Chapter Two

 

St. John the Baptist Primary School held a special assembly to start the New Year. The pupils, teachers and other members of staff were ready to get to classes and to work, and the school drummers were on hand to usher them to their appropriate places after the various announcements. After the school’s and country’s anthems were recited by the pupils, in a twenty-by- seven space arrangement, with each teacher present standing opposite each column of pupils (except for one, who stood behind the principal), the school’s next activities were announced by the principal, Mr. Dean Herbs:

“We are glad to welcome you back after our two-month’s-long break. How were your holidays? I hope you spent it well with your families. Did you enjoy your holidays with your families? I believe you all did! As for me, I enjoyed mine. And I hope the same went for you, the teachers!

Now we are here to resume for the term. Class 5 has a new head teacher. She is standing right behind me and will introduce herself properly when the classes begin. For this term, each class will have a total of twenty-eight students. On my list are the names of   the people who are members of Class 5 of 1991/1992 session- our senior class. They are Spencer Hill, Makalele Thompson, Maya Isaacs, William Grants, Elizabeth Tate, Shan Craig, Tara Cole, Van Gore, Pierre Decamps, Maria Russell, El-Mohammed Raheem, Tanka Arawak, Bode Da Silva and Carlos Santana. I took my time to mention them because they are the ‘special ones.’ They are the ones you, their juniors, should be looking up to for academic excellence.


In the next two weeks, we will be calling out on this ground the names of those who are yet to pay their term’s tuition fees. Therefore, ensure that you inform your parents about this so that they would pay before or on the date. The date will be Monday, next week. To avoid being shown the school exit doors, please do not forget to tell your parents and guardians at home about this.

As I end the announcement, I want all of the pupils of Class 5 to march to their classes in a straight line. Then, Classes 4, 3, 2 and 1 will follow in a similar and orderly manner. If there are any further announcements, your head teacher will communicate them to you.

Firstly, I will take my leave, and Class 5 will go next. Others will follow suit.

Drummers played the drums as we all sang the song “For learning is better than silver and gold.’”

Immediately after the principal took his leave and headed straight to his office, everyone marched enthusiastically to his or her classroom and office, singing the song:

“We are going to our classes with clean handsome faces To do as we were taught

For learning is better than silver and gold For le…earning

Is Better Than Silver And Gold!”

The new assistant head teacher went with the principal to get the lesson plans for the class. Meanwhile, the Class 5 pupils were all settled, waiting for the arrival of their new head of the year teacher.


She eventually came through the door. The moment she stood at the front to go into the business of the day, the class captain, Maria Russell, said sharply, “All stand and greet!”

“Good morning! ,They all chorused .You’re welcome to our class!! they obeyed Maria’s all stand and greet” command.

Amazed by what she saw, the new head of the year teacher couldn’t help , but clap her hands as a way of applauding their good conducts.

“Please, do have your seats!” she pleaded, seeing that they were all standing at ease, staring at her. “This is my first time of coming to this class. But you’ve made me feel like I have always been here. I’m so proud of you!”

As the pupils sat back down, she continued, “Before I go into what we have for today, I would like to know something about each and every one of you. I will call you out from your seats to where I am standing, and you will tell the class your names and ages. I want to identify your faces properly. After which, you will return to your seats. So let’s get started! Starting from you…” Her right hand pointed at Maya, then the rest of the pupils.

“I am Maya Isaac. I will be eleven years of age two days from now.”

“Great!” she exclaimed. “That’s good to know. I look forward to celebrating your birthday!!”

“My name is Maria Russell. I’m ten years old.” “Okay,” noted the new head teacher .

“I’m Elizabeth Tate. I am nine years old.”

“I go by the name Tara Cole. I’m eleven years of age.”

“I like your confidence. I think you’ll make a better class captain!” the teacher observed.

“I’m Van Gore. I am ten years old.”


“My name is Pierre Decamps. I am nine years old.”

“I’m El-Mohammed Raheem. I will be eleven next month.” “It’s good to know I’ll be celebrating your birthday with

you!” the teacher remarked.

“I am Spencer Hill. I am ten years old.”

“Makalele Thompson is my name. I am eleven years old.” “My name is William Grants. I am nine years old.”

“I am Carlos Santana. I’m ten years old.”

