Rude Youths

“Mma,” the constable said over the phone, “we have the boys. They are waiting for you at the Station in G-West.”

About a half hour later, Danielle arrived. The station was empty and dusty. She walked slowly, supporting herself on her walking stick. The constable brought the two youths from the cell. He released his firm grip on their wrists and shoved them to Danielle. To the eye, these youths were barely men but hardly boys. They fell at the lady’s feet. They crawled to her dusty ballet flats, kissing them. Their saggy pants exposed their briefs, and the sight of them offended Danielle. Their jerseys were as baggy as their saggy pants, which collected dust as they licked the floor with their kisses at Danielle’s feet. To her, these youngsters looked like riffraff; examples of a degenerate foreign culture. She didn’t want to be near them. She stepped back once the kissing started.

“Stop it! You are only insulting me,” she warned, stepping back.

“Please Nkuku,” they cried. “Don’t send us to the kgotla. They’ll beat us senseless.” They looked at the officer, who placed his hand on his baton, and then back at Danielle. “Then our parents will beat those bruises, haibo!”

“Well if you had any sense in you, you wouldn’t have spoken to me the way you did,” she said, disgusted.

“Children these days,” said the policeman, flaring his nostrils.

*

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About six hours earlier, Danielle was at Molapo Crossing Mall, running some errands. She went to the post office to send a letter to her grandson in England. There was a queue inside, but when the staff heard the creek of her walking stick, they guided her straight to the front of the line. The person being served even put his large parcel aside to make space for her. Everyone complied without murmuring. They all smiled.

“Thank you so much,” she said. “I just want to send a little letter to my grandson. I won’t be long, ” she said in a voice that shook as much as her stick.

“Aww,” said the clerk, “what a special grandson you must have to come all this way to send a letter.”

She rang up the till and Danielle handed her a red note. When the change came, Danielle received a handful of coins. She pulled out a coin bag from her handbag to separate the coins from the notes. It was fat and clunky, sealed by a metal clasp. She tensed her fingers trying to open it but accidentally jerked her hand sideways, causing some of the coins to pour out.

“Oh dear,” she exclaimed with her face brightening. “I’m such a klutz these days.” She tried to bend down but was stopped by the gentleman who was ahead of her.

“Don’t worry mma,” he said. “I’ll get it for you.” He squatted and collected all the coins rolling across the shop.

“You’re too kind,” she said. She went on to do her groceries. She pulled out a trolley and placed her walking stick inside. The guard at the front of the shop stopped her.

“Mma,” he said, “Let me help.” He took the trolley off her and gestured that he’d do all the heavy lifting.

“Oh dear,” she said to him. “What about your job? Don’t let me stop you.”

“The lady there can watch. We won’t be long,” he said before informing his coworker of her new duty.

The guard not only helped Danielle with the shopping but also accompanied her to the car in the parking lot.

There was another guard at the parking lot that wore the same uniform as the guard at the store. He took over, helping Danielle load her groceries into the boot. She was so overwhelmed by their manners that she took her coin purse from her handbag and gave each of them three days worth of transport fare. They thanked her, bowing partially with one hand placed over their forearm.

In the meantime, there were some youths loitering around the parking lot. Some were skaters; some were smokers and others were doping in broad daylight. All were unemployed and out of school. They listened to the hip-hop music that was being blasted from their boomboxes.

Chief, the ringleader, wore a durag, a vest and lots of fake jewellery. He wrapped his arms around two of his mates. “Yo Lolo and Dumz, how about a ‘lil game?” He teased. “See that gogo whose being attended to?”

They nodded.

“Get up in her grill, you know what I’m sayin’.”

Lolo was more reasonable than Dumz. He didn’t smoke or drink. He just hung around, for he had nothing else to do. Tending to his family’s farm was too much work for a guy who wanted to enjoy life. “It’s not cool,” he told his parents when asked why he stopped schooling.

He asked Chief, “Why? She’s helpless.”

“Nah my gee, you missin’ the point. Have a ‘lil fun, you feel? It’s just a game. Be cool, like us,” Chief said.

“Dee,” said Dumz. “Be a real one. It’ll be fun. Trust!”

Lolo fanned himself with his free arm. Dumz’s breath reeked of booze. Dumz took Lolo by the arm and ran to the exit where the road was. Since it was noon on a Wednesday, there was barely any traffic. Danielle’s car was the only one to leave the mall before lunch. They stood at the roadside waiting.

As she drove to the exit, Dumz and Lolo walked onto the road. She waited for them to cross, but they didn’t. She hooted. Nothing happened. Instead, the youths showed her both their middle fingers. Their friends at the other side of the parking lot watched. They laughed, dropping the ash from their blunts to the ground and spitting out the booze from their mouths.

Danielle unwound her window and shouted: “What the hell are you doing? Get off the road! It’s dangerous.”

Dumz walked to her window, which surprised Lolo, but he followed anyway. He looked her in the eyes and said: “Fuck off!”

