They are Coming

Chris Mlalazi

Description

This is the story of a small family in Lobengula township, Bulawayo: a shoemaker, Ngwenya, his wife, MaVundla, and their two children, Ambition and Senzeni, whose lives are turned upside-down when Senzeni joins the local youth militia. Mlalazi captures the texture of everyday life in the township, the humour, warmth, rivalry and fear as neighbours interact with each other or get swept up by events outside their control. Their constant search, however, is for autonomy and independence, for the ability to have control over their own lives. They are Coming provides us with perspectives often hidden from view, in a story where particular events are part of a more complex history.

Sujets

• Fiction

Informations

• Publié par: Weaver Press
• Date de parution: 08 mai 2014
• Nombre de lectures: 1
• EAN13: 9781779222626
• Langue: English
• Poids de l'ouvrage: 2 Mo

Extrait

They are Coming
They are Coming
Christopher Mlalazi
Published by Weaver Press, Box A1922, Avondale, Harare. 2014
www.weaverpresszimbabwe.com
Christopher Mlalazi, 2014
Typeset by Weaver Press
Cover Design: Design Duo, Harare
Cover illustration: Calvin Chimutuwah
Printed by: Directory Publishers, Harare and Bulawayo
All rights reserved. No part of the publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form by any means - electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise - without the express written permission of the publisher.
ISBN: 978-1-77922-258-9
CONTENTS
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
Chapter 27
Chapter 28
Chapter 29
Chapter 30
Chapter 31
Chapter 32
Chapter 33
Chapter 34
Chapter 35
Chapter 36
CHRISTOPHER MLALAZI is currently Guest Writer of the City of Hanover in Germany , the most recent of a series of writing fellowships. In 2012, he was a fellow at the Iowa International Writing Program, USA; in 2011, he was Guest Writer at the Nordic Africa Institute in Sweden; and, in 2010, Guest Writer at Villa Aurora, in Los Angeles, USA. Prolific as a prose writer and playwright, in 2008 he was the co-winner of the Oxfam Novib PEN Freedom of Expression Award at the Hague for theatre. He won NAMA awards for his short story collection, Dancing With Life: Tales From The Township and for his play Election Day . His second novel, Running with Mother , has been translated into German and Italian.
2004
Chapter 1
A woman who sweeps her yard after the sun has risen will make a bad wife, Ambition s mother used to tell Senzeni whenever she was late up. Her brother knew why: You re happy when you dream of nice things. But, today, although it s the school holidays, and he does not have to sweep the yard, which is the duty of women, Ambition has woken up very early after a restless night as if someone, somewhere, was trying to tell him something. Standing at the gate, he looks down Sibambene Street. The sun has just risen, promising another warm autumn day. His mother has already swept their yard, and is now busy washing the dishes by the door. Hawu , up so early Ambi, what s the matter? Ambition rubbed his eyes and yawned, Nothing, Mama, my sleep is gone.
Then you must be missing school, my child. His mother smiled, her eyes glancing over him, as if checking, as only a mother can, to see if her son has woken up any taller. Don t worry, the holiday will soon be over and you ll be back with your books again. She gathers her dishes and goes into the house.
Lobengula Township sprawls over a series of rises in the western townships of Bulawayo. Named after last King of the Ndebele, it can be clearly seen on the skyline from Luveve, Magwegwe, Njube and Emakhandeni. Ambition and his family stay on the northernmost rise, the one that faces towards Luveve and Emakhandeni.
Although it s early, a radio is already blasting gangster music from one of the houses along the street. Ambition knows it s 3Pac s. He s the one who s always the first to switch on his radio. 3Pac was a strange man. Gangster music, Ambition thought, was not for men his age. He should be listening to traditional music like imbube , which his father liked.
He can also hear the shouts of children playing hit me, and guessed Ntando must be with them, for his friend was always an early riser, sometimes sitting outside Ambition s door waiting for him to wake up to go and play.
A few women - one, two, three, four, five: one big mother and four thin mothers - are sweeping the five yards of their five houses after the sun has risen. Five bad wives. Suddenly, MaVundla stops and pulls herself upright. She s the big one whom his father says is too clever by half. She looks in his direction. Even at a distance, Ambition can see that her mouth has opened in surprise or shock.
Then she turns to her neighbour, a woman Ambition does not know as she s only recently arrived in their line. MaVundla seems to say something and the other woman jerks upright and they both stare in his direction. Then, one by one, from both sides of the street, all the sweeping women straighten up and stare at him.
