The camp day arrived; everybody was excited for the
day. It was announced that there’d be only three
schools in Tembisa that’ll be attending the camp, which
were Tsosoloso Secondary, Eqinisweni and also my
school, Ponelopele. All thanks to our previous matriculants for
passing their grade 12 with good results. They did well in their
class and we were given this opportunity for a career
exhibition in their honour. Being in one of these schools was
the biggest flex. Every year people knew either Tsosoloso,
Ponelopele or Eqinisweni would be among the top five. Their
positions in the table played around each other, but each
school was in the top three of the best schools in Midrand and
Tembisa. Year 1997, my school was on third position. The
previous matriculants obtained an average score of 82% with
50 distinctions in total. The school in second position was
Eqinisweni, with an average grade of 88% and 52 distinctions.
Lastly, the school in first position was Tsosoloso, with 95%
grade average and an overall of 90 distinctions. This was the
highest-grade average in the history of Schools in
Johannesburg D9. The rest of the list down played around
60% and 70% grade average.
This is how it went; they selected top five learners from
each class and luckily, I was among the top five in the list of
my class, 12C. My school had nine matric classes and the total number of learners selected were forty-five. Everyone
that was on the list was excited for the camp. It was an opportunity of a lifetime for us poor children who came from poor families. Our parents could not afford to take us to these exciting career exhibitions, so this was a great opportunity. From my class, they selected the following people; Lucia, Julia, Edward, Siphokazi and myself. I couldn’t believe how I made it to this list. I knew my average grades were not above 60% and yet, there I was, in the list of top five. When they
called the list with my name for the first time, I thought they
made a mistake, and that they would soon realize it and rectify the mistake, but fortunately not, my luck was with me. I am
sure the rest of my classmates were as astounded as I was. I
mean, who thought a popular girl in the school would be in the top five best student in her class – oh wait, now I know why I
was part of this list. I was popular and they were using my popularity for their benefit. But again, which status did I really
have? What’s my status got to do with my grades? It’s not
even like I was known international, I was only known in my school for obvious reasons – my beauty and my kinky
personality.
The saddest part about this camp was that my best friend
Sizwe and my boyfriend Luyanda were not selected. It
would’ve been a great thing to have my best friend and my
boyfriend in one place, far away from my parents. All I could
think of were the kinky stuff I would do to him [NOT SEX
THOUGH]. Just making him happy in another way a woman
can.
I arrived at school at 7:35am and found other learners
outside the school yard waiting.
WHILST WE WERE
WAITING for the buses to arrive, some students were
capturing pictures while others listened to music on their cell
phones. People like me were sitting alone on the far corner
wondering how everything was gonna pan out without my best friend. It was obvious that I was going to be lonely and bored.
For a popular girl, no one tried to associate themselves with
me, because they thought I was full of myself and that I was
rude, I never cared less about what they thought of me
anyway. I had everything I needed to survive and I needed
them not for their company. Okay, I’m lying, how I wished I
could’ve treated them better and open. This was the time
when I needed company more than anything. I was going to a
place I don’t know with people I was not close to. Strange. I
needed someone I could share my experiences with and none
of them fitted my goal.
We waited for full half hour before the buses arrived. Three
of them stopped at the school gate. My white Nike T-shirt
almost lost its colour after the sunburn. It was a mid-autumn
and the sun had just gazed its eye in the face of the earth.
When the buses finally arrived, I looked at my watch and it
was 09:40. We got into the buses in respective of our class
and names. They treated us like children. Shit. I hopped inside
the bus and just by the door, Olvera, the school guard in his
uniform had stationed himself. Behind him, his assistant
arranged himself, the gruel was served out, he looked
desperate with hunger and reckless with misery. His
unpleasant look filled the whole bus and boys whispered each
other and winked at him mockingly. Olvera was a fat unhealthy
man. He gazed in stupefied astonishment on the small rebel
of boys for a few seconds. The school guard who had been
directing children inside the bus was paralysed with wonder,
and the boys with fear.
I stopped my foot on the door and sent my eyes out to look
for a seat. The gaze of boys who had found their seats squeezed my confidence below recognition. I was rushing to
find my seat and end the year of a misery search. I searched
with my eyes while my body remained by the entrance of the
bus. My eyes saw my name right in the middle. I rushed over
to my seat without making eye contact with anyone. I passed
the row of six other seats and on the seventh one; I saw mine
and next to my seat, was Lucia (my classmate) seated before
the window. Lucia was one of the brightest student in the
school and she was a nerd of some sort. She always was into
her books and some of my classmates nicknamed her Lucia-the-nerd, and it eventually reached the whole school.
