He seems to like you; he might take the advice better coming from you. You have a way about you.”
She smiled up at me, deep dimples forming in her cheeks, and I wondered if what she said was true. Did I really have a way about me? Did I really look like someone who knew something about people’s problems? If I did, it was a mirage.
Chapter 4
As I moved around the school, I couldn’t help but wonder who On the Way Out was. Was it the girl with pointed ears and the red book bag who walked with her head hanging down? Was it the boy wearing a shirt with a torn collar, or the girl with goldish earrings from Wang Wang? How was it going with her mother? What was the uncle up to now? Had the situation worsened or had it got better? I couldn’t believe how vested I’d become in the problem of an anonymous stranger. I was crazy with worry, so I didn’t notice Gopolang standing in front of me and I knocked right into her.
“What’s that about, Amogelang? What, you can’t see? Maybe you need to get yourself some glasses? Stupid journalists like wearing glasses.” She pushed me away with one hand and then looked to her sidekick, Mosetsana.
“First day on your new feet, Amo?” Mosetsana asked.
“Just leave me alone, I’m in no mood.”
Gopolang had hated all of the staff of The Voice of the People ever since we ran a story about the scam she and Mosetsana had been running. They convinced the students that Puso ka Batho was haunted by a thokolosi and to keep the thokolosi from troubling you, you needed to buy a charm from them. According to them, Mosetsana’s uncle, who was a well-respected traditional doctor in the village, had apparently given her the charms. Gopolang and Mosetsana were selling the charms for P10 each and were making a fortune at the expense of the students.
From the beginning I didn’t buy their story. According to them, the thokolosi was after Puso Ka Batho because it was built on an ancient burial ground. When I pushed them for the source of their information, they became cagey and aggressive, making me think something was up. It was then just a matter of interviewing the uncle, who didn’t know anything about any charms or the thokolosi at the school. It turned out the charms were nothing more than a chunk of eucalyptus wood and a piece of fur from Gopolang’s dog, tied up with a red piece of cotton. Business had been so good, she’d nearly shaved the poor dog bald.
After the story came out in the paper, Gopolang and Mosetsana had to buy back all of the charms and they got beaten on the hand by Pigs at assembly. They vowed to get revenge and troubled me and any other Voice of the People staffers every chance they could get.
Gopolang moved close to my face and grabbed a piece of my school jersey in her hand. “Stay out of my way, Amogelang. One day I’m going to teach you to have some respect.”
Just then Nono came up. “Leave her alone, Gopolang.”
“Stay out of things that don’t concern you, Moongirl.”
I thought I heard Gopolang growl.
“Amo’s my friend, so it does concern me. If you know what’s good for you, you’ll let her go.”
Gopolang obviously knew what was good for her and dropped me to the ground. Nono is a bundle of muscles and enjoys every opportunity to flex them.
Gopolang clicked her tongue at Nono. “Moongirl, you better watch your step! I don’t like people getting in my business. I’ll make you pay for those words!”
“Ooooh … I’m so scared,” Nono said mockingly.
Gopolang clicked in annoyance again, then she and Mosetsana turned and walked away.
“What’d they want?” Nono asked.
“Same old stuff,” I said, watching them. I got up and dusted the gravel off my scraped knee. I didn’t like the tone of Gopolang’s threat. She can be scary.
“Listen, I gotta rush to art,” Nono said. “But I’ll see you after practice.”
“Make sure you do – I have a problem.” I was hoping Nono might have a clue about how to deal with On the Way Out.
I watched her run to the block at the end of the school and slowly made my way to my design and technology lesson. My mind was somewhere else so I didn’t notice John Gababonwe passing.
“Howzit, Amo?”
I looked up and said something like, “Googoo gat sa didio.”
He smiled and nodded, so I assumed he was fluent in idiot and stumbled on my way.
Chapter 5
I sat down under a shade tree. From there I could see the athletics team out on the dusty red track. I was reading a novel I’d just checked out from the library so I didn’t hear Duncan sit down next to me.
“So, another John Grisham … Can’t get something a bit heavier?”
“Like what? Long Walk to Freedom or The Manifesto of a Cuban Hero – The Fidel Castro Story? I don’t think so. The Struggle’s over, Duncan. How about you move on?”
Duncan is in Nono and my class – 2A. He also writes for the newspaper. He likes to hang out with us, even though in his eyes we were political lightweights. I thought he saw us more as a cause than anything else.
Duncan looked out at the team on the track. “Nono’s looking good. Maybe she’ll win the nationals this year.”
“Likely, she’s pretty serious, but first she needs to get through the regionals this weekend.”
“Piece of cake. So anyway, I heard Lorato’s starting one of those agony aunt columns for the newspaper. Do you know about it?”
I looked across to where Nono was running more than a track’s length ahead of all of the other girls. “Yeah, sure I heard about it.”
“Well, I think it is ruining our reputation as a serious newspaper. It’s bad enough we need to put up with Tebby’s stuff – now this?”
“I don’t know, Duncan. It’s a service. Some kids really have problems. They don’t have anyone to help them. They need guidance.”
“And you think some fool with clichéd responses is going to help?”
I was getting annoyed. Duncan didn’t understand.
“You don’t know who’s doing it. Maybe it’s someone responsible who is taking the job very seriously. They might really help people.”
“Maybe, but I doubt it. I think it’s a stupid idea.”
Nono was out on the field. She’d long finished the race and was waiting patiently near the finish line for the rest of the girls. It looked like she could have run another 3 000 metres without any effort.
After the team had
