2001
Something else happened when Noah was 5 years old, right at the end of the year when they were all getting ready to leave Ms Jonas and go into Pre-school 2. It was something really bad. No one told him what was going on, but a big voice reached right inside him and said, Look, Noah. Mom’s crying and Dad’s face is like someone hurt him.
Dad came home in the middle of the afternoon. He never did that, not unless they were having a Special Family Day. Mom loved Special Days. She’d spring them on Dad, and he’d say, Really, Kate. Tomorrow? and Mom would say, Yes really, Dom, otherwise when will the kids and I ever get to see you? Then he’d laugh and say, Fair enough, you win. He’d kiss Mom and she’d smile at him and he’d pick up the phone and say, Cancel all my appointments for tomorrow, please, Ms Jonkers, I have a personal engagement.
Then they’d all do things like go to the beach, or out to the farm to see Ouma and Oupa, Mom’s mom and dad. They’d sit under a big tree there and eat bread and cheese and Oupa would let Noah sip his wine but first he’d have to sniff it and say what it smelled like, even if it was like when Ms Jonas sharpened all the crayons, ready for drawing.
But not that day.
When Dad walked through the front door, Mom rushed up to him and he held her really tight.
She said, Oh Dom, Dom, and he hugged her and she said, There’s another one. Another one’s been hit.
Go and play, Noah, Dad said. Off you go. Play with Maddie.
And ask Sibongile to make you a sandwich, said Mom.
They went into the sitting room and closed the door, but not before Noah heard a lady saying, This is an attack on the American way of life. Behind her, on the tv, there was a tall tower, taller than any building Spiderman ever crawled up, but this one had smoke and fire coming out of it on the side near the top.
Sibongile looked after them all afternoon and when Noah asked her if they were going out for a Special Day, she said no.
That afternoon, instead of vacuuming and dusting and cleaning the showers, she played games with Maddie and him, and she even allowed them to go into the kitchen and help with the washing up. They were very careful, but it was quite safe, Sibongile said, because the water was warm and the plates were plastic.
Sibongile told them about her brother who used to be a postman, riding up and down streets like theirs, delivering letters, only one day he fell off his bike and broke his knee. It was a very bad break, and now he can’t ride his bicycle or walk very far, said Sibongile. She told them he couldn’t find a job and that she was helping him to look after his family and now they all lived together in her small house.
Noah and Maddie had so much fun that afternoon, it was almost as good as a Special Family Day.
And then it was time for Sibongile to catch a taxi and then a train and then another taxi, which was how she got home.
Mom said, Thank you so much, Sibongile. I couldn’t have … and then she looked like she was going to cry again. She stood at the door and her face was white and sad, and Dad was standing inside the sitting room. The TV was switched off, but its big green eye looked straight at Noah.