It Takes Two

by Haden, Ross;

  The next morning he got up when the first light came through the curtains. He took care putting on his uniform that he had been given by Mr Sotshononda when he had left the office.

  “Wow!” he thought to himself when he arrived at the gate of the new school. Every learner looked exactly the same in their clean, neat school uniforms. The buildings looked new and there was even a sports field. Sam had never seen a school like this before. The ones he had attended before had broken windows, or no windows at all, and the school yard was mostly sand and rubble. The teachers never really cared much for the safety of the learners. Sam remembered the day he and his sister were attacked on school grounds by a group of boys who wanted their lunch money. The teachers did nothing to stop the thugs.

  The school bell rang as he crossed his new school’s grounds. Everyone started running, but he was lost. This was horrible, just like his dream. He wished he could just turn around and run back to The Haven. He was left standing all by himself.

  “Hey, you, hurry up. What are you waiting for? Go to class before I call your teacher.”

  He turned to see a beautiful girl walking towards him. Her voice was firm but sweet at the same time, like she would give him a chance. He was speechless.

  “Bhuti undimamele? Are you listening?” she said again, only this time she was standing right in front of him.

  He remembered his mother’s voice telling him that his cute smile could get him out of any trouble. He flashed her one. She stepped back and looked away. Now he was confused.

  Just then a boy ran past. “Khawuleza! Move it!” he shouted. “Zinhle doesn’t mess around, bra. She will get you in trouble,” he laughed as he and Sam dashed for the corridor.

  “It’s my first day and I am not sure where the class is,” Sam said, relieved to have found help. He was grinning as they ran towards the classrooms.

  “Well you came to the right person, mfowethu,” said the boy, and he tapped Sam on the shoulder. Sam felt that this guy could be a friend.

  As they went into the class, having found out they were the same grade, Sam turned and looked back down the passage. The beautiful Zinhle was still standing there, watching him.

  ~•~

  “Thando, hurry up or we’ll be late for class,” Zinhle told her friend who came running from the toilets. “I can’t believe I waited for you. Now we’ll both be late and I’m supposed to set a good example.”

  Thando just laughed. “Hey, chommie, who was that you were talking to?”

  “Just some new boy,” Zinhle whispered. As they entered the class Mr Dlamini stopped talking. He gave them a look that said, ‘I’m watching you’ then turned his back to them and wrote something on the board.

  The girls sat down at their desks. As Zinhle turned to hang her bag on her chair, she looked up to see Sam staring at her from the desk next to the window. She felt the blood rush to her face and was surprised at how embarrassed and confused she felt.

  Then Mr Dlamini turned to face them and cleared his throat. “Class, now that we are all present,” he said, glaring at Thando and Zinhle, “I would like to introduce a new student at Vulamasango High. This is Samuel Khoza. I know he is starting late so please assist him with his work.” Mr Dlamini smiled at Sam and the whole class turned to look at him.

  “Don’t worry, Meneer. He is in good hands,” Xolani shouted from the back of the class.

  “I wouldn’t wanna know where those hands have been,” Thando said, just loud enough for Xolani, who was sitting next to her, to hear.

  “Are you sure?” Xolani winked at her.

  Zinhle looked across at Sam again. Why was he starting at a new school in the second term? She thought of his smile and how she had felt her stomach twist on seeing it. She said his name in her head. Samuel, wow, such a strong biblical name. She remembered the name from her childhood Sunday school classes.

  When she left the classroom at break time, she bumped into him standing in the passage with Xolani, chatting. The new boy obviously didn’t know anything about Xolani and what he got up to, she thought.

  “Hey, Zinhle. Want to join us?” Xolani teased her. She ignored him and Sam and walked quickly past them and out into the quad to join Thando and her other friends. They were already gossiping about the new boy.

  “I heard people say he was homeless and that Mr Sotshononda took him in,” Thando said.

  “Oh! Really?” Nombu said, raising her eyebrows.

