sing
them songs that she have carry from she rural hills where them
women sing while carrying they buckets of water from borehole.
But some days she sing them real ignorant songs by villagers that
have never even peep inside classroom window:
Look the train go geje geje rolling through dusty land
Look the white man's iron puff smoke
Look it grind itself through the hills
Look the puffing iron take my child away to the city.
Now this big moth fly through the air and land on she shoulders.
I stretch my hand so I can pick it off but Tsitsi brush me
away with wet hand.
I take it off myself, she say without even looking at me. Then
she continue washing up and singing.
Tsitsi finish washing and go out to visit MaiMusindo and she
friends at the hair salon. I have nothing to do; I spend the afternoon
in our room lying down and reading one of them Yellow
Pages books that junk mail people sometimes leave outside our
door. There is hotels inside it.
Shingi's passport and National Insurance card is on my pillow
while I read hard and make final list of hotels.
Tsitsi come back inside the house. She have come with bunch
of sunflowers. She throw the bunch of them flowers on Farayi's
bed and also throw she baby there. I rub my eyes because I was
about to fall asleep. Now I feel like I want to be useful so instead
of just talk talk talk with she, me I open my suitcase, get my shirt
out and start to sew back my button that have fall off. I light my
cigarette; now smoke is coming out of my nose and mouth.
Where you get all them flowers?
From the salon. Eunice go to buy flowers this morning to decorate
salon but flower vendor is friend so he give away too many,
she say.
MaiMusindo give them to me because no one else in salon want
them.
MaiMusindo have also give Tsitsi bottle of some funny perfume
– Moschino Parfum it say on the label. It look like old people's
kind of perfume but me I don't say nothing.
She go to kitchen and come back with knife so she can start cut
stem ends of them sunflowers. But before Tsitsi have even sit down,
the baby start to cry. She sit on Farayi's bed and start to feed him.
What's his name?
Tafadzwa.
She start singing to she baby:
Dance around together
Holding hands together
Dance around together
Holding hands together
Tissue, tissue, we all fall down.
I know that from when I was smaller than teaspoon, I tell she.
Yeeessss! she eyes bulge and she start talking with hand and all:
yari yari yari we hold hands together in circle and go round and
round singing Dance around together ; oh when it get to tissue you
get ready because when we all fall down comes you all crouch
down; oh then you go on and on again.
No, you throw yourself complete down to ground.
But your clothes get dirty, she say in very sharp way.
Tsitsi start talking that baby language to she baby. Me I am
smoking and sewing. When she finish feeding baby she sit him on
the bed with Farayi's pillow behind because the baby always fall
backwards.
My screwdriver is on the floor. Tsitsi pick it and give to she
baby to play with because it have bright yellow-and-black handle
and babies like them such things like that. Now the baby is trying
to pick it up but only manage to dribble all over it and me I don't
like baby dribble on my screwdriver. But I don't say nothing.
Tsitsi start cutting them flowers and putting them inside big
jug.
You hungry? she ask me when she have finish cutting them
flowers.
Me I don't want to break them these house rules or else people
start throwing ugly kind of mouth around, I tell she.
Tsitsi curl and twiddle she small toes and say nothing. There
is funny silence between us. Me I don't want to talk too much
to Tsitsi about them house rules because I have to be careful with
she; she is bubbly bubbly likkle mother but she is also just simple
girl that can ruin your life by telling people things without knowing
that she is ruining you. You know that kind of madness that is
always inside them rural people. I
them songs that she have carry from she rural hills where them
women sing while carrying they buckets of water from borehole.
But some days she sing them real ignorant songs by villagers that
have never even peep inside classroom window:
Look the train go geje geje rolling through dusty land
Look the white man's iron puff smoke
Look it grind itself through the hills
Look the puffing iron take my child away to the city.
Now this big moth fly through the air and land on she shoulders.
I stretch my hand so I can pick it off but Tsitsi brush me
away with wet hand.
I take it off myself, she say without even looking at me. Then
she continue washing up and singing.
Tsitsi finish washing and go out to visit MaiMusindo and she
friends at the hair salon. I have nothing to do; I spend the afternoon
in our room lying down and reading one of them Yellow
Pages books that junk mail people sometimes leave outside our
door. There is hotels inside it.
Shingi's passport and National Insurance card is on my pillow
while I read hard and make final list of hotels.
Tsitsi come back inside the house. She have come with bunch
of sunflowers. She throw the bunch of them flowers on Farayi's
bed and also throw she baby there. I rub my eyes because I was
about to fall asleep. Now I feel like I want to be useful so instead
of just talk talk talk with she, me I open my suitcase, get my shirt
out and start to sew back my button that have fall off. I light my
cigarette; now smoke is coming out of my nose and mouth.
Where you get all them flowers?
From the salon. Eunice go to buy flowers this morning to decorate
salon but flower vendor is friend so he give away too many,
she say.
MaiMusindo give them to me because no one else in salon want
them.
MaiMusindo have also give Tsitsi bottle of some funny perfume
– Moschino Parfum it say on the label. It look like old people's
kind of perfume but me I don't say nothing.
She go to kitchen and come back with knife so she can start cut
stem ends of them sunflowers. But before Tsitsi have even sit down,
the baby start to cry. She sit on Farayi's bed and start to feed him.
What's his name?
Tafadzwa.
She start singing to she baby:
Dance around together
Holding hands together
Dance around together
Holding hands together
Tissue, tissue, we all fall down.
I know that from when I was smaller than teaspoon, I tell she.
Yeeessss! she eyes bulge and she start talking with hand and all:
yari yari yari we hold hands together in circle and go round and
round singing Dance around together ; oh when it get to tissue you
get ready because when we all fall down comes you all crouch
down; oh then you go on and on again.
No, you throw yourself complete down to ground.
But your clothes get dirty, she say in very sharp way.
Tsitsi start talking that baby language to she baby. Me I am
smoking and sewing. When she finish feeding baby she sit him on
the bed with Farayi's pillow behind because the baby always fall
backwards.
My screwdriver is on the floor. Tsitsi pick it and give to she
baby to play with because it have bright yellow-and-black handle
and babies like them such things like that. Now the baby is trying
to pick it up but only manage to dribble all over it and me I don't
like baby dribble on my screwdriver. But I don't say nothing.
Tsitsi start cutting them flowers and putting them inside big
jug.
You hungry? she ask me when she have finish cutting them
flowers.
Me I don't want to break them these house rules or else people
start throwing ugly kind of mouth around, I tell she.
Tsitsi curl and twiddle she small toes and say nothing. There
is funny silence between us. Me I don't want to talk too much
to Tsitsi about them house rules because I have to be careful with
she; she is bubbly bubbly likkle mother but she is also just simple
girl that can ruin your life by telling people things without knowing
that she is ruining you. You know that kind of madness that is
always inside them rural people. I
Similar Books
