‘Well, that was probably because he’d just done so well at the Coca-Cola cricket tournament. I bet you won’t be sorry, Ma, if he chooses cricket. I know how much you hate it when he gets all bloodied and bruised.’
‘Ja. But don’t tell your pa that. At least he can’t get hurt playing cricket.’
Arno laughed. ‘Who would have thought my little brother would be chosen as opening batsman for the Free State schools side? And now, he’s also going to Craven Week for rugby. I’m really proud one of your boys got Pa’s genes.’
Annamari swallowed. ‘Hey, I’m proud of you. I don’t think it’s right, that you can’t... oh help. Arno, I have to go. I left the shopping on the back stoep and I think the dogs are eating it.’
Annamari ran back to the kitchen. Wagter looked up from lapping at the broken eggs, turned and bolted down the stairs.
***
Annamari unlocked the Steynspruit post box in the corridor outside the Driespruitfontein Post Office. She sorted through the pile of junk mail, and was about to throw the plain brown envelope into the rubbish bin when she noticed the Department of Land Affairs stamp on the back. She turned it over, her blood freezing in her veins. She prayed it was just a routine circular. But she knew, she just knew, this was payback time.
It was addressed to “Mr and Mrs T van Zyl, Posbus 325, Driespruitfontein”.
She held it gingerly at the top corner. It flapped in the breeze as she slowly made her way back to the Steynspruit minibus to wait for the other Kibbutz women. Should she wait until she got home, wait for Thys to finish teaching for the day, and open it with him? Perhaps they should ask Petrus to call a Kibbutz Steynspruit meeting and open it then. Perhaps she should just tear it up and throw it away. She put her fingernail under the flap and jiggled. Just a little. Nervously. And then the envelope just popped open. It was obviously a sign.
Holding her breath, she unfolded the document inside.
GENERAL NOTICE IN TERMS OF THE RESTITUTION OF LAND RIGHTS ACT, 1994 (ACT NO.22 OF 1994), AS AMENDED.
Notice is hereby given in terms of section 11 (1) of the Restitution of Land Rights Act, 1994 (Act No.22 of 1994), as amended, that a claim for restitution of land rights has been lodged on the farm Steynspruit in the Driespruitfontein District, Free State.
The claimed land in terms of the Restitution of Land Rights Act, 1994 (Act NO. 22 of 1994) as amended is the full extent of the farm known as Steynspruit.
Mr. Thabiso Hadebe lodged a land claim on behalf of the Hadebe/Schekoera/Moilwa families on the 31st of December 1998.
The following table delicts the land claimed by the above claimants.
Farm Name: Steynspruit
Current Owner: Mr and Mrs T van Zyl
Extent in Hectares: 1,200ha
The Regional Land Claims Commission for the Free State and Northern Cape on Restitution of Land Rights will further investigate the claim in terms of the provisions of the Act, as amended. Any party who has an interest in the above-mentioned land claim is hereby invited to submit, within 30 days from the date of this Notice, any comments/information to:
The Regional Land Claims Commissioner
Free State and Northern Cape
P.0. Box 2345
Kimberley
8300
Tel: (053) 807 5555
Fax:(053)807 5556.
Chapter 25
2000
‘Hello. This is Bontle’s phone. Please leave a message.’
Annamari peered at the number in the contact list on her cell phone. She was sure she had dialled it correctly. She dialled again, slowly: 074 555 5679.
‘Hello. This is Bontle’s phone. Please leave a message.’
Now what? Annamari knew she should have written the number in her tattered, trusty address book with its faded floral cover. But Thys and De Wet had laughed at her. No one, they said, still used a proper address book.
‘Look Ma,’ De Wet had said, waving her little cell phone under her nose. ‘You enter the person’s name and phone number here; and when you want to phone them, you find their number in your contact list... like this, see? And then you just press this button. That’s it. Easy.’
But it wasn’t. Annamari hated the little phone that seemed to have a mind of its own. However with the real telephone being out of order so often – the copper cables kept being stolen, they said – these fancy cell phones had become essential. It was just as well Vodacom had put up that tower on the koppie, Thys had said. Annamari was less impressed. She could see it, every time she looked out beyond the fields, past the poplars. It was ugly and it didn’t work. Calls were always cut off, right in the middle of a conversation. So Annamari always tried the proper phone first, just to see if it was working, before she resorted to her new Nokia. De Wet said it was the “coolest” phone on the market.
