by Nico Verwey
Chapter 5 - Schooling of the...
Leonard’s agony and pain was ringing through the car that morning. It was not from the cut on his forehead or the blood dripping down to his cheek, but from his little heart that was breaking for his mommy. He could not understand why his mommy did this to him. He never saw her, but still she chose to hurt him. His little mind raced back and foth to remember where he did wrong, but he could not even remember when last he saw her at the house or anywhere ells for that matter. He cried until John stopped the car at the doctor’s office. “Leonard my boy, let grandpa take you in so that the doctor can help us.” Leonard climbed into John’s arms. “Grandpa, why did my mommy hurt me? I never see her and I always dream about her and then we always play in my dreams. Why Grandpa, why does my mommy not love me?” John had to bite on his teeth to stop the tears as he walked into Doctor Mustard’s rooms. The receptionist took them through to the procedure room. “Hallo John, what can I do for you?” Doctor Mustard greeted. “Well Doc we had a small incident at our house and Leonard, my big boy, got a cut. It’s going to leave him his first scar! See doctor he is not even crying! My big boy!” he winked at Doctor Mustard. “Okay, Leonard let me see, o it’s not too bad, John. We are going to put in three stitches and then he will be as good as new!” Leonard felt so brave and grandpa was so proud of him that Leonard forgot all about what happened to him earlier that morning.
Doctor Mustard took out a syringe and a thin needle. “Okay big boy, it’s going to feel like a small bee sting and then you won’t even feel when I put in the needle to close your cut. Okay here we go!” Leonard felt a small prick and then a little burning under his skin. It only took a minute or two and he could not even feel Doctor Mustard touching his skin. “Doctor, have you taken off my skin? Where is it, can I see?” Doctor Mustard laughed. “No Leonard! I did not remove your skin. The injection I gave you had some medicine in that took away the feeling and pain you felt. Let me give you a mirror so you can see what I am doing.” Leonard held the mirror and looked at his forehead as the doctor put in each stitch carefully. He was amazed at the thin line the doctor used. “Doctor!”, Leonard laughed, “now I know how the fish me and grandpa catch must feel. The line you use looks just like our fishing line! Hey grandpa?” John could not help but laugh. “Yes my boy! Now we have a Leonard fish in the house!” Doctor Mustard took about twenty minutes to finish the procedure. “Okay Leonard, you must keep the cut clean for ten days and then Grandma Marie can remove the stitches okay?” John looked at Doctor Mustard. “Yes Doc we will do, but we now have a birthday party to go to. Leonard is turning six and next year he will be going to the big boy’s’ school!” Doctor Mustard greeted John and Leonard as they left the building.
They rushed home to get all the party cake, crisps, sweets and cold drinks ready for Leonard’s birthday party. Leonard never felt this grownup and all the presents he got amazed him. Jillian bought him his first pair of school shoes and backpack. He got a cricket bat and rugby ball and lots and lots of pencils and colouring books for school. All his friends wanted to know what happened to his head and Leonard told them how his mommy threw his present at him and he missed the catch. He did not want to tell his friends how his mommy hurt him. To his friends she was a princess and a very successful mom with lots of money that loved him very much.
Annette stood frozen while John and Marie took Leonard to the doctors. She could not understand how her parents could choose that little misfit over her. Annette stood crying on her parents’ porch for a good half an hour trying to get over what she saw as the ultimate betrayal. She stumbled off after Jillian saw her and chased her away. “Annette, how could you do that to my little boy? If you want to fight, next time try me you witch, I am your size you loser!” Annette smiled, “You are nothing of him, you tramp! I brought him into this world and I will damn well take him out of it if I want to! Get that, you poor battered little girl. As I have heard, you free loaded your whole life on my mom and dad’s good graces! Now who is the loser, BITCH?” Jillian grabbed a broom, with the hurt painted across her face. “I may not be his real mom, but that little boy is mine. Now get out of here you slut, before I whack you with this broom!” Annette stumbled off, “Don’t hit me witch, rather get on the broom and fly away!”
Jillian was so angry that she could kill Annette, but she needed to focus on Leonard’s party now and her date later on with Jan. Jan just could not stay away from Jillian. His biggest problem was the drink and he had to first stop the drinking before Jillian would even speak to him were Marie was present. The divorce that went through six years back nearly bankrupted Jan, but that gave him the chance to get himself sober. Jillian did not trust Jan at all in the beginning, but gradually he got her heart back piece by piece. He started going to church with her, while in the week he wined and dined Jillian and took her out for picnics. He even went with her to their son’s grave every year to put flowers on his grave and to remember how wrong things could go when he got drunk. They built their relationship piece by piece and eventually got to the point where they loved one another like in the olden days, before all the drinking, pain and beatings.
Jan was so excited at Leonard’s party. He could not wait for later to go and visit their son’s grave. Jan walked up to Marie and John. “Marie, John! I want to take Jillian to our son’s grave this afternoon and would like to ask her to marry me again! I know many years ago things were bad, but you have seen me change and we love and trust one another again. I do have one condition though and that is that you two, her new adopted parents, give me permission. Please may I?” John and Marie looked at him. “Jan, your past is not important anymore!” said John. “We have seen the change in you and would love to say yes, but if you ever think of doing to Jillian what you did to her so many years ago, I will personally put you out of your misery! Okay?” Jan smiled, “So it is a yes John? Thank you John, I will not disappoint you. I just hope she agrees!”
