“Anele can you see the bakkie next to your house, who is it? He or she has a beautiful bakkie. One day in my farm I will have a bakkie like that.”

Thuliswa was still going on. I just walked faster. My mind was busy trying to think who could that be? What brought him or her here? Could it be nurse Zanele? She was my mother’s best friend. At my mother’s funeral she said she would visit once in a while. But she never came. Besides nurse Zanele had a blue Mazda. Maybe she bought herself a new bakkie, I thought. It had been a long time since I saw her.

I last saw her at my mother’s funeral. It’s been almost six months since my mother died. So maybe she bought herself a new bakkie but there was still a part of me that did not believe that this was nurse Zanele.

“Anele!” Thuliswa was still talking.

“What?” I snapped.

“Am I walking alone? Because you don’t reply to anything I say since you saw that red bakkie. It’s like it’s here to take you to prison. Talk to me, what’s wrong Anele? You know you can trust me.”

“No, there is nothing wrong and I am listening to you. Tell me, which car does nurse Zanele drive?”

“A blue Mazda. Why do you ask? If you thought that was her with that bakkie you’re fooling yourself. There is no way nurse Zanele can have that bakkie. I am gonna be the first one in this village to have that bakkie when I have a big farm.” Thuliswa went on.

So now I knew it was not nurse Zanele. Then who could it be? I asked myself. I told myself to rush home to find out and we reached my home. As I was to enter the gate Thuliswa said, “Anele don’t forget to come to my place to practice Maths and Thabo will also join us.”

I said OK, I would come. We went our separate ways.

I entered my home. Inside the house there were my grandparents and sitting opposite them was a stranger; a huge guy. I greeted them. I was so curios and scared. Who is this guy? What does he want? But I couldn’t ask.

I just dropped my bag. They were all silent, just staring at me. It irritated me so much that I felt like shouting, what are you looking at? Grandpa didn’t waste time.

“Anele, come seat down I need to talk to you my son.” He said and I did as ordered.

“Son, this is your uncle, Matikiti. He is sent by your father, Dumisani, to get you to the next bus to Cape Town. He wants you to live with him in Cape Town. This is a great opportunity for you my son because there you will meet your siblings. Your grandma and I are too old now to raise a son, and again this is a great opportunity.”

I was shocked. I thought my dad had died years ago because I never knew or heard anything from him. But now I hear he is still alive and he wants to live with me and he also has a family. Maybe grandpa was right this is a great opportunity to meet my father, I thought.

But my mom used to say I must forget about my father because he was good for nothing. He never showed up when we needed him. Would I be betraying her if I went to Cape Town? I asked my grandpa when will we go and he said, “Now son”. It looked like I had no choice. I asked to at least go to my friends to tell them about my trip

“You can go son, your grandmother will pack for you so long.”

I went to Thuliswa’s house and luckily Thabo was there ready for maths practice. I broke the news to them and they were sad. It looked like I wouldn’t come back anytime soon. We gave each other a group hug and they made me promise that I will come back every school holiday.

We walked to my home and my bags where ready. I said my last goodbyes and took some phone numbers, promising to call all the time. I got in the bakkieand we took off.

***

Tell us what you think: Why do you Anele’s father suddenly want him in Cape Town?