Crooks and Straights

by Masha du Toit

  “Good night,” she said.

  “Good night.” The genie yawned.

  The Silver Web

  The next morning, Gia got a very sleepy Nico down and into his own bed before her parents woke. Then she went out for a run. Sunday mornings were always best for running.

  She still had to figure out the routes in this new neighbourhood. Walmer Estate streets were steep and narrow. Rows of parked cars forced her to run along the middle of the road, which was just as well, as the sidewalks were dangerous even for walking. It seemed as if every second drain cover was missing, and no one picked up after their dogs.

  The streets in Plumstead had been wide and clean. Gia wondered if the street-cleaning trucks ever reached these narrow roads. Or did they only go to the richer suburbs? It had been part of her old life, the sharp stink of the stuff they sprayed against snaartjies and vrekkers, and other small magicals.

  That was one thing that Saraswati would appreciate about this neighbourhood, thought Gia. Her mother hated the smell of the street-cleaners. She always stayed indoors when they were anywhere near, and never allowed Nico outside either.

  The Plumstead streets might be easier, but there was something exhilarating about running up a street as steep as a staircase, finding that perfect rhythm of step and breath.

  She paused on a corner, gasping. Not as fit as I thought! She laughed at herself.

  The view was spectacular. She could see all the way over the harbour, over the bay, beyond Bloubergstrand and Table View to the mountains beyond. Behind her rose the slopes of Devil’s Peak, orange in the early morning light. Gia eyed it speculatively.

  Now that would be a great place to run.

  Getting up to the mountain proved more difficult that she’d guessed. De Waal Drive cut off all easy access and even on a Sunday morning there was enough traffic to make the crossing difficult. Cars came speeding round the bends, and there was no stretch straight enough to give her a long view of approaching traffic. At last she took a gap, and was across the freeway. The mountain surrounded her, the crunch of its soil under her feet, the scent of fynbos, the sounds of small life stirring.

  Running was tricky.

  It would be easy to twist an ankle amid the stones, but this was worlds better than tar and cars. She could stay up here all day. Run all the way around to Newlands, maybe. But not today. Gia slowed to a walk and let herself think about the events of the past week.

  School was not so bad these days. She was getting on with the other students, and she’d found a new friend in Sonella. Working for her parents cut into her time, but the work was interesting, she couldn’t deny that.

  So much had happened since the move. There was her encounter with the haarskeerder. That had been pretty strange. She wondered where it was. And the tea genie had been even stranger.

  She found a smooth rock and sat, looking down the slope to the city below. There was something about being high up above everything that made her troubles shrink back to manageable size. Even the inspection yesterday no longer seemed quite as portentous. Yet, it had been frightening. A sniffer unit search was not something she’d ever experienced before.

  And what about Nico? He would have been frightened if he’d been there, but her mother’s reaction had suggested something more. As if there was something about Nico that she’d wanted to hide.

  Why was everyone suddenly so interested in Nico?

  She though back to the Special Branch presentation. Then there had been Mrs Solomons, who’d asked so many odd questions about him. And now this sniffer unit.

  Was Nico a “changeling”? Had the sniffer unit been sent specially to find him? But that was absurd.

  In any case, according to Captain Witbooi, the Special Branch Children’s Unit was the perfect place to help Nico. They would see his potential. Maybe he would be another one like that girl, the cadet. She’d spoken as though Special Branch had rescued her. Was it right to deny Nico the chance?

  Gia sighed in frustration.

  Maybe she was allowing other people’s fears to cloud her own. Mrs Huisman had warned her against Special Branch. She’d made Gia feel as if the few words she’d spoken to the cadet had been a dangerous mistake. As though by attracting their attention to her, she’d exposed herself somehow.

  The memory of the werewolf rose again, but she found it difficult now to understand why she’d been so frightened of it. It was just a poor, misshapen creature. It must have been her mother’s reaction that had influenced her own fears.

  It was understandable that Saraswati had seen the search as a terrifying experience. Saraswati, who had fled from Europe when she was only a little older than Gia.

