Off the Air by L.H. Cosway

Author:L.H. Cosway [Cosway, L.H.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: L.H. Cosway

Leanne

In the end, James, Michaela, Autumn, Isaac, Cal, and I all climbed into a minivan to drive to Soweto, the township where Isaac grew up. Jimbo came along to capture some footage since word got out to Barry and he thought it could make for some interesting TV.

Neil dropped us off a little ways into the township, and we decided to get taxis home later so he didn’t have to drive back into the city to get us.

Isaac led us past row upon row of one-story houses. Some were more dilapidated than others, but most were surrounded by high walls at the front. At first the houses were mostly brick, but the further we got, I saw more that were made from corrugated steel or a hodgepodge of different materials.

I knew that townships were supposed to be some of the poorest neighbourhoods in South Africa, and this one, in particular, had over a million people living in it. Cal walked beside me, and I could see him taking it all in, the same as me.

I didn’t know what I expected, but even though the area was poor, it didn’t feel like the people were miserable. Lots of them were going about their business, chatting with their neighbours or hanging out with friends. When it came down to it, it didn’t seem a whole lot dissimilar from any working-class neighbourhood back in London. The setting and culture were different, but the people were the same, just living their lives.

Paul always said that the problem with most people nowadays was that they tended to fixate on division and forget a simple fact. That in spite of cultural or racial differences, at our core, we were all human. And all any of us wanted was to be loved, to be safe, to have a roof over our heads.

I applied that theory to myself. I had a roof over my head, I was safe, my family loved me. Maybe I just needed to focus on that instead of agonising over Cal and pining for what was missing. The problem was, I tended to obsess over the bad instead of being thankful for the good.

We reached an open area where a large crowd had gathered. I heard a car engine revving in the distance. A guy who looked to be in his late twenties came running up to us.

He pulled Isaac into a big hug, smiling widely. “Look how much you’ve grown!” he exclaimed, and I guessed this was his cousin, Thato. Isaac introduced everyone, ending with Autumn. “She’s a podcaster from New York who came to record an episode about us. Can you believe it?”

“Whuut? New York City?” Thato said playfully, teasing Isaac when he poked him in the side. “You’ve made it to the big time now, cousin.”

“Shut up.” Isaac pushed him off. “And this is Jimbo. He’s going to film us tonight. I hope that’s okay.”

“Of course it’s okay. Everyone is gonna be trying to get on camera. They’ll love it.”

We approached the gathered crowd, and a few people gave us curious glances, especially Jimbo with his camera.

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