‘How did you sleep?’ Ntombi, Kganya’s mother, asked as soon as she stepped inside the kitchen. She switched on the electric kettle, opened the cupboard, took out a mug, and tossed a tea bag inside.

‘F-fine,’ Kganya lied.

She didn’t want to tell her mother the truth, that she’d had an extremely terrifying nightmare. She didn’t want her to worry like she did two years ago when the nightmares were so intense that she sleepwalked. Her mother lost weight in that period, and it was a tough battle getting over it.

‘Oh, glad when you slept fine because I didn’t sleep much myself. I was staring at the ceiling, tossing and turning nonstop. Only slept at around two or three. Now I look like a mess.’ Ntombi poured the boiling water into her cow-decorated mug, stirred, and took a long sip like her life depended on it.

‘Are you sure you will be OK at work?’ Kganya looked at her mother over a bowl of cereal with concern.

‘Yeah, I will be fine. Psh, look at me,’ Ntombi suddenly had a big, wide smile on her face, ‘busy stressing you and forgetting that today is your big day. How are you feeling?’

‘Oh!’ Realisation washed over Kganya. ‘I’m a little bit nervous. It feels weird to see myself in this new uniform.’

Today was Kganya’s first day at school as a matriculant. As a senior at school, she was wearing a new uniform of a different colour from the other grades.

‘Don’t be nervous, Nnana, that white uniform suits you, it makes your face glow somehow.’

Kganya chuckled. ‘Oh, please, Mama.’

‘What, you don’t believe me? You do. It feels like yesterday, though, when you were starting school in Grade R, look at you…’

Kganya didn’t know what made her look at the TV that was playing in the sitting room, but what she saw there managed to filter her mother’s voice out. She pushed the seat out off the table, stood up, and slowly went to the living room, her eyes still glued to the TV.

‘What?’ Ntombi asked, seeing Kganya walking like a zombie to the living room.

Kganya pointed at the TV as if she was seeing something wrong with it.

‘Something wrong with the TV?’

Something had caught Kganya’s attention on the TV. It was the man who had a microphone to his mouth, speaking to the female journalist beside him. Kganya recognised him.

Kganya reached for the remote on the coffee table and increased the volume.

‘Kganya, you will be late on your first day of school if you watch that TV. I don’t know why you always switch it on in the mornings, anyway. It just makes noise and you never watch it,’ Ntombi said with irritation in the background.

‘Yes, we are working around the clock, as the removal crew. We understand that we are slightly off schedule because of the budget issues that were happening last month. But all of that has been resolved now and all the boots are on the ground, deep at work,’ the man on the TV was saying, in that authoritative voice of his, that Kganya also recognised. ‘Most of the graves here are hundred years old, some more than that. We have to be delicate in handling them so there is no damage done to them. We are making sure the removal is as safe and efficient as ever.’

Kganya’s mouth was agape. She couldn’t be mistaken that this was the same big man she saw in her nightmare, being mauled by that demon.

The camera shifted its focus from the man and showed the two backhoes at work, both having chains and robes fastened on their cranes and lifting dirty coffins from the holes in the ground. The man was still speaking in the background, saying that they’d incurred a few accidents, but nothing too serious. He urged the community to be patient with them, and that in a few weeks, their departed loved ones would be resting peacefully in the new environment.

‘Kganya, stop watching TV and get ready for school,’ Ntombi said with slight anger. ‘What’s with you today?’

‘What are they doing there, Mama?’ Kganya asked, ignoring her mother’s admonition.

‘Don’t you know? They are relocating that cemetery to the other side of the township. They will build a primary school there.’

‘Why can’t they just build the primary school on that other side and leave the dead rest where they currently are?’

‘Oh, I don’t know. You know I don’t follow local politics, but I heard from Gladys that this will make a perfect area for school not a gravesite, as there is not much car traffic.’ Ntombi picked up her work bag and slung it on her shoulder. ‘Why are you asking? Is something wrong?’

