“Mama was a bubbly lady. My father was a sweet, hardworking man. I will always have fond memories of the childhood they made for me and my brother. Always. When the Group Areas Act came into effect Dad was one of the many people who fought it. He organized marches with other brave men and women.”
“Wow, Gran!? So, then what happened to my great grandparents?”
“A two-year jail sentence is what happened to your great grandfather. A heart attack killed him one month into his sentence. Death from a broken heart is what happened to Mama one week after father died. In just one month and one week after being forced out of Cato Manor my brother and I became orphans. My brother left for Johannesburg … and disappeared.”
They have parked for a while outside the Community Hall where most of granny’s friends collect their pension.
“I was already two months pregnant with your mother then, and didn’t know it. Orphaned and alone,” says Granny.
Granny goes quiet. A few minutes pass while she stares into a void.
“We are here at the Community Hall, Gran,” says Aphiwe.
Granny takes a deep breath and enters the hall. She introduces Aphiwe to her friends. They all address Granny as ‘Princess’. Aphiwe wonders why, because her granny’s real name is Gloria. She soon gets the answer from one of the friends.
“We call her Princess because she comes from royalty. She is the daughter of Mkhululi Ntuli, the same Ntulis who once ruled over what is most of Cato Manor.”
Granny is happy as she talks to her friends. She finds strength in this setting, and trudges on, with her walking stick, to each of the many groups of elders in the hall. Aphiwe finds herself surrounded by one group of grandmothers. Granny passes her as she goes to talk to another group of her friends.
“She is going to braid a client in Cato Manor,” Granny says and points to Aphiwe. “Ladies, can you tell her about our days in Cato Manor. Tell her about our Mkhumbane.”
These grandmothers around Aphiwe grow animated. They take turns telling Aphiwe about the old days in Cato Manor.
“The beauty pageants! And the regional finals at Durban City Hall.”
“Stage plays and talent shows. Those evenings of music and dance!”
“And the high rollers who wanted the jewel of Cato Manor, your grandmother, Princess Ntuli.”
“But the only one who captured her heart was the quiet Reggie Perumal.”
“That handsome devil!”
The group of grannies chuckles.
“When they finally got together, they were the talk of Cato Manor.”
“They looked good together!”
“Shush ladies, don’t be corrupting this innocent child with love stories.”
They burst out laughing.
On the way home, Aphiwe looks at her granny dozing off a little in the backseat while they are stuck in afternoon traffic. Granny seems happy after seeing her friends.
“Gran, who is Reggie Perumal?” she asks, when Granny wakes.
“I told you, he was one of my friends. Him and his sister Santhisha.”
“Your friends told me he was more than a friend.”
“Those old goats don’t know when to shut their mouths,” says Granny jokingly. A radiant smile falls over Granny’s face as she says this.
“Is Reggie Perumal Mom’s dad? Is he my grandfather?”
Granny’s eyes meet Aphiwe’s in the rear-view mirror. There is sadness in her smile as she nods.
“Yes, he is your grandfather,” says Granny.
***
Tell us: Do you think Reggie Perumal knows about this daughter of his? Why or why not? Thinking of what happened, do you think it strange Granny’s brother ‘disappeared’?