give her more if she likes it.
Bonny Johnny takes Shuggie to an empty big washing machine, and he goes for a fast ride upside down in it. Johnny rubs his hurt leg with green weeds, then pulls down his pants and tells Shuggie to rub him now.
Leek knows Catherine is with her boyfriend Donald Jur and won’t come home soon. Agnes is on her way to pawn her fur coat stops at a service station to use the toilet. The owner there figures her as an alcoholic and advises them to go to AA. She says the best thing is to get on with her life and have a great life.
Catherine takes Shuggie to her father’s house, where Shug’s girlfriend Joanie gives Shuggie roller skate boots. He feels like a traitor to his mother, but he loves the skates and skates through the house, smiling.
Another day Leek goes to the mine to collect copper from the wires to sell. He plans to get a flat near the art school where he’s been accepted. He tells Shuggie to be a lookout and let him know when the watchman comes. But Shuggie gets stuck in the mud at the bottom of the ravine and can’t get out. Leek hits the watchman with his crowbar, and the man goes to the hospital with bad injuries and a disabled mind. Agnes acts insulted when the police come to the door, and they go away.
Leek shows Shuggie how to walk like a man with wide steps, and he practice. He’s a “poof.”
James wants a party at Agnes’ house, and he brings some drinks, six cans, and a bottle of Vodka. Later Agnes goes to an AA meeting and introduces herself as an alcoholic. She stays sober for three months, then makes a big Christmas for Leek and Shuggie though she can’t pay. She takes a night shift at a petrol station where taxi drivers come regularly. They like her looks and her cheerful chatter. One night a handsome man asks her to the Grand Ole Opry for next Saturday night. Shuggie and Leek wish her good luck. At the nightclub, Eugene orders a whiskey and Agnes a Coke. Agnes’ garden is blooming, and she’s singing and smiling. Eugene has caused this. Shuggie shows Agnes some new dance steps. The neighbors are watching from across the street.
Agnes puts on her best dress and make-up every day. Shug comes to see her on Shuggie’s eleventh birthday and leaves football boots for him. Eugene picks her up, and they go to a fancy golf club for an elegant dinner. Eugene orders a bottle of wine, and he orders her a Vodka and Tonic. Then Agnes orders another and another. New Year’s Eve for Agnes lasts for weeks. When she goes to a party, Shuggie wants to pick her up to come home. Agnes goes in an ambulance after she tries to slip her wrists. Eugene and Leek watch over her on the side of the bed. She tells them she’s leaving this world.
Does Shuggie know she’ll never get better? Eugene brings food for months until the end. Is this a real family? Find this powerful memoir/novel on the new fiction shelf of your local library.