‘No, it’s just—’

‘Knock, knock!’ a soft voice called from the door, cutting off Kganya’s impending lies.

‘Come in—oh, it’s you, Lethabo. You look beautiful.’ Ntombi went to welcome Kganya’s best friend with a tight hug.

Lethabo was also doing matric, so she was also wearing a brand-new white uniform like Kganya.

‘Thank you, Mama-Kganya,’ Lethabo said blushing.

‘Hey, chomi, I’m done; let me go fetch my schoolbag.’ Kganya ran to the bedroom and left her mother cooing over Lethabo as if she had forgotten she had to get to work herself.

Kganya quickly consulted the class timetable that was pasted on the wall and stuffed the required exercise books and textbooks in the schoolbag.

‘Ah!’ she complained a little when she put on the schoolbag. It was a little bit heavier.

Her eyes shot to the side of her wardrobe where the staff was leaning on. Her breath caught.

She closed her bedroom door and headed for the living room.

‘Ready, choms?’ Lethabo stood up from the couch. Ntombi had left.

‘Yes, chomi, let’s go!’

Kganya switched off the TV and led Lethabo outside. She locked the door and the burglar and put the key under the mat.

Kganya and Lethabo walked to the gate.

‘Sawubona, Mkhulu.’ Lethabo greeted an old man who was watering his small garden next door.

‘Sanibonani, girls.’ Mkhulu waved at them with that old, wrinkled hand of his, the other holding a green watering can. ‘It’s that time again?’

‘Yebo, Mkhulu!’ The girls replied in unison, smiling.

‘Have a lovely day at school, girls.’

‘Thank you, Mkhulu. You also have a lovely day,’ Kganya said, as they walked on.

A little bit further, Lethabo said, ‘It’s sad, isn’t it? He hasn’t been the same since his wife died five years ago. I don’t know what I would do if my soulmate of that many years died and left me alone.’

‘Yeah, hey,’ Kganya replied robotically.

***

The streets were crowded with pupils wearing different colours from different schools.

Kganya debated whether she should tell Lethabo about the nightmare she had had and what she saw on the TV before she arrived. She and Lethabo held no secrets from each other, so Kganya saw no reason why she shouldn’t tell her.

‘Chomi, last night I had a nightmare, you know…’ Kganya told Lethabo everything.

‘What?!’ Lethabo exclaimed with shock after Kganya was done.

‘Yes. In the nightmare, he was killed, after his two colleagues were also killed.’ Kganya looked down at her black, shining shoes.

‘What do you think it means?’ Lethabo asked after processing this whole thing. ‘Remember, you are not just anybody, you are Gogo Kganya. This mightn’t be a mere nightmare, but a vision of what might happen or might have already happened.’

‘I know, I know.’ Kganya said softly.

Two years ago, Kganya had intense nightmares, which were later revealed to be caused by the Dark Souls, demons from the Spiritual World, the world between the living and the dead. One Healer by the name of Gogo Lesedi helped Kganya to defeat them. Last year, Kganya was led to Gogo Lesedi’s house by her ancestors so she could be initiated to be something she herself and Gogo Lesedi didn’t know at the time. It turned out that Kganya was the one person who was to become the Defender of the Physical World from any dangerous entities from either the Physical World itself or the Spiritual World. Hence, she also inherited the title of ‘Gogo’.

Kganya didn’t mind when Lethabo just called her “Kganya” and not “Gogo Kganya”. Only people who were close to her had that privilege. To the rest of the world, she was “Gogo Kganya”.

‘I think after school we should pass by the cemetery to look around. If possible, we could ask that man whether such a thing happened last night or on any other night before that,’ Lethabo suggested.

‘Yeah, hey, but I doubt it will reveal anything. I think it was just a nightmare, but it wouldn’t hurt to investigate a little,’ Kganya said solemnly.