The next morning we were awoken by a loud bang on the door. It was Aunty Matlakala.
“Bonang mo lena ba babedi ka mo gaka ase ka hoteleng! Chelete ya jwala le na le yona but you don’t want to help me pay rent.”
“Mmane, mos you took rent money from Mama? Kgwedi asecho e fela.”
“OK mara Dan yena ale mmotse dichila tse le mpotsang! Wena you should pay rent every week, you are the reason our rent is up.”
“I’m sorry Mmane I’ll leave your house in peace.” I said.
“Wa ya kae? Haaaa! Bare molomo o tshela noka e tletse. Bona wena morwa Mahlangu ere re go botse, now is now no more Mr Fancy. Aona,aona le mosadi o tswele ka lela! So ge o bolela o itheeletse papa. Nako ya gago e fetile jwale ke dinako tsa bo Solly,my handsome son, not only handsome but clever too.”
“
“Sbu selo sela le grade three asenayo I ask myself gore di taxi tsela adi reilang o di reila ka licence efe ka gore ejoba dom, dom, dom.”
“Hey wena Mishark, Mishark? O tloga o gata kosene nou! This is my bloody house, ao na selo wena you are just a dog se o se tsebang fela ke go nwa Black Label le go rotela mapai, sis!”
“Mmane ke gore all this atittude etswa kae? I inquired.
“Helang attitude? You call this attitude? Wait till I find my soap missing again, I’ll show you exactly what is attitude.”
Uncle Mishark took out the bank notes in his pocket and threw them at her.
“Tsamaya ose reka sepe se uwe sa gago, o tlogele go re foka, nna re tshwere ke di babalas re nyaka go robala.”
She quietly picked up the money on the floor, as well as the coins right up to ten cents. That woman loved money with all her heart. She left and I gave uncle Marshik a disapproving look.
“Hai man re tlo hlwa re theeleditse yena are foka for sepe? We are millionares, arena taba le disepe tsa gage tsa go cheaper.”
“Keep it down will you? If anyone hears you we are doomed.”
“Aowa man Sbu areye dah ko mall, malome o nyaka new clothes wa bona?”
“Malome I still haven’t figured out who could have sent this money.”
“He banna! Ore go tseba? Bona Sbuda man this is a gift akere le wena wa tseba gore you used to be very important? Maybe omo tee wa makgowa o nore no man Sbuda wa struggler ere ke mo zame.”
“Eish I don’t know.”
“Hai man are vaye, today areye ro ja breakfast somewhere fancy man! This is our time,
“Esale ka pela mall osa tswaletswe.”
“Heee monna with this kind of money I’m sure they’ll open up for us.”
“Rest a bit and we will go Malome it’s still past six.”
As much as I wanted to deny it, Sara was the only person I could think of who left the money. Unless if Vankyker was on my tail too. I kept postponing when Uncle Mishark said we should go to the mall, but in the end I realised that I also needed some time out.
“Fine, re tlaya.” I said giving up.
“Nna ke tla tshwara suitcase,”
“Aowa Malome, suitcase ya shala ake nyake mathata. Besides, what if we leave it in a taxi or fitting room somewhere?”
“Eish mara wa bolela man, jwale re e beya kae?”
“Under the bed is fine Malome. Let’s just take twenty grand and leave the rest.”
“Ha mara ye nnyane so, I was thinking maybe half wa bona.”
“Hell no, we can’t spend so much money in a day Malome aowa.”
“Ey mara Sbu o ngame mfana ke gore o palelwa ke go spoiler your favourite uncle?”
“You mean my only uncle? Are tsamaye chelete a e chabe just lock up the door.”
We took a taxi to the mall. To my annoyance we couldn’t take a cab otherwise people would start suspecting that we had money and break in our shack. At the mall, Uncle Mishark wanted everything; he was like a three year old in a candy store. We bought clothes, pyjamas and cosmetics. I bought an affordable tablet for Filwe and a doll for Fentse. I couldn’t wait for them to visit so I could spoil them rotten.
After shopping we went to Spur where Uncle Mishark ordered nearly the entire menu and an ice bucket of Castle Lites since they didn’t have Black Label. We took a cab home afterwards, Uncle Mishark was tipsy.
“Mara Malome I told you I needed to find a nice phone before we go. Mara wena ontse o jaga o jaga.”
“Ska wara mfana we will come back tomorrow. Tomorrow ke nyaka o nrekele scooter mfana, ke nyaka go feta kua ga Masechaba ke apere helmet, ge aka leka are wa ndumedisha! I’ll show her dust.”
I laughed at Uncle Mishark’s remarks; he always knew how to lift me up. When we got home he was fast asleep and I had to wake him up so he could walk to the house. He got out and took my wheelchair from the boot. We took everything that belonged to us from the boot and got in the yard laughing at uncle Mishark’s silly jokes.
Something made him stop. I looked at him then in front of us. Our door was wide open and on the door step the suitcase was wide open and empty.
***
Tell us what you think: Where do you think the money went?
