This lockdown is all fine and good for my nerdy brother, Aaron. He wakes up each morning to check online for the latest chess move of his Russian chess-buddy. Then he spends ages deciding on his answering chess move.
I walk past his room and he’s muttering about pawns and bishops like they are personal friends.
Next, Aaron listens to his favourite podcaster, Jon Somebody-or-other, who blabs on about the Possibility of Alien Life on Far-flung Planets. After that, he gets stuck into hours of schoolwork since he’s in the Enrichment Program. He’s determined to get As for all nine of his Matric subjects. And no global virus pandemic is going to stop him!
I bet Aaron doesn’t even realise there’s a lockdown. He’s been into self-isolation and social distancing all his life! He probably thinks a “friend” is something you eat with chips.
Me now – this lockdown is killing me. Social interaction is my LIFE! Connecting with other people is my reason for waking up! And now, every day it feels like another piece of me is crumbling away. No friends. No parties. No mall trawling. Worst of all, no current boyfriend! That was my biggest mistake ever, dumping JT!
“Kez, why don’t you come bake with me?” offers my mom. She’s irritated with the way I wander round the house. “Come on, dear, I’m trying out a new lemon meringue recipe. Just please stop moping!”
How’s this for crazy? My mom is a chef for a fancy restaurant called Gio’s. Now the restaurant is closed of course, so what does she do? Spends all her time at home in the kitchen, cooking!
Never mind all those extra calories. Cos I must admit, her cooking is to die for! By the time freedom returns, I’ll be fat as a pig!
And my father is on his own lockdown mission. He binge-watches reality detective shows. All that Crime and Investigation stuff. Then he researches it online, all about fingerprints and DNA and psychological profiling.
“Once all this is over,” he says, “I’m changing my career. I’ve had enough of building sites.”
Me – I have no mission. There’s a study pack from school on my bed, but who wants to study if you don’t have to? So I’m staring out the window. But all I can see is our fence and the empty street beyond it. Not a car passing. Not a person passing. We might as well be on the moon, just the four of us. With nothing in common.
“Why don’t you put on your music and have a little dance party, Kez?” my dad says.
A dance party for one? I roll my eyes at the empty street. How can the three of them be so calm and accepting, as if this lockdown is no problem? While I feel like I could jump out of my skin. While I get the urge to rush out the front door and out the gate and run screaming down the street.
“Why don’t you read a book?” suggests my nerdy brother. “You could develop your mind. Well, that’s if you actually have a mind hidden under those braids! You could discover there are more important things in life than shopping and fashion and gossiping with your friends. And getting yourself a fresh boyfriend every week.”
Why, why, why did I go and dump JT?
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Tell us: What advice would you give to Kez?