Page 58 - The Mending Season

I swallowed hard and took a deep breath before answering. But before I could say anything the bell rang and the swim­ ming teacher clapped her hands and called us to get out ofthe pool. KB swam away and I was the last one to climb out.That night at home I watched TV1, the English channel. I understood everything but had no idea how to make my accent sound like that. In the following days, I abandoned the lemon tree for the sofa, watching television and practising my new accent by trying to repeat after the news anchors - or even people in shows I did not find particularly interesting. Mmamane Malebone came to sit with me and asked to watch the Setswana news, but I told her we should start watching the news in English.“I have to practise my English,” I said. “They’re always insisting that we only speak English, and since we dont speak it at home, how is it going to become easier for me?”“You dont have to go to that school if you dont want to, you know,” she said. It would have sounded harsh if someone else had said it, but my mother liked to cut problems short.“Its a good school,” I said.“I don’t want you always working hard to please people. You’re smart and you always do well. I don’t want you to think that speaking English with the White accent is more important than what you really have to learn at school.”“I should talk like the other girls.” I raised my voice, exasperated. She had no idea.“As long as they understand what you’re saying, you don’t have to speak like them,” Mmamane Mabatho said, havingjust appeared in the doorway.Mmamane Malebone added, “Malesedi says she hears youoften sit alone in class. Why? Because you don’t want them to hear you talk? You’re embarrassed?”Mmamane Mabatho always said things exactly the way she saw them. I looked down at my hands and then back up at the58