Lolo’s heart raced. He felt thrilled. Danielle was unimpressed. She could smell by his breath and tell by his eyes what he’d been doing all morning. “Who did these fools think they were, talking to an elder that way?” She thought to herself, before addressing them again.

“What did you say?” She yelled.

Lolo, now excited, repeated what Dumz said. “He said, ‘FUCK OFF!’” He paused and then continued, “NIGGA!”

Dumz’s eyes went large. He couldn’t believe what Lolo said. He threw in the ‘n-word’. They laughed at her together.

“Excuse me! Who taught you to speak like that? I could be your mother,” she exclaimed, “twice over!”

Dumz, now emboldened by Lolo, went for it again. He stared at her squarely, with adrenaline pumping.

“Whatcha gonna do about it,” he said before looking at Lolo, then added, “NIGGA?”

Danielle scoffed. She looked at their faces and their clothes closely. “Report you to the police,” she said firmly, “Your parents should be ashamed.”

They laughed at the empty threat. What could she do? As if the police would take her seriously, Dumz and Lolo were confident of this. They walked back with puffed up chests. The crew was in tears. When they heard about what Lolo said and how it escalated, they fell over laughing. Chief patted them on their shoulders.

“You guys are real onez. You’ve got my respect.” He said, offering them a drink hidden in a black plastic bag.

Lolo felt important, like he achieved something. He liked that feeling. It was better than the emptiness he knew of being at home all day. “This is cool,” he thought to himself. So he took a sip. It burned going all the way down. He made a face to show his discomfort. The gang laughed as he passed it back.

Dumz spoke rashly: “Nah, nigga. You too soft. It’s nothing to brag about. Do the same to a cop or white man, that’s something.”

Chief looked at Dumz, holding a blunt to his hand. “Don’t get cocky. The cops aren’t a joke. They’ll moor you.”

He took a drag and blew it in Dumz’s face. “And you can’t do shit about it!”

“Fuck the cops. They’re useless,” Dumz exclaimed.

Chief was intrigued: “What did they ever do to you?”

Dumz kicked the thorn tree that shaded them and spat on the prickly grass. “Fucking asked my aunt to pick them up after she was robbed. What the fuck? Don’t they have cars?”

One of the girls that was spaced out held Dumz by the face. “Wow, such a baby face. Lemme tell ya sometin,” She started. “The police are efficient when they choose to be. My cousin was once made to lie on the side of the road while they inspected his car for drugs. They found none but confiscated all of his booze. So sweetie, be careful.” She said before kissing him.

Dumz shoved her out of embarrassment. She laughed. “Cops hate youngsters like us! They call us delinquents. All because we know how to have a good time,” she said before taking another drag of the blunt, winking at Dumz.

Lunchtime came. The crew were still as they were but got rid of the booze and buds in the bush around the corner when they saw the police. Like the rest of the people, the police were driving in for their meal. The gang took out their lunch and sipped on their sodas and ate their pies. They looked like everyone else except that once the policemen finished eating lunch, they approached the group. Dumz got tense but Chief calmed him.

“Maybe he wants a cigarette.”

The policemen greeted everyone, and the youths returned the greeting like children in school. One of them asked what they were up to, and they answered as Chief advised.

“We are enjoying life, nothing more, nothing less,” the crew said.

The policemen smiled, scanning the faces. Chief offered a cigarette, which they turned down politely.

“Could we talk with some of your friends,” they asked. “We’re looking for some information.”

Lolo looked nervous. “Surely it can’t be us,” he thought to himself, “it’s too quick.” Dumz was breathing faster. Chief entertained it. He assured everyone that it was protocol.

“About two male suspects who insulted an elder,” they smirked.

The crew burst out laughing except for the two who were implicated. No one could believe it. Before they knew it, Dumz and Lolo were at the feet of Danielle. Legally, she couldn’t make any charges over a few insults. It’s a misdemeanour, but there is another law, a traditional court of justice, where words have consequences. At the Kgotla.

*

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“Forgive us! We’ll do anything. Whatever you do, just don’t send us to the kgotla.” They begged, prostrating themselves on the floor.

“We’ll work your yard,” said Dumz, reaching at her feet.

“No, we’ll work your masimo,” said a teary-eyed Lolo, “free of charge for like a month.”

“Mxm, you must honour your elders. You kids forget where you are from and with whom you speak. Look at how you are dressed. Officer, did you not also smell them? In my day, you couldn’t get away with half the stuff they do, especially when your parents’ fields need ploughing and cattle feeding! An example needs to be made.” She hissed, stamping her walking stick.

The constable nodded his head and looked at his wristwatch. His shift was ending, and he wanted to knock off for supper.

“No,” they cried, “anything but that.” They crawled closer to her feet, making themselves more undignified than before. They soaked their shirt in their tears, trying to clean Danielle’s dusty shoes.

It was too late. Danielle asked the police to notify their parents and the district Kgosi. He would decide the fate of these youngsters. How many times shall the whip skid across their bare backs? Only God knew. All the while, they wailed at her feet, and she shooed them away with her stick.