Siren

by Kuli Roberts

  Siren looked out at the Hollywood elite as Busi clutched the Oscar and started speaking, saying as much as she could before her time was up. When she held out a hand, Siren grasped it and was pulled close to the podium. The music had started, but Busi was still talking: ‘Siren Sedibe, you are Babalwa, you will always be Babalwa. You are the soul of the movie. This belongs to you as much as it does to anyone.’

  Chapter 36

  THEY ARRIVED BACK home to a media frenzy, and everywhere Busi went, there was Siren, right by her side. There were appearances on both television and radio. Everybody wanted to see the Oscar, have their photo taken with it, and people who before would not have given Siren the time of day now scrambled to talk to her.

  ‘Just wanted to say congrats,’ Brenda Archer said on the phone, laying on the sincerity a little thick. ‘Much deserved.’

  ‘Thanks, Brenda.’

  ‘And if you still need representation, maybe we can talk.’

  ‘Really? I thought you said hell would freeze over before you’d even think of taking me on again.’

  ‘Did I say that? You know, it’s truly amazing what comes out of my mouth sometimes.’

  ‘Maybe we could have done that, but I just signed with someone else. Sorry.’

  ‘But I just thought –’

  ‘You just thought we could start over. Not sure we can, but thanks so much for the call, Brenda, I really appreciate it.’

  In the wake of its Oscar success, Babalwa was re-released in cinemas, playing to packed houses, and there were photo opportunities with everybody from schoolchildren to the president. As far as representation was concerned, Siren had spoken to a new agency run by Justin Pieterse, a lawyer venturing into entertainment. He’d called the day after her return from Los Angeles, delivering an impressive pitch over coffee at the Park Hyatt in Rosebank.

  A wiry, elegant man, he outlined all he could do for her revitalised career. Besides opportunities in television and film, there were potential product endorsements. ‘The sky is really the limit for you, but it’s so important that you have the right representation. This is the agency to take you to the next level, I feel it in my bones.’

  Listening to what Justin had to say, Siren knew she had done it. Everything she wanted was there; what she’d been fighting for all her life was within her reach.

  ‘It all sounds great,’ she told him. ‘You’ve given me a lot to think about, and I promise I will get back to you.’

  Justin’s air of composure slipped a little. ‘You know, you really have to strike while the iron is hot. There is a window of opportunity here you can’t afford to miss. People in this industry are notorious for their short memories.’

  Siren had to smile at that. ‘You don’t have to tell me. They’ve forgotten before, and I wouldn’t put it past them to do it again. Thank you so much, Justin, but before I make any decisions about my future, there are some things I really have to do.’

  The journey took her two days by car, stopping over at a small bed-and-breakfast in East London. She’d come this way before, but now everything was different, so much more was at stake, and she was not about to take anything for granted.

  It was early afternoon when she pulled up outside her mother’s Camps Bay home. At the front door, Mabel hugged her, holding her tighter than she ever had before, as if she never wanted to let go. ‘It is so good to see you, my child. We have waited for you, to give thanks for your life and all you have achieved.’

  And there was Richard, the father once absent, now present. All those years without him, but it was as if he’d always been there, just waiting for his moment. ‘It’s been too long,’ he said as he enveloped her in a hug. ‘We have missed you. All of us.’

  ‘Where is she?’ Siren asked Mabel.

  ‘Sleeping. When she came back from crèche she was so excited, but then I think she just got too tired.’

  ‘She’s been telling everybody that her mother won an Oscar,’ Richard said.

  Her daughter’s room was light and airy, all bright colours, a little girl’s refuge, and Siren was forced to confront all she had missed out on, all she had lost. Maybe she would never get it back.

  And as she looked down at Thando lying curled up on her bed, all she could think of was how normal she looked, how peaceful, how absolutely perfect. For a brief moment she felt overwhelmed – how she despised herself for turning her back, for thinking she could make any kind of life without this child.

  But then the little girl moved on the bed, stretching out her arms. Her eyes opened and she struggled to focus. Then looking up, she saw her mother and smiled.

  Acknowledgements

  AFTER WRITING SEXY columns for our biggest Sunday newspapers – Sunday World, Sunday Sun and Sunday Times – for two decades, I finally decided to try a book, and besides not being as fast to write, it also had to be longer ... damn! It went on and on but got sexier. So here we are and I want to begin by acknowledging my children, Tembela, Leaun and Isabella, for giving me the happiness and peace to find the positive energy to reflect Siren.

  A bit of you and the celebrity you covet.

  The LGBTQ community continues to face discrimination while the aim of a perfect life on or off the gram will never be achieved. So let’s try and lead meaningful lives.

  Thanks to the local entertainment industry for being a source of inspiration and for actually existing throughout apartheid’s horror.

  Our people continue to live in metal structures and that’s something as Africans we should eradicate altogether.

  Thanks to the team at Kenzo Project Management for helping to put the project together and being awesome agents.

  I must acknowledge and thank Andrew Herold for your editorial and creative assistance along the way.

  Nyaniso Bhengu, thank you chomi for being a great friend and sounding board.

  Persons with Albinism continue to suffer, and be hunted and killed in Malawi in 2019. So please continue spreading awareness, and let’s see an end to the killings.

  But hey, let’s not forget to enjoy Siren and do not let greed be the focus but Love.

  Hope you enjoy the sex ... I am.

  About the Author

  AN EX-UNIVERSITY OF Cape Town history student, Nomakula Roberts, affectionately known as Kuli, has always loved the world of entertainment and knew she would be a star even though she never took drama classes too seriously.

  Kuli has enjoyed a long and varied career in the media industry. Starting at Fair Lady magazine, as a journalist she has worked as fashion and beauty editor for Drum magazine, as a gossip columnist at You magazine, and as the editor of Pace magazine. When it comes to newspapers, Kuli has been with the biggest in the country. She was associate editor and columnist for Sunday World and a columnist for Sunday Sun and Sunday Times.

  As a television presenter, she presented the international shows What Not to Wear, Headline, The Real Goboza (RGB), Trending on Style, The Toasty Show, and TrendingSA. Kuli is a producer as well and produced Entertainment 411 and The Take Off, which was on two broadcasters, Soweto TV and GauTV.

  Siren is her first foray into the world of fiction.

  Yours in entertainment ...