Page 108 - The Mending Season

twelveThat evening while I sat on the sofa watching the English news, my knees up to my chest, I heard a loud knock at the back door. Since no one ever came to visit, the knock startled me. Mmamane Mabatho opened the door. There, on our doorstep, with a pen and a notebook in one hand and a tape recorder in the other, stood Tihelo Masimo, waiting to be let in. I’m not sure what made me gasp - her stunning face, partly covered by a large mop ofbig curls, or what she was carrying.Tihelo s beauty was a combination of her bright and gentle face and the ease with which she carried herself. Looking at her made me more aware ofhow I looked, my straight hair brushed back, my face - as I saw it - plain and far from stunning.Mmamane Mabatho stepped out of the way for Tihelo. “Ao,Tihelo,”she said.“Mmabatho,”Tihelo greeted and walked in slowly, politely. Although they were not friends, they had gone to school together.“Le kae? How are you?” she asked my aunt and me. Mmamane Mabatho answered, pointing to the dining room.“Tsena, come in,”she offered, and Tihelo accepted the invi­ tation by walking towards the dining room. She looked me in the eye with every step she took.“Tshidi, I came to see you, actually.” She said it like she was asking if it was all right for her to be there. I seemed to have lost my voice, but I nodded quickly as she passed me and fol­ lowed her into the dining room. Mmamane Mabatho fol­ lowed us. I was grateful that the other two aunts were not108