Jan and Jillian left around three ’o clock that afternoon after picking some roses in the garden to put on the grave. The afternoon was hot and you could hear the sun beetles screaming in the trees. Jillian took the roses and put it down on her little boy’s grave. She called him John, after the friendly man that defended her in the hospital when Jan wanted to hit her. The tears were rolling down her face as Jan held her. “Jan, every year we promise that we will never go back to where we ended when our son died. Please, please remember that day.” Jan smiled and held her tight, the tears now running down his cheeks.
He turned to Jillian and kissed her and went down on his knee. “What are you doing Jan?” Jillian cried, “Jillian, I have done horrible things to you in the past, but you have shown me the way out of my misery. You, Jillian have healed me and I love you for that. Can you forgive me for what I have done to you? Then, here with our son present, I want to ask you to marry me again! Will you?” Jillian was out of breath, “Jan, I don’t know. Yes you have changed and I do love you, but our history together is bad.” Jan smiled, “I know my princess, but I promise on our son’s grave that I will never ever do to you again what I did to you so many years ago! Please consider it!” Jillian looked at the grave of her son and at the man kneeling before her and smiled. “Okay Jan, I will marry you again. Leonard is grown and doesn’t need me so much anymore, but remember he will always be my son!” Jan smiled with one tear running down his cheek. “Yes my love, I hear you. I will treat Leonard as our son. You my princess will not be disappointed!”
Annette arrived at her house where Sam waited for her. “Where the hell have you been Annette? The customers have started phoning and you need your medication before you go to work! I can’t send a half whacked, out of her mind slut to treat them to a good time!” Annette looked at him with disgust. “Yes, yes Sam. Keep your pants on. I am a pro, or have you forgotten where our money comes from? Mmmmmm? Give me the stuff so that I can shoot up and just let me be!” Sam gave Annette the heroin and left her to go and sleep. Annette walked into her room and sat
on the bed. She could not understand how her daddy could do this to her. “Here’s to you, daddy!” as she stuck the needle in her arm and pushed the heroin into her veins. Annette drifted off into a world where her dad and mom still loved her and where all her dreams became reality, where she was a singer and lived in the smartest houses and hotels and where the men in her life loved her and treated her like a princess.
She woke up two hours later feeling much better than the morning at her parents’ house. As usual Sam could not wait for her to be awake and he just went on screwing her while she was on her trip. She did not worry or care because it was only her body he abused like that and she would not even have noticed if it was not for the residue on the sheets and her legs she could see and smell. Annette took her book of appointments and got into the bath. “Okay...” she said to herself, “Let’s see, mmmm okay I have five appointments tonight and the new rate we charge will make us lots of money. I then have the rest of the night to myself, nice!”
She needed to go to the clinic down the street the next morning because she felt sick and nauseous when she woke up in the mornings and had severe heartburn when eating certain spicy foods. She did not know if it was because of the drugs or from a bug she might have picked up from one of her customers. After night shift, as she called it, she got home and handed over the money to Sam. “Nice girl! Our new rates will have us in a big house one of these days. The other girls are also picking up, so baby we are going to be rich one of these days!” Annette was very tired and after a night like she had, with extremely demanding clients, she fell into her bed took off her clothes and left for her dream world where everything was perfect and in place as it was meant to be.
The next morning Annette took a bath and got dressed in her jeans, t-shirt and sneakers. She walked down to the clinic. “Good morning sister! May I please see the doctor?” The sister looked at Annette. “I see that you are still using Annette! You know the policy; we cannot help if you are not clean or want to get clean so we can send you away!” Annette grinned at her. “I know sister, but I think I have a tummy bug...” The sister looked at her. “You sure you are not pregnant Annette? Do you use condoms?” Annette laughed, “Of course I use condoms! When last did I come here for an injection to stop the one or other thing I have picked up?” “Well Annette, let me draw some blood and I will send it away for tests. Come back in five days time for the results. In the mean time here is some syrup that might help!” Annette took the syrup and walked out. “See you then sister!”
It was five days to the hour that Annette walked into the clinic. “Sister thanks for the syrup. It has helped me… and speaking of help, what did my results say?” The sister took the results and gave it to Annette. “You are pregnant Annette!” Annette fell to her knees in shock. “How is that possible? I have been so careful using condoms!” Then she remembered her wake-up sessions where Sam had his way without any protection. “Not again, not again!” she cried. As Annette walked back to the flat, she wondered how she would tell Sam.
Sam passed Annette in his car and picked her up. “And where are you walking to Annette? Should you not be at home sleeping?” Annette gave him a sheepish look. “Yes Sam, sorry Sam!” Sam took her home and Annette went to sleep. Annette woke up in time for night shift and decided to tell him. “Sam I need to talk to you.” Sam looked at her. “Not more drugs baby, you need to go to work.” “Sam, it’s not about drugs or work. I am pregnant and it is your baby!” Sam laughed. “You little slut! You are having sex with every man and his dog and now it is mine?” Annette looked at him with shock. “Yes yours! You are the only idiot that have sex with me without protection! Nobody touches me without a condom and you know that!” Sam looked at Annette with absolute contempt and it was as if she looked into Squeals eyes all over again. “So when did this so called act happen? I cannot remember any of it Annette!” Fear rolled through Annette in waves. “Sam baby calm down, it is yours because when I wake up I am wet and full of juice!” Sam knew he was caught out. “Sammy baby, we are going to be a mommy and daddy!” The anger in Sam boiled over and all he saw was the money that they would lose. “You always say you are on the pill, what happened?” “Sam you know that I am allergic to the damn things, that is why I began using condoms you asshole! Why could you not use a condom, hey big man?” The anger in Sam erupted. “Because slut, I do not like to eat my candy with the wrapper on!”
