Rumours

“It must be here.” T-Touch pointed to the biggest house at the end of the street. He and Lebo were in Section D, and they were looking for Mbali’s place. It had been a week since Small had told them about her. Lebo had been meaning to come to talk to this girl, but schoolwork had her busy the whole week. This Friday was her first chance.

“I hope there are no dogs.” T-Touch knocked on the gate and stood back.

“Do you think she’s back from school?” Lebo asked anxiously.

“Yeah, it is half past two. All schools are out by now … unless she’s doing extra classes or something.”

“Yeah, hey.”

“So,” T-Touch started softly. “You never did tell me where you came from.” He sounded interested.

“Yes, I never did,” Lebo said.

“Come on, that was a question,” T-Touch laughed.

“Oh, it was? It sure sounded like a statement to me,” Lebo smirked.

“Well it wasn’t.” T-Touch was solemn.

“Why do you want to know?” Lebo challenged him.

“Because, you can’t come here out of nowhere, ask to play for the team, knowing very well that we don’t play with girls, and after we have accepted you, here you are, preparing to challenge the Sonwabo Football Association. We have to know something about you, phela. Who are you, Lebo? What made you move to here?”

Lebo didn’t want to admit why her family had to relocate. She’d seen how people who moved from suburbs were mistreated in the townships. The residents called them all sorts of names, and she didn’t want that to happen to her. But she was cornered now. She had no choice but to tell him.

“Well, when you put it like that, I guess you are right. I–” Before she could finish her sentence, the gate rattled from inside. Someone was opening it. A girl about her height came out. She looked left and right before addressing them.

“Hello. Are you the ones who knocked on the gate?”

Lebo nodded, while T-Touch said, “Yeah.”

Irritably, the girl asked, “Why didn’t you come in the yard so you can knock properly on the door? Who knocks on the gate?”

“A person who is afraid of dogs,” T-Touch replied, making Lebo laugh a little.

“There are no dogs here. Who said we have dogs?”

“No-one, but I’d rather be safe than sorry.”

“Eh …” The girl seemed perplexed.

A moment of awkward silence passed.

“Uhm,” Lebo cleared her throat to cut through the silence. “I am Lebo; this is Thabo. And you must be Mbali?”

“Yeah?” Her face was wary.

“Well, we come from Section E, and we were hoping to talk to you about your issue with the Sonwabo Football Association, regarding the establishment of a girls’ division in soccer.”

“You are sent by them? I have nothing to say to the Association.”

“No, we are not from the Association,” T-Touch assured her.

“Okay, wozani.” Mbali opened the gate and invited them in, then rushed into the house, returned with three black plastic chairs, and they sat down.

Mbali gave Lebo a considering look. “You know, I think I know you from somewhere, but I am not sure from where.”

“Really?” Lebo was surprised at this. Taking a good look at Mbali, she didn’t recognise her at all.

“Yes, but I will remember in time, don’t worry. So what is it exactly that you want to know about my issue with the Association?”

“Someone said you once challenged them to create a division for girls and you lost. Care to tell us what happened?” Lebo asked.

“Well, me and some other girls in the township wanted to play diski, but there was no division for girls. We only played friendlies on Sundays, with no support. When we decided to ask the committee from the Association for support, they didn’t care. Matter of fact, they were not cooperative. They just told us to get enough signatures on the petition to see if people in Sonwabo would support girls’ football, just like they do with the boys. And as you must realise, I didn’t accumulate enough. We gave up.”

She sounded sad and defeated and this broke Lebo’s soccer-crazy heart.

“But because I love diski so much, I changed school. I now go to Germiston Girls High School. At least there, they have soccer for girls,” Mbali said.

Lebo beamed.

“You play for Germiston Girls High?”

“Yeah, why?”

“Because I used to school at Saint Barnabas High, which is close to Germiston Girls High. We used to play soccer against your team regularly.”

At this revelation, Mbali said in a singsong manner, “Yeah! That must be where I know you from! You wore jersey number 11, yes?”

“Yeah, I did.” Lebo smiled at Mbali.

“I didn’t know you lived here. How come I never saw you going to school? I should have seen you at least once in a taxi.”

“That’s a long story,” Lebo deflected.

Lebo told Mbali that she now played for Benny FC and that she trained with them, regardless of the fact that she was a girl.

“Wow, really?” Mbali looked unconvinced.

“Yeah.”

“That is so great, then. People will now get to see how well you play. They might even respect girl players from now on.”

“You think the Association won’t ban me or try to block me somehow?” Lebo asked, not really prepared for the answer.

“Mr Dlamini might ban you. But I just pray that he only stops you after you have played at least one game. Because then, people would have seen your skills and would demand to see you play again.”

“Who is Mr Dlamini?” Lebo asked.

“The chairman of the Association,” T-Touch answered. “The strictest man I know. He hates people who don’t play by the rules.”

Mbali chuckled, as if she knew something they didn’t.

“What is it?” Lebo looked at her.

“It’s just that I don’t trust Mr Dlamini. There have been rumours of misuse of funds by his admin in the Association, and I actually believe them to be true.”

“Whoa! Hold it, girl. That’s serious rumours right there. You shouldn’t believe such things,” T-Touch warned Mbali.

“No, I actually believe them to be true. Think about it. All the other townships in Gauteng have two divisions, except our township. Why is that? You think the Provincial Department of Sports and Recreation just overlooked us, but gave other townships enough funds? Something is definitely up here; I can feel it,” Mbali said, looking serious.

T-Touch and Lebo stared at each other.

Back at home, Lebo didn’t want to stress about things she had no control over, like this saga of Mr Dlamini. So she chose to brush it off. She decided to focus on what she actually had control over – like playing football; showing people what she was capable of.

***

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