On the taxi to Harmony High, Mzi sat at the back wearing his shades. This is how he liked it. He could see out, but nobody could see his eyes or guess what he was thinking or feeling.

When the taxi stopped he stuffed his shirt in his pants as he walked through the school gates. That was as far as he would go to conform to school dress code. They weren’t going to get him to wear a tie, not Mzi.

“Mzi, what are you doing back at school?” He heard a familiar voice from the street and he spun around. It was Thabo, with Simphiwe, two of his old gang. They strutted up to the fence and leaned against it, staring in at Mzi and the other school kids in their uniforms. They were wearing jackets and jeans and were smoking.

“Never thought I’d see you in that uniform again,” grinned Simphiwe. He and Thabo had dropped out of school the term before. Now they had come to watch as he did the walk of shame back through the gates of Harmony High. Their eyes met but Mzi had nothing to say to them and he turned and walked away, up the stairs into the school corridor.

In class he sat at the back and only when the teacher told him to take off his shades for the third time, did he push them above his head.

“What do you think this is? A party?” It was Meneer, their Life Sciences teacher, a skinny man with a high squeaky voice that annoyed the hell out of Mzi. What was he thinking when he chose this subject for matric. But it didn’t matter. None of it mattered because he wasn’t going to write matric. For what? There were better ways to make money – much faster ways than struggling through some college or univer-sity. But for now he had to pretend he was a regular student, intent on getting good marks in his exams. He knew the social worker on his case was talking to the principal. He had seen her go into the office and he was sure the pro-bation officer would be close on her heels. And then there was Sergeant Ndebele. He had taken it on as his personal mission to hound Mzi. He had driven past his house that morning. It wasn’t on his usual route but he had taken a detour, just in case he caught Mzi. Mzi had waved at him, but the sergeant had just roared off with a screech of tyres. Yes, they were watching him. Closely.

“We’re only a few months away before we write our matric exams. You need to take re-sponsibility for your lives. Start revising your work. Look at old question papers. Duidelik, klas?”

“Duidelik, Meneer,” replied the class. How could they be frightened of this loser who was here because he couldn’t get a better job?

Mzi watched through the broken window of their class as an aeroplane flew by. It was glid-ing through the blue. Free! he thought. Flying to the land of riches. MXO’s tune ‘Ndizondiza’ was playing in his mind.

“Mzi Mlongeni.”

“Meneer.” He was standing right behind him now.

“Come see me in my office at break. I’m wor-ried about you.”

“Yes, Meneer,” replied Mzi, knowing there was no way he was going to report to Meneer, who would just give him another pep talk about responsibility and posi-tive thinking. The guy was a liar. Nobody was really worried about him. They didn’t care.

A minute later, the siren went off. It was break time. But as Mzi stepped into the quad something was missing – that feeling of power that he could get any kid to do what he ordered because they were all terrified of him. It was gone. Everyone was staring. Even the young boys refused to move out of the way and he had to walk around them. They knew he couldn’t touch them without the social worker finding out.

He could hear the gossip of the girls as he walked back to the school shed to get a skyf. They followed him, talking be-hind his back with their mean tongues.

“He didn’t deserve Ntombi.”

“He’s going to suffer now.”

“I can’t wait until he sees her with Olwethu.”

He heard another voice, a voice he didn’t rec-ognise. “Myeke! Leave him alone.” When he turned around he felt the hairs rise on his arms. There was the girl who had been out-side the court. He had never seen her at Har-mony High. But now she was here standing up for him. Although the sun was baking down, he shivered. There was something about her he couldn’t make out.

“Mzi is brave to come back to school, not a coward like you, too scared to say those things to his face.”

He was amazed that such a strong voice came from so small and thin a girl. She looked like she could be pushed over with one finger.

“Hey,” one of the other girls shouted at her. “What do you know? You’ve been here for one day, and you think you can tell us about Mzi Mlongeni.”

“Why are you here? Did they kick you out of your last school?”

“Were you too ugly?” And they started to laugh.

As she turned to go back into class their eyes met. There was a memory, very faint, of seeing her face somewhere else. But where? She wasn’t the kind of girl who hung out in shebeens. She looked like a church-going girl. He couldn’t believe how she stood up to some of the meanest girls at Harmony High. Stood up for him.

“Hey, wena

“Whose side are you on, Thandi – that is your name isn’t it?” another one jeered.

“Are you his girlfriend now? I’ll tell Ntombi. You better watch out. You don’t want to make us mad.”

The girl stopped and turned to face them again. “No, I’m not his girlfriend. I don’t have to be anyone’s girlfriend to see when someone is being treated badly.” Mzi stared, annoyed and impressed at the same time. She was looking at him as she spoke. When the other girls had gone they stood awkwardly for a few seconds. Should he thank her? But he didn’t want any-one’s pity, so he turned and walked away.

He could feel her watching him as he put his phone back in his pocket and ducked behind the sports shed to get that skyf he craved now. There he found a group of boys from his class. They greeted him. For them he wasn’t someone to be laughed at now – he was someone to be respected. They lit his cigarette for him. Being arrested had only added to their admiration of him. It was a sign of being strong and streetwise. In their eyes, Mzi was the bra van die bras.

“Hola, mpintshi yam. Welcome back.”

But as he pulled on the cigarette a skinny Grade 10 boy came running up. It was a dare, Mzi could tell, and when he looked past the boy he saw a group of Grade 10s watching, cheering him on.

“So, what do you do there at your home with your sister all the time ’cause you’re not al-lowed to go out?” Another boy ran forward, pushed by the group.

“Ja, who’s checking on your girlfriend for you?” The others roared with laughter. The teasing had begun.

“Hey! Hey! Why are you laughing?” One of Mzi’s old gang broke in, ready to drive the boy off with a klap.

“I was just asking,” the boy said quickly. Mzi moved fast, picking him up by the scruff.

“If you touch me, you’ll go to jail.” The boy laughed in Mzi’s face. Mzi recognised him now – he was Sergeant Ndebele’s son. He knew Mzi couldn’t punch him. He had won. He pulled an-other long face, teasing Mzi. Mzi dropped him back onto the ground. He moved away and took a deep breath.

“Look he’s cowering like a dog,” shouted one of the skinny boy’s friends. Mzi turned back to see who had hurled this insult. Break time was al-ready nearing an end and students were streaming towards their classes.

He would leave it this time. But if he caught one of those boys off the school grounds and out of sight he could really do him some damage. As they went back into class his cellphone buzzed.

Friday nyt. Thabiso’s xxx P

Was Priscilla playing with him too? Didn’t she know he wasn’t allowed out at night?