He grabbed Annette and threw her against the wall. “You will work or I will kill you bitch! I cannot afford to lose your money now! I have a big drug deal coming down in the next two months and I need the money! You hear me slut!” Annette scurried to the corner. “Yes baby! Please calm down!” What happened next would let Squeal’s evening look like a picnic to Annette. Sam picked her up and hit her with his fists, when she was down on the ground he would kick her in her face and stomach and when she was up he would hit her with his fist and head again. Annette blacked out from all the punishment as Sam had his way with her.
Lucky for Annette, a neighbour came and stopped the madness. Her neighbour, a police officer, quickly subdued Sam and arrested him for this despicable act. He called for an ambulance to rush Annette to the hospital before he took Sam to the police station down the road. Annette was rushed to Kimberley Hospital were Doctor Mustard awaited the young girl that was called in as critically injured. They rolled Annette into the emergency room and put her on oxygen. Doctor Mustard came running in and was shocked to see Annette on his table again. She was broken and had six ribs protruding out of her chest area, her jaw was broken in three places and her cheekbone crushed. “My God, what happened?” The police told him that Annette’s boyfriend Sam went ballistic and nearly killed her. Lucky for Annette, she had some heroin in her, which relaxed her body; otherwise she would not have survived the beating. Doctor Mustard once again cleaned Annette up and put her back together piece by piece. Annette was pushed into the recovery room after Doctor Mustard was done wiring her teeth, jaw and ribs together to allow it to heal. Inspector Venter put some police protection outside her room, just in case some of Sam’s henchmen decided to come and finish the job.
The phone rang at Annette’s parents’ house. “Leonard speaking here, how can I help?” Doctor Mustard was impressed with the young man’s manners. “Leonard, may I please speak with your Grandpa or Grandma?” “Yes sir, I will call them. Grandpa! Grandma! It’s Doctor Mustard on the phone for you!” John looked at Marie. “Wonder what he wants? Doc, how can I help you?” “John it’s about Annette!” “What about her Doc?” “She is in intensive care. Sam, her boyfriend, beat her within an inch of her life! She is a drug addict if the tracks on her arms are anything to go by, but I don’t know what drugs she uses, do you know? This in itself is a problem, because if she does make the night she is going to pray she did pass on when she starts drying out, but if we do not know what to treat her for, it may become a major health issue. Can you come in, because I cannot go ahead without your permission or knowing what drug or drugs she uses?” “Doc I am there in a few minutes. I just need to go to Inspector Venter before I come in, but keep her under sedation till I am there and we can decide, okay?” “Will do John, will do and as I have said many years back, you and Marie must pray!” Marie saw the anger and heartbreak in John’s eyes; she could hear his voice breaking in some places. “John, what’s wrong with Annette?” John looked at her. “She is in hospital again Marie! Sam beat her up so badly that the doc fears for her life! I am going to Inspector Venter now to ask a few questions of my own and then will go to the hospital. You and Leonard stay home and pray for Annette. If Leonard asks, tell him his mommy was in an accident! Okay?” Marie fell into John’s arms, “Go now John, Leonard and I will pray for his mommy!”
Leonard, now wide eyed, looked at Marie. “Grandma, what’s wrong? Why are you and grandpa crying?” Marie put up a brave face. “Ag my boy, your mommy is in the hospital and she has been hurt badly, that’s all. I am worried about her, but you remember at
the last Sunday school we learned that when we pray to God he hears us and helps us?” Leonard nodded. “Yes Grandma.” “Well my boy this is one of those moments where we need to pray. Will you pray for us my boy?” Leonard’s eyes filled with tears because he loved his mommy even though she did not want to see or play with him. “Yes grandma, I will. Hallo Jesus, it is Leonard here! My mommy is in hospital God, and grandma says she is a bit hurt. I ask you Jesus to look after mommy and make her better. Amen. O, o yes Jesus please, please make mommy love me again! Amen”
John arrived at the police station. “Inspector Venter, where is that piece of scum? I have the need to talk to him and ask him a few important questions!” Inspector Venter smiled. “I thought as much. Let’s say he is in room 315 and let’s say you have five minutes with him to ask those questions. You know the floor is extremely slippery around here. Just one thing John, don’t kill him, okay!” John smiled, “He will not have the privilege to die Inspector. He will pay every day of his life for this!” John walked into room 315. “Hello Sammy boy, you big man! Hear you like hitting women! You are a strong man that picks on weak girls and then hit them into the hospital. Now here is a man in front of you, come hit me, try your luck boy!” Sam looked at the old man smiling. “Yes and if I hit you I have another assault case against me? No way, old man.” John walked to him. “I promise you, no case will be lodged against you from my side! Now you little weasel, let’s go!” Sam pushed John away and laughed at him.
