Patchwork by Ellen Banda-Aaku

Author:Ellen Banda-Aaku [Banda-Aaku, Ellen]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9780143528661
Publisher: Penguin Random House South Africa
Published: 2011-06-30T00:00:00+00:00

A dull throbbing in my foot wakes me. Mama T’s talking close by. I’m tangled in the curtain behind the sofa. My heart jumps. How did I fall asleep? What time is it? The sun is shining through the dining-room window now, which means it must be after midday.

‘She’s trouble,’ Mama T says. ‘She’s been trouble ever since she came into this house.’ She’s on the phone. ‘Now she’s missing. Driver and I were near the camp. That’s where my husband found us. When we came back she was gone.’

Mama T is quiet for a while, then she says, ‘Sister Peggy, I tell you, God is great. If it weren’t for him I wouldn’t have survived. All I’ve had is trouble. He was so good the past year, but since she came I hardly see him. He claims he sleeps at the flat in town because of the curfew. But the curfew has been lifted.’

The sofa squeaks above me as Mama T shifts her position. ‘What can one expect from a child whose grandmother runs a tavern?’ She pauses for a moment. ‘Well, you may say that, Sister Peggy, and you know that I don’t like to talk about these things, but the story is that she has a personal interest in Joe from years ago. It would explain her bitterness that he fathered her granddaughter. Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned.’ Mama T coughs. ‘Anyway, I know that Joe doesn’t see her mother anymore. But something is going on. Would you believe that with all that’s happened he just came home, had a bath and left. Distributed all the food in the pantry to the soldiers and left. As I’ve always said, my husband is a good man; it’s the women out there who are vultures. Young girls with no morals; they smell money.’

I try to ignore the itch in my nose. But it gets stronger. I try to stifle the overwhelming desire to sneeze by holding my breath. But I can’t. It comes out like a snort, the force of it jerking my foot against the sofa.

Mama T stops her words mid-sentence. ‘Hold on,’ she says into the phone.

I hear her rise from the sofa. My heart jumps. I spring to my feet and for a brief second I stare into her surprised face.

‘What are you …?’

I don’t wait for her to finish. I wriggle out from behind the couch, leap over a side table, bounce off a second sofa and dash out of the room.

Mama T doesn’t come after me. ‘Sister Peggy,’ I hear her say into the phone, ‘you won’t believe where the little devil has been hiding.’

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.