Agnes was alone in the boys’ toilets after school, cleaning. Sindiswa had taken the day off to join the women outside parliament, protesting about the violence in her neighbourhood. Agnes felt very alone. It made it worse trying to clean up the mess without the support of Sindiswa. She wanted to finish as soon as she could and get out back into the fresh air.

Perhaps she would tell the Principal about the toilets. Stop in at his office. He had been kind and understanding before. And she wanted to find out what was happening with those boys. Was the school council meeting? Would they be expelled? She was thinking that the boys should be suspended at least, until the school body had decided what to do.

But her thoughts were interrupted by the sound of voices and running feet. She recognised the voices. There was Jaco’s deep laugh and Ricardo’s higher-pitched voice, and John joining in. But there was another boy’s voice mixed in with them. And she recognised that too.

“What are you going to do? What do I have to do?” The voice was frightened, trembling. It was Sipho’s.

Before she could do anything, Jaco was inside the toilet, had spotted her and had wrenched Agnes’ arms behind her back. She cried out in pain.

“What a surprise seeing you here,” Jaco said, just as the other boys came in, with Sipho in front of them. Jaco had his hand over Agnes’ mouth so she couldn’t speak.

“You know this boy?” Ricardo said. “I can see it. You do!”

Agnes looked at Sipho. His mouth was an ‘O’ of horror. He turned to run out but the other boys blocked his way.

“It’s OK,” said John, smoothly, quietly. “She can be part of the initiation. It’s perfect.”

Agnes watched Sipho as he stared at John who was taking three Savannah bottles out of the bag he was carrying. He lined them up on the floor near the wall. Agnes knew what was going to happen before it did.

“Your moment is here, Sipho,” said John, “Now, you get to prove that you’re a man and become our brother for life. And the cleaner here, Agnes, is going to witness it.”

Ricardo closed the toilet door and leaned against it.

Sipho looked at Agnes. She tried to send him a message with her eyes: a message to be strong. But he looked terrified. She wanted to let him know that it would be OK in the end.

“We’re doing this for you,” John told Sipho. Agnes watched him squeeze Sipho around the shoulders, in a show of brotherly belonging. But she knew that they were only making it worse for Sipho. She knew that he longed to be part of a group. That he wanted their support and friendship. She knew the price that he had to pay.

And that there would be no friendship or protection after it.

Then John unzipped his fly and started peeing into one of the Savannah bottles. Sipho stared. Ricardo laughed.

“Don’t worry. You won’t have to drink it,” he reassured Sipho.

But Ricardo was handing Sipho the bottle of his piss.

“No, she is going to drink it,” said Jaco, looking at Agnes. “And you are going to make her.”

Sipho’s hand was shaking so much the piss spilled out and onto the floor.

Jaco took his hand away from Agnes’s mouth, just as John joined him in holding Agnes tight. They both had her in their grip now. She couldn’t move.

Sipho stood there with the bottle and Ricardo’s hand on his neck, shoving him forward. Jaco and John pushed Agnes to her knees. She hit the floor and winced in pain.

“Don’t make me slap you!” John said. He was excited, out of control. Agnes started screaming. She hoped that someone would hear. And then John slapped her hard.

“What are you waiting for?” said Ricardo. And then he grabbed the bottle from Sipho. “Here, I’ll show you how it’s done.”

Agnes shook her head and looked away. Ricardo forced her mouth open with one hand and tilted the bottle up with the other. The urine poured into her mouth, bitter and warm.

She choked, spitting it out. And then she screamed again and this time Sipho joined her. The door banged open.

There stood Gloria and the Principal and the janitor.

“What’s going on? Let her go! Now!” shouted the Principal. John and Jaco leapt back in shock, letting Agnes go. Ricardo dropped the bottle. There was nowhere they could run to now. They were trapped.

The janitor helped Agnes off her knees and she went to the basin to wash her mouth out with water.

“You are coming with us,” said the Principal to the boys, furious. “You are suspended – as from now! And that isn’t the end of it. There will be a hearing. And there will be punishment. You will be expelled. I will make sure of that. What you have done today is … is… unspeakable. You have humiliated and hurt two innocent people, one who is old enough to be your mother! You have tried to strip away her dignity, treating her as sub-human. But her humanity is something you can never take from her. I want you to begin by apologising – right now!”

Agnes could see they didn’t mean it as they mumbled their apology. But there would be justice now. They had been caught and they wouldn’t be bullying any other boys, degrading cleaning staff. She put her arm around Sipho who was sobbing, and held his head against her and comforted him. Her other arm was round her daughter, Gloria.

“I told the Principal, Ma. I saw the boys coming here with Sipho and I ran to tell him.”

“You did a good thing, my girl,” her mom said, and hugged them both.

“I’m so sorry” Sipho sobbed, “Sis’ Agnes, I’m so sorry. I didn’t listen to Gloria and Tom. I only wanted to have friends. I didn’t care about anything else. I did a terrible thing.”

“No, you didn’t. It was those boys who did the terrible thing,” said Agnes. She could see the shame written all over Sipho’s face.

“Come, let’s go,” and as she led Gloria and Sipho away with her, the Principal and janitor marched Jaco, Ricardo and John back to the office. He was determined to call their parents to take them home immediately and start proceedings to have them expelled and punished for what they had done.

Once the phone calls were made to their appalled parents he marched them back to the toilets and supervised as Jaco, John and Ricardo cleaned the boys’ toilets. The reality of their situation was sinking in, and their arrogance had disappeared. And the toilets stayed clean. The Principal made a point of coming to inspect them every day. He told Agnes and Sindiswa as staff members they were to report anything immediately, whether it was someone bullying or messing up the toilets or the grounds.

***

It was a month later. Gloria had forgiven Sipho, and Sipho had made his first proper friend who was also in Grade 8: Tom. Sometimes Sipho and Tom hung out with Gloria, but mostly they hung out with each other now. Even the Grade 8 boys who had bullied him had stopped – terrified of being exposed and expelled as the boys in Grade 11 had been.

The expelled bully boys were now facing official charges of harassment. Sipho almost felt sorry for them – then he would remember the horror of what they had done, particularly to his friend’s mother.

As he took home his excellent end-of-term report, and looked forward to a celebration meal with Agnes’ family Sipho couldn’t help smiling at the change in his school life. There really was something to celebrate now.

***

Tell us what you think: Should the bully boys be facing criminal charges or should this just be seen as something some young guys get up to, not really serious? Is being expelled enough punishment?