“My name is Tanka Arawak. I am eleven years old.” “Bode Da Silva is my name. I am ten years of age.” “I’m Shan Craig. I am nine years old.”

After ensuring that all the students were seated and settled, the teacher told the class, “I’m the happiest woman on earth! Do you know the reason why? I know that I have brilliant students who will understand what I have to teach. Again, I’m very proud of you all! I’m happy to be at the best primary school in Durban, and I am happy to be a teacher here. And I know for sure that you are all happy to be here too.”

She looked down at her papers. “I will be your Elementary Social Studies teacher. Let’s go straight to what I have to teach you today, since we are short on time. I want you to take out your pen and notebook from your bag and place them on the desk.”

The pupils did as they were instructed. They were prepared to write what she had to tell them. But one thing was kept in the dark; from them, she has not yet disclosed her name.

Realising that they were not really settled, she decided to open up. “Before I start to write on the board, I know you have been wondering who I am. Yes, you deserve to know the name of your head teacher. I go by the name Miss Sandra Brooks. You can


address me as Miss Sandra. Having said that, let’s go straight to what we have today.”

They were settled and prepared to listen to what Miss Sandra had to teach them. Taking the marker in her right hand and directly facing the board, she wrote the topic, “What is Marriage?” Miss Sandra turned to the class the moment she has finished writing.

“Write this topic in your notebooks, and then look up here,” she told the pupils. “Today, we will be discussing ‘What is marriage?’ I want to know who amongst you know what marriage is.”

Six hands were raised. Spencer, Elizabeth, Maria, Pierre, Shan and Makalele had their hands all raised to answer the question. Maya, however, did not. She thought that she knew all there was to know in the world. But she was confused that she wasn’t able to answer the question.

Miss Sandra was very efficient with her time, so she chose to find out what they had to say about the topic, one after the other. This would give them some information to talk about quickly.

“I can see six hands raised! The six of you will answer the question, starting with you. Spencer.”

“Marriage is the union between two people, when they become husband and wife.”

“That’s a good definition, Spencer,” Miss Sandra remarked. “Elizabeth, it’s your turn.”

“Marriage is an institution that has people united for life as husband and wife.”

“Class, give Elizabeth a round of applause!” Miss Sandra instructed. As the clapping sounds died down, she went on. “Your turn, Maria.”


“My dad taught me that marriage is a relationship, where a man is actually called a ‘MR.’ and a woman called ‘MRS.’”

“I have not heard of this definition before,” the teacher said, somewhat amused but impressed. “Your dad must be a typical marriage counselor.” She smiled at Maria, then said, “You’re next, Tanka.”

“Marriage is the meeting point where people meet, only to be called husband and wife.”

Miss Sandra exclaimed, “You kids are amazing. You are the most brilliant pupils I’ve ever taught.” She moved on. “Next is Makalele.”

“Marriage is an opportunity for people to carry out their obligations to give birth.”

“Makalele, who taught you this,?” she asked in utter amazement.

“It’s my mom and dad who taught me in Soweto,” Makalele replied, feeling happy at the way Miss Sandra nodded her head in agreement.

“They must be indeed good counselors. I am beginning to learn from you all, especially Makalele’s outstanding definition,” she said. “Last but not the least—Pierre.”

“Marriage is the togetherness of husband and wife.”

Maya kept staring at them because of how they each answered the question, and how Miss Sandra applauded them. Answering questions from previous class teachers wasn’t new to Maya, but this time, she wasn’t able to answer Miss Sandra’s question like the rest. That got her concerned. This husband-and- wife idea… Questions welled up concerning ‘the missing link’ of her life…her mother. Where is my mother?-was what she was thinking in her heart.


“Good!” exclaimed Miss Sandra, who liked the simplicity of his definition. She continued. “To be honest, you have made me proud and my teaching very easy. No wonder the principal was very particular about your class. Give yourselves a hand!”

After the applause died down, she instructed those who had answered, “Please sit down now. You’ve correctly defined what marriage is. Now, let’s do a little activity. If you live with your father and mother, stand up.”

Spencer, Maria, Pierre, Tanka, Elizabeth, Bode and Shan stood up. Miss Sandra knew that their parents were still married, to say the least. She said, “So, there are only seven pupils living with their parents. It means that half of the class were living with their fathers and mothers as others have either both parents or step parents. Okay! If you are living with your guardians, please stand up!”

