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Chapter 5
It was almost midday and Moses was fast asleep snoring as usual. Keddie had gone over to see the other locals and catch up on the events she misses when not in town with her friends, in other words gossip. Katlego tried to finish her chores quickly as she wanted to dwell on her letter with no disturbances.
It was almost five in the afternoon when she finally opened it carefully so as to avoid ripping the envelope. Her chores seemed to stretch beyond infinity that day. She would return the letter as soon as she was done. Her hands were shaking with anticipation. She held the letter and could not see clearly through the horrible handwriting that presented itself. She tried to see through it but could not make what it was saying. Katlego did not waste time; she immediately went to see John, her one and only friend in the whole village. They were in the same class and he was the only one who seemed not to ridicule and belittle her when she left school. Rumours had been circulating all around the village that she dropped out because she was pregnant and that she was the biggest most famous prostitute in the whole village. John paid no attention to the rumours because he believed he was better than that. He also had grown to like Katlego very much.
His uncle was the chief of the village. He was holding the position for John until he got old enough to take over since John’s father passed away when he was little. He was next in line to be a chief. He was recognised all through the village and when people saw him talking to Katlego they would oftentimes wonder why he would befriend a girl so beneath him. As a possible future chief he should be concentrating hard on his behaviour and education and not mingling with school dropouts. He thought of Katlego as a wonderful person and friend who had the bad side of fate in her life.
John was surprised to see his friend enter his gate in such high spirits that late, actually looking forward to something. Katlego had told him everything about how her stepfather was abusing her, except for the prostituting, she was afraid that that would chase him away for sure. For now she wanted him to still consider her a pure innocent girl who has had bad fate.
‘I need your help!’ said Katlego grasping for air from her sprint.
‘Well hello to you too. What is it?’
Katlego told John everything about the letter up until now and asked him to read it without wasting any time. John was already two years into junior high school so Katlego knew he could probably read through the bad handwriting.
‘Ok, I’ll do my best.’ He read it aloud.
My darling daughter, I trust you received the last letter and gift I sent you on Christmas. I miss you, you know. Not a day passes without ever thinking of you. Next month I will send money for your school. I will give it to your mother to give it to you. I also trust you are doing well. I would like it if you replied my letter once in a while so I can be reassured of your well being and not your mother telling me everything. I am still fighting for my life but the doctors say I will get better very soon so I can finally come and see your precious little face. I have to end here my daughter, I will write again.
Modiri
John looked at Katlego whose eyes were building with disbelief, anger and happiness at the same time. Her father had not abandoned her. A further flood of emotions invaded her thoughts. For a moment she could not comprehend but yet she knew exactly what was happening. She had been told lies her whole life and made to feel worthless. There was someone out there who actually cared for her unconditionally. Her father was out there somewhere caring and here she was thinking he never loved her. She shot for her house to get more of her letters and read the truth. John did not really understand what had just happened.
On her way to her house Katlego felt cheated. Although she was running, her state of mind was somewhere else analysing the deepest betrayal a person should only ever experience in their nightmares. She had to find her father. He was sick. She had to care for him to good health. Here she was serving a man who barely loved her and treated her like a piece of trash when her sick father is out there somewhere dying without her by his side. She felt even more betrayed and disgusted. She reached her house and rushed to her mother’s bedroom. Moses was not there but she never noticed. She opened her mother’s purse and gathered all the letters without thinking and immediately rushed to the bedroom door to John’s house but she heard voices. They were getting louder developing into a fight. It was Moses and her mother. She did not want to even see them at this point. They were heading for the room. She had to hide. She quickly gathered herself and rushed into the wardrobe that was in the corner of her mother’s room. Moses seemed to be angry about something. Katlego got her usual distasted look on her face. It happened all the time she heard Moses speak.
‘Like mother like daughter I guess, except your daughter does not have AIDS,’ said Moses in a sarcastic way. He pulled out a suitcase and started to pack all his clothes that were in a basket.
‘What do you mean?’ Keddie started to break into tears.
‘That useless daughter of yours is also a prostitute, just like you. She didn’t tell you? Yeah, and now I am leaving. I can’t be associated with someone like you, I’ll soon catch it.’ He broke into a laugh and headed for the door.
‘Go to hell! After I supported you all this time this is how you repay me? And my daughter is no prostitute! One day Moses.’ She cursed at him.
Moses vacated the scene laughing all the way to his scrap car that had no windows.
Not realising it Katlego had created a waterfall on her face of hot tears and her eyes were burning more intensely than ever with rage and disappointment. She was shocked. Her mother was a prostitute and had AIDS; her father was still alive and kept a secret all her life. She burst out of the wardrobe and ran as fast as her legs could carry her; she had no idea where she was going. In her mind she only saw her father, a man without a face. She heard her favourite song play in the distance. She almost did not notice but she began to sing along, in her heart. A thorn pricked her on her foot and she stopped, grasping for air, to relieve her foot. It sent a throbbing pain to the heart. Maybe it was mixed with the pain from the sudden happenings in the story of her life. Her song seemed to be getting louder. She looked up and blinding headlights flooded her eyes, the car looked like it belonged to Moses and seemed to be accelerating. Time did not give Katlego permission to scream and the car sent her flying in the air. The car sped away.
She seemed to be dreaming as she looked up at the stars which were blinking at her. She felt reassured. Maybe they were calling her. She suddenly felt a strong pain on her back and her head that pounded so hard it became unbearable. She tasted blood. She looked at the stars again; they seemed to be calling her. They seemed to be singing, singing her song. She smiled and miraculously she felt her body rising, beginning to float towards the glimmering stars. A great sensation of pleasure illuminated her soul, her spirit as she was getting closer to them. She began to have that feeling she always had where she wished she could dissolve in her favourite song and never come back. It felt phenomenal.
