My dad is a great cook. We wouldn’t dare say that to my mother’s face. She is the one who
cooks ninety percent of the time. She is definitely the neater cook, my father cooks with all
the pots when he is done making a feast you’d swear he’s been cooking for the entire
village. The amount of dishes to be done before we sit down to eat made me glad he didn’t
cook much. Ma is the fun parent though. Every thirtieth of December we go shopping for
fireworks and non-alcoholic sparkling wine with her. Dad is not into this sort of thing. We go
off to the shops and he stays behind to cook. He always make my brother Luyolo stay
behind with him- he can’t be the only amazing cook in the family he says.
My mom, sister -Lihle and I hit the streets for different types of fireworks. This bit is not fun
for me. I don’t understand why we can’t just go to China mall – everything is under one roof
there. Apparently street hawkers deserve our money more that the Chinese. Ma never gets
tired of giving that lecture…and never try to negotiate pay their asking price. We left home
at eleven in the morning it is now two in the afternoon and the heat is blazing hot, the
humidity has all three of us dripping with sweat. My mom looks like she’s having the most
fun. Its funny because she’s never awake for the actual lighting of the fireworks. We have a
sit at Grab-a-Chick- aunty Sbo owns this joint. Ma gives the lecture about keeping the rand
circulating in the black community. I’m just happy to be sipping Iron Brew in a cool place.
By the time we get home it is quarter passed five. We walk into the kitchen filled with
complaints. My sister and I said we are cutting Ma out of the New Year’s Eve shopping
expedition next year. Dad chuckled and offers us something to nibble on, before we do the
dishes. We protested. Surely he could understand how tired we were. My brother had
managed to escape the cooking and dishwashing mission. He pulled Lihle and I to huddle
while we were protesting – “I’ll upgrade you to real champagne tomorrow if you do the
dishes. We’ll do a quick in and out at the shop tomorrow. Come on girls!” We snickered and nodded.
Ma walk in, we scattered.
Luyolo was giving us the low down on what he got up after he ditched dad yesterday when I
remember today dad was buying us champagne. My excitement. The parents have never
explicitly said we weren’t allowed to drink but it was definitely implied in conversation. Lihle
walks in with the car keys and cash in hand, “ Esi, the champagne is not going to buy itself.
Your father doesn’t want to go with us anymore so mas’hambe. We can google which ones
to get on the way.” We haven’t even taken a bath. All three of us wash our faces and
change. We knock at the parents’ bedroom door and shout we’ll be back and rush out. Ma
asks where we are going, we figure dad is the best person to explain. We left without answering.
We’ve heard enough songs talking about champagne on ice to know that this going to be the best New Year’s Eve ever. First we googled ‘Don Parinon’ and found out it was spelt ‘Dom Perignon’ and it cost a small fortune. We also found out that ‘Patron’ is not champagne. We weren’t jaded thought. We are way too determine to get more than one bottle and who balls out of control with one bottle of champagne. On repeat “Trey Songz – Say Ah” . We settle on Graham Beck Gorgeous because it’s pretty and Moet and Chandon because it Moet.
We go home playing out images of champagne glasses and fire words.
Tidying up was a breeze. We all took late afternoon naps. When we woke up dad was
already starting up the braai and Ma was busy with the sides. The three of us showered and
changed. My two friend Zizipho and Mercy called to cancel our midnight mini party. I was a
bit disappointed. My siblings are a riot though so it’s ok. Luyolo’s friends would show up
eventually anyway. I hope Thami comes, I have the biggest crush on him. A girl may be in
line for a midnight kiss.
We had dinner. Dad kept creating scenarios of how we are going to pass out after the first
glass of champagne. Ma was not impressed. She sat on the couch and she soon passed out.
Dad us joined us as we played music, he even stayed up until well after ten. He faded to
sleep. We realised we don’t know how to open the champagne bottles. Luyolo’s friends
rushed in just after eleven. Butterflies in my stomach- Thami is here. We did the thing we do
with the lingering looks and brushing passed each other. We sat on the couch knees
touching. I think there is a real possibility of a midnight kiss.
Champagne is not nice. I could barely finish the one glass. I moved to the non- alcoholic
wine quickly. At quarter to midnight we took the party outside. My brother started with the
fireworks. Thami and eye kept staring at each other. There were others busy with fire works
on our street.
Thami asked it I wanted to check it out. I said yes and looked at my brother. He nodded. This New Years night is about to be epic! We joined the small crowd in the street, we held hands as soon as we walked outside our gate. We didn’t say anything just smiled. The sky was so clear and the fireworks added amazing colour. We were five houses away from home. Everyone was counting down. We were in a passage way between two houses. He says “I know you want this as much as I do.” My heart races. He kisses me. I don’t like the kiss at all. Everybody screams “Happy!!” He pulls me in. I pull away. He is way too aggressive and strong. I push him but I fall. Instead of pulling me up he lowers himself on top of me. I tell him to stop. He doesn’t say anything, he pries my legs open with his knee. I want to scream but I can’t. Thami please stop, I don’t want to. I push my body back to escape the pain between my thighs caused by the force his knee. He edges closer. Why can’t I scream? Why is everybody singing? His pants are unzipped. I feel his penis piercing between my tights. This is not happening. His chest is on my face and I am struggling to breath. He shouts fuck and quickly gets up. I thought someone came to help. His one hand was full of shit…some on braids I laid there for a while. Suddenly I could smell everything. I was laying on pile of shit. It could have been worse.
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