Page 19 - The Mending Season

different school would have to be further away from home since there was only one high school near our house. I had always wished I could go to another part of the township where people had never heard ofus.“Which one?”I looked at Mmamane Malebone.“Its called Ascension Convent,” Mmamane Malesedi answered. My jaw dropped and I almost fell to the floor. That was an English name. I was going to a school with an English name? In town? I would go to school in town?! I leapt onto the bed next to Mmamane Malesedi, who glared at me. “Sit still,” she warned.“They take Black people there?” I asked Mmamane Malebone. Ithuteng, my school, was in the township and therefore a Black school. One or two White private schools had opened their doors to people ofdifferent colours, but only very wealthy Black people went there since they were so expensive.How could the aunts possibly afford to send me there? We had never had a lot of money. I knew they were constantly wondering if they had enough to pay our bills (I could hear them when I listened just outside the window of the meeting room, though they never complained in front ofme). But I also knew that I could never ask about money. Money, men and sex were the three forbidden topics. Adults could bring them up but for a child to mention them would have been too rude.“They just started a little while ago,” Mmamane Malesedi explained. “And you’ll be part of only a small group of Black people to go there ... sit still.”I was ecstatic, out of control. I jumped up and down on the bed. The younger aunts laughed and clapped while Mmamane Malesedi insisted I either sit still or we forget the whole thing.“This isn’t how people behave in those schools,” she said, giving me a sharp warning look. I ignored her. Mmamane19