Sunday

It’s Sunday, sometime in the early morning. It’s still dark but I wake up feeling the coldness of the floor tiles under my back. I spent the whole day yesterday wiping the dust off and trying to pump the air bed. I think I didn’t seal it properly and some air escaped. Its deflated and now I’m sleeping flat on the cold tiles.

My pants are still dry – one less thing to worry about. I find myself smiling. I think the curse has worn off. It’s only been a few days since the incident, but maybe it really is all over. I hope I’m right.

I hate waking up in the middle of the night. I hate sleeping on the floor. I’m all alone; the rest of the house are sound asleep. Their bedroom doors are closed.

I’m frightened by every little thing: shadows caused by the street lights, sounds on the roof, taps leaking and cars hooting. It’s scary. I hear all sorts of things. Gran reckons it’s the witches running around and digging up their muti in our yard.

But Mrs Viljoen said there is no such thing. She said it’s only ‘The Things That Go Bump in the Night’, just like the poem suggests! Plus the movement of the atoms and protons. Still, I cover my head with the blankets.

I unlock my phone, and quickly reduce the brightness before it does damage to my eyes. It’s only 3.30am and I’ve run out of sleep. On WhatsApp Gabisile isn’t talking to me. She blue-ticked me. Mbali says she misses me and can’t wait to see her “Head Prefect.” Dylan doesn’t have data otherwise he’d have bombarded me with text messages and endless emojis. I play a few rounds of Candy Crush until I run out of lives and boom, I’m asleep again.

Three hours later I’m woken up by the radio, Lesedi FM. Gran blasts it from 6am until 12 noon on Sundays. On the couch I can see my church clothes neatly laid out, ready for me to inhabit, but I don’t feel like going to church. I’m not sure if I’m really into the whole going to church thingy. I don’t mind going on Easter and on Christmas. Gran says even atheists go to church on these two days.

I think I go because Mom wants me to go. Otherwise, hayi, I don’t know, I just fall asleep during sermons. I decide that I will act sick and stay behind with Gran. My plan works and after two hours I hear the gate open. I know that’s Mom and my bro leaving for church. We have one of those fences accompanied by a loud gate that makes a specific noise when it opens and another type when it closes. So we know exactly when someone is coming in or leaving. Gives us enough time to tidy up and fix things before the knock.

“Quick, close my bedroom door,” Gran likes to say. “Get rid of the tissue on the table, hide my beer!”

I close my eyes and I try to fall asleep again. After 20 minutes or so I am knocked out. I’m smiling in my dreams. It’s a wonderful dream.

“Lincoln!”

“Lincoln!”

That’s Gran calling from the kitchen. My dream is ruined.

“Morena!” she calls again, using my other name. If she used my other name, she must be mad.

I feel the blanket move across my body as Gran aggressively grabs it, and the warmth is replaced by a sudden breeze. “Voetsek, get up. I know you’re not sick!”

I stretch my back and my neck. My whole body hurts. Sleeping on the floor really isn’t pap and vleis.

“Go buy me a Med-Lemon and two cold beers before your mother gets back.”

I know: ‘Alcohol Will Not Be Sold To Persons Under The Age Of 18’. But no-one cares about that here in the township. They’re just interested in making money.

Mom also hates it when Gran sends me to the tavern. They always fight about it, but it’s no big deal. I don’t mind. Gran gives me R50 every month from her pension money. So it’s cool.

She sneezes really hard, “Whew! This cold is going to kill me.”

Gran refuses to go to the doctor. She says you can go to the doctor complaining about a headache and you leave with cancer. “These doctors only make people sicker, so they can make money out of them!”

She stops me as I am about to head out. “Buy Colgate too so you can brush your teeth when you get back.”

I drag my legs as if they’re heavy. I hate going out. At least my day has been going smoothly indoors so far. Nothing bad has happened, nothing to remind me of the salt. It feels as if everything is back to normal and hopefully I’ll be sleeping on the bed tonight.

I already have my trip planned out in my head. I’m going to start at the tavern and then go to the shop. An easy trip ahead of me.

***

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