Page 57 - The Mending Season

She slowly took off her swim cap and stretched her mouth slightly without showing her teeth, giving me a restrained smile.“Are you OK?” she asked.“Sorry,” I muttered, the sound of my rough “r” hanging between us.She kept smiling. We stood there looking at each other, her hand making circles on the water. She looked at me thought­ fully, her head tilted to one side, as if she was deciding whether or not my nose was right for my face.“What’s your name again?” KB asked. I put my right foot on top ofmy left one and followed her hand movements with my eyes. She was gracefully smoothing out her hair with her fingers and not looking up at me any more.“Tshidiso,” I finally said, my heart racing.“Do you have a nickname?” she was floating on her back now, squinting against the suns glare. I thought, she is talking to me!“Tshidi,”was all I could manage to say.“I love nicknames, my dad too. We call my sister ‘Snuggles’ because that’s her favourite thing in the whole world. She’s always coming into my room and climbing into my bed for snuggles. Oh! She’s the cutest!”She had her own room? Iyol She had her own room!“You have beautiful hair,” I said.“Thanks. Urgh! I never know what to do with it. It justgrows and grows. I swear my mother has White blood. You should see her. That’s where I get the hair. Hers is like, I don’t know, down to her back.” She stood up, turned her body and put her hand halfway down her back.I laughed a little too eagerly. I did not want the conversa­ tion to end.“Seriously, you should see her. Actually, do you want to come to my house for my birthday?”57