Page 84 - The Mending Season

“Now!” she said to me and I jumped and ran after the rest ofthe class.We were whispering all the way back to the classroom. Most of us could not believe that Veronica had actually hit someone right in front of a teacher. We were stunned at the gall of our classmate and her defiance, and her refusal to respond to the teachers questions. We felt a mixture ofexcite­ ment and nervousness, admiration mixed with relief that we were not in her shoes. All I kept thinking was, “I heard it. I heard her. She said it. I heard it. And she said it to me, or about me.”Trish poked my shoulder. “You were near them, Tshidi, did you hear Beth say it?”Two other girls stopped and waited for my response. I nodded feebly.“Wow, Beth really said it?” asked Tamz.I nodded again. The word had turned into “it”. “Why?”Marianne asked, the first time I had ever seen hersolemn.I touched my forehead and shrugged. It still stung a littlefrom knocking into Beths forehead. “I think she was angry with me for hitting her.”“You hit her?”Marianne frowned.“No, Marianne, they bumped into each other,” Trish explained. Oh, so thats how you say it, I thought. I was still taking mental notes.“What do you think Mrs Allison will do?”Dirusha asked. We all shrugged. Below the stairs, in the court, we saw Laura with a Coke can - presumably cold - pressed to Beths fore­ head. Mevrou van der Westhuizen was trailing behind Veronica who was marching towards Mrs Allisons office, looking determined, ready to make her case.Mmamane Tiny - one of the women who cleaned the school - had been working in the toilets, and walked towards84