Simon Thambisa lay stubbornly on his bed listening to the sounds of Pearl and the children having breakfast, getting dressed, getting ready to leave the house.
Finally, the front door closed with a defiant snap and he got up.
A strange and deadly silence filled the rooms. No breath stirred the air, no sound; for the first time in weeks, Simon found himself alone, in an empty house.
He hummed with resolute cheerfulness and stepped into his shower, filled his hands with a pine-scented shower-gel (extravagance!) that Pearl had brought and lathered up.
Finally, the front door closed with a defiant snap and he got up.
A strange and deadly silence filled the rooms. No breath stirred the air, no sound; for the first time in weeks, Simon found himself alone, in an empty house.
He hummed with resolute cheerfulness and stepped into his shower, filled his hands with a pine-scented shower-gel (extravagance!) that Pearl had brought and lathered up.
He was compelled to raise his voice above the pattering water in a discordant yell to show himself (and the neighbours) that Pearl Chabalala could go to hell for all he cared, but he was NOT going to church. He was right here, in his own house. Master of all he surveyed, purveyor of his own fate.
Fortified by his shower, he stalked in naked splendour to his bedroom.
How he had missed this freedom!
He was proud, proud to be a solitary man.
He stopped before his mirror and flexed his muscles.
Yes! He was a loner by nature…
The He-Leopard, the great Bull Buffalo…
He heard a noise behind him and turned to find himself preening before a fascinated audience.
Isaiah looked impressed; Thali with a finger stuck in her mouth, not so much.
He bellowed in alarm like the aforementioned buffalo and tried to gesture them out - even as he covered himself. “Out!” he screamed, “This is my bedroom! GET OUT!”
Fortified by his shower, he stalked in naked splendour to his bedroom.
How he had missed this freedom!
He was proud, proud to be a solitary man.
He stopped before his mirror and flexed his muscles.
Yes! He was a loner by nature…
The He-Leopard, the great Bull Buffalo…
He heard a noise behind him and turned to find himself preening before a fascinated audience.
Isaiah looked impressed; Thali with a finger stuck in her mouth, not so much.
He bellowed in alarm like the aforementioned buffalo and tried to gesture them out - even as he covered himself. “Out!” he screamed, “This is my bedroom! GET OUT!”
His voice sounded squeaky and high-pitched to his own ears.
The children turned tail and ran, leaving him shaky and in the throes of a devastating wave of embarrassment he had thought he would never again experience, not since he had left his gawky teens behind and filled out into a man to command respect.
.
To add to his mortification he heard Thali say: “Mama Pearl, Mr. Simon is in a very bad mood. It must be because he has a strange wee-wee thing just like Isaiah’s. Do all boys have wee-wee things like that?”
Pearl’s answer was unintelligible, and Simon Thambisa resolved never to leave his room.
Never, never ever again, not while he still had breath.
Manuela Cardiga
The children turned tail and ran, leaving him shaky and in the throes of a devastating wave of embarrassment he had thought he would never again experience, not since he had left his gawky teens behind and filled out into a man to command respect.
.
To add to his mortification he heard Thali say: “Mama Pearl, Mr. Simon is in a very bad mood. It must be because he has a strange wee-wee thing just like Isaiah’s. Do all boys have wee-wee things like that?”
Pearl’s answer was unintelligible, and Simon Thambisa resolved never to leave his room.
Never, never ever again, not while he still had breath.
Manuela Cardiga
TO BE CONTINUED
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