Page 35 - The Mending Season

One of the nuns said something I did not hear and Mrs Allison said, “That’s right”, and laughed even harder, showing us the roof of her mouth. Then she stopped, put her hand to her mouth, patted her hair as if composing herself, and turned to Anita, who was lookng so nervous I felt sorry for her. “Anita, congratulations and we look forward to having you as our new head girl.”Everyone clapped and we were told to walk straight to class. “Single file, please!” Sister Cecilia shouted at us. I knew from the moment I saw her that she would be perpetually frustrated with us. She yelled and became flustered at the drop of a hat.When I passed her I looked curiously at her face and heard her yell at me, “Good morning, Sister! Thats what you say when you pass a teacher. You don’t stare with your mouth open.”Hoping no one else had seen me stare at her, I decided to avoid her at all times. “You never stare. Greet or curtsey. Staring is rude.”School would be out at 12:00 noon since it was the first day. This was excellent news for me, since it meant that children on my street would be outside when I arrived home and they would have a good look at my new uniform.“This way,” a girl called Patricia - whom they all called Trish - said to me in Sesotho. I tried not to look too pleased or surprised as all the Black girls followed Patricia and me up the stairs to class. Now they all spoke very loudly in Sesotho. “Tjo\ Anita! She’s not even Black,” they groaned. “She’s Coloured.”“Hao\ She hasn’t even been in the school since Grade One. All head girls have to have been in the school since Grade One. That’s what they always tell us.”“Akere, I don’t think they were taking Coloured people when she was in Grade One.”“It’s just for the media,” said someone behind me. “They just want to be on the front page ofthe Pretoria N ews”35