  Gia got up. Already the roar of traffic was increasing, and pretty soon it would be impossible to get back across De Waal Drive safely. She stretched and shook her hands to warm them. The sun had not burned away the morning chill yet, and the rock she’d been sitting on was cold. She walked quickly back down to the road, not wanting to risk a fall by running downhill.

  Crossing the freeway was decidedly more difficult on the way back. She had to stand on the central island for a long time, getting the courage up for the last dash to safety. A blare of hooters sent adrenaline rushing, but she made it across at last.

  Then she was back among the steep roads of Walmer Estate. Running downhill was never as comfortable as uphill and Gia came around a corner just a little too fast. She had to jump into the road to avoid a large man who stooped over some rubbish bags. He reared up, scattering bits of rubbish and cursing at her.

  “Sorry!” said Gia, and then she had a proper look at him.

  Grey skin, and eyes like raisins sunk deeply into unbaked dough. Teeth like dried chickpeas. The stench of rotten eggs breathed off him, and Gia had fight the urge to gag.

  The walg swayed where he stood, looking her up and down, as if he considered adding her to his bag of scraps. Gia took another step backward, and was about to run the way she’d come when a car braked next to her.

  “Hey! You! Get back to your business!”

  It was a Special Branch patrol car, with two officers in bulletproof vests. The one in the driver’s seat gestured at the walg. “Get back to your rubbish. Or do you want trouble?”

  The walg turned its tiny eyes to the car, then back to Gia.

  “Voetsek!” said the policeman, and the walg shrugged, picked up its rubbish bags and shuffled off down the road.

  “Sorry about that, miss,” said the policeman. “You by yourself?”

  Gia nodded.

  He looked her up and down in a way that was not entirely friendly.

  “You better watch it,” he said. “Get into trouble running about alone around here. That thing there, he’d like a nice snack, if you give him the chance.”

  Before Gia could think of an answer, the car revved its engine, and accelerated off down the street.

  Gia gave up on running and walked the last few blocks home.

  -oOo-

  There was a knock on the bathroom door. Gia heard her mother’s voice, but could not make out the words.

  “I’m just getting out!” she said, pulling out the bath plug.

  “Gia, is Ben coming, do you know?”

  “He said so.” She wrapped a towel round herself. A look in the living room showed what had prompted her mother’s question.

  Nico had cleared everything off the table, and was setting up the game he and Ben played.

  It was a simple card-game called “Mystic Forest”, but Ben and Nico between them had modified it almost beyond recognition, adding new cards and changing the rules until Gia had only a vague idea of how it worked. Nico had laid out all the starting cards, and was now carefully straightening them so that the rows were exactly aligned.

  No wonder Saraswati seemed a little anxious. There would be a major melt-down if Ben did not show up.

  Up in her room, dressing, Gia saw that Ben had sent a message to her texter.

  “He’s coming, Mom,” s
he shouted down the hatch. “He says he’ll be here at nine.”

  The other message was from Sonella, asking whether it was still fine for her to come round.

  Gia briefly considered asking her mother’s permission, then discarded that idea. If Saraswati was happy for Ben to visit, she’d couldn’t have a problem with Sonella.

  “Come any time,” she replied, and pocketed the texter.

  Mandy had Sundays off, so Gia had to do the breakfast dishes. The doorbell rang just as she rinsed the last bowl. Saraswati pushed the button that released the lower gate just as Gia got to the front door.

  “Ben!” said Nico, jumping on the spot.

  “I hope so, my darling,” said Saraswati as she opened the front door. “But let’s just see…”

  A hand appeared around the edge of the door.

  “Beware,” said a voice from outside. “I am the boy-snatcher!”

  Nico gasped with excitement and grabbed Gia round the waist, half hiding behind her.

  “Benbenben!”

  The door swung all the way open, and Ben stood there, grinning at them. He clapped both hands to his hips like a cartoon cowboy, and with a flick, drew two cards and held them out.

  “Made two new ones,” he drawled. “Manticore and Mandragyn. Read them and weep!”

