The next afternoon my mother knocks on my door. “Come on, we need to check this place out.”
“What place?”
“Oh, don’t be difficult, come along,” she says, and hustles me to the car.
As she drives, I ask her, “I don’t like surprises. Why don’t you tell me where we’re going?”
“Because, my love, you don’t always keep an open mind about things.”
Say what?!
“I do keep an open mind. How do you think I come up with characters like Zimbali Jadeite, or Ebony Blaze, or Lindiwe Dynamite?”
My mother lets out a small chuckle. “You do have a beautiful imagination. But that does not mean that you always keep an open mind.”
“What do you mean?”
“Do you remember the time I made cauliflower crust pizza? You wouldn’t take a single bite.”
“Sorry, but cauliflower is just wrong for pizza. I know it and the Italians know it, or they would have been making pizza differently for centuries.”
Mama shakes her head. “See, this is exactly the attitude I’m talking about. You didn’t even try it. You decided it was wrong before you even gave it a chance.”
“If there is a hidden lesson in this discussion, I’m pretending not to notice,” I say.
She laughs. She laughs and laughs as she turns the car onto a dirt driveway and rolls us into –
Strike me dead; there are dogs everywhere. “Mama, I don’t think–”
“See, Thando-Joy, once again you’ve already decided about something before we have given it a chance. I haven’t even told you about why we’re here.”
“But,” I protest, taking in all the kennels at the animal shelter, “I don’t even like dogs. You don’t like dogs.”
“I never said I don’t like dogs. I’ve only said that being around them reminds me of bad experiences in the past. But sometimes it is important to face old fears, so that’s what I’m doing here.”
“Okay, but how’s that about me? Why do you need me here? I could be home, working on my storyboards and–”
But my mama just sucks her teeth and I shut up. Because when Mama sucks her teeth, you do not argue. Choose life. And that’s what I do; I choose life and open that car door, walking straight into a dog.
“Argh!” I yelp, jumping back.
“Carrot!” somebody yells. “Leave her alone.”
But the dog doesn’t listen. It just keeps poking me with its nose, like it’s trying to mug my pockets.
“Hey, now,” I tell it, trying to shove its head away. Then again, what if it bites?
“Carrot!” A young white woman runs up, puffing like crazy. She grabs the dog by the scruff of its neck and says, “Come on, be nice. Nobody here has treats.” The young woman grins at me, “Sorry about that. Carrot was a pig in a former life, and expects everyone to give him something to eat.”
I stare at that dog right in the eye. “I’ve got nothing, I promise you.”
The young woman giggles, and gives the pig-of-a-dog a pat. “My name is Becky, by the way. Can I help you with anything?”
“Yes, we’re here about the Youth Trainer programme.”
“Oh,” Becky says. “You’ll want to see Lizeka; she heads that. Follow me.”
***
Tell us: Do you like surprises? Or like Thando-Joy, do you prefer to know where you are going first?