Elihle was a shy, little boy. He grew up living with his mother’s family in the unsophisticated Dumbe Location. He was handsome; yellow in complexion and doing Grade 10 at Abaqulusi High School.

Elihle stayed with his Aunt Thembi and he was a good boy. He would visit his uncle in Witbank in Mpumalanga for the December holidays. One day he was sitting with Mandla, his uncle on the green camp chairs under the small beautiful trees. They were enjoying the smell of the red roses from the trees. They had a small wooden table with their breakfast ready. They were having white toast with sausage and cheese and strong black coffee.

Elihle kept pestering his uncle about Nhlanhla, his father who was dead. He wanted to know the whole story about his death; he felt they were hiding something from him.

Mandla refused to tell him and just told him not to worry about it, that he would tell him when the time was right.

“I can take whatever pain the truth brings,” Elihle begged. “Uncle, you’re the only person who knows the truth.”

Mandla had no other option but to tell the truth.

“We lost both our parents from an accident at a young age,” his uncle began. “I was doing Standard 3 and he was doing Standard 8, what do you call them now?”

“Grades, Uncle. So he was in Grade 5 and you were in Grade 10,” Elihle said laughing.

“He had to drop out of school and go look for a job in Johannesburg. He couldn’t find the job that could give him the money he wanted, but he found a dirty job. They were bombing banks,” his uncle said as tears started falling from his eyes.

“All I heard was that he changed his name and was known by Master, a hard-core gangster. He and his friend, Adolf, known as Roga, were shot by the police after being found on the run with R2 million they stole in the bank in Johannesburg. He died in the hospital and his friend survived. He was also from Dumbe Location, where we come from, maybe is still alive.”

“He was indeed a good man,” Elihle said. “Now I understand why you didn’t want to tell me about him? It was not easy for you too; you were a little boy and losing all your family at the same time… But he thought he was doing what best for his family. He wanted his brother to have a bright future. May my father’s souls rest in peace and I’m proud of him. He sacrificed everything for us. It’s a pity he did it the wrong way. If he continued as a cleaner none of this would have happened.”

“I cried when I heard the news. I do not want anyone in this family to experience that kind of pain. My boy, if you have anything you want know, I will always be there for you, I will be a father to you, I promise.”

“I am real sorry to have brought this pain to you. I know you are an awesome uncle to me and I won’t do anything crazy. I will do the best to honour my father’s name.”

Elihle felt helpless. That day he went to bed early as the following day he was going back to Dumbe Location.

Thembi, his aunt, was waiting for him and was really happy to see him. They had a lot to catch up on and she wanted to be the first to know how the holidays treated him. He was tired from travelling and had to go to school the following day; Saturday would be the day they will spend together.

It was the first day at school and teachers were busy with preparations, planning for the year before they started teaching. Learners were very excited to see each other and everyone was talking about the December holidays.

Elihle sat at the back alone, replaying the story about his father. It was like he was watching a movie and Master was the great star of the movie. The only time he ever saw people bombing a bank was in the movies. He imagined his father in action. It was a pity that he never met him; he was still in his mother’s stomach when he died. He only saw him in the pictures his mother left him with his aunt. He didn’t know his both parents and this was starting to hurt.

He went to the principal’s office and explained to him that he was not fine. They gave him permission to leave early.

When he got home he found that his aunt was home; it was her day off.

“My boy, why are you home early today? What happened to you because I can see that you are not fine since you came back from Witbank? Talk to me, what’s wrong?

“Not at all, I am fine. I just have a headache and principal let me leave early. I just need to sleep, do not worry about me.”

“OK boy, let me make something for you before you sleep. I can’t let you sleep hungry,”

“No Aunt, don’t worry I’m not hungry. I will eat when I wake up, please do not worry. I am fine I just need to sleep.”

Elihle went to his room and there was no sleep. He kept thinking about his father. What would happen if Uncle Mandla decided to start his own family or what if Aunty’s cleaning jobs ended? He wondered to himself.

I think I need to be wise and be a junior master, he thought as sleep made his eyes heavy, maybe then we can have a better life.

***

Tell us: Do you think Elihle should be looking up to his father even though he was a criminal?