She replaced the real telephone and clicked on Beauty’s name in the Nokia’s phonebook, just as De Wet had shown her.
‘Hello. This is Bontle’s phone. Please leave a message.’
Annamari resisted the temptation to hurl the little device against the wall. She had to get hold of Beauty. This was urgent. They only had another twenty days to respond to that awful, awful letter. Beauty would know what to do, who to contact, even if she wasn’t a proper lawyer yet. Petrus, Thys and her, they had all agreed that it would be best to speak to Beauty before doing anything else. But that had been hours ago, just after she had got back from Driespruitfontein with the letter.
She had rushed down to the school to show it to Thys. He told her to take it to Petrus in the kibbutz office. He would just set some homework for the children, dismiss them and join her there.
Annamari panted into the office. Petrus got up and came towards her from behind the desk, as he always did. Annamari fiddled with her collar as they went through their ritual greeting, asking after each other’s health, their families’ wellbeing.
She held out the letter. ‘Look at this. Do you know this Thabiso Hadebe person? Who on earth are the Schekoera and Moilwa families?’
Petrus took the letter and stared at it. He wiped his glasses on his white handkerchief and put them back on his nose. He squinted at the letter, put it down on the desk and sank into his chair.
‘What does this mean?’ His voice shook.
‘It’s a land claim against Steynspruit. These people – this Thabiso Hadebe and the Schekoera and Moilwa families – they seem to think that Steynspruit belongs to them.’
‘Tjhee! No. No. Steynspruit belongs to you Kleinmissie. And Kibbutz Steynspruit belongs to all of us. I don’t know any Thabiso Hadebe, I don’t know Schekoera or Moilwa. I don’t know ... Missy please. This is our home! They can’t take it away from us, where would we go? What are we going to do? You have to stop them...’
‘We will stop them, Petrus,’ Thys said as he hurried through the door. ‘Please, calm down. It must be a mistake. I’m sure it’s a mistake. We need to deal with this calmly. We mustn’t panic. Come, let’s sit and talk about this rationally.’
But there was nothing rational about it. They talked around and around in circles. Should they tell the other kibbutz members? Thys felt they should. She and Petrus disagreed. What was the point of creating panic until they had explored all their options? Until they understood all the implications. Until they were able to find out who these people were.
‘If we call a kibbutz meeting and ask, perhaps someone will know more,’ Thys said.
‘Rosie was the only person who might have known who these people are. She was born on Steynspruit,’ Annamari said, swallowing the lump that always rose in her throat when she thought of her old nanny.
Petrus rubbed his right hand over his face, covering his eyes, but a tear escaped and leaked down his cheek. ‘Ai, I miss her. But I don’t think even she would know them. I too have lived here always. My father, he was also born here, when your father’s oupa was a boy, Kleinmissie. There was no one by that name. I am sure.’
***
‘Hello?’
At last! After Petrus had confirmed that the number she had been dialling for Beauty was correct, Annamari had continued to try it, continued to get that same, annoying message. Then suddenly, she was through.
‘Beauty, is that you?’
‘MaAnni? How are you?’
‘Beauty, I’ve been trying to get hold of you for hours. But someone called Bontle kept answering.’ Annamari realised she was being rude and abrupt. But she had no time for long, drawn out pleasantries. Not now. Too much was at stake.
‘I am Bontle,’ Beauty said. ‘How are you Mma? How is BabaThys, and De Wet, and Steyn...’
‘What? You’re Bontle?’
‘Yes. Bontle – Beauty – you know.’
‘You changed your name? I don’t understand.’
‘You wouldn’t, MaAnni. You couldn’t. Why are you phoning? Is my mother okay? My uncle?’
Annamari reassured her that Pretty and Petrus were well, as was everyone else on Kibbutz Steynspruit.
‘So is it about the TRC?’
‘The TRC?’
‘The Truth and Reconciliation Commission, MaAnni. Remember? You couldn’t have forgotten that, surely?’
