The next day I didn’t feel like going to school, with my arm so sore.

“Son it’s better to show up knowing there’s nothing you can do about your situation, than to sit at home and expect people to forget about it. You only make it worse for yourself,” my father said.

We started talking in the morning, catching up on the things happening in our community. Since I joined that school I hardly had time to keep up to date with the latest politics of the township. Service delivery was always a key issue. As we were talking, my father started coughing and it was no ordinary cough.

“Yho baba, ngathi ungena yi flu?” I said.

“Flu! Mina?” he said as he laughed off my statement.

I took off to school. I was already prepared to be the joke of the day when I got to school. I got into class and I found a note in my desk as I sat.

This is an invitation to join the poetry class. I thought you were dead the other day. Rugby is dangerous and honestly, you are not cut out for it.

I smiled as I knew it was from Kimberly. I didn’t think she knew I existed because nobody did. My day turned for the better.

During break I went to inform the coach that I wouldn’t be doing rugby anymore, but I have decided to try poetry. I went to enrol after school and found Kimberly amongst her peers in poetry class. The teacher told me that she didn’t take any students after the closing date for admission. But since I was new, I had to impress her.

My heart was racing. It was not only her I had to impress but Kimberly. I couldn’t afford to embarrass myself again after that rugby thing

“I have monsters inside me,” I said and the whole class burst in laughter

“Yeah you sure look like one!” Tom Fat said from the back

“Yes I do! Am not fat because I want to. I don’t eat a lot because I want to; I do it simply because I have monsters inside me! I know you don’t believe in monsters. From a young age I had these, after eating I would hear them say” LETS EAT AGAIN”. I would say” NO, NO, NO little monsters we just ate. But I will find my hands opening the fridge. The more I grow is the more they grew. I would eat a large pizza and hear them say, “What’re we eating next?” I wouldn’t answer but would find myself eating something else again.

“We all have monsters inside us, whether we like it or not. Why do we have rude people? People with cold hearts? Get cold feet? The one lesson in life is that you are not just born and decide to be like that but something encourages you to do so. Am glad I realized the fact that I have monsters inside me. The question is where are the monsters in your body?”

I stood waiting for the teacher to give me her opinion.

“Well that was new and strange. But I think you could do well in the motivation part of the class not entirely poetry. You are in!” Miss martins said.

After class I went to Kimberly to “thank her” for the invitation.

“Hey,” I said

“Hi,” she responded

“I just wanted to thank you for the invitation. I think I might fit in just right in this skinny group,” I said.

“You’re welcome!” she said with a smile

I proceeded walking as I had ran out of words.

“My monsters is, I can read a joke and keep a secret,” she said

“Oh really?” I said

“Yes, you were talking about Tom… right?” Kimberly said looking at me with a smile.

“Uhhm I’m only glad you can keep a secret,” I responded.

“Yes you better be. I’m Kimberly, and you are?” she introduced herself, as we have never been formally introduced.

“I’m Quinton,” I said

“Nice to meet you, Quinton. See you tomorrow in class. Bye!”

Joining the poetry class seemed to be the best thing that was going to happen to me in that school. I went home and to my surprise, I found my father; lying in bed, coughing. He was very sick.

“Pa, u-right?” I asked as I sat next to him.

“Yeah, ngi right. Ithi ngi lale kancane ngizoba right mfanam, let me rest a bit I’ll be fine,” he responded. His voice was scratchy and I hardly heard what he was saying.

I told my sister about our father’s sudden sickness, she decided that we take him to the doctor the following day. The next day they went to the clinic and I went to school. They needed people to do some catering, cashier tickets for the rugby game that was going to be played on the weekend. I went on to put down my name and Kimberly’s name was on that list.

She didn’t strike me as the person that would do such labour even for the school. After school I went straight to the clinic to check if my father and sister had left for home or not. I found my sister still waiting for my father who went in for tests hours ago. The doctor came a couple minutes later.

“I’m afraid I have some bad news,” the doctor said as she pointed us to seat down.

“What is wrong with my father, doctor?” Tumi asked.

“Your father suffers from pharyngeal disease. It has affected him badly and we have to admit him today,” The doctor said.

“Wait, wait, wait! Pharyngeal… isn’t that like some sort of cancer?” I asked.

“Yes it is. It is usually caused by smoking. We will have to call in an Otolaryngologist from outside the department of health and to confirm if it is indeed it. If it is then we will have to operate. That operation is not covered by the state hospital; they don’t have the resources and doctors for it,” the doctor explained.

“What do you mean you don’t have any doctors for that kind of operation? This is a hospital right? It must have all the medical help for a person, that’s why people pay tax?” I said in frustration.

“No, Quinton, calm down!” Tumi said.

“They must help him!”

“So doctor, how much will it cost to do the operation?” Tumi asked.

“The state covers some of the medical stuff, like the hospital stay and medicine needed for the operation. But the rest is all up to you. The maximum cost is R90 000, depending on the seriousness and urgencies of the illness. I don’t know the damage, so I have called in a specialist to make the call and we will take it from there,” the doctor said.

My world just turned upside down. Where were we going to get that kind of money? How were we going to survive without my father? Those questions rang in my mind as we made our way back home.

***

Tell us: What do you think will happen to Quinton’s family now that his dad is sick?