Page 61 - The Mending Season

“Howzit!” they replied and carried on talking. I was dis­ tracted, trying to hear their opinions ofwhat had happened on The Bold and the Beautiful last night and still looking for KB at the same time.“I thinkhe’s so hot!”Tamz said and nudged me. “Don’t you?” “Who?”I said softly, hoping it had come out right. “Ridge,” she said. I nodded.“Who are you looking for?”Beth asked me. “Your mom?”Ilooked at her with confusion and bit my lower lip when I realised that she was talking about Mmamane Malesedi.“My mom?” I whispered, and then cleared my throat, trying not to look as surprised as I felt.“She’s over there,” Trish said, and I saw that she was pointing to Mmamane Malesedi, who was speaking to three primary school girls.“She’s not my mom,”I said and then realised that I had said too much and my voice had come out much louder than usual. “She’s not?” the two of them asked at the same time. Ishook my head.“Who is she then?”Trish asked.“She’s my ahnt,”I said.“What?”Marianne’s face leant closer to mine.Veronica knew what the problem was. “She’s her aunt,” sherepeated, with the right accent.Oh, I thought, the “au” sound is almost an “o”. In my head,I was taking notes. I turned my face away because I was embarrassed and because I was still looking for KB.“Who’s your mom?”I turned back to face Trish. “Her sister.”“She looks a lot like you,”Trish remarked and I was takenaback for a moment - I didn’t like the comment.Just then Veronica looked past me, towards the driveway.“Woo! New car, new car!” She was elbowing Trish. We all turned to look.61