  “Yeah, guys like him are trouble. Maybe he ran away from home or something? He could even be a part of Xolani’s gang because they seem to know each other.”

  Thando looked over at Xolani and Sam who were now playing soccer with some of the Matric boys.

  “Ewe, sis. I heard he’s a street kid and he used to beg until Mr Sotshononda found him and gave him a place to stay,” Thando went on and on.

  “Eish! Don’t you ladies have anything better to do than gossip about people? Theth’Inonsense oko, talking rubbish all the time.” The words flew out of Zinhle’s mouth before she could stop them. The girls looked at her then laughed and she felt even more confused.

  “I think Zinhle likes the new boy. What do you say, girls?” Thando said, turning to her friends, who all nodded.

  “Ah ha … I think you might be right,” said Nosipho just as Xolani passed them to get water from the tap. He winked at Zinhle.

  Maybe they are right, Zinhle thought as she watched Sam share bread with Xolani and some other boys. But maybe they are wrong. Her mother always told her not to judge people until she knew them.

  ~•~

  Sam sat next to Xolani in the taxi after school.

  “So where do you stay?” Xolani asked, taking out a cigarette and lighting it.

  An old woman looked at him and whispered to her friend, “Yhu! Abantwana bangoku abanambeko. Kids of today have no respect.”

  Xolani wasn’t fazed by what she said, and ignored her. He looked at Sam, waiting for an answer.

  Sam hesitated before he told Xolani, “I stay at that Haven Children’s Home.” He had taken a chance telling Xolani and he was not sure how he would react. But he needed a friend at school and Xolani was the only person who had talked to him. That is, apart from Zinhle, whom he could not stop thinking about.

  “I’ve heard of that place. What happened to your parents?” Xolani took a puff of his cigarette then put it out after the taxi driver scolded him.

  “It’s a long story,” Sam said. He didn’t want to go into it.

  “No worries, I understand. But if you ever need help with anything just let me know.” Xolani then quickly changed the subject and started to talk about the last match between Mamelodi Sundowns and Pirates, until Sam got off the taxi.

  As they said goodbye they joked about the girls at the school. Sam asked Xolani why Zinhle hung around Thando and her group because she didn’t look as mean as them. “I don’t know, bra. Girls are a mystery,” Xolani laughed. “I think Zinhle likes you,” he added as he ran off down the street.

  ~•~

  Back at The Haven Sam lay on his bunk bed and thought about Zinhle. He was lost in daydreams when Thabo ran into the dormitory and jumped on his bed.

  “So, aren’t you gonna tell me how your day went?” the youngster said, kicking off his shoes.

  “Eish, yho, that school is amazing,” Sam began, and told him everything that happened, and about Xolani.

  “Sounds like you had a great day.”

  Just then Siphiwe came running into the room. “Have you heard what Mam’Gqwashu did?” He was out of breath. “She beat up one of the girls she takes care of.”

  Siphiwe knew a lot of what took place at Mam’Gqwashu’s. He had been a foster child in her home for a short while, before he escaped. “The street is better than being prisoner there,” he would say. Luckily a place had come open in The Haven and now he had a home. Bu
t some of his friends were still trapped at Mam’Gqwashu’s.

  Sam felt like his insides were one big knot. Could it be Sinethemba?

  “The ambulance came and took the girl to the hospital, but Mam’Gqwashu had said that the girl had fallen down the stairs by mistake,” Siphiwe said, out of breath.

  “She is lying!” Sam shouted and punched the pillow.

  Sam was frightened to ask who the victim was, but he had to know.

  “Do you know who the girl was?” he asked quietly.

  “A girl called … um … Lindiwe,” Siphiwe replied.

  Sam felt relief flood him, but then he tensed again. It could have been Sinethemba. It might be her next time. He had to get her out of there before it was too late. Then he thought of Xolani.

  “If you need any help ask me.” That’s what he had said. But did he mean it? It could be dangerous rescuing Sinethemba from such a woman.