This was enough provocation for John and he hit Sam with a right hook so hard that you could hear the teeth in Sam’s mouth break. Sam fell to the ground. “OUCH! Please sir, no more! Who are you and what do you have to do with me?” “I am Annette’s father you moron! My daughter is on drugs, I want to know what type?” Sam, still spitting out the blood and teeth from his mouth, mumbled. “She is on heroin old man! O, just so you know, she will become a mommy again and that little bastard is mine! We will be family one of these days!” John felt as if someone pushed a knife through his heart. “You piece of scum!” John could not restrain himself any further and kicked Sam as if he was a soccer ball. Inspector Venter had to step in and pull John off Sam, “Enough now John the rest I will do!”
John left the police station screaming. “God if you still listen to me; why? Why did you do this to Annette again? Did she not endure enough in her life? You say you are a just God. Explain to me, come on I am waiting!” John shook his fist in the air as the rage and tears spilled out of his soul. John got in his car and switched it on to drive to the hospital. There was a knock on his window, “Good afternoon sir, my name is Jonas. I am so hungry my boss, please can you help me?” “Listen here Jonas, go work for your money there is no freebees in life!” “Please my boss?” John saw a two rand coin in his car. “Here just get out of my way; I need to get to the hospital.” Jonas looked at this angry man, “I know my boss, but she will be okay! God has sent His angels to watch over her and He says He hears you!” John missed everything Jonas said and sped off.
John arrived at the hospital. “Okay Doctor Mustard, here is what I found out from that useless piece of human skin calling himself her boyfriend. Annette is using heroin and she found out she is pregnant with his baby today. I think that it may complicate things a bit?” Doctor Mustard looked at John in shock. “Okay that is a big problem. If we dry her out she may lose her baby, if we wean her slowly the baby may experience withdrawal symptoms after he or she is born. The question is which one is the lesser evil.” John answered with a stern face, “Doc, you decide, I will back you up either way and if she loses the baby, so be it! Annette is the important one here, okay?” Doctor Mustard nodded in agreement.
Doctor Mustard decided to take the most direct route possible. He locked her in a padded room and left her to dry out. It felt to Annette as if hell erupted in her body. The pain of her injuries were unbearable, adding to the pain in her back and body that was killing her as her body craved for more heroin. The wire in her mouth crawled around like a snake trying to strangle her while the fire in her veins and brain cooked every sell it could get hold off. At times she would cry without reason and the next she would try and knock a hole in the padded wall with her head. She had no control over her body and she wet herself constantly. The worst was the fevers she would get, the cold fever would make her shiver so bad that it would look like she had some kind of seizure and when the heat came she would sweat like she walked in the desert in the middle of the summer in a heat wave. After what felt like an eternity the withdrawal got better and Doctor Mustard took her out of the withdrawal room. Her jaw was still wired and her food was liquidised so she could drink it through a straw, but Annette felt better than she ever did in her life. Everything looked brighter and smelled better and her body was her own.
Inspector Venter walked into her room. “Hi Annette, I trust you feel better. Okay here is the thing, I know you cannot talk, so I will ask the questions and you show me with your thumb up for yes and down for no, okay?” Annette picked up her thumb and showed yes. “Okay, Sam beat you badly my girl and we have laid charges against him?” Annette looked at the inspector like he was a mad man and thought to herself: “You’re mad! Sam would kill me when he gets out!” She picked up her thumb and pointed it down. “Okay, I don’t understand now? He beat you so bad and had you on drugs! Why don’t you want to press charges?” Annette asked for a piece of paper and a pen. “Inspector, no charges! He will kill me and if he does not do it, his henchmen will! I will not go to court nor will I be a witness! My life may be crap, but I don’t want to die now!” Inspector Venter was dumb founded by Annette’s stance. He did not understand the fear Annette had for Sam. “Okay Annette, you have just freed a future murderer, but let’s say next time he will think twice before he does something like this again, that I promise you!”
Annette did not understand what the inspector meant but she knew that Sam would not be the same. Inspector Venter phoned one of his constables, “Okay Jack, we have to release him she is unwilling to go to court, but you know what to do with him. Give him what we normally give guys like him, you know, some special treatment and drop him in Upington when it’s done, okay?” The constable confirmed the order and put down the phone. It would be six months before Sam would appear in Kimberley again. He walked with a distinct limp and his fingers were skew after being broken.
John was called to the hospital twenty one days after Annette was rushed to the emergency room, “John, Annette is ready to go home, but we need to know where home is. She is still pregnant, with no damage to the baby and she is clean. In our talks and sessions she has voiced her hurt about Leonard and how she is afraid to ask for your help. I am here to ask you to talk to Marie to give her a chance.” John smiled thankfully. “Doc, I need to talk to Marie and will let you know tomorrow morning what the outcome is, okay?” Doctor Mustard agreed and John left for home. John arrived home with excitement in his heart. “Marie, please come here!” Marie came into the living room. “Yes John? What did the doctor say?” John looked at her. “Marie, she can come home, but Annette is unwilling to make the move home without us talking and inviting her.” Marie smiled. “John, she is welcome, but you know the rules around Leonard and if she can stick to them, she is more than welcome. Jillian and I have had a talk while you were gone and she told me that she will be moving out soon to move in with Jan. Annette can then take the flat and until then, Leonard can live with Jillian for the next month and we can then all live in the house.”
