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Authors: Brian Chikwava
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that look like they is wanting to fall too. Then Tsitsi go to kitchen
again to make milk for baby. She shout from the kitchen asking
again if me I am hungry.
What you going to say if Aleck find out you been giving me
food? I shout back. She don't answer. This is food that Aleck
have buy, but that's not the problem. Tsitsi have also been
worryful that they is not going to have enough food this week
because Aleck have send heap of money back home to pay for
some stand in Highfield township. £1,000, that's what he wire
back for the stand. US$1,910. But it hit his pocket hard because
now every food item that he and Tsitsi buy have already get
affected except the old bread and beans which everyone is tired
of. Meat is already out of the shopping list that week and Tsitsi
worryful she is becoming big burden on Aleck now. But maybe
Aleck don't worry too much because now Tsitsi have start to
bring in small money by going out to the salon; MaiMusindo
and them other women is helping she rent out the baby to
other women that want to apply for council flats as single
mothers. For £50, any woman can take Tsitsi's baby to the
Lambeth Housing Department and play out to be single mother,
fill them forms and take baby back to salon as soon as she have
been interview.
I finish sewing the buttons and I am putting my needle and
thread back inside my suitcase and Tsitsi is again sitting in crazy
rural way – crouching in front of me in she lopsided skirt that is
full of lint, bobbles and all the fluff. She is feeding milk to she
baby.
You can sometimes go through life and never get laid. That's
Shingi. He never get over the fear of girls that Thoko put inside
him since we was at school and end up only trying to make people
laugh. I know of people who have pay up heaps of money to lose
they virginity. Like the blind singer in Harare that end up paying
US$200 for people to organise him woman.
But I have not even have chance to talk to Shingi and things
happen fast. The cigarette-biting people – they exorcise Chirac
out of the native without no warning. Just like that.
During graft, Shingi and his friends have always been digging
out heaps of them drainpipes, repair some, lay new ones and
getting used to crawling in them dark holes to clear them
blocked drains. Always with long rope tied to foot in case you
get overcome down there and pass out in the slurry, mud and
poo. Now they get frogmarched out of the site by hard men
holding scaffold poles. They have been forced back into they
original native selfs again. And it's all because they have been
talk talk talk too much about them French passports until
someone hear of it and sell them out. Cigarette-biting people
don't trust none of them now because they think one of them
tip them immigration people. President Chirac vanish. Now the
original native appear again.
Because this is Shingi, and you know what Shingi is like, it
take him days to come out and tell what happen. After all them
squiggly dances and talk of hitting French food he feel embarrassed
now to tell us that he have lose his graft. Me I knew this
was going to happen. But me I don't want to talk; I throw away
my straw broom long time ago and leave the zongororo to do
what it want.
On this day when Tsitsi have spend all afternoon sitting in
front of me in that crazy way, that's when Shingi's story come
out. I am still talking to she thinking that Shingi have go to
graft but he only have go for graft hunt without telling no one.
He have been doing this style for days, now it come out. Now
he arrive pushing this face that is as long as shield of Matabele
warrior.
Where have you abandon your spear and knobkerrie and
do you know that this is one offence that is punished by
death if you had live during time of Mfecane ? That's the first
question you want to ask when you see someone carrying that
face. But Shingi don't look like he is in mood for jokes so I say
nothing.
We have not even start starving but his face already
that look like they is wanting to fall too. Then Tsitsi go to kitchen
again to make milk for baby. She shout from the kitchen asking
again if me I am hungry.
What you going to say if Aleck find out you been giving me
food? I shout back. She don't answer. This is food that Aleck
have buy, but that's not the problem. Tsitsi have also been
worryful that they is not going to have enough food this week
because Aleck have send heap of money back home to pay for
some stand in Highfield township. £1,000, that's what he wire
back for the stand. US$1,910. But it hit his pocket hard because
now every food item that he and Tsitsi buy have already get
affected except the old bread and beans which everyone is tired
of. Meat is already out of the shopping list that week and Tsitsi
worryful she is becoming big burden on Aleck now. But maybe
Aleck don't worry too much because now Tsitsi have start to
bring in small money by going out to the salon; MaiMusindo
and them other women is helping she rent out the baby to
other women that want to apply for council flats as single
mothers. For £50, any woman can take Tsitsi's baby to the
Lambeth Housing Department and play out to be single mother,
fill them forms and take baby back to salon as soon as she have
been interview.
I finish sewing the buttons and I am putting my needle and
thread back inside my suitcase and Tsitsi is again sitting in crazy
rural way – crouching in front of me in she lopsided skirt that is
full of lint, bobbles and all the fluff. She is feeding milk to she
baby.
You can sometimes go through life and never get laid. That's
Shingi. He never get over the fear of girls that Thoko put inside
him since we was at school and end up only trying to make people
laugh. I know of people who have pay up heaps of money to lose
they virginity. Like the blind singer in Harare that end up paying
US$200 for people to organise him woman.
But I have not even have chance to talk to Shingi and things
happen fast. The cigarette-biting people – they exorcise Chirac
out of the native without no warning. Just like that.
During graft, Shingi and his friends have always been digging
out heaps of them drainpipes, repair some, lay new ones and
getting used to crawling in them dark holes to clear them
blocked drains. Always with long rope tied to foot in case you
get overcome down there and pass out in the slurry, mud and
poo. Now they get frogmarched out of the site by hard men
holding scaffold poles. They have been forced back into they
original native selfs again. And it's all because they have been
talk talk talk too much about them French passports until
someone hear of it and sell them out. Cigarette-biting people
don't trust none of them now because they think one of them
tip them immigration people. President Chirac vanish. Now the
original native appear again.
Because this is Shingi, and you know what Shingi is like, it
take him days to come out and tell what happen. After all them
squiggly dances and talk of hitting French food he feel embarrassed
now to tell us that he have lose his graft. Me I knew this
was going to happen. But me I don't want to talk; I throw away
my straw broom long time ago and leave the zongororo to do
what it want.
On this day when Tsitsi have spend all afternoon sitting in
front of me in that crazy way, that's when Shingi's story come
out. I am still talking to she thinking that Shingi have go to
graft but he only have go for graft hunt without telling no one.
He have been doing this style for days, now it come out. Now
he arrive pushing this face that is as long as shield of Matabele
warrior.
Where have you abandon your spear and knobkerrie and
do you know that this is one offence that is punished by
death if you had live during time of Mfecane ? That's the first
question you want to ask when you see someone carrying that
face. But Shingi don't look like he is in mood for jokes so I say
nothing.
We have not even start starving but his face already
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