My mlungu

One of the stories I've been writing in my head for a while now is the story of Sibusiso, a.k.a. Mazino. While I was in KZN I thought about writing his story so many times, from his perspective and his "voice". Admittedly, I was too afraid to try it, nervous that the racial/educational implications were too broad and that it wasn't fair for me to insert myself into someone else's head. It felt too preposterous and all-assuming. However, Sibusiso, as a failing student will struggle to ever tell his story. For now, I'd like to try and imagine it and tell it as he would say it aloud. I'm only sharing his story along the lines I know, which is why I am included:

Every day I wake uhrly to feed the chickens. I eye-ron my school shirt, the one from the day before, hanged cleaning on the line. I walk down the dirt road from the top of Magudu mount to the tar road. Next to Xolani's hut. I try to hike a ride to school. Sometimes it takes long. In a way that's funny, I like these long waits, sometimes. I'm always very uhrly just in case a car comes along. Cousins and bruh-dahs are on the side of the road. They say hello and sometimes I find a stick of cane in the middle of the road to suck on while I waiting. Some days it take too long to hike. It's too far to walk, maybe thirty Ks. I don't have a watch, but if it's too long sometimes I just go home.

At home I'm not much of an anybody. The whole village of Magudu is full of Ntshangases. I'm a Ntshangase. That means I have many bruh-duhs and sis-tahs, whether we share blood or no. I don't have a work and am still going to school so I don't give a money. My real muh-dah lives in Richard's Bay, so I live with my fuh-dah and his wife. She don't like me a lot. She treat me like nothing. I work hard, always doing a cleaning and a clothes washing.

But at school, I'm someone. Everyone knows me for something. I'm Mazino. It's an old short name because I have big teeth in front. I know EVERYone. Everyone thinks I'm funny and they like me cause I always smiling. I don't let anything bother me, some say I just let it roll off my back like anything.

I have 24 years and in Grade 10. I cannot even say how long I been Grade 10 ler-nuh. I could stop school but I stay because it give me something to be doing. Sometime it got really hard to go because of hiking. But Miss Shah-non, she changed these thing.

Miss Shah-non, she's a mlungu. That means whitey. He's the only white person I ever knew up close. She's from America he say but I don't really understand why she's here. She teaches me a English and every day she gives me a lift to school. She drives a big bakkie and he looks so funny, this tiny woman in this big car. In cold mornings it warms me up because the car is warm and I don't have a jacket. Sometimes he is late to school and I wait a long time. I could even hike with other cars, but I wait for Miss Shah-non. He listens to funny music that I never before knew.

I don't speak English very much and his Zulu is missing so we don't talk. Miss Shah-non she tries to learn some Zulu but he has a bad memory and says the words in funny ways. I'm the same at English, I always forget. We work for a long time on the difference between who, where, what, why and when because she wants to get to learn about me more. Sometimes we don't understand eachother at all. I try to teach him Nkosi Sikele i'Africa because she likes hearing it at our school in the morning. I was very afraid to sing for her alone and my voice shake!

I try to clean the bakkie for Miss Shah-non sometimes and make it really nice. He likes that a lot. It's my way to say thank you for hiking me. Miss Shah-non says it's not hiking, it's hitching. Hiking is supposed to be up a mountain? Strange.

Miss Shah-non gives me things sometimes and I tell other children in Zulu. They are a bit jealous that I have a mlungu driving me who gives me things. No one else knows a mlungu either. For no reason she gives me a Steer's chips or a ice cream. She gave me Coke one time and I threw the bottle out the window. He said it's bad to throw out things, that I should burn it instead. I didn't really understand, but I know mlungu people, they like things clean a certain way.

But Miss Shah-non, before World Cup, she gave me a vuvuzela that came for free with her vodka. I think she heard me blow it from all the way on her farm! I hope so. I love Miss Shannon.

He gave me a Zulu-English dictionary for present. I never had one before because they cost a hundred rand. After I got the dictionary I never saw Miss Shannon again. I don't know what happened. She didn't show up when the term started after World Cup ends. I had to hike to school again. When I got there I found out she left for a different job. I wonder was she without happiness? He didn't say goodbye. I hope I know more English the next time we meet. I miss her. She's the only mlungu I ever knew and I don't think I'll ever know another one unless I get a gardening job. Miss Shah-non, I tell him Sawbona when we meet again and I hope she remembers!