‘Beauty! Of course not. But that’s not for months. No, this is different. And it’s really urgent. We need your help. Or some advice. Perhaps you could ask one of your lecturers or at the law clinic. We’ve just had some terrible, terrible news.’
Silence.
‘There’s a land claim against Steynspruit.’ Annamari paused but instead of Beauty’s expected exclamation of shock, of horror, of anger, of something, the silence continued.
‘Damn, this stupid phone, why does it always do this?’ Annamari said, glaring at it in frustration.
‘I’m still here,’ Beauty said.
‘Did you hear what I said? About the land claim?’
‘Yes.’
‘And?’
‘And what?’
‘I don’t know, Beauty. Can you help us? Tell us how to fight it?’
‘Why?’
Annamari gasped. ‘This is your home we’re talking about.’
Silence.
‘Beauty? Are you still there?’
‘Yes.’
‘What’s the matter? You sound so... What’s wrong?’
‘Oh MaAnni, if you ... you’d never ... Listen, you have to understand. The law clinic here... well, we help the dispossessed. You know – the land claimants against the people who stole their land. So I really don’t think we could assist ...ummm ...people like... ummm.’
Annamari sank down on the couch, her hand shaking. ‘Petrus said we should ask you what to do. It’s from some people we’ve never heard of. And if we don’t fight it... if we lose ...we – all of us – your mother, your uncle, me, Arno and... we’re going to lose our home.’
‘Oh, did my uncle tell you to ask me? Well, okay then. I’ll see ... I don’t know how much...’
‘Oh, thank you. You have no idea how worried we all are. Hello? Hello? Beauty can you hear me?’
Silence.
Annamari glared at the phone.
Chapter 26
2000
Annamari’s knuckles whitened. She ground the Nokia into her ear, trying to stop her hands from trembling.
‘Ma? Ma – are you still there?’
Arno’s voice was distant, muffled by the roaring in her ears. ‘Ja, I’m here.’
‘Ma, did you hear what I said? Isn’t it fantastic... Ma?’
‘Yes.’
‘What? Ma this is a really bad line. What did you say? I can’t hear you?’
‘Yes, Arno. I heard you.’ She sucked air into her lungs. ‘It’s wonderful news, seun. I’m... I’m happy for you – I’m...wait, here’s Pa. You tell him.’ She thrust the phone at Thys who had just walked into the lounge.
‘Hello?’ she heard her husband say as she tore open the French doors and stumbled out on to the stoep. She rested her hand on the wood pillar next to the steps leading down to the garden, absently picking at the tiny flakes of fading white paint. She gazed across the fields towards the poplars. They were still there. The sky was blue. Not as blue as in summer, but still blue. Fluffy white clouds were dotted here and there. Not rain clouds, the other kind. Cumulus. The late autumn sun was shining brightly. Steyn was pretending to be a jet taking off and landing as he charged up and down the lawn. Nothing had changed. The world was still turning. But her world was falling apart. As she had been waiting for it to do ever since she’d cheated on Thys, and then lied about it.
How could she have thought she would get away with it? She should have insisted that Arno give up his dream of making it in Jo’burg and come home to Steynspruit where he would be safe. Despite the land claim. This was their home. He would be safe here. She would be safe. They would all be safe...Especially now she was sure that Beauty was no longer interested in Arno. In any of them. Beauty had made that abundantly clear. She hadn’t phoned back about the land claim. Instead, she had posted a detailed letter to Petrus with instructions on what to do, what to say. Annamari pressed her fist into her stomach to stop the gnawing hurt.
But right now, Beauty’s strange behaviour was the least of her worries. She could even handle losing Steynspruit if the land claim went against them. But she’d die if... she couldn’t lose Arno. Or Thys. She couldn’t lose her family. Everything she had tried to build, everything she had achieved, everything... it was all about to come crashing down.
‘Liefie?’ She heard the concern in Thys’ voice.
She felt his hand on her shoulder, but she kept her eyes glued to the poplars, blinking furiously. His hand tightened.
‘Annamari, come on! Talk to me. I love you, you know that. Talk to me... please.’
