“A worker who is too retarded to even pronounce baas? What were you thinking when you hired that native Johan?” His wife must have asked.
Baas Pieterson, being a Christian and all, was sceptical. He finally relented to taking Phia to a psychiatric hospital for mental observations after much coaxing from his wife. He said first and foremost, they should inform Phia’s family. One day he called me aside and asked if I knew any of Phia’s family members.
I shook my head and said, “I don’t know anyone from his family baas!”
“Call him for me please Wilson!” I dashed to the poultry site and I called Phia.
“Baas Pieterson is calling you Phia, please hurry up man. Try to call him baas this time. Remember to say it like you say busss.”
“Psss,” he said and giggled.
“I said bus not psss. Bus!” I repeated. Did you get that?” He nodded absent-mindedly.
He came trotting in his one boot. Baas asked me to ask Phia if he had any family members. Phia shook his head before I could even ask him. I was surprised by that. Baas Pieterson was also taken aback,
“So Phia, wena khuluma Afrikaans?” Phia kept on shaking his head.
“Phia!” Bass Pieterson called.
“Huh!”
“Wena khuluma bus!” Baas Pieterson kept on shaking Phia as if he was trying to wake him up.
“I say Khuluma bus! Hey! Khuluma bus!”
“Wena funa bus?”
“Just call me baas man! What’s so difficult about that?”
Baas Pieterson told me to tell him to go and continue with his daily job. When it was only the two of us Baas Pieterson said he was going to send this Phia person to a mental hospital without consulting his family.
“Die man is mal Wilson!” He kept on saying again and again. Then he asked me if I knew what Phia does with his salary. I said I had no idea what my co-worker did with his salary. Baas Pieterson asked me to call him again. I called him. Phia came trotting with a silly grin across his face.
“Phia!”
“Huh!” Baas Pieterson released a strong clap that landed a malnourished native to the ground.
“Wena kuluma baas!” Phia stood there and stared at Baas Pieterson without blinking, blood trickled from the corner of his mouth.
“We…we…wena funa bus?”
My employer’s face flushed red. “Phia!”
“Huh!”
“Jesus, jy kannie se baas nie?”
“Phia!”
By then all the farm workers came close to watch what was happening to Phia.
“Huh!”
“Wena kuluma baas!”
“Wena funa bus?” Baas Pieterson shook his head, he told me to tell Phia to get out of his sight.
The following day Baas Pieterson asked Phia to come inside the house. Phia couldn’t. He was petrified. You wouldn’t expect him not to after our employer had unleashed that thunderous clap. I went to Baas Pieterson and informed him Phia was scared to come near his house. Baas Pieterson offered to speak to Phia outside.
Tell us: Is Pietersen going to apologise to Phia?