John was surprised and full of joy at the same time. “Well that is good news! When is Jillian getting married again, because that was our conditions to Jan, remember?” “John, they will be married on new year’s morning, just after midnight, to signal the new beginning in their lives.” “Marie! That is good news! Well then, so be it, I will let Doctor Mustard know we need to talk to Annette to lay down the rules.” Leonard was so excited, he heard every word his grandpa and grandma said and could not wait for his mommy to
come back, “I will be the best little boy for my mommy!” Leonard could not sleep that night and thought about how he and his mommy would talk, play and how she would play with his hair when it was time to go to sleep.
John phoned Doctor Mustard the next morning. “Okay Doc, home with us is the answer, but we would like to talk to Annette to lay down the rules. If she agrees, no problem, but if not, well, we will have a problem. Can we make the meeting around ten ’o clock?” Doctor Mustard agreed. John and Marie arrived at the hospital and walked up to ward ten where Annette was staying. Doctor Mustard met them in the hallway. “Okay you two, Annette’s jaw is wired shut so she cannot speak and it will only be taken off in January. You can talk to her and she will write back. That okay?” John and Marie smiled. “For once we can talk and she has to listen without screaming back!”
John and Marie walked into the room. “Hallo my girl!” Annette jumped up and ran to John, she cried and hugged and kissed him. She turned to Marie and put her arms around her mother and sobbed, “It’s okay my girl, all is forgiven. I always loved you my baby, although I did not agreed with what you did. You are welcome home baby!” John, Marie and Annette sat down’. “Okay Annette, we have spoken and have agreed that you can come home, but we have a few rules. One, is that you cannot use any drugs of any sort again. Two, your boyfriend Sam will not come near the house. Three, when your baby comes, she will be living with us and Leonard. Four, Leonard is a beautiful little boy who loves you with everything he has, even though you have thrown him away. He is the most important person in our house and if you cannot be with him, you will not hurt him in any way, understood?” Annette nodded and wrote, “Agreed daddy! I may not understand how you can love this little boy above me, but I will accept the rules.” Doctor Mustard smiled, “Okay then Annette, you are free to go! Enjoy your new life; remember each day is a new start.” John picked up Annette’s bags as they all left for home.
Leonard could not wait for them to come home! He had the coffee ready and some cake and looked through the window, checking the road, running back to make sure the kettle had water in it. Eventually he heard the car in the driveway. “Yippee. My mommy is home!” John and Marie walked into the house and before they could stop Leonard, he ran past them and grabbed Annette. “My mommy you are okay! I love you so much!” John had to pull Leonard off Annette. “Okay my boy, two quick things, mommy is still a bit sick and two, you need to give her some time to get use to us. She is not use to a little boy, so take it slow okay.” “Yes grandpa. When can we play then?” “Will take a little while, but it will come right okay. You remember how grandpa took a little time to get to know you?” “Yes grandpa! Will she also hit me?” John smiled, “No my boy, she promised not to and you know what....” Leonard looked at John with big wide eyes as if he was about to hear a big secret, “What Grandpa?” “Your mommy loves you although she does not know it yet!” This confused Leonard a little but the word love in John’s sentence overruled all his emotions.
Annette healed very quickly and even picked up some weight. It was Christmas and time for the family to reflect on the year. Jillian was getting ready to move out and the Christmas turkey was in the oven. Jillian did not trust Annette too much with Leonard, but could see that Annette made some effort to play with him. Christmas Eve was Leonard’s favourite time. “Come on grandpa! I want my presents!” John smiled and called everybody together. “Okay Leonard, its time!” John sat down and first read from the Bible, the Christmas story. He explained how the presents that was given every Christmas was to symbolize how God gave his Son to the world as a present. John smiled, “Let us pray, Heavenly Father, thank you for your grace. Thank you that you have brought my daughter back to us and that you have answered Leonard’s prayer to give him his mommy back. Thank you Lord that you have healed Jan and Jillian’s lives and Lord, thank you for your son Jesus that came to this world to heal and save us. Bless us now Father as we enjoy the rest of this night in your son Jesus Christ's name. Amen!” Leonard was the first to run to his presents, “Leonard my boy, sit down and I will give it to you.” Leonard was out of his skin, “Grandpa I want to give my presents first, that’s all!” John was caught by surprise, “Okay my boy, you go!” Leonard took out five envelopes one for each member of his family. John opened and read his out loud, “Grandpa, this letter is for the bestest grandpa in the world! Thank you for all my presents I will look after it all. O yes, I love you very, very much! Love Leonard” John took his little boy in his arms and kissed him, “You are my boy!” Marie took her letter and started crying. In her letter there was a picture Leonard drew with hearts and smiling faces with a big, “I LOVE YOU GRANDMA.”
Jillian read her letter: “My mommy, thank you for looking after me while my real mommy was gone. You and Uncle Jan will get married in only one week and I know that you will be moving out. I am going to miss you, but I know you will only be next door! I love you mommy and hope you and Uncle Jan will be very happy. Love Leonard!” Annette was too scared to open her letter and wrote that she would read it later. The last one was to his little baby brother or sister. “Hi my brother or sister. It is Christmas now and you are missing out, but next Christmas you are here and then you and me will play, promise! I cannot wait for you and promise I will look after you! Love you! Your big brother, Leonard!”
The rest of the presents looked small in comparison with what this little boy gave to them, even though it was only letters. Annette walked to her room and closed the door. She opened the letter: “My mommy, thank you that you came back to me. Thank you that you don’t hit me anymore. I just wanted to say that I will be the bestest boy in the world and always remember I love you!” The tears rolled down Annette’s cheeks. “How can this little boy love me? I beat him and hurt him so bad, yet he is back day after day rubbing my feet and bringing me my food. Why?” It took Annette some time to understand and accept the love that this little boy had for her.
