Page 62 - The Mending Season

A large blue BMW had stopped in the middle ofthe drive­ way, as if to give everyone a chance to see it. None of the parents turned off the ignition of their cars when they dropped their daughters offat the school, there were too many cars waiting behind for that. But the driver ofthis car did not seem to care. She was a very light-skinned, slender Black woman, who was fixing her hair and make-up in the rear-view mirror. She wore sunglasses, large gold earrings, a gold watch and a gold ring on each hand.The cars boot was open and there was KB picking up her school bag and a sports bag out ofit, taking her time.Marianne asked, “Do we have swimming today?”Veronica answered, “No. But you know, when you have a new car you have to bring extra bags just so it takes you that much longer to take them out ofthe boot.”I watched mesmerized as KB brought out her lunch box and another much smaller bag that must have held make-up. She finally closed the boot and said something I could not hear to her mother. Her mother opened her door and left it open. She was wearing very high heels and a short dress that looked expensive even from a distance. She took the make-up bag and the lunch box out of her daughters hands and they came towards us.When our eyes met, KB smiled and pointed at me and said something to her mother, who hurried towards me. I was afraid she would trip and fall, but evidently she had been in heels that high for longer than I could imagine. She handed me the lunch box and the small bag and looked relieved, like she had dropped a large stone from her dainty hands. She lifted her sunglasses, revealing long eyelashes and eye make-up that could have been done by a professional. She smiled softly at everyone while KB strolled past us without looking in our direction.“Hi, girls,” she said. A smokers deep voice surprised me coming from the small frame.62