“Sesi do you smell that?” Asked Mfundo.
“Smell what?” Replied Nokuthula.
“It smells like something is burning.”
Nokuthula sniffs around. “No I can’t smell anything. Hurry up so you’re not late for school.”
Mfundo finishes packing his school bag and off he goes. Nokuthula stares at him through the lace curtain hanging from the dining room window as he walks to the gate. She’s worried about him.
Something is wrong with Mfundo and she knows it. She just doesn’t know what.
Something has been wrong with Mfundo for a while, since he started high school he has such bad headaches. Nokuthula had taken him to hospital but the doctors had found nothing.
Besides the headaches and his almost constant fatigue there’s something off about Mfundo. It’s in his eyes – when she looks in his eyes it’s like he’s not fully there. Like he’s not balanced or properly tuned in. She can’t explain it but she knows something is wrong with him. She goes to work where ofcourse her mind will get distracted from thinking about Mfundo too much.
In the evenings Nokuthula returns home everyday to find Mfundo in the house. He doesn’t really have friends. He’s not like the other boys, he doesn’t socialise much and prefers to be indoors.
“Hey. Are you okay?” Asks Nokuthula.
“Hi. Yes I’m fine. How are you?” Replies Mfundo.
“I’m okay. It’s just been a long day. How was your day?”
“Not great. Sesi the other kids in class talk about me.”
“Oh. What do they say and how do you know?”
“I can hear them.”
“So they talk about you loud enough for you to hear?”
“Yeah I can hear them whispering about me.”
“What do they say?”
“They say I’m mad. Ngiyahlanya.”
“I’m confused. What makes them say this?”
“I don’t know.”
“Are they bullying you?” Nokuthula was very concerned.
“No. They just talk about me.”
“Hmm.”
“And I found ash on my chair in the morning. There were also bits of paper under my desk.”
“Well Mfundo it’s a classroom so there will be paper lying around. The ash, I don’t know. Are you sure it wasn’t chalk?”
“I knew you wouldn’t understand.” Mfundo was annoyed.
“Okay, explain it to me then. What do you make of it.”
“It’s witchcraft!”
“WHAT?” Nokuthula was shocked.
“You didn’t see it. The way it was placed.”
“Argh!” Nokuthula scoffs. “So did you show your teacher?”
“No.”
Nokuthula lowered her forehead into her palms, rubbing her eyes. “I don’t know what to say or do at this point. I mean if I go to your school and talk to your teacher exactly what should I say?”
“No you don’t have to go, I was just telling you what happened at school.”
“Right. So have you had dinner yet?”
“No, not yet.”
“Okay so I’ll make dinner and you try to study or do some reading. Sounds good?”
“Yeah sure.” Mfundo goes to his bedroom.
Nokuthula doesn’t know what to think about everything Mfundo just said. She gets started on dinner. When she’s done she calls Mfundo to tell him the food is ready. They eat whilst watching TV, hardly talking and afterwards Mfundo washes the dishes.
In the morning Nokuthula is still tired, she hardly slept thinking about Mfundo. Wondering whether any of what he said was true and how much of it was just in his mind. Which was even more worrisome because if it was all just thoughts in his mind then how much of it did he really believe?
Another morning of Nokuthula watching Mfundo through the dining room window as he walks out to school, hovering on the inner side of the lace trying to understand is this boy stable?
Is Nokuthula handling the situation with Mfundo well enough?