Jillian got married on the first of January at fifteen minutes past midnight. She and Jan left on their honeymoon for three weeks. This was the signal for Leonard that his big school life would begin and that he now was a real big boy. On his first day Grandpa took a film of him in his new school clothes and his book case, he looked like a real business man, ready for school business.
Leonard found school to be boring and he would look out of the window while Miss Zaaiman would teach class. She would test him and eventually would give him more advanced work just to keep him occupied. Leonard had an eye for the girls and Miss Zaaiman's daughter, Serante, was one girl he liked. He would write her little letters and would take her apples. Serante, being only seven, did not understand why this yucky boy did all of this. One day Leonard went to the bathroom at his school, as he was coming out, Sarante and a friend came out off class to go for music lessons. Leonard could not let this opportunity go by and hid behind the wall. As Serante walked past he jumped up and kissed her on her mouth and ran away. I think the rhyme ‘Georgie Porgy pudding and pie...’ was written that day…
Leonard worked hard and did well in school. He was so tired when he got home from school that he had no time to play. Leonard’s constant companion, Crazy Eye, would also come out to play at school sometimes. He would get angry at the teachers when they told him to keep quiet or would send him to the headmaster for not doing his homework. The headmaster would then phone Annette to come to the school and she would then tell the headmaster to give him a hiding. To Annette it was a schlep to look after Leonard. She sort off liked him, but could never get past him being Squeal’s child. If only things happened differently, she was sure she would be able to love him. Leonard breezed through his Sub A and it was in June of that year that Leonard’s little sister was born. Liza Botha was born on the 25th of June 1977. Leonard was so impressed with his little sister that he would go to school and tell Miss Zaaiman, “Teacher, my little sister is beautiful. Her feet are as big as half my hand and you must see her face! She looks like my mommy! Teacher will
you come and look!” Miss Zaaiman would smile, “Yes Leonard I will come and look.”
Miss Zaaiman came for a visit at home just to get Leonard to stop nagging her and told John and Marie about how Leonard kissed her daughter. Leonard was embarrassed about it and Grandpa John did not make it any easier by teasing him. Leonard passed Sub A with all A’s on his report. He breezed through Sub B and Standard 1. It was in Standard 2 that Leonard’s problems started. One day Annette came to fetch him from school. “Okay Leonard, your little sister needs to go to the hospital for her check up and injections. I am going to take you home and leave you there for about 45 minutes, okay?” Leonard smiled. “Can’t I go with mommy? I promise I will be good.” “Well okay Leonard, but only if you will be quiet.” “Promise mommy, yippee!”
They arrived at the hospital. “Okay Leonard, now sit in this chair and wait while I am at the doctor with your sister.” Annette did not see Sam in the waiting room as she walked in. Sam moved closer to Leonard. “Your mom is strict hey? Here is a sweet for you!” Leonard shook his head, “Sorry sir, my Grandpa says that I am not allowed to take sweets from strangers!” Sam smiled, “Well they are right, but I am not a stranger I am your sister’s daddy. Come with me and I will tell you everything, your mommy asked me to be here to talk about your little sister and also see my girl. So while we wait, let’s walk around and see what we can find. I am sure she would not mind!” Leonard trusted Sam when he said that he was his little sister’s daddy. What happened after that nobody knew, but Sam came running into the Doctor’s room. “Annette, quickly, Leonard fell down the stairs!” Annette did not expect Sam there and knew just what he was capable off. She ran down the stairs with Doctor Mustard. “Leonard my boy, are you okay? Leonard where are you?” They found the little boy at the bottom of the stairs. How he got there one can only guess. His head was bleeding and he was barely breathing.
“Doctor please help him, please!” Doctor Mustard scooped Leonard up after first checking for broken bones. “Let’s go Annette! Call your mom and dad, now!” Annette ran to the office and grabbed the phone. “Dad come quick, Leonard fell down the steps, please daddy!” John called Marie. “Marie lets go, its Leonard!” Marie ran out the house. “What about Leonard?” “Leonard went with Annette to the doctors and fell down some steps. I could not understand Annette, but what I gather is that he got hurt badly.” They arrived at the hospital and ran to the emergency room. “Doctor Mustard!” screamed John. Doctor Mustard came out of the procedure room, “John, thank you for coming so quickly, lucky for us Leonard only got a knock against his head. He has a bad concussion and is still in a semi comatose state. I reckon he will be okay, but we need to do some tests within the next 48 hours to see if he has any brain damage.”
John turned to Marie. “Thank God he is okay!” Annette came around the corner with Liza on her hip, “Daddy I am so, so sorry! I told him to stay in his chair and wait for me, but it looks like he went walking with Sam....” “With Sam!” Screamed John, “Where is that piece of scum?!” Sam came out behind the door. “Old man, it was an accident! I just wanted to see my daughter because I am not allowed close to the house! Leonard ran and fell on his knees to show me how far he could slide on the hospitals shiny floors. He miss calculated the distance to the stairs and fell down them before I could stop him. I may have been a bad person many moons ago, but after your friends gave me a wake-up call, I changed! All my business is legal and I may have been lots of things, but a child? Give me some credit!”