Everyone started calling her Lucia-the-nerd and some
shortened it to LTN. I greeted Lucia and took my seat. This
was going to be a long journey with Lucia on my side. I can’t
stand bookworms. Don’t get me wrong, I loved people who
were into books, but as you know, too much of anything is not attractive. Such people easily bore me. My mother bores me
too. She’s forever in her bible and it’s not attractive at all. Lucia was forever in her books, just like my mother was in her bible. I was surprised not to see her practicing maths in the bus
because it was in her nature to. She was wearing headphones
and she probably was listening to math audio lessons. Anything is possible with these bookworms. You might think they are listening to music whereas they are listening to the
record lessons of Biology. She then took out a journal from her rucksack and that’s when I realized I had left mine home. How stupid I was. Mpumalanga was a long to travel without my
journal. I needed to capture every moment. When we were all inside, the bus drivers hit the footAlong the way, we stopped to grab food and drinks at the
garage, or in modern English – Fuel station. Those with rich
parents bought expensive things you could think of – your
pizzas and burgers. And then those with middle class parents
bought snacks and juice. I don’t know about those that were
below that, they probably bought amasi and amageu. When
everyone was done ordering and taking pictures, we
continued with our expedition. This time around I exchanged
seats with Lucia-the-nerd. I took the window seat while she
took my seat. My eyes could not leave the view from the
window. I loved seeing trees moving past my eyes as the bus
progressed. The feeling was great knowing that it was just me
and nature bonding together. When I moved my eyes to my
left, I was met with LTN eating pizza and I quickly moved my
eyes away to save myself from – I can’t say embarrassment
but ukurhala. A little while later, still starring at the view
through the window, LTN offered me pizza, like I was a
homeless cunt. I may not have had rich parents, but I wasn’t
a charity case either. I eat what I can afford. Please don’t ask
me what I bought because it’s a bit embarrassing. You bought
white bread and four sliced cheese. Yeah, it was your idea, Amo.
I wanted to buy something nice and you insisted I should buy
something cheap and save some cash for further destination.
Which I think you were right.
What I liked about LTN is that, although her parents were
loaded with money, she still was focused on her studies. I
think she wanted to make her life better and not depend on
her parents’ wealth. That’s what I admired about her. Some
spoilt brats lose focus while enjoying the riches of their
parents. They tend to think their parent’s money will last forever after they are gone. That’s one big mistake they make.
But help me understand, why do some people have all the luck
while others are miserable? They don’t have to work for things
while others have to sweat tears and blood.
“No, Lucia, I am good. I already ate something,” I rejected
her offer. I loved pizza, but there was no way I was gonna
accept hers. Who knows, she might’ve plotted this to win my
popularity favour or something else I can offer. Whatever it
was, I wasn’t interested. I don’t associate myself with nerds.
Okay, I really craved the pizza.
When I was tired of eyeing outside the window, I took out my
phone, plugged in my earphones and listened to afro-pop
music. Back then, afro-pop music was a thing. It was bigger
than it is today. We had artists that touched our souls and
spirits. They made our bodies dance and longed to have a life
full of joy. When I turned my eyes around the bus, I found LTN
sleeping and everyone else was either focused on their cell
phones or gossiping with their seatmates. During my time,
phones were not popular as they are now. If you had one, you
were considered rich or one-step away to being one. Not
many people had phones in the bus. I got mine when my dad
was still working in the mine. He bought it as a way of
communication between him and I, otherwise, I wouldn’t have
had a phone too. As most known, in a group of people, there
must be that one person who is richer than the rest of the
group, so, ours was the mighty Shadrack Nsimbini, the son of
Mr Nsimbini. Shadrack was one of those learners who
introduced new trends at school (trendsetters). He introduced
new shoes and copycats would buy fake versions and brag.
There’s one thing that bothered me though, his parents were not working, so I was kind of surprised where they got the
money from. I don’t know, but maybe they had a tree that grew money. They probably discovered a special seed that grows dough.
I found myself sleeping and I was woken by a school
caretaker when we reached our destination – Mpumalanga,
Piet Retief. I lifted up my head and saw a beautiful place that
looked far better than my mother’s house and the whole of Tembisa and Midrand combined. It was a campsite, green and
clean. You could even spot foreign things in it – junk. It
reminded me of Garden of Eden where Adam and Eve were
put by God. I looked at my phone and it was 15:34. The
safeguards told us to pack our stuff and step outside the bus.
I helped LTN with her big suitcase and we hopped outside.
