Page 101 - The Mending Season

“Hao!” a man sitting near the driver turned around, appalled. “Dont speak to them? How? Aren’t they in the same school?”“She says they just walk right past them, pretend they dont see them.”“Hee? Iyol”An elderly woman clapped her hands together. “IVe never heard ofsuch a thing. You mean just like they walk past us on the streets?”“Yes. Just like that.”“In the same school?”“In the same school.”“Matichere bona? Dont the teachers say anything?” “Maybe the teachers are just the same.”The man in front noticed me for the first time and I wanted to hide under the seat.“Wenay my child, dont you go to one of those schools? Im just seeing the uniform.”Mmamane Malesedi spoke for me, “Yes, its her first year. Ail Its not easy for our children.”That morning we were the only ones from our neighbour­ hood in the taxi, so no one knew us.“Maybe she knows this school?”the woman with the news­ paper asked no one in particular.“What does the paper say?” asked an older woman sitting next to us.“It says a Black girl attacked a White girl.”“Hao!”the man in the front said. “What did the White girl do to her?”“Dont forget its a White newspaper. We cant know what happened.”The elderly woman spoke up. “It says that the Black girl is known for being a bully. Apparently she had had a fight on school grounds with someone else last year. They say she didnt like the White girl, she accused her ofbeing racist.”101