John looked at him. “You better hope it’s the truth! If Leonard only hint in the way that you had something to do with this, I personally will kill you!” “Sam, let’s go before my dad hits you!” called Annette. Sam looked at his little girl, “Annette, please talk to your father, I want to see my little girl. I promise to behave and will see her only when he is present. Please be a doll and ask?” Annette smiled, “Sam, you nearly killed me, but I have actually learned something from my boy Leonard. I forgive you and will talk to my dad, but I cannot promise you anything.” “Thank you Annette, that’s all I ask.”
That evening at home, John, Marie and Annette had a fight that could have been classed as the war of the worlds. It got so bad that John ended up slapping Annette and chasing her back to her flat in the back of the yard. In his books it was Annette’s fault that Leonard got hurt. “She should have brought him home Marie! She knew Sam would be there! How can she be so stupid Marie?” Marie looked at John with anger in her heart, “What makes you better than Sam now John? You slap her when she talks to you, even when she says she is sorry, you still slap her. You know Leonard slides on his knees in the hospital halls; heaven knows we have thrown away enough clothes that got torn that way! Now you go back there and apologise, you bully!” John realized that his wife was right. He took Liza on his arm as if to use her as a shield to protect him. “Marie! She’s gone!” Marie stormed out, “What did you say?” “She’s gone Marie. I must find her! Take Liza, I will see you when I find her.” John looked everywhere for Annette, even at Sam’s house, “Sam, Annette is gone, can you help please?” Sam smiled, “Yes old man I will help, but not because you asked, because of my little girl! O yes, then the little matter of seeing Liza...” John looked at Sam with disgust, “You want to bargain at a time like this?” “Old man what’s fair is fair, your girl for mine!” John smiled, “Okay you can see her, but under my watchful eye!” Sam smiled and picked up the phone, “Evening Judas, Annette is missing, find her please!” Judas was Sam’s new assistant who ran the not so legitimate side of Sam’s operation. “Okay boss, I will spread the word!” “John, go home! I will bring her home! If Judas can’t find her, no one can! I promise if she is hurt I will take her to the hospital and let you know, otherwise I will drop her at your door! O and remember our deal old timer!” John smiled, “I am a man of my word scum, just bring Annette home!”
John drove home when he remembered the old man at the police station and his words to him, “Boss, God hears you and sees Annette, and he will look after her!” John looked up to the sky, “God, I leave her and Leonard in your arms, look after them please!” John arrived home, “Marie, Sam is helping. I know what you want to say, but he knows the streets and his people are looking.” Marie smiled back at him, “Actually no, that’s not what I wanted to ask, but can I make you some coffee?” John smiled, “Marie you know you are my pillar of strength and the light of my life! Yes please, it will be nice.”
The phone rang, “John, its Sam here, we found her! She was in one of her old shoot up dens. Unfortunately she used some heroin again. I am not sure, but it looks like she shared a needle. What do you want me to do?” John paused a few moments, “Bring her home! We will clean her up here and look after her.” It was just after ten ’o clock that evening when Sam arrived at Annette’s parents home, “John you may need to let the doctors test for some transmitted diseases or something like that, I am sure she shared the needle, okay?” John nodded, “Thank you Sam, see you tomorrow, maybe it is true that a bad person can change!”
Leonard was drifting in a sea of angels and butterflies when Lucifer came to talk to him. “O my boy, you got hurt I see!” Leonard, still a bit shaken looked at him, “Yes sir but I am feeling better, just my head hurts!” “O my boy it’s part of growing up! I needed to talk to you a bit so I made the floor extra slippery, you liked it?” Leonard still confused, “Not really, because I got hurt. If you like me why do you hurt me?” Lucifer hissed, “Because that is what you are use to! Your mommy is one of them and she is bad! Your grandpa only likes you because your grandma tells him too! Jillian only comes and sees you every other week, so you tell me!” Leonard got angry at this dark thing, “Go away you ugly thing! My mommy, Grandpa and Jillian loves me! You are a liar, you bad man! I never ever want to see you again!” Lucifer burst out in anger, “You little bastard! Now I am not good enough, now that you have everything you wanted! Well surprise, surprise, you are just like your old man! Well let me change that f
or you! Your mommy will die one of these days and you can kiss your grandma goodbye as well! O just so you know, school won’t be that easy either! Let’s see where you get without my good graces!” Leonard smiled at him, “My grandma taught me: He that is in me is greater than he who is in the world! She also said: Resist the Devil and he must flee! For some or other reason I feel that that is about you, so go now!” Lucifer was stunned by this reaction, “As your dad saw my words come true boy, so will you and then you will believe in me as he did!”
Leonard woke up the next morning with a head that felt as big as a soccer ball. “Morning Leonard!” said Doctor Mustard, “Welcome back my boy! We all had a bit of a fright with you falling down the stairs. You feel okay?” Leonard smiled, “Yes Doctor Mustard my head hurts but I am okay I think.” “Okay sounds good. In a few minutes the sister is going to bring you some things to do! Do it the best you can and then we will talk later?” “Okay doctor, is it a test? Just remember I have not studied for it okay!” Doctor Mustard smiled, “Yes it is a test but you don’t have to learn for it, just do your best!” “Okay Doctor I will!” said Leonard wondering what test he was going to do which he did not have to learn for.
