Blap! Blap! Blap! Friday afternoon and we are in the dark again. Load shedding: it’s not easy.
When enough hours in the day have passed, I grab my keys, the shopping list and my roommate, and off we go to the mall. We buy chips, napkins and caramel sweets in large quantities.
After the shop closes we rush to the airport and pick my sister up. On the way back we follow a car that looks familiar, someone we know. It is unexpected but we have a drink with him anyway; I’ll have a Mcumbelo please.
It is still early but we are already late. Back at the house I take a shower and chill quickly. Before long we are in this amazing house having a braai – barbecue for South Africans- with rose wine. For the desert, he has cooked peach-mousse-au-chocolat. Others are insistently calling me to know when we’ll be in the club, Where you at. They are eager, so I tell them we’ll meet them there. An hour and a half later, we do. Balloons stuck to the ceiling, champagne in the glasses – first time here – and blood on the dance floor.
The following evening is all eyes on our housewarming party. I dress like a dog who’s been messing around in a pile of clothes.
Some people come, some don’t. I have fun with my friends and forget about the rain. Policemen knock at the door at half past three, they want a drink. We offer a beer that they refuse. Suddenly it is next morning and we travel to Zoo Lake for a breakfast buffet. It is still early but we are already late, Sorry we don’t serve breakfast anymore. We eat duck samosa and peri peri egg roles before going on the lake to row for a minute.Part of the plan was to visit the lion park. No, we don’t. Too late. Again. “It’s ok, it’s alright, I got something that you gonna like.” Rosebank’s African market. I lose my sister in the elevator and find a couple of fertility statues on a dusty shelf.
- How much?
- 180R each.
- And for both?
- Hm, how much would you pay?
- 300R.
- Give me 220R.
- Let me go get my cash.
I take the mama and the papa, rap them up in newspapers and carry them around in a dirty plastic bag. I buy them a dozen of steel guinea-fowls and a pipe. I dig African crafts.
We drive back home slowly at the end of the afternoon and chill quietly while listening to music. For diner we discover a fish restaurant quite delicious, eat oysters, prawns, a sea bream and calamari. We finish the evening drinking Guinness in a fake Irish pub with a loose guitarist doing Dire Straights covers in the night.
I go to bed and stand still, head on my pillow. On each side of the mattress: the fertility statues. I can feel their apprehensive excitement of spending their first night in their new home. Then I fall asleep.
Latest comments