Illusion of love

Chapter Two

Twelve year old Nathan could not concerntrate on anything the teacher was saying. He was too worried about the absence of his best friend, Emma. Finally, the bell rang signalling the start of first interval. He planned to go and check up on her, it was the only way to ease his mind.

Ten minutes later he stood outside their gate. He was about to enter when a neighbour waved at him to come over. He crossed the street looking calm, but on the inside his nerves were all over the place.
What if something bad had happened? Why else would she call him?

The elderly lady looked him over before speaking. "Don't you greet your elders?"
"Good morning, auntie Cheryl."
"Why are you not in school? If you don't go back to school immediately, I'll tell your parents that you bunked school. They won't like knowing that you were hanging out at the 'dirty houses' whilst you were supposed to be in school," Cheryl said, giving him a threatening look.

Nathan could not understand how so many adults could be so rude, there was no need for her to refer to the houses across the road as dirty. He knew that people refered to it like that, as he heard it from kids at school. Most of the people on Emma's side of the street were dirt poor, but they cleaned themselves and their houses just like the middle-class did. He was even more disapointed that an evangelist's wife would say something like that.

He let it go as there was no point in teaching an adult manners.

"Go back to school," Cheryl said.
"I'll just go check on Emma, then I'll go back to school," Nathan said, giving her his puppy eyes look.
"She's not home, her mom took her to the hospital."
"What! What is wrong?"
"I think that she has the flu, so you should definitely stay away from her."
"But, she was fine yesterday."
"It's always like that. She'll be okay."
"Thanks Auntie Cheryl."

Nathan went back to school. He hoped and prayed that she would be fine.

●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●

Miena looked at her daughter as they walked back from the doctor's practice. Emma was struggling to keep her eyes open, Miena had to keep her arm around her shoulders to help her walk. Emma had an ear infection, the doctor had booked her off for the entire week, it was Tuesday.

Miena had called her parents asking them if she could let Emma stay with them for the week. They had agreed and promised to pick her up to later that afternoon. She just hoped that the doctor's note would save her job. She was a cleaner in a supermarket and worked six days a week, for minimum wage. She had no choice, but to continue working there, it was the only way to support her daughters. She did not care about herself, her children were her only priority and she would do anything to safeguard them. Asking her parents for help was humiliating, and she knew that they would throw it in her face, but she would get over it.

●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●

"No Mommy, I'll take off from school to take care of her ," Colleen insisted.
"You can't be absent now, the winter exams are coming up. No! No! You go to school," Miena was adamant, she would not interfere with her children's education.

Colleen left the house in a huff. Her grandparents and their favouritism were bad enough, but her aunt and her children had moved in with her grandparents, in the beginning of the year. The aunt's husband got a job in Saudi Arabia and she was too scared to live alone. She and her rude and spoiled children would bother Emma. They made her so angry.

Her mother's family, especially her aunt, had a problem with her and Emmerentia. The problem was that they were Reggie's offspring, frankly, Colleen also had a problem with that fact too. Her issue was the fact that he was a horrible father and a weakling. However, her family's problem was his physical appearance. Reggie's dark skin and afro hair was a shameful thing to them. The fact that they all were of Bushman heritage did not matter to them.

The Boogskieters were of Griqua heritage, and so was Reggie, but the Boogskieters had the wavy hair, the light skin tone and other European features that was typical of the 'Basters' *a Baster is a mixed raced person of European and Khoikhoi or San heritage that looks European*.Reggie looked like a typical Bushman that has not been mixed, just darker. Her aunt could not stand the fact that Reggie's lookalikes were part of their family. The woman always had a sour face when they were around. The grandparents were polite to them, but Colleen could see the disappointment in her grandmother's face when she saw them. The family often had lavish parties without inviting them. All coloureds were not seen as equal, that was the was the bitter truth.

Colleen hoped that Emma would survive the week mentally and emotionally intact.