  “Salt! Salt!” shouted Nico, and rushed into the living room to fetch the appropriate card.

  “Morning, Tannie,” said Ben to Saraswati in his normal voice. “Hi, Gia. What a cool place!”

  He admired the entrance hall which Gia had to admit looked much better now that all the boxes were cleared out, and Saraswati had put up the wall hangings.

  “I’m so glad you could come, Ben; you are an angel,” said Saraswati, leaning in to give him a quick kiss. “How is your mother?”

  “Oh, she’s fine. Her turn to entertain the church ladies again, so she’s in her element.”

  Gia privately suspected that Ben’s Sunday visits were as much to get away from his mother’s social events, as visiting her or Nico.

  “Salt, salt, salt!” chanted Nico from the living room.

  “I’d better get in there,” said Ben.

  Gia was about to follow him, when she heard a voice echoing up the stairwell.

  “Hello? Hi, Gia?”

  “Sonella!” she called. “Come on up!”

  She pressed the gate button and heard the clang as the lock released. “Mom,” she said as Sonella came into view. “This is Sonella, my new friend from school. I told you about her, remember?”

  “Oh?” said Saraswati. “Good morning, Sonella.”

  She smiled at Sonella, who stood in the door looking a little stunned.

  “Good morning, Saras— I mean, Mrs Gotti— Grobbelaar?” She blushed furiously.

  “I’m Mrs Grobbelaar, really,” said Saraswati calmly, ignoring the girl’s confusion. “Gotti is really just a name for stuff related to the business. But you can call me Saraswati.”

  Sonella swallowed and smiled nervously but seemed to relax a little. “It’s such an honour to meet you. I’ve been collecting pictures of your dresses all my life. Especially the bird dresses. Those are so lovely. I saw the Peacock Dress at the National Gallery but I could not get close to it as there were so many other people…” Sonella stumbled to a halt and blushed again.

  “I’m busy on a new one,” said Saraswati. “Would you like to see it? It’s only just started, so there’s not much to see.”

  “Oh, could I? I’d love to.”

  “In here.” Saraswati led the way into the living room.

  “Ben, have you met Gia’s friend Sonella?” she said.

  “Hi there.” Ben raised the cup he was holding in greeting, then rattled it and rolled the dice.

  “Seven! Basted!” declared Nico and flipped over several of the cards.

  “Basted and battered!” said Ben pointing at the last card.

  “No use talking to them when they’re playing,” said Saraswati. She pulled away the cloth that covered her work table.

  “I’ve not really unpacked these yet,” she said, opening one of the boxes. “I keep meaning to work at them but something always gets in the way. These are some of the pieces I’ve made so far.”

  Sonella stared in admiration as Saraswati drew out the lengths of embroidered fabric.

  Gia felt a stir of pride in her mother’s work. Sunlight from the window fell directly on the embroidery, waking glints of deepest purple and emerald amid the glossy black of the thread.

  “What is it this time? A crow?” asked Sonella.

  “It might be,” said Saraswati, and seeing Sonella’s puzzled look, laughed.

  “I don’t always know what they are. This one started out being a gull. But it’s turning out far too grand.”

  “Yes,” agreed Sonella. “It could be a crow. One of those with the white breasts. Witbors kraai.”

  Gia eyed the box that contained the beads.

  Had she dreamed about the genie, and sorting them after all?

  Saraswati reached for it now, and she got her answer in her mother’s startled reaction. “Oh!” Saraswati looked up. “Gia? Did you?”

  Gia felt herself blushing.

  “Gia, was it you? Did you sort these beads for me?”

  But Gia only shook her head. She could see that her mother was moved almost to tears, and for some reason she felt hugely embarrassed.

  “Well.” Saraswati looked down at the box again, then with a visible effort, pulled herself together.

  “These are the beads I’ve been collecting, Sonella,” she said. “Some of these are older than I am.” She reached into the box to extract one of the tubes, and the awkward moment passed.

  As Sonella exclaimed over the beads, Gia got her mother’s attention.