Her stuff were much bigger than mine and it wouldn’t seem
cool if I let her struggle alone. We got outside and some
students were already taking pictures. I also took few so I can
show to my parents, Sizwe and my boyfriend, Luyanda.
Tsosoloso and Eqinisweni had arrived already. We were then
directed inside a big hall by one of the safeguards. The hall
was so big that you could put half a moon inside. The chairs
were placed in order. Eqinisweni learners’ were put one side,
Ponelopele learners’ one side and also Tsosoloso learners’
one side. When everyone was inside, that’s when I saw how
many we were. The first thing that crossed my mind was if
food would be enough for all of us.
On my left side was LTN with her bags and on my right side
was Shadrack in his green ugly shades. Sometimes I
wondered if people with money know how to dress well. His
T-shirt wasn’t nicer than Miss P’s yellow stripped t-shirt. Although his clothes were branded, but they looked horrible in
his body. They looked tired in him. If Nike saw him, they’d sue
him for ‘deformation of clothes.
When we were all gathered inside the hall, the director
welcomed us and made few announcements. We were told
where our accommodations were and where the toilets were
located. After he was done speaking, he excused us to go to
our rooms and we were directed by safe guards according to
our schools. We went to our section, and so was Eqinisweni
and Tsosoloso leaners. When we reached the C block, our
room names were written on the upper door. It took me more
than five minutes to find my room. I looked up the upper door
and was shocked to see who my roommates were. I was to
share a room with LTN, Phumla, Katelyn and Asavela. I
pushed the door open to find them laying on the bed busy with
on a laptop. I greeted them, went to my bed, and pretended
to be busy with something until it was late.
Morning of a cold-rainy Saturday. The rain poured heavily
and the place was pitch black. The rain drenched the earth. I
looked at the watch that was above my head and the time was
eight o’clock. Me and my roommates, including LTN, washed
our faces and we headed to the hall where we queued for
food. The queue was as long as Burj Tower. I was about
twenty-minutes away to being number one and to buy time, I
took out my phone and played games. This was already one
of the things I hated about the camp. I hated long queues. LTN
had earphones on and I’m sure this time she was listening to
audio school records. I tilted my head to the left to see how far I was and the queue seemed to move slowly. It wasn’t moving
at all.
Whilst busy playing games, I heard a familiar voice behind me
greeting me. It was a voice of a man. I had heard this voice
somewhere before.
“I wasn’t sure if it was really you I was seeing.” The voice
said behind me and surprisingly to this familiar voice, I turned
my head back and my eyes were shocked to see the person
speaking to me - It was Lucas, the junk that played a riddle
with me for my number. Still remember him? You got to be
fucking kidding me. I looked at him thoroughly just to confirm
if it was really him. I searched for his junk side but it wasn’t
there. “It’s good to see you again,” he added softly.
“Oh, It’s good to see you too…” I said pretending to have
forgotten his name and he jumped in to finish my sentence
“…Lucas,” he added. “Yes, Lucas,” I paused. Somebody save
me from this guy please. Sometimes we don’t like someone,
not because they’ve done something wrong, but because of
their voice, their face, the way they talk, the way they walk, the
way they – it could be anything – their hair, shape of their
nose. Every person we don’t like there’s something about
them that annoy us. And it’s natural, so please understand
why I didn’t like Lucas. “What brings you here?” I asked
surprised. He can’t be a student. He doesn’t seem like a
student – I thought to myself before he could reply my
question. Is he one of the facilitators? But no, he doesn’t strike
me as a genius. Maybe he’s one of the cleaners.
“What do you mean ‘what brings me here?’” he returned
“Aren’t you supposed to be at work?”
“Work?” he asked perplexed, “I am here for the same
reason as you,” he replied and he moved next to me.
“What?” I exclaimed loud. “I am so sorry, really sorry. I
thought you were a worker, not that you look like a worker but
I just assumed that you are – or maybe it’s because you are…
I mean, you don’t look like a student… No, no, no what I meant
to say is… “
“Hey, hey slow down,” he interrupted. I was speaking
without saying anything. “It’s okay, I understand what you
meant,” he added.
“You do?”
“Yes.”
“Thank you. I never meant it a bad way, I thought maybe…
you know what, never mind,” I added embarrassed, “So,
where do you school?” I asked with my eyes looking for LTN
who had disappeared in front of me and when I couldn’t see
her, I moved them back to Lucas.