John and Marie got to the hospital just as Doctor Mustard got the results. “O, you’re just in time John. We did some preliminary tests on Leonard. It would seem that Leonard has kept something from the fall. It is early to say what the effects may be, but it would seem that his brain activity is scrambled in a small area. This may cause lack of concentration for long periods of time and also may affect his ability to spell properly. On the other side, it may be just for the short term until he has healed fully! Lucky for him school is only starting in two weeks time again, so talk to his teachers and if we need to, we can arrange a therapist to help!” John and Marie smiled, “At least Doc he is okay, and the rest we can work on! One thing Doc, Annette has gone on a binge of heroin last night after a big fight. We have her comfortable and Jillian is with her, what else can we do? We also think she used a shared needle, is there something we can give her to prevent any illnesses?” Doctor Mustard smiled, “Here is a prescription for Penicillin. Let her finish the prescription and she will be okay. For the rest, plenty of water and lots of rest and make sure she does not relapse again, because we will lose her forever.” John picked up the prescription at the hospital pharmacy and left for home. It was two days before they could get Leonard.
Two weeks later Leonard returned to school and John and Marie talked to all his teachers. They looked after Leonard as if he was their own, but the damage was direct and immediate. Leonard’s spelling and memory was affected, he would sometimes have all the answers right to a test but due to his spelling lose half his marks. Sometimes he could not remember dates and answers to the questions, but after the test he would answer all the questions. He passed his exams but his year marks showed his problems.
It was in standard 4 that Annette questioned him on some history when he could not spell the word, commander. She was frustrated after she got sick again and just could not get rid of the bug. Her whole body aced with the flue and she felt like death. She started yelling at Leonard, calling him Squeal and the seed of Satan. She picked up Liza's plastic golfing clubs and beat Leonard with it. Lucky for Leonard, Jillian came in when that happened and took the clubs one by one and cut them up. I think Leonard was the only little boy that was given a hiding with a full set of golf clubs, all be it plastic clubs. Jillian told Leonard to go to Grandpa John. “Annette, why do you do this? That little boy you beat so hard has got a problem and now he has two. His head got hurt two years back and now his mom hits him again! You have no right Annette, no right!” Annette passed out, “John, come quick Annette has passed out!” John picked Annette up and put her in his car. He was surprised at how light Annette was. He drove to the hospital where Doctor Mustard waited. “Doc what’s wrong? She uses no drugs and eats like a beast but she is only bones!” Doctor Mustard ordered a battery of tests and booked her into Intensive Care. “John she is stable for now. We have her on a drip with antibiotics. It looks like a bad flu, but the tests will show us more! I think let’s wait for the tests before we make any assumptions.” John agreed and left for home.
The next morning Doctor Mustard phoned to tell them that the tests showed flu as the culprit but what concerned him was that Annette’s CD4 count was below 150. They could not explain it but was in the process of more tests. Doctor Mustard phoned the next morning, “Okay John, we have got her CD4 count going up again, but I have referred this to a specialist I know in the United States for some help. Hope it is okay with you.” John started crying, “What else will happen to my little girl Doc!” It was several months before Annette would leave the hospital. They did not know why she could not get her CD4 count above 150. They thought it was some or other tropical virus that breaks down the immune system and they could not risk infection.
Leonard grew to a beautiful young man and for him the end of standard 5 could not come fast enough. The reason for this was his Afrikaans teacher Jan, Jillian’s husband. He liked to pick on Leonard, especially when his wife Jillian gave him grief at home. On such days he always liked a quick pop quiz spelling contests. He loved to give Leonard the big words and then would stand behind him with his cane and hit Leonard every time he miss spelled the word. Leonard stood crying before the class for days on end with Jan screaming at him, “Come on, you useless little bastard! Nobody is here to protect you now!”
Jan would also warn Leonard that if he told anybody about this, that he would make sure that Leonard would fail standard five and that he would have another year to make his life miserable. The end of the year came mercifully that sixth of December 1982. Leonard passed Standard 5 with an average of 63% a far cry from the 80% plus average he had end of Standard 2. He was at least done and happy.
“Leonard, Grandpa and I am so proud of you my boy!” as Marie hugged him.”We are going on our first holiday in Knysna at the sea and you and Grandpa are going to catch us some sea fish! Your mom has her last doctor’s appointment tomorrow and then we are off!” Leonard could not wait and was dreaming about the big fish in the sea long before his bedtime.
John and Annette left for Doctor Mustard’s rooms early the next morning. “Hello Doc, we are going to Knysna tomorrow morning. We have lots to do so let’s make it quick!” Doctor Mustard looked at John very concerned, “John, Annette my colleague in America has come back to me on Annette’s condition. She has a virus that is killing off her immune system; this means that all those times she came into hospital because of a common cold that nearly killed her, the reason was this virus. I have to say upfront that there is no cure for it and unlike the flu virus in a normal person, this virus the body can’t fight. We did some tests a week or so ago...” Annette looked scared, “Doc what causes this? Am I going to die? No medicine? What the hell?” Doctor Mustard looked down to the ground to hide his tears, “Annette I think you got it that night when you shared that needle! I am so sorry. As I understand it, you will not die of the virus but because it takes away your body’s ability to fight off infection, it is more than likely that a common cold or simple flue will kill you. We can treat the other sickness but not your virus.”
“Annette, I am sorry to say this to you, but you my girl have full blown Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome, in short, AIDS!”
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