The Speckled Cow and Other Stories by Cynthia Price

Author:Cynthia Price [Price, Cynthia]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2014-01-27T00:00:00+00:00

HLEBA III

Bongani held the lit match to the cigarette and breathed in deeply. He shook the flame from its stick and squinted into the bright sunlight as the smoke twirled from his pursed lips. He checked his watch and smiled. He paced forward a few steps, his shoes making eddies of dust which settled against the shine of new leather.

A door opened at the far end of the veranda, soon to be followed by another, then another, and the once empty dust courtyard was suddenly full of students. Bongani breathed in another draw of the cigarette and tasted the smoke mixed with dust. The smile grew wider as he spotted his brother amongst the herd. He raised his hand above the masses, cigarette clutched between forefinger and thumb, and bellowed, “Sifisiso!”

The head in the crowd turned to face him and returned the tooth-filled grin. He excused himself from his fellow-students and zig-zagged his way to the edge of the courtyard.

“Bongani! Sawubona! I see you!” he shouted, throwing both arms around him and kissing both cheeks, “What a surprise! What are you doing here? Aren’t you supposed to be making sure the speckled cow doesn’t run away?”

Bongani felt in his pocket for the pack of cigarettes and offered one to his brother. “Aah, the speckled cow!” he laughed, striking a match against the box and holding it out for his brother to reach, “That job’s in the hands of the angels now! Even in the heavenly meadows, she’s still sure to believe the grass is juicier somewhere else!”

“And your business? How’s that doing? Is business so quiet in Umtata, you need to come to Fort Hare to sell shoes?”

Bongani shook his head. “I’m here on tribal business,” he said, “Father asked that I escort Mandla so that she may enrol for her studies. He has political business to attend to in Cape Town, so he could not make it himself.”

Sifisiso drew deeply on the cigarette and stared at his brother. “Mandla’s going to study at university?” he asked, the exhaled smoke filling the air around his head, “Where is all this money coming from, for a girl to study at university? Did Father sell off all the cows?”

“Aibo!” Bongani uttered, “Father sell his cows? Not even the speckled one would he sell when she kept on trying to run away! No! This letter came for Mandla last month, when she turned eighteen. From a lawyer in Durban, saying that there was a trust fund for her studies. She must just send them the bills and they will pay all expenses.”

Sifisiso’s eyes widened and then screwed back closed against the smoky dust. “And who is paying for all this? Did the lawyers say?”

“Confidential!” Bongani said, “That’s the word they used when we asked. The women all say it’s the ancestors looking after their own, but you know the women-- they will believe anything! The strong one must get an education, they say. So Father agreed to send her here to study Social Science.

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.