  “Mom, can I give Sonella some of Dad’s old magazines? The ones he’s finished with?”

  “Of course you may. There’s a whole pile there behind the sofa. I keep meaning to throw them out. In fact, you girls would be doing me a big favour by sorting through them, and packing the ones you don’t want into boxes. Let me go get some.”

  -oOo-

  Soon, Gia and Sonella were settled on the sofa surrounded by stacks of magazines. Sonella, once she was sure that she really was allowed to, paged until she saw something that caught her eye, removed the page with an expert tug and added it to the growing pile at her feet. Gia divided her attention between finding interesting pictures for Sonella, and watching Ben and Nico play.

  She’d played the original, unmodified game of Mystic Forest herself, many years ago. Ben and Nico had been adding cards and making up new rules for more than a year now, and Gia could not decide if the modified game was just so baroque that an outsider could not make sense of it, or if there were no real rules at all, and Ben and Nico were making the game up as they went along.

  Right now, they were going through a sequence where they would each roll the dice, play a slow hand-clapping game while they muttered a series of numbers, and then both would dart at the table and turn a card over and slap it down shouting “dead on!” or “salt!”

  Saraswati sat at her worktable, embroidering her bird dress. With a sting of what felt almost like guilt, Gia realised that it had been a very long time since she’d seen her mother working on anything but client work.

  She hardly ever gets a chance to work on her own stuff. It's always something for Dad, some wedding gown or matric dance dress.

  “Grub’s up!” Karel stood in the door, hands full of paper parcels.

  “No, don’t get up,” he said to Sonella, handing her a parcel. “Have one of these— I think that’s a beans bunny. Hi, you must be Sonella. Sari warned me we had visitors, so I made a quick run to Granny’s for some food. Hello, Ben!”

  “Gia,” said Saraswati. “There are some paper plates in the cupboard next to the fridge. And some serviettes. And a damp cloth for wiping up.”

  Soon they were all sitting around the room eating.

&nbs
p; Nico reluctantly left the game, and sat on the floor next to Ben, allowing his mother to dissect his bunny-chow into manageable pieces. Saraswati had introduced Nico to Sonella, but the boy hardly seemed to register her, his unfocused gaze sliding over her, then back to the food. To Gia’s relief, Sonella was not at all startled or worried by her brother’s obvious strangeness.

  Karel perched on the arm of the sofa and ate his portion quickly, trading jokes with Ben. “Well,” he said at last, sucking some sauce off a finger. “That was nice, but I’ve got to get back to work.” He looked across at Saraswati. “Need your help, sweetheart. The lace gown. Bodice is just not sitting right. Can you come?”

  Saraswati nodded. “I’ll be right down.” She cleaned her hands with the damp cloth, then folded the fabric she’d been working on and packed it away. She was still fitting the lid back on the box when the doorbell rang.

  “Who on earth?” She frowned and went for the door. Gia heard her greet somebody, the surprise clear in her voice, and a moment later she was back.

  “Nico,” she said. “Here’s a visitor for you.”

  She stood back, and the caretaker stepped into the room. He held his toolbox in one hand, and another box under his arm.

  “Mr— um— Caretaker, this is Gia’s friend Sonella. And this is Ben, an old friend of the family,” said Saraswati.

  The caretaker bowed his head briefly, but his attention was focused on Nico.

  “Good afternoon, Nico,” he said. “I brought you some things.”

  “Toy,” said Nico.

  “That’s right,” said the caretaker, and turned to Saraswati. “Just some old things I found. Might amuse him.”

  “That’s very kind of you,” said Saraswati and hesitated.

  “Sari!” came Karel’s voice from below.

  “Just coming,” called Saraswati, looking uncertainly at the caretaker. “I’ll be right back. Gia, please make sure Nico does not make a nuisance of himself.”

  “It’s okay, Mom,” said Gia. “I’ll look after things.”

  -oOo-

  When Saraswati was gone, the caretaker put down his boxes, and lowered himself to sit on the floor in front of Nico. Gia noticed that although he seemed to be an old man, he sat cross-legged with the ease of a child.