She swallowed, brushed her hand over her eyes and turned, burying her face in her husband’s chest. She felt his arms go around her, holding her, loving her, protecting her – like he always did. What would she do without him? When he found out. As he was sure to, now... now that...
‘Oh Thys, I’m....I’m... I’m okay. Really. It’s just that Arno’s news – I’m so happy for him. What a fantastic opportunity. He’s lucky to get such a good job. Really. It’s wonderful. It’s just... I was hoping... maybe I was just being selfish, you know? I was almost hoping he wouldn’t get a job and would come home. I mean, just another week – he’d said if he hadn’t got a job by the end of the month, he would come home. And now... well, now he won’t. Oh Thys, I hope I’m not going to lose my...our son.’ She couldn’t help it. She sobbed.
‘Shhh, shhh, shhh,’ Thys rocked her. ‘You won’t lose him. We won’t lose him. He’ll always be ours. Yours and mine. No matter what.’
Annamari pulled back. She tried to read his eyes, his thoughts. But all she could see was his dear, dear face creased with concern and love.
‘Liefie, this will always be Arno’s home. Our home. I promise.’
‘Really?’
‘Look, Arno is a sensible boy. He won’t allow himself to be seduced by ... you know. The big city and all that. I think – I know – he loves Steynspruit. But Steynspruit, Driespruitfontein – it’s too small for him. He has such a lot to offer the world and, well, we should be grateful that Alan is willing to give him the opportunity.’
Annamari shuddered. She knew Arno had applied for every job he possibly could, but that didn’t make it any easier that he had gone and applied for a position at – what was the name of his business? Arno had told her but she hadn’t heard. She hadn’t known Alan Silverman was back in the country, let alone the owner of some big, fancy schmancy company that was even listed on the stock exchange. What on earth had made Arno apply for a job as a salesman, for heaven’s sake? He hadn’t studied for four years at university – he hadn’t graduated with cum laude in marketing – to be a salesman! So why had he? And why had that man, that... Alan Silverman, himself – why had he interviewed Arno? She didn’t know much about business, but she knew enough to know that the big boss at a big, fancy company
like that didn’t interview salesmen. Did they? Alan must have realised. She and Thys – they were the only van Zyls in the Driespruitfontein district. If there was one thing she knew about Alan Silverman, it was that he wasn’t stupid. He must have seen Arno’s date of birth, his ID number. He must have figured it out. So what was he playing at? What did he want? She forced herself to listen to Thys’ soothing voice.
‘Alan Silverman is a good man, liefie. He will take care of Arno. I’m sure of that.’
Annamari stiffened but Thys didn’t seem to notice and rubbed his hand up and down her back soothingly.
‘It’s incredible, really, when you think of it. How well he’s done for himself,’ Thys said. ‘I’m sure he gave Arno the job – not that Arno didn’t deserve it, of course. But I’m sure he gave Arno a chance because of ....well ... our friendship, I suppose, although I could have been a better friend to him. I should have been a better friend.’
‘You don’t think he’s going to take it out on Arno?’ she asked. ‘You don’t think he’s going to ... I don’t know ... be mean to Arno because of the way ... because of how he was treated in Driespruitfontein?’ Because of what I did, she thought.
Thys shook his head. ‘No way. Alan isn’t like that. We’re the ones who treated him shamefully, all of us. I don’t blame him for leaving the country like he did. And I’m so proud that he came back and has done so well. He deserves it. Arno will learn a lot from him.’
Annamari swallowed the bile in her throat. How like Thys to believe that Alan Silverman had been a good friend to him. But she knew better. Oh boy, did she know better! Good friends don’t go around seducing their best friend’s girlfriend. And Thys was such a good man. Such a good, good, stupid, blind, trusting man. She prayed that his naive faith in his old friend wasn’t about to be shattered.
‘Well, I don’t suppose Arno will have much to do with Alan Silverman,’ she said, crossing her fingers behind her back. ‘I mean, he’s just going to be a salesman and they probably have dozens of salesmen.’
Thys beamed at her. ‘No. Didn’t Arno tell you? He’s going to be Alan’s assistant, and Alan is going to teach him the business from the ground up.’
When Time Fails Page 14