Ambition s mind races. Has MaVundla gossiped about him, or his family, or Senzeni, and so early in the morning, although the way they re standing seems to suggest something else? They appear poised, as if about to drop their sweeps and explode into their houses. But they also look as if they re playing Statue, and only waiting for Ambition to call relax so they can continue their work.
When a call comes, it does so from behind him, and it s the cry of an adult, They re coming!
He turns. A man is running towards him.
It s Mr Nkani, the bald teacher who left Lobengula II High at the end of the year, whose picture is on some of the election posters now pasted all over the township. People say he wants to be an MP for the MDC.
As he draws closer, Ambition sees blood flowing down the left side of his face. It s stained his shirt as if somebody has sprayed him with raspberry juice. Run! Hide! Mr Nkani shouts as he races past him. They re behind me!
Ambition! his mother screams from the open window of the kitchen, dread on her face. Quick! Come into the house! Ntando s chubby face appears beside his mother, his eyes seem huge with fear.
No, Mama. Ambition hitches up his sagging shorts.
No! MaNdlovu s face disappears from the window.
Ambition looks down the street. There s nobody in sight. Mr Nkani and the sweeping women have disappeared.
He looks up the street, as a gang of youths turn into it running hard and in silence. Only the fury of their pounding feet and pumping arms signals their intention. Green Bombers in green T-shirts. The country s flag streams above them as if they re accompanied by a brightly coloured bird.
His mother appears behind him, snatches him up in both hands, and runs into the house with him, as if he were weightless.
So, Ambition now peers at the action through the kitchen window, as if he were watching a forbidden movie on television. His mother is beside him, her mouth rigid with fear; Ntando is on the other side, his face pressed against the glass, and Ambition can feel excitement radiating off his body.
The Green Bombers zip past the gate. Nobody needs to be told whom they want to catch today.
***
Ambition, Ntando and some friends had been returning from a soccer game in Luveve Township just a week previously when they d seen the Green Bombers near Lobengula Hall. They d been chasing a man and a woman wearing MDC T-shirts, just as they were chasing Mr Nkani now. The couple had been caught in front of their eyes and had been kicked and stomped on until, covered in blood, they lay on the ground as if dead.
Senzeni had been with the Green Bombers then, although she hadn t taken part in the beating, perhaps because she d been carrying their flag. She d shouted at Ambition and his friends to vamoose. Some of his friends had run away immediately, but Ambition and Ntando had only moved a short distance, and then, spellbound, continued to watch the action. Afterwards, the two boys walked home in a dazed silence. The violence had been brutal.
When Ambition reached home, he hadn t told his mother what he d seen or that Senzeni had been with the Green Bombers; instead, he d taken out his King Kong book to read under the mulberry tree in the backyard.
Chapter 2
Now that the Green Bombers have passed, Ambition, evading his mother, slips out of the door, and crouching at the gate, looks down the street. The Green Bombers have disappeared, just like Mr Nkani and the sweeping women. He straightens up as, one by one, men, women and children come out of their houses and stare down the silent road. He can see MaVundla s big frame at her gate, her son Power next to her.
No one speaks. The gangster music has stopped. It s as if its lifeblood had been swallowed. Suddenly, they hear screams, and people disappear, again at lightning speed, banging their doors closed behind them.
The Green Bombers have reappeared, running hard, but this time they seem to be running away from something. Again Ambition is unceremoniously carted aloft in his mother s arms, and deposited back in the kitchen.
Stubborn! You are! MaNdlovu shouts, as she slams the door closed and locks it, before peering through the window, Ambition and Ntando beside her again.
The Green Bombers flee past, as if hurled from a catapult. There s a brief lull, and then another group zips past the window, hard on their heels.
This new group is giving chase, yelling and whistling, unlike the Green Bombers who had been silent as they chased after Mr Nkani. It s a mixture of men, women, children, and the township stray, Ginger. Normally a timid dog, he s barking and running alongside them as if it were the most exciting day of his life.
Mr Nkani, now shirtless, is leading these people, snatching up stones from the ground and throwing them towards the Green Bombers as he runs. Without a thought, Ambition unlocks and opens the back door and runs around the house to the gate, his mother yelling after him in a mixture of fury and anxiety.
Other people have joined the chase. He even sees MaVundla, her breasts bouncing up and down unde