This Thing Called the Future by J.L. Powers

Author:J.L. Powers
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Cinco Puntos Press
Published: 2011-04-12T16:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO

VIRGINITY TESTING

The next morning when I take my bath, I’m surprised to see dark, purple bruises all over my body, like I was in a big fight.

I guess I was.

I’m still counting bruises when Auntie Phumzi arrives. Through the bathroom window, I hear Zi shrieking when she sees Auntie’s youngest girls. I peek out through the open window and watch the three of them run through the yard, laughing, ignoring Inkosikazi Dudu, who stares at them from her front porch. Beauty’s dressed in a very short white beaded skirt, her chest bare. She’s wearing dozens of blue beaded necklaces that dangle between her breasts.

Oh, wow. Auntie’s taking her to get her virginity tested!

I hurry into my clothes because I’m pretty sure Mama and Auntie are about to have a king-sized battle and I don’t want to miss it!

Sure enough, they’re arguing when I get to the dining room, where Mama is resting on the sofa.

“There is no way I would give permission for Khosi to have her virginity tested,” Mama is declaring.

Her eyes flash from Auntie Phumzi to me. I start to open my mouth—I want to go, just to see what it’s like—but she shakes her head at me.

“If you don’t care about Khosi’s purity, why would she care?” Auntie Phumzi asks.

“Phumzile, they’re only fourteen,” Mama snaps. “I don’t think it encourages purity just because some old women ask girls to spread their legs so they can judge if they’re still virgins or not. It’s barbaric.”

Auntie’s voice rises in anger. “No, Elizabeth, it’s our culture.”

“Anyway, I expect Khosi to be a good girl, no matter what,” Mama says, her voice indicating she’s tired of this fight already.

“It’s not just virginity testing, Auntie,” Beauty says. “We sing songs about purity, and we dance, and they teach us what it means to be a wife and a mother. They teach us to respect ourselves.”

Girls from school have told me all about the process: how they lay down behind four sheets, how they open their legs while an old woman inspects them. If she says they’re a virgin, they get a certificate. Sometimes, they’ll arrange a huge celebration, with hundreds of girls dancing and singing and celebrating their virginity.

“We sing to Nomkhubulwane, the Earth Mother,” Beauty continues. “You know, she is the one who helps young girls stay pure.”

“Nomkhubulwane is a pagan festival.” Mama shakes her head. “This isn’t for my Khosi. We are Christians.”

“We are Christians, too, Auntie,” Beauty says.

Auntie Phumzile looks severe. “It doesn’t matter that Khosi is Christian, she is misbehaving. This virginity testing may be just the thing to set her straight.”

“Misbehaving? My Khosi?” Mama sounds indignant.

“I didn’t want to bring this up,” Auntie says in a terrible voice, and now she’s looking at me, and Beauty’s looking at me, and their looks are accusing, “but Richard called me. He says that when he arrived at Thandi’s house, it was completely dark. He doesn’t think Khosi was actually there studying.”

Now Gogo and Mama are watching me too.

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