“Eqinisweni,” he replied with his eyes on me. The queue
was too long to have a conversation with him, but I didn’t have
a choice, did I? Yes, I did have a choice, either snap
everything on his face and tell him how I never wanted him
next to me or pretend to be busy with my phone until he leaves
my sight, but I never did any of those. I spoke with him
because I was protecting my reputation. I didn’t want to be
labelled as rude – not especially in front of many strangers.
What if my potential boyfriend was there and he decides not
to shoot his shot because he thinks I’m rude. I bet he could see I wanted him to leave me, but he didn’t leave, instead, he
stepped in front of me and turned to look at me. I looked at
him in shock to what he just did and he noticed my strange
look.
“Don’t worry, I know Isaac, he will understand,” he said
winking at the boy behind me and the boy winked. Well, that
must be Isaac.
“Still looking beautiful, Phumla,” he said and I felt annoyed.
Had this been said by someone I liked, I would’ve appreciated
his words, but his compliment did not move a muscle in my
body. I know I am beautiful, so what? I returned the
compliment that I did not mean.
“You don’t look bad yourself,” I said and remembered that
I gave him a wrong name when I introduced myself to him the
first time we met. Not that I cared. I looked at the queue; it
became shorter by every breath Lucas lured. He asked me lot
of boring questions that I replied only with ‘hmm and yeah’.
What’s wrong with men? Why can’t they see when someone
isn’t interested in them? I mean, the first time you approach a
girl, her response will tell you if she likes you or not. Her body
language will say a lot.
His turn to dish up arrived. He dished up and I followed
since I was behind him. Lucas dished a stamp only, which
made me kinder surprised because I expected him to order
everything in the table – because, you know, he looks poor
and poor people eat a lot. I am not sure if he was doing that to
impress me, but I didn’t care. Nothing he did could ever
impress me. He waited for me to collect my order, we said
goodbyes and parted ways. I joined LTN who was already waiting for me on the other
side. It wasn’t until my friend, Lucia, asked me who that guy
was.
“Who?” I pretended not to have an idea who she was
talking about.
“The guy you were with now,” she said.
I pretended to have remembered him, “Oh, you mean Lucas?
I don’t know him. He was only taking chances,” I said and LTN
looked down like something was wrong, “Do you know him?”
I asked.
“Yeah, I do know him,” she replied with her face still
looking down.
“How do you know him?”
“Don’t tell anyone this, but he’s my crush – I am crushing
on him, and I doubt he notices.” she said and I burst out in a
strong laugh.
“You mean to tell me you are crushing on that junk… I
mean… that guy?” I continued to laugh hard. It was strange to
me that a genius girl like her would be so blind in love. I have
always imagined her types to be the likes of Sir Albert
Einstein, Nikola Tesla, Sir Isaac Newton and all great
geniuses, not Lucas. She strike me as a type who would date
bookworms, or perhaps Lucas is smart – I thought to myself,
but it can’t be, Lucas isn’t smart considering the conversation
I just had with him. It’s easy to pick up a genius just from
talking.
“I have been crushing on him since the 10th grade,” she
said and my eyes wide opened in shock. “I tried to show him signs but either he doesn’t notice or he’s ignoring them,” she
continued. By this time, I was hoping she will say I am kidding,
but she didn’t, she continued to tell me about Lucas, “I tried
ignoring these feelings, but they grow stronger every time I
see him,” she added and that’s when I realized she was
serious. I looked at her face for confirmation and damn, she
was serious.
“Oh wow, I didn’t see that one coming,” I replied in shock.
“He is sweet though.” There was silence between us
afterwards and I broke it when I offered to help her win Lucas.
“Really, Aona? You’d do that? You’d make him notice
me?”
“Yes,” I answered. I could see the glow on her face
because she knew the influence I had for people. She knew I
would make it happen. I understood all the cost it would take
me to win him over for her. That meant me spending time with
Lucas so I can soften him for LTN. Lucia was my friend at the
camp and I always look out for my friends whenever they in
need, regardless of the outcomes. We found a corner - we sat
and ate.
When we were done eating, we headed to the study hall.
Although I never like studying, but that day Lucia forced me to
study. She helped me everywhere I did not understand and I
guess this was her way of thanking me for offering my help to
win Lucas. Well, I didn’t have a problem with that at all. It was
a favour for a favour. We both win at the end of the day. She
gets the man she loves and I get to learn new methods of
learning. I’ve learnt that one of the best things you can do in life is
surround yourself with people who are better than you are,
high-grade people. You will end up behaving like them, and
they in return will get back from you. It’s like a planetary
system. If you hang around with people who behave worse
than you, pretty soon you’ll start being pulled in that direction.
Who you choose to associate yourself with matters. If y
the question with a smile.