Dog Eat Dog. Niq Mhlongo

with my forefinger.

      “I’m not finished with you either.”

      Big Punisher was very angry. He broke loose from two teachers who were trying to restrain him. Seeing that he had overpowered them, I scurried out of the disciplinary room and ran outside in the direction of the rockery between the two long classrooms. Pupils started peeping through the windows. Some stood in the doorways so that they didn’t miss out on the action.

      I could hear Big Punisher breathing heavily a few metres behind me as I ran for my life. I ran to the rockery and picked up one of the cement blocks that had been used to build it. At very close range I flung it at Big Punisher. The block hit him straight in the face. He fell down and started kicking for his life.

      I was very scared. Mrs Magwaza came running, screaming at the other teachers to call an ambulance. Instead, the school gardener came running with a hosepipe and sprayed water over Big Punisher. I stood at a safe distance, wondering whether I had murdered my teacher at the age of sixteen.

      The following day I did not go to school. It was a busy day at home as we were preparing for my father’s funeral. I hadn’t told anybody about what had happened at school.

      Around three o’clock in the afternoon I saw Mrs Magwaza’s car coming down the road towards our home. I sensed trouble and as it drew nearer I went to the outside toilet and pretended I was busy in there. I peeped through the crack of the door and saw Mrs Magwaza, Big Punisher and three more of my teachers emerge from the car. They entered our house through the kitchen door.

      After gathering some courage I came out of the loo and went into the house after my teachers. There were about fourteen people in our dining room; they had all come to pay their last respects to my father. The teachers were already seated when I came in. It must have become obvious to them that somebody had passed away. I could tell that their minds were smudged with unspoken thoughts, but I greeted each one of them, including the Big Punisher, as if nothing had happened. His left eye was completely closed and there was also a big gash between his eyes that was stitched together with some black thread. He was holding a pair of sunglasses in his right hand.

      Big Punisher and my brother knew each other from high school. I made sure that I sat with them to monitor the atmosphere. Everybody in the house looked sad. No one seemed to have noticed the wound on Big Punisher’s face. Sitting next to him was my biology teacher. He had punished me once for using a picture of a naked girl that I had cut out from my brother’s Scope magazine to decorate my biology exercise book. He was a very close friend of Big Punisher; I knew that they used to drink beer together. I also knew that he bore a grudge against me because I had been delivering flirtatious messages on behalf of my cousin to the schoolgirl he was chatting up at our school. He will do anything to fabricate lies that would corroborate those of Big Punisher about my bad behaviour, I thought nervously.

      After a while my brother started introducing my teachers to my aunt. “Aunt Ntombi, this is my friend Jerry. I went to school with him.”

      There was a little pause after my brother had pointed out Big Punisher as everybody in the house turned to look. My brother continued: “These are his colleagues and they are all Dingz’s teachers.”

      “It’s a beautiful thing to know that the straight and narrow can still be traced among the youth of today,” my aunt began in a dispirited voice. “In our days life was communal. When one family cut its finger, the rest of us bled. When a neighbour’s house was on fire we would bring water. Today is different because folk-ways have been sidelined with all this so-called modernity. When a person dies a friend will come and demand payment of his unpaid bills. It is very rare and a pleasant surprise to see you young people still upholding the spirit of ubuntu by coming to pay your last respects to the deceased. Ubuntu is the invincible gold of human companionship. It is a perfect product of nature and the basis of the society. With your presence here today, you have shown the Njomane family that education is not only limited to the knowledge of books, but goes beyond that to include the building of character.”

      There was a moment of silence. My teachers glanced at one another. They were nodding at my knowledgeable aunt, but I was not convinced that they were there to extend their condolences. I knew that the Big Punisher was there to give me the beating he had promised me in front of my father, but unfortunately for him my father was no longer in this world to witness it.

      “So when did this misfortune happen?” Big Punisher and my English teacher asked simultaneously.

      “It happened last week, but we decided that Dingz should not come to school until yesterday as he was very upset,” answered my brother.

      My teachers looked at each other for a short while. They didn’t know what to say. Their mission has failed, I thought happily. Somehow they would have to say that I had told them about my father’s death. Otherwise why had they come to our house? Were they there to rub salt into the wound? Or were they there to pass their heartfelt condolences? No, they won’t let our big secret out now, I convinced myself.

      “Yeah,” Mrs Magwaza started hesitantly, “that is why we have all come – to offer our condolences.”

      After an hour or so my teachers left. My brother and I took them to their car – I wanted to make sure that they didn’t mention anything about our fight.

      “We didn’t get to talk, Jerry. What happened to your eye?” asked my brother as they were about to get inside the car.

      “Oh this? It’s nothing,” said Big Punisher. “I had a little car accident. Don’t worry, I’m fine.”

      “When did it happen?”

      “The day before yesterday.”

      “So, how’s your car?”

      “Not that bad.”

      As he answered my brother’s questions I noticed that he was lisping. I watched him closely to assess the damage for myself and saw a wide gap where his two upper front teeth had been knocked out. The other teachers were already inside the car. Big Punisher got into the back seat and my brother closed the door for him.

      “Don’t forget to come to school on Monday. We have a test on Tuesday.” It was Mrs Magwaza reminding me. “Ask David your friend about specific chapters we are going to write about.”

      “Yes, ma’am.”

      It was over. I had won.

      Four

      Landing back in Dr Winterburn’s office from the reminiscence of my father’s death, I saw her putting my documents back into the large brown envelope that I had brought with me. She took a deep breath and sighed. She looked at me, back to her computer and then to the ceiling.

      “Mr Njomane, the decision was taken on the basis of the information that we had at that time. But I’ll try to use my influence to get the committee to reverse their decision. You will hear from us in writing within the week.”

      “Thanks very much,” I said.

      “Not so fast, Mr Njomane. Remember, I’m not promising anything.”

      “Yes, Dr Winterburn.”

      “All right. For now you must leave these documents with me.”

      I felt relieved. I hoped that something positive was going to come out of this nightmare. I thanked Dr Winterburn for her patience and left.

      But before I could get far, I suddenly felt a sharp pain in my gut. It was as if someone had stabbed my stomach with a sharp razor blade and cut my intestines. It was the kind of pain that I imagine Verwoerd felt the day Tsafendas’s knife intruded violently into his gut.

      As I entered the toilet I saw three guys standing and pointing their penises towards the gutter. I passed them and went straight to the basin, where I turned on the tap and washed my hands, I splashed the water over my face and onto my shaven head.

      The mirror that was attached to the wall above the basin reflected a very different face from the one I knew as my own. The pimple on my forehead