Lotto Troppo

burra’s blood pressure is constantly on the upper side of being dangerously close to him becoming a medical disaster because each member of his family has got themselves into considerable debt through misuse of facilities and being just plain neglectful. the family’s inconsideration is highlighted on to burra because he is expected to pay their way out of looming trouble that is not too far ahead.

but to top this off, burra is then informed that his eleven year old grandson, stinky, has sullied the creek name, but his mind then drifts onto another tangent that brings a smile to his face when believing that stinky’s indiscretion could be the godsend to pay off his family’s debt, but as per normal, burra gets his wires crossed and threats of a lynching are thrown at burra who not only has to protect stinky, but himself as well.

just as everything appears to have gone pear shaped, a brilliant idea from edith’s mother comes off and the creek families come into a substantial amount of money that everybody wants to selfishly spend upon themselves.

edith’s insistence about what she intends to do with her share persuades the other members in her family to follow suit, especially from burra who deems that stinky needs to be taken as far away as possible until things die down, and so he agrees with edith that darwin should be far enough away, even if she is going for a different reason. edith wants to enjoy the company of her bank manager son ross. once the decision is made, stinky promises burra that he will pay back every cent that his indiscretion cost burra.

the trip to darwin is full of what can be classed as normal creek disasters that are very costly but because they are ‘loaded’ then money is no object. the holiday in darwin offers little respite, although burra is mindful that the money is disappearing quicker than even he expected, and because of this, when offered part time work, burra cajoles his boys into joining him, but again in true creek style, the cost outsizes the gains, so when the creeks leave darwin for the trip home, they are on the verge of being broke with barely enough money for fuel.

luckily for the creeks, burra and his boys are offered a job by a wily old fisherman named harry, but of course either burra didn’t listen properly, or cagey harry has played burra for a sucker.

there is more trouble for burra after arriving home, and it sends burra to the brink. thinking of a way to avoid bankruptcy, burra plays everyone for a fool until he receives a message that stinky came good with his promise to repay burra, however burra’s acting at playing everyone for a fool is too convincing for his own good.