“Something is burning in the kitchen!” shouts Ntaoleng.
“It must be the truth,” Sephiri answers sarcastically as she gets up to go check on the pots.
“Sephiri, you have been deliberately disrespecting me since your father came back and I will not have it! Not in my house!” Ntaoleng responds angrily, her stout figure leaning against the wall. “I can’t just accept the man back into our lives. He’s been away for thirteen years and it is not all rosy. It’s been hell and you know it!”
“Mama I know and I’m not saying you must take him back. I’m just saying what you did was not very Christian of you.”
“Christian of me? Don’t you dare judge me … I have suffer–”
“–suffered alone for thirteen years? I know, you tell me all the time. But kicking the man out when all he wanted to do was talk, is a little extreme.”
“It will take more than wanting to talk!” Ntaoleng begins to tear up.
“You–”
The argument is interrupted by a violent knock on the door, and without even waiting for a response Puseletso rushes in, panting, gabbling.
“Turn on the news. The strikes are back on and the school is closed until further notice. People are dying!” Puseletso has a thing for exaggeration when it comes to relaying news.
“Come on Letso, be realistic.” Sephiri rolls her eyes as she responds to her friend’s frantic claims.
“Fine! If you don’t believe me then turn on the news. See for yourself.”
“She is right, Riri. The ladies at work were gossiping about another violent taxi strike. Last Thursday, they murdered a Kempton Park taxi owner,” Ntaoleng responds, countering her daughter’s indifference.
“But meanwhile … what smells so good? Perfect feet call for perfect timing,” Puseletso jokes whilst staring at the food on the small, blue kitchen table.
“Just pap, wors and tomato gravy Letso. Nothing special,” Sephiri interjects, slightly irritated.
“Better than pap and milk. That’s what they’re having at home.”
“Dish up for Letso, there should be more than enough,” Ntaoleng says grimly. The three eat in silence; the remains of the fight are still in the air, affecting Puseletso too. They all seem to be lost in thought.
Puseletso helps Sephiri with the dishes before heading home but later that evening she texts:
Hey Grl
Hey
Did I offend ur mom earlier?
Y?
I dnt knw things jst seemed so awkward.
She invytd Paul for dinner, he didn’t pitch. *sigh*
Oh *embarrassed* I thought I ws too forward.
And my dad came bck 2day.
Wht? *shocked* wen?
In the morning….nd in the aftanoon mom nd he fought
Sori grl. so 2mrw?
Its kwl. I dnt kno – what?Thabo’s havin a daytime house party.
Wana go? Only gud thing bout da strike
We will see…g2g.
Cool. Nyt *kisses*
Nyt.
Sephiri tries to sleep but finds it hard. She can’t help but think of her day, trying to process the fact of her long lost father’s return, plus her mother’s woes about Paul.
Her thoughts turn with relief to Thabo – a guy who she has been interested in for years. Maybe she should go to his house party? The strikes are a lucky good misfortune. Maybe Thabo will finally notice her and it will serve as a break from the exams and the sudden family drama. She flirts with the idea of her and Thabo holding hands after school; of them as young lovers. This thought makes her happy and before she knows it she is dreaming her way into his arms.
*****
Beep! Beep!
Curse the Blackberry, Sephiri thinks as she reluctantly wakes up to check her phone.
So chomi hav u decided? Wat shld we wear?
Its 8 in da mrning Letso!
I knw grl, im jst so xcited
Im stil slpn
Grl party starts at 10. Thabo’s parent’s r at wrk.
Eish k.
Sephiri gets up. She goes into the kitchen and there it is again, the source of her frustrations.
“Paul!” she hisses as she heads over to clean up after a man she never sees arrive or leave. He is like a mouse – no – better yet he is a mouse, always leaving evidence that he was here but never to be seen. Irritated, she picks up the dishes and puts them in the sink. She puts on the kettle and gets ready to take a bath.
She cannot help it; her thoughts turn again to the man who came back into her life yesterday morning. His haunting facial features that remind her of herself, the weight of sadness on his sloping shoulders and those eyes, lost in a sea of secrets. She can’t shake off the longing feeling, the hope that her father can give her answers to questions she has had ever since he left.
“Let sleeping dogs lie,” is all her mother says when she tries to ask. “Focus on school,” is also not helpful for solving the mystery of the past but is, by far, the best response from her mother. Yes, she must just get her future going.
After bathing, Sephiri decides on an outfit: her blue peplum dress and white Converse All Star sneakers.
Beep! Beep!
Letso can be such a nuisance, Sephiri thinks, reaching for her phone.
Grl im dne r u ready?
Almst, gv me ten minutes, chomi
Fyn, bt hurry, I wana gt ther early
Thabo mst see us before those rat shit
Grls frm skwl gt ther
Kwl.
Letso is one special case, Sephiri thinks as she finishes up. She clears her room and leaves a note for her mother in case she comes back early – there is no telling with the strikes. The firm where she works might close early today.
Mama
I’m spending the day at the library.
Riri
As she lays the note on the table she pauses, looks up and, seemingly out of nowhere, a sudden decision appears in her mind: instead of heading straight to the party she’s going to see her father first. She needs to know more.
She sends a text to Puseletso:
Grl go to the party I’ll meet u ther.
Mom sent me sumwer qwk. *sigh*
Her father is staying with an old friend, Ntate Ronny; he’s left the address and it’s not far. She arrives at the house and knocks but there is no response. She sits on the stoep and waits. After ten minutes, she gets up and knocks again. Through the frosted glass she faintly sees a figure move slowly across the passage inside the house. Is it her father? Excited, she knocks vigorously but no-one comes. Is he ignoring her? Rejecting her once more? She sits on the stoep a little longer then knocks again, even though in her heart she knows that there won’t be a response.
Shaken, bitterly disappointed, Sephiri walks in the direction of Thabo’s house, texting Letso.
Save me a drink grl. I need one. *sad face*
***
Tell us what you think: Is Sephiri right to try to find out more about her father, or should she only look to the future, as her mother advises?