Tara Cole, El-Mohammed and William Grant stood up. Miss Sandra believed that they were the only ones in the class who were the exceptions.

It became glaring that Maya was the odd one out. At first, she thought that Maya’s parents were either divorced or separated. However, all that she wanted was to know who she was actually living with. She asked, “Maya, are you living with your father or mother?”

“I am living with my father. I don’t know who my mother is or where she is right now,” replied Maya.

Miss Sandra felt like she had just dug the ground for them to be swallowed. She knew it was embarrassing, from seeing the look on her face. But in order not to let the rest of the class notice it, she picked up the marker and a notebook she kept on her table and faced the board.


“Class,” she instructed, “please write down what I’m putting on the board.” She wrote down three different meanings of marriage:

As she finished writing, she noticed the time. “Oh!” she exclaimed, and quickly explained to the class that she would have to leave early. “Ensure that you copy what has been written on the board, read it at home, discuss it with your parents, and bring it back in the morning.” She dropped her marker, grabbed her lesson case, and headed towards the Staff Room.

Maya and her classmates had other subjects the rest of the day. And at the close of school, Maya and her colleagues waited at the school’s garden for their parents and guardians to pick them up. It wasn’t long before her dad drove by. She ran towards him, squeezing and hugging him tightly as she shouted excitedly, “Daddy, how are you?!”

“I’m fine! How was school?”

“School was fun!” Maya answered. “I learned something I have never known before. It’s about marriage. We got a new teacher and she is good! Daddy, she gave us an assignment that I have to discuss with you.”

Maya was more than happy to tell him all that happened at school, but Samuel wasn’t concerned with what she had to say –he had had a stress-filled day at work. Maya’s delight met with Samuel’s ‘there-is-no-time-to-waste-here’ look.

Not minding the look on his face, Maya started, “Dad, school was…”

“Let’s go home,” Samuel interrupted, “We’ll talk about it when we get there.”

“Okay, Dad!”

They both got into the car and left for home. Two hours later, Maya took her notebook and was reading. After observing


his usual afternoon rest, Samuel joined her in the sitting room. Seeing that his daughter’s attention was buried in what she was reading, he was drawn to what was so enthralling. Letting her know that he was in the sitting room, he said aloud, “Very good, Maya! I am glad to see that you are doing your assignments. You told me that you were going to discuss with me what you learned at school. You also mentioned that you now have a new school teacher. I’m available to discuss with you what you’ve learned.” He smiled at her. “To start with, who is that new teacher?”

Maya was happy that her father was interested, and she responded, “The name of my new teacher is Miss Sandra Brooks. But she told us to address her as Miss Sandra. She asked us our names and ages. It was fun! We introduced ourselves. She was impressed at our conducts. Then, she went to the topic of the day, ‘What is Marriage?’ By the way, she is our new Social Studies teacher.”

Maya gave her dad a troubled look. “Daddy, I wasn’t able to raise my hand because I didn’t know the answer. There were only six of us that did not know what marriage was. I was the only one who stood up when asked if I wasn’t living with our fathers and mothers. Daddy, I want to ask you – what is marriage?”

At first, he looked disturbed. But he summoned the courage to tell her what he wanted her to know. “My dear, marriage is a point in life where someone has to decide to be with someone for the rest of their life as husband and wife. In marriage, you have to know how to live happily with your man or woman so that things will go on well as planned.”

He paused and sighed. “I’ll have to stop here because you are too young to understand this.”

“Daddy,” she asked, holding tightly to her notes, “Who is my mother and why is she not living with us?”


Shocked to the marrow, Samuel held his breath for some seconds and looked around, wondering what to say. He could not think of anything. But he knew he had to answer the questions. He had no choice!

With Maya’s eyes staring at him, craving answers, Samuel wasn’t able to think of a clever answer.

He answered, “Hmmm…,” scratching his chin. Then he continued, “Maya, you see, your mom and I are not living together for some reasons that are beyond your understanding. Your mother, I believe, is alive and she is somewhere around Lesotho or Zimbabwe. She’ll be coming soon! In fact, sooner than you expect!” He saw that his reply satisfied her, which brought him a temporary sigh of relief. However, he knew that Judgment Day was just around the corner. Samuel knew that if he didn’t tell her all that she needed to know about her true self, and soon, his world would be in shambles in the near future!