When I arrive home I am greeted by the tantalizing smell of dumplings and chicken stew. My favourite dish! Especially when cooked by my grandmother. My grandfather is sitting outside, playing morabaraba with our next-door neighbour.
“Dumela Papa le Malome Piet,” I greet them.
“Dumela Dineo,” they greet back in unison, without taking their eyes off the board.
I smile. Home, sweet home. I enter the house and hug and kiss my granny.
“Dumela Koko,” I greet her.
“Hello, my girl. Go nole joang ko sekolong?” asks my grandmother.
“It was fine,” I reply. “There is a teachers’ meeting, that’s why I’m home early.”
“OK. Mmago o robetse, wa itse o bereka nightshift today and she needs to rest,” my grandmother tells me.
“OK, Koko.” I enter my room and throw myself onto my bed. I’m tired and doze off.
I wake up to my Mom and grandmother’s chattering. I glance at the clock on my phone and realise that I’ve slept for over an hour. I was really exhausted. That last period of maths nearly caused my brain to die from over-usage. I quickly change into my shorts and t-shirt and go into the kitchen.
“Hi, Mama,” I say, as I hug her from behind.
“Hello, my baby,” she replies, squeezing my arms.
“I really want to buy that house, wa itse Ma,” my mother says to my grandmother. “Ke a e rata.”
My grandmother looks at my Mom solemnly and says: “I don’t understand why you want to buy a house. Who is going to look after Dineo when you have to work nightshifts? In a few years’ time, Dineo will go to university and you need to save money for that. You’re also still paying for Molebogeng’s university fees!”
I look at my grandmother and smile. Honestly, I think my grandmother secretly doesn’t want us to move out of her house. We’ve been staying with her and our grandfather ever since our father died. Whenever my mother finds a place she could possibly buy or rent, my grandmother always finds a reason for why she can’t buy nor rent a house. My mother is her only daughter and her last-born. I guess that’s what makes her over-protective and hesitant to cut the umbilical cord. My father was involved in a car accident that caused his death. The RAP compensated us with enough money to buy a townhouse and settle most of our university fees.
“Koko, you just don’t want us to move and I love you even more for that!” I say, smiling at her.
“No, it’s not that! Anyway, let me dish out,” my grandmother exclaims as she prepares to dish out our supper.
“I’m so hungry,” I say.
“You haven’t eaten anything since you got back from school,” says my grandmother.
“Yes, I took a nap, and I also wanted to make sure that there was enough space in my stomach for my favourite dish!”
*****
I knew that today was going to be a bad day. Not only was I late for school because I over-slept, but it was also announced that there’s going to be a parents’ meeting on Thursday to discuss our progress reports. That’s why school was dismissed early yesterday. The teachers concluded that a parents’ meeting is needed to discuss the alarming drop in the Grade 10 pass rate.
I’m worried because I lied to my mother. I told her that we haven’t received our progress report yet. Well, I intentionally lost it. I threw in the rubbish bin. It could be anywhere really. Technically, it’s lost. I failed miserably. She was going to be so disappointed and I hate disappointing my mom. This is all Molebogeng’s fault! She was a star student who excelled at everything in her class, and now I have to live up to her impossibly high standards. I wish that she were a boy; that way I wouldn’t be constantly compared to her. Having a big sister is not all that it’s made out to be. The pressure is too much!
***
Tell us what you think: Should Dineo tell her mother the truth about her report?