  ~•~

  Sam soon found out that Xolani was a guy who meant what he said. When Sam asked him, he helped Sam look for a job. Xolani knew someone who worked on the shop floor at Mohammed’s Supermarket. They were looking for weekend casuals and Sam got the job.

  So Xolani had been true to his word about helping and Sam felt, whatever the girls said, that Xolani would be a true friend. Now Sam could start saving money.

  Things felt hopeful at last. He had the beginnings of a plan to rescue his sister, he was making a new friend, and Zinhle had smiled at him at school. As he packed the shelves he daydreamed about that smile. He hadn’t spoken to her since that first day at school but he had caught her looking across the class at him several times.

  “Sam, get a move on,” Mohammed shouted from the front desk.

  “Yes, sir,” said Sam and started to pack the shelves of cereal boxes faster.

  Still his mind wandered. He could not stop thinking of Zinhle. As he turned to pack the next aisle he heard someone humming one of his favourite songs – Kings of Leon’s ‘Manhattan’. When he looked up there she was. Zinhle was reading the back of a box of cereal and humming along to the tune.

  He opened his mouth. No words came out. He watched as she went to the till and took her purse out. And then he saw the distress on her face as she realised she didn’t have enough money for her groceries. He knew that feeling. He remembered his mother that day when they had to leave half the weekly shopping behind. He remembered how it felt when people stared at them as if they had no business being in the shop.

  He saw Zinhle begin to panic.

  “Sorry, Miss, but I think you dropped this back there,” Sam said, running up to her and tapping her on the shoulder. He held out a fifty-rand note.

  Sam could see the shock and confusion on Zinhle’s face. He knew how the other girls had been gossiping about him at school. “That one is bad news, chommie. You should stay away from him,” he had heard Thando say to Zinhle.

  “Are you gonna pay or what?” Mohammed was getting impatient with her.

  “Your money, take it,” Sam said and put the fifty-rand note into her palm.

  ~•~

  Zinhle waited for Sam to finish his shift and when he came out of the shop, she handed him the missing fifty-rand note that she had found at the bottom of her bag.

  “Keep it.” He pushed her hand away.

  “No, it’s your money. Please take it back,” she persisted.

  “It’s fine. I would like to give it to you,” Sam replied firmly.

  “Please take it back. I don’t want to feel like I owe you anything,” Zinhle said, and pushed the money into his hand.

  Sam looked at her closely. He could see that she really meant what she was saying, but having her so close unsettled him – and made him wonder what it would be like to have his arms around her. Her hand felt so soft and gentle.

  “It’s getting late, so I’ll take the money back if you let me walk you home to make sure that you get there safely,” Sam said, taking the money from her. She did not protest so they began to walk together. Neither of them spoke. But Sam could feel hope slowly creeping into his heart. He couldn’t help but wish that he could do this every day.

  “Uhlala phi?” Sam asked softly.

  Zinhle hesitated for a moment then pointed, saying, “Behind that park.”

  “I hear that park is not safe to walk through at night.” Sam moved closer to her. He was so close she could feel his breath but she didn’t mind being so close to him. In fact she felt safe, knowing that he was there to protect her.

  “So what’s your story?” Zinhle said, pulling herself together.

  Sam looked away for a moment. Then he realised that this was his opportunity to set the record straight and that maybe she would see him differently if she knew the truth about him.

  He started telling her about his sister and how they were separated after their mother and father died and how he landed up at The Haven Children’s Home.

  They walked slowly and Zinhle nodded and listened intently. How could someone go through such trauma and still be OK? she thought to herself. She kept thinking of her own mother and how she had started taking pain medication to numb herself from feeling so bad after her husband, Zinhle’s father, died. But all that did not seem nearly as bad as what Sam had gone through.

  “Wow! How can you be so normal after all this?” Zinhle said, and squeezed his hand.

  “I guess Mr Sotshononda has really helped me to cope with everything.”

  He accompanied Zinhle to her street then waited as she walked to a beautiful yellow house and disappeared inside.

  He walked home feeling like a weight had been lifted off his shoulders.

  “I guess talking about it really helps,” he thought, as he took the taxi home.

  ~•~

  The next morning Sam woke up to Siphiwe calling to him as he entered their dorm.

  “What’s wrong?”

  “Something has happened and you’re not gonna like it,” he said, now at Sam’s side.

  Sam’s heart beat faster. It was about his sister, he knew it in his bones. “What? What happened? Please tell me.”

  “Sam, it’s your sister. She fell ill after Mam’Gqwashu locked her up without food,” Siphiwe said softly.

  Sam felt a strange yet familiar pain in his heart. It was the same pain he had felt when his sister was being taken away. But one thing was for sure. This time Mam’Gqwashu had gone too far. The money from work wasn’t enough yet to rent a room. But he had to come up with a plan fast. He had to rescue Sinethemba before something even more terrible happened.

  When Sam got to school he met Xolani at the usual spot behind the classrooms. “Eish, that job you got me is all right, but that man pays peanuts and I need more money.” Sam hated having to ask Xolani for another favour, but there was no choice.

  “Look, Sam, I know someone who can help.”

  “Who?” Sam looked worried.

  “Don’t worry about anything. I’ll take care of it. Just tell me how much you need.”

  “I need enough to rent a place and for food and …” Sam began, then told Xolani the whole story about his sister and about Mam’Gqwashu.

  “That’s tough, bra. But I know just the person …” began Xolani, then told Sam about ‘Bra Frank’. He loaned people in the community money. He didn’t even charge much interest as long as they paid him back on time. Xolani could take him to Bra Frank.

  What if he couldn’t afford to pay him back, thought Sam. He had heard stories of what loan sharks did if you couldn’t pay them back. But time was running out.

  Zinhle was standing outside the class by herself. She looked worried as Xolani dashed inside ahead of Sam. She had seen them talking.

  “Why do you hang out with the likes of him?” Zinhle asked and nodded towards Xolani.

  “What happened to people greeting these days?” Sa
m said, quickly changing the topic.

  Zinhle smiled. “Sorry. Hi, Sam.”

  “Hello, Zinhle. What’s a beautiful girl like you doing after school?” Sam looked at his feet, hoping that she wouldn’t turn him down.

  ‘Beautiful’, Zinhle thought. No one ever calls me that. It had taken guts to ask her, she knew that. She didn’t want to push him away. She thought about him all the time.

  “A lot actually. Why do you ask?” Zinhle replied, in that same sweet, yet firm, voice that he had fallen for on his first day of school.

  “Well, I would like to take you out sometime, when you have a break in your very busy schedule,” Sam teased. His fingers were firmly crossed behind his back.

  “I’ll think about it,” Zinhle said, then looked up as Thando approached them.

  Sam was ecstatic. He couldn’t believe that he had finally done it. He had worked up the courage to ask her out on a date and she hadn’t pushed him away or turned him down.

  ‘I’ll think about it …’ He played those words over and over in his mind.

  “Hey wena, be careful of girls like her. They are just too good for someone like you,” Xolani teased him when he sat down next to him in class.

  “What do you mean?” Sam said quickly.

  “I’m just saying, she is one of the good girls here and I don’t think people will take it well if they see you two together.”

  Sam knew exactly what Xolani was talking about. He had been getting the evil eye from Zinhle’s friends. It was as if they already knew his story and that he was some sort of outcast. But he didn’t really care much what people thought. As his mother used to say to him before she passed away: “People will always judge you, my son, but it’s how you respond to it that gives you power.”

  His mother was a strong woman. She never had much to give them materially, but her love for them and her words of wisdom were more than enough.

  ~•~

  The following day at break Xolani told Sam he had spoken to Bra Frank’s guys and they said